I thought that this painting might be good for Halloween – it’s sort of dark without being macabre or outright spooky…
I see this painting all of the time – it’s in the Art Institute of Chicago – and I swear that I see navy blue in the areas near the horizon! At any rate, I think that these colors make amazing accents… One could easily include some gold, some medium blues and a bit of grey and live with the color-scheme forever.
This is my starting point today. This version of The Common Wardrobe is a hair dressier than usual – no jeans, and a pair of navy wool pants in their place. A pair of high-quality trousers can be worn almost anywhere… The navy ribbed tee shirt is a notch more elegant than the white cotton tee shirt, so that provides you with additional options.
ribbed tee – Uniqlo; white tee – Lands’ End; plaid shirt – Lands’ End; washable wool sweater – L.L.Bean; white shirt – Lands’ End; long-sleeved tee – J.Crew; merino turtleneck – Uniqlo; cardigan – Uniqlo; striped tee – J.Crew; twill pants – L.L.Bean; cords – L.L.Bean; wool pants – Lands’ End
The necklace shown here is fast becoming a classic… It’s available in FIFTEEN different combinations, and I see them everywhere!
I couldn’t resist the brown sweater, even though a longer-sleeved sweater might be more classic. But I saw a lot of women wearing shorter-sleeved sweaters over button-front shirts when I was in Paris (it’s going to take me a few minutes to get used to the proportion!), and how useful is a sparkly sweater with the winter holiday fast approaching?
cardigan – Eileen Fisher; necklace – Fairchild Baldwin; square scarf – Klements; brown sweater – Eileen Fisher; chiffon scarf – Cornici; tee shirt – J.Crew
It’s not really surprising that these colors go together – blue and orange are opposite each other on the color wheel, which is always supposed to meant that they complement each other…
Imagine this wardrobe with a nice warm brown bag, and a good pair of brown loafers – so many possibilities!
love,
Janice
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Janice your ability to find striking artwork amazes me. What a wonderful depth of colour in this piece. Another good capsule that provides good food for thought. Thanks again for the way you nuture the artisitc side of us.
I love that these are autumnal colours, but done subtlety, not in your face.
But oh that necklace, Janice, the choice of colours is amazing and with the style, no thought is required about what to wear. It screams effortless dressing. Sling on something simple and monochrome, leave house, look amazing!
Hugs, x.
I do love the concept of the common wardrobe and the additional 5 pieces per season in accent colours – it is so achievable. That rich russet orange really pops, although as ever I am drawn to all those blues and greys in the background. Your header went unnoticed I'm afraid as I thought it was just another advert for something to do with Paris, sorry. I would prefer to see a header with the title of your blog in it and some sort of representation that it is about capsule wardrobe planning with the emphasis on travel, colour and organisation. Sharon, U.K.
This header is just a placeholder for the "real" one, which is my new logo. One of my genius readers found an error in the logo, so we're reworking things!
hugs,
Janice
Love this colour combo
That painting is beautiful, in a somber sort of way, and perfect for the season. I am coveting that cardigan, and the pretty black cat scarf is a nice subtle nod to the holiday, just like the painting. This post reminds me that I should wear more russet orange and blue combinations (I have several russet-colored tops, and blue jeans would go so well with them). Thanks for the reminder, Janice, and happy Halloween!
This is just gorgeous!! I love that the browns are trending toward the oranges..rather than a cool brown. This is for me, perfection!
I absolutely love the colors you selected, as well as the beautiful painting! I can see many possibilities for this color scheme! I love the scarves and necklace…which they weren't so pricey 🙁 Will definitely look for related substitutes!! 🙂
Must correct my misspelling…wish, not which!! 🙂 Also, Happy Halloween, Janice!!
Hi Janice! Love your capsule wardrobes, esp. the use of color … but you often feature square silk scarves. Wondering how you usually tie them? (I almost exclusively wear long narrow scarves as they are easier to style, but I have some vintage square ones).
Thanks!
Look at this blog: http://www.maitaispicturebook.com/
She has tons of videos about how she ties her scarves – I could never do better than she has already done!
hugs,
Janice
I am intrigued about the shorter-sleeved sweaters over button-front shirts you mentioned. Any pictures?!