Do you remember one of my very favorite all-time posts, where a woman went to visit friends to look at the stars? Her wardrobe colors were inspired by the colors of the common shelduck – brown, black, and white…Well, she’s found a painting that she really likes, so this year, when she’s going back to visit her friends again, she’s in the same color scheme. The weather is warmer, but you might recognize a few of her accessories from last winter’s trip…
View of New York by Charles Sheeler
Her color scheme expands to include cream and grey (earlier, she was pretty strictly black and white with brown leather accessories), and some day she’s going to try something in sky blue. Some day…
She knows that it’s going to be warmer in April than it was in January, but the airplane will still be cool, so she wears “real” shoes and a cardigan, as well as a snazzy scarf. Her fondness for squared-off shapes is evident in her watch, smaller bag, and her earrings…
cardigan – L.L.Bean; scarf – Missoni; earrings – John Hardy; tee – Monsoon; watch – Coach; crossbody bag – Lodis; pants – L.L.Bean; loafers – Kelsi Dagger; tote – Longchamp
Her friends are planning to take her out to dinner one night, and possibly have a barbecue one evening, so she’s bringing both a dress and a casual skirt. (even a casual skirt is still a skirt, and thus elevates the dressiness of whatever you’re wearing!)
brown tunic – Simply Be; earrings – L.Erickson; sunglasses – Quay Australia; necklace – Jonesy Wood Designs; tank top – Uniqlo; dress – L.L.Bean; shorts – L.L.Bean; bracelet – Miansai; plaid shirt – Diane von Furstenberg; black sandals – OluKai; ballet flats – Sam Edelman; ivory skirt – H&M
This is everything that she has with her – everything she packed fit easily into her Longchamp bag.
She has, as always, plenty of outfit options, for everything from sitting outside watching the birds, and later the stars, to going out with her friends to a relatively nice restaurant. If she’s held over for a few days, she might need laundry, but she won’t necessarily get terribly bored with this tiny wardrobe.
If they go to a movie or someplace that will probably be cold, she has long pants – always a good idea!
If the restaurant is relatively “nice,” she won’t feel self-conscious in this dress! And if it’s drafty, but she still wants to get some sun on her shoulders, she can mix pieces up to suit her preferences…
I’ve never indulged in anything in brown leather, but this ensemble makes it so very tempting…
love,
Janice
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I can appreciate the beautiful coordination of this capsule even though brown does not play well with my complexion.
This whole package totally resonates with me. Homerun, Janice (including the art inspiration)! The simple coolness of the black is warmed by the richness of the cognac.
As always, you have given us not only a lovely wardrobe, but a work of art to incorporate into our art appreciation class and a chance to identify colors, count different items, and talk about what we think the person you wrote about is like! Yes, I pull lesson plans from everything and everywhere. PS – KiKi said no pink. You know what she means!!
If Kiki had her way, every wardrobe would be pink and purple, with accents of acid yellow and green! Not that there's anything wrong with that…
It delights me to see your comments – I love to think of your tribe looking at my work and learning things from Aunt Jake.
xoxoxoxo,
J
I love these colours and bold, simple lines. It struck me that it would combine easily with the previous post, as both have a basis of black combined with warm tones. As a 'warm' who wears black the blend really appeals.
Alice
Love this versatile and snappy wardrobe! Cognac accessories are quite versatile. – nancyo [ps, unless I am missing it, although I have double checked, the shorts don't seem to be on the source list]
Fixed – THANK YOU. You are always so helpful, and so kind about bringing my errors to light!
hugs,
Janice
More and more I'm liking this combination of black with a caramel shade of brown – it is such a classic and "classy look". And as always, a lovely story to accompany the wardrobe.
I noticed that Amazon has a number of books and prints featuring one of my favourite artists, Wilhelm Hamershoi – he is a Danish artist from the early 20th century and he uses mostly greys, blacks, whites and browns and he paints in such a way that you'd swear he dress the model is wearing is real velvet – you want to stroke it. Since these colours are ones that you personally wear a lot I highly recommend you taking a look to see if there is a particular piece that might work for one of your wardrobe stories.
https://www.amazon.ca/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=vilhelm+hammershoi&tag=googcana-20&index=aps&hvadid=174210514228&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1523340184791527156&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9061010&hvtargid=kwd-956768668&ref=pd_sl_981lpdfaro_b
As someone who lives in the land of barbecue, I would advise against a light-colored skirt, but otherwise I would happily travel with this collection. These are mostly my neutral colors, and the wardrobe has just the right casual but tailored look that is my preference. I love the bold, clean lines of that painting, and the simplicity of the subject – you manage to find the most fascinating artwork, Janice!
As another resident of the land of barbecue, I'm thinking Janice meant a cookout, grill steaks sort of event as opposed to what we would be eating!
Yep – where we were raised, a barbecue meant a picnic with a grill, and thus sitting at a picnic table eating. Thanks for translating!
hugs all around,
Jake
Sheeler is such an interesting painter because of the way he uses light in an impressionist manner to illuminate some very linear, hard-edged, non-impressionist subject matter. I like the idea of sky blue some day. Would like to see "some day" soon. How would our heroine add sky blue to her preferred neutrals?
I too love black with caramel. And if packing light, I depend on black or navy (darks) on the bottom- so will leave out a pale skirt because I will sit on a blueberry if there is one within a 30 mile radius. I'd wear the black dress several times, with different scarves, or pack a more forgiving skirt.
I've had more than my share of spills and mishaps, but I persist! There's always hope that someone is more careful than I am…
hugs,
Janice
This is me. Perfect, Janice!
I like how the camp shirt echoes the window panes in the painting. Nice find.
Oh THANK YOU for noticing that – I agonize over finding things like that!
hugs,
Janice
This might just be my new favorite post! Love the painting, love the clothes. To me it's a perfect pack for a long weekend. Hope "some day" is soon… I'd love to see how you incorporate blue items.
I was surprised to see my LL Bean black dress in among all the clothing pieces and accessories. I've had it for years but you've given me some new ideas for my steady wardrobe workhorse. I've never paired it with brown leather before.
Lovely post! Looks great. I know I am swimming against the current (not here of course) but… it has been said by many colourist that black is a cool colour. Black is an absence of colour so neither warm nor cool. So I love the black with warm colours. Hugs Carol S
Great art piece! I love black, brown and cream! I have always worn black with warm colors. Love the cognac accessories!! Would love to see how you incorporate sky blue with this!
I love this wardrobe! Really hoping you will get around to adding the sky blue someday soon. I am morphing that in my mind to include chambray and denim.