Someone asked me to revisit this most striking of paintings… Years ago I showed some outfits that were based on this work, but it’s well worth returning to works of art from time to time. If you choose a work of art or other lovely image/object to be your style inspiration, you’ll be coming back to it often, so why shouldn’t we do the same here on The Vivienne Files?
As much as brown plays a really big role in the painting, I’ve chosen to not include brown in this wardrobe because it’s terribly difficult to find for spring and summer! If you’ve got a good source of beautiful brown garments for warm weather, take advantage! That’s the only way these colors will move back into the marketplace…
I’m imagining that our very freckled heroine is going on a vacation to someplace cool, but relaxed and casual. Maybe visiting family in Ireland for a week? She’s very wisely made sure to have a jacket with her on the plane – flying can be VERY cold…
She doesn’t want to pack a whole ton of stuff, so she’s going to try to work within the guidelines of a Whatever’s Clean 13 piece travel wardrobe. She starts out like this:
She knows that she will need another jacket or sweater, some shorts, and another pair of pants, so she decides to take care of all of these essentials right away while she also stocks up on neutrals…
She’s a very deliberate packer – she doesn’t like to waste any of nature’s resources! So she pauses after each group of additions to evaluate her overall wardrobe.
She’s in a great position now to add some fun color in her shirts and sweaters!
aloe linen top – Eileen Fisher; linen cardigan – Eileen Fisher; serrano chili red top – Eileen Fisher
She really could stop here, if she wanted to pack a very small bag…
But she’s thinking that she wants a few more tops!
As she looks over her travel wardrobe, she can picture days on the beach, walks through the hedges, a cool evening on the Burren, followed by some warm dancing and singing in a pub…
A jacket around her shoulders? Mixing some shades of green?
Carrying a jacket or cardigan makes so much sense when the weather changes every 20 minutes!
love,
Janice
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I love the colors, as a woman who has olive green eyes, pale skin and reddish hair. Yes, Chico’s once in a while will carry brown core pieces, unfortunately, they don’t always match anything else (or other Chico’s pieces for that matter).
You bring up a problem I have repeatedly. I can normally find my favorite colors every fall…and that’s the only time. I am partial to olive green and camel. Most of the olive greens of summer look faded and bluish–almost a darker sage green, which isn’t flattering to me at all. And camel is likewise difficult to find in summer, everything goes to “natural linen” or muslin colors. No wonder I switched to an all black wardrobe by 21! I wish there were more manufacturers catering to the 40-65 crowd that would keep that in mind.
I love that scarf, thank’s for finding that.
Ditto without the black!
Pat
Love it. You are so creative! Please continue this one and add the accessories, shoes, bags, etc.
Janice,
It’s my personal color wheel you are presenting, thank you ! And I echo Rhonda Stroud’s sentiments exactly as to color availability in the marketplace , as I have before expressed ! Only leave the upper age group suggestion open ended , please, Rhonda ! I am 73 and still look best in and prefer the Autumn colors, though slightly lighter in value as I —- ahem —- “acquire years “ !
Here, here! My age, coloring, and problem….however, due to our retirement home wardrobe constraints and a mild yearly climate, I am determined to creatively find a way to wear my best fall colors year round….beautiful, warm toned girls let’s stick together and support each other with suggestions and ideas..i’ve Learned so much from you already😍
A faithful fan,
Pat
This is what I have needed to see to visualize my packing list for Maine this June. We are sailing four days and on land four days. Weather will be changeable — 75 and sunny to 50 and rainy. I may add my Swiss-army knife t-shirt dress — dress, swimsuit cover up, nite gown and bath robe.
I love that term for the t-shirt dress. I have one on order.
I’ve actually noticed more olive green than usual in some Canadian stores (The Bay if anyone is looking) – it’s not usually a colour I see a lot in Summer so it caught my eye.
These aren’t my colours but I do think this would be a lovely travel wardrobe – and so many of the pieces could easily transit into a Fall wardrobe as well.
The Bay? I already go there for winter nightgowns to keep warm in dark and dank Seattle (manufacturers think everyone in a America lives in FL or Calif. during the winter!). Thanks so much!
This isn’t a good color wardrobe for this redhead. How about a wardrobe for a spring season?
I also don’t think the clothing captures the depth of the color of the painting. What about the blue of the mountain range?
I was just coming to say that – how about that beautiful navy blue from the hills? I think navy and olive are a really sophisticated pairing. And navy goes beautifully with every other color in this palette.
Lovely to see the Canadian “Group of Seven” represented! If you ever travel to Huntsville, Ontario, you’ll see that high schoolers have reproduced Group of Seven paintings in murals all over town.
The navy and the periwinkle of the hills were the first things that I noticed too. That’s probably because those are the only colors in the painting that I could/should really wear! But I also happen to think they would look great with the other colors in this palette. – nancyo
How fun! I just received a large box from Lands End with some similar tan core pieces to add to my olive and brown neutrals (amen to the about dark brown disappearing from stores except for Fall, very frustrating). I’m taking my hubby and kids on a trip to Ireland in July. Long pants and long sleeves in light colors keep me warm and don’t look too dark for Summer.
Im always so jealous of those who look good in and pack so easily with black/grey and red. But my coloring and personality just aren’t that strong.
It takes a while to find the right colors and enough of them for every season but so worth it to be different.
Welcome back, you were missed! Love love love this color wheel. I am an earthy rich color family and I’d wear everything you posted. Thanks for posting.
So lovely. I only wish that actual items are dressier a notch or two. I enjoy reading posts from beggining that were dressier. I love to enjoy comfy but nice clothes in my free time.
Love seeing one of my favourite paintings featured! I had a print up in my living room for years. I especially love the pairing of olive and lime green (EF calls it aloe).
nice work.love you post.really inspired by this.Thanks for sharing.
For all of those sighing because of the lack of brown summer pieces – fabric dye is your best friend!
Personally I love dark, saturated colours, dark brown among them. Clothes for spring and summer can sometimes be found in a light brown or dark beige, so I put them in the washing machine with a packet of dark brown fabric dye, easy peasy.
Things to have in mind:
– This works best with natural fibres, although there are dyes for polyester and co. as well.
– If you dye a garment made of natural fibre, the seams will normally keep their original colour, because they are usually polyester. Same with buttons, zippers, embellishments etc. For this reason I usually recommend dying only garments that already have a similar colour to start with.
– Jeans are made with a specific weaving process, their typical appearance is due to the fact that part of the threads are white. If you dye jeans, all threads will dye uniformly and the piece will lose its typicall “jeansy” character.
– Generally you’ll never know what you’ll get in the end. I have lots of garments that I dyed with the same colour of the same brand, and most end up very similar, but still slightly different (depending on the original colour, type of fabric and fibres, the amount of fabric etc.). Never dye anything if you would only be happy with a very specific result. Anything can happen in the dying process, so don’t dye any piece that you would not be happy to part with.
I love this! The only thing I would change is I would use a blue tee rather than the chili red. I love blue and olive together and it is surprising. Great wardrobe!
Long time reader, first time responder. Try looking at JJill. I found some pieces in their Wearever collection in an ivy color that were great in the evening on a recent safari in South Africa, a subsequent cruise across the South Atlantic, and then stops in Uruguay, Argentina, and then Brazil, including 5 nights in Rio. I have long been a Talbots, Lands End, L.L. Bean, and especially a Chico’s shopper for travel pieces, but lately, JJill/Wearever has been my go-to solution for relatively wrinkle-free, comfortable, and stylish (for me!) pieces.