The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Articles
    • Starting From Scratch
    • Common Wardrobe
    • Packing
    • Start With Art
    • Project 333
    • 4×4 Wardrobes
    • Weekly Timeless Wardrobes
    • Archives by Date
    • Archives by Categories & Tags
  • Support The Vivienne Files
    • Books, Clothes & more
    • Templates & Color Planners
  • Contact
Home » Adding to a Starter Wardrobe in Black, Grey, Brown and Pink

Adding to a Starter Wardrobe in Black, Grey, Brown and Pink

May 6, 2019

When we left our heroine on Friday, she had assembled a small, but quite versatile, core wardrobe with 11 garments:

earrings – Kendra Scott; tunic – Eileen Fisher; floral shirt – Caliban; watch – Olivia Burton; shirt – 1901; grey cardigan – Eileen Fisher; bracelet – Rituu Agarwal; necklace – Silvia Garcia; tank top – Lands’ End; brown tee – American Vintage; black cardigan – Eileen Fisher; bag – Allsaints; sleeveless top – Eileen Fisher; jeans – Lands’ End; scarf – Kate Spade New York; grey pants – Eileen Fisher; scarf – Louise Coleman; socks – Darner Socks; silk pants – Eileen Fisher; flats – Paul Green; loafers – Dr. Scholl’s

From here, our heroine’s choices will depend on what she most needs for her day-to-day life, as well as making certain that she’s prepared for those dressy occasions that catch one off guard. It is for the latter that I always suggest that ALL of us have a “nice” outfit in reserve. While you certainly can substitute pants for this skirt, if you’re absolutely NEVER going to wear a skirt, for most of us this next outfit will come in handy more often than we might expect…

2. adding a black skirt and blouse to a capsule wardrobe

skirt – Rachel Roy Collection; blouse – WtR; pumps – Donald Pliner

And we are kind of long overdue for getting this heroine a good jacket! The nice thing with this length of trench coat is that it can be worn with skirts or pants; but you might prefer a longer one. If you live somewhere that gets bucketing rain, longer is better protection, too!

While it might take our heroine a few months to find just the right brown sweater, it’s worth waiting for…

3. adding a trench coat and sweater to a travel capsule wardrobe

Coat – Kristen Blake; sweater – Khaite; shoes – Cougar

This is where our heroine finds her wardrobe. This might have taken a few months to assemble, so it’s smart to stop and really admire what has been accomplished. Patience should be appreciated and rewarded, right?

4. 14-piece travel capsule wardrobe in black, grey, brown and pink

At this stage, it’s easy to slow down and be really deliberate in shopping. Our heroine should think about having a shopping list to which she refers when she’s tempted to buy something; it would be a pity to lose discipline and focus now!

After a month or 2, it might be time to buy an entire outfit, all at once! What a treat…

5. adding a pink and grey outfit to a travel capsule wardrobe

cardigan – Lands’ End; tee shirt – MM6 Maison Margiela; pants – Lands’ End

If our heroine is in a cold climate, she needs to be ready the MINUTE coats become available, so she can find her winter coat. While those of us who live downtown might NEVER wear a pink coat (it would be filthy in about 9 seconds…), the right woman could absolutely luxuriate in something this pretty!

6. adding coat, scarf and boots to a capsule wardrobe

coat – YMC; scarf – Faliero Sarti; boots – Freda Salvador

Accessories can be purchased gradually… Pink pearls seem like such a nice choice for this heroine, don’t they?

7. adding accessories to a capsule wardrobe

pearl earrings – Khun Boom; stud earrings – Michael Krainer; scarf – Nordstrom; pearl bracelet – Khun Boom; bag – Frye; necklace – Putu Putri

How about casual clothes? I’m afraid that many of us aren’t good about having a few “nice” things to wear around the house, or when we have to dash out for an errand. There’s no reason that our family shouldn’t see us at our best, right?

8. adding leisure wear to a capsule wardrobe

sweatshirt – Lands’ End; floral sweatshirt – Blugirl; striped tee – Nordstrom Signature; shorts – Caslon

Maybe this heroine is good with just owning a black skirt, but maybe she has decided that a dress would be useful too… The contrast of this brown cardigan is so nice:

9. adding a dress and cardigan to a capsule wardrobe

Dress – Tommy Bahama; cardigan – Vicolo

By now, our heroine realistically might not need more clothes! (what a luxury that is, eh?) But let’s take a look at where we are…

10. 23-piece capsule wardrobe in black, grey, brown and pink

It feels right, but is it balanced?

11. evaluating a capsule wardrobe by color

2 notes:

  1. When you choose an accent color like this rich brown, you have to be PATIENT… this color should be one of those things that is always in the back of your mind if you’re forced to walk through a mall… (wouldn’t corduroy pants in this brown be wonderful?)
  2. Because the pink tops won’t all be worn together, they can vary somewhat in shade; you don’t want to go really nuts with something hot pink or fuchsia, but shades of soft pink can happily co-exist in our heroine’s wardrobe…

When I looked at this wardrobe for a while, I could see that a pink “pull-over” sweater that could be worn alone or over her brown flowered blouse might be handy. And I can’t believe I’ve made it this far into this wardrobe without a simple black tee shirt for her! (I’m wearing a black tee shirt right now; this is true about 2/3 of the time for me!)

And the print blouse? Just a serendipitous little wonder I found…

12. adding 3 tops to a capsule wardrobe

Sweater – Banana Republic; silk blouse – Caliban; tee – Lands’ End

From here, our heroine doesn’t really need to actively LOOK for anything. Brown corduroy pants would be grand, as would a lovely warm turtleneck (in any of “her” colors) for the cooler weather. Of course, shorts, tank tops, and maybe a sundress are possibilities too, depending on the upcoming weather. But this, as it stands, is a very versatile wardrobe.

Imagine being in… London? for the fall semester with this to keep you for 3 months:

13. 26-piece capsule wardrobe in black, grey, brown and pink

Just to be sure that this is as versatile as our heroine and I believe it to be, my last double-check is to make certain that I can “Whatever’s Clean” a baker’s dozen of garments (that meeting for which you take the train to Edinburgh?), as well as a 4 by 4 Wardrobe… (Eurostar to Paris for a week at term break?)

14. evaluating a wardrobe for the possibility of Whatever's Clean

15. evaluating a wardrobe for a 4 by 4 wardrobe

Get your wardrobe sorted, and you are free to get on with the important stuff!

love,

Janice

p.s. We do all understand that this is a good guideline for cleaning out a closet, right?

ADDING TO A STARTER WARDROBE IN BLACK, GREY, BROWN AND PINK

Like this article? Save it to Pinterest!

Tweet
Pin1K
Share43
1K Shares

05.06.19 12 Comments

Tags: black, brown, grey, pink, Starting from Scratch
<<I Don’t Know Where to Start my Wardrobe…April Showers Bring May Flowers…>>

Comments

  1. Deborah Singh-Boos says

    May 6, 2019 at 7:32 am

    I have been following your blog for about a year now and this is my first time posting. I live in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean where it is hot throughout the year so cool and cold weather clothes do not apply. I do enjoy your thinking process and it has helped to see how cohesive and interchangeable my present wardrobe is. So thank you for all your hard work and I look forward to reading more of your posts. Deborah

    Reply
  2. Lizette says

    May 6, 2019 at 9:24 am

    Thank you for the point about cleaning out your closet. Following your lead for years, I have edited my wardrobe pretty well. However I still have a bunch of accent pieces that don’t fit in 100%. Those are the things I have trouble getting rid of. I may not wear them much, but I keep thinking they are a nice variation from from my standards when I need a little change. Sounds like rationalization to me.
    BTW, so glad you included outerwear. Love that pink coat!

    Reply
    • Sharon says

      May 7, 2019 at 5:34 am

      I have the same problem Lizette with a handful of really good quality pieces that have veered off into the Autumn spectrum of teal blue, pale gold, coral red and taupe brown.
      So rather than donating, I have built a mini capsule around these items using four of my lighter ‘summer’ neutrals & accents of soft white, stone, sky blue and primrose yellow so that they all play nicely together. These outfits make a refreshing change from my usual navy & grey ensembles.

      Reply
    • Kim says

      May 7, 2019 at 6:03 pm

      I love having a chosen color scheme and have learned a lot from this site, but I do believe many of us would be bored wearing the same 4 or 5 colors every *single* day of our lives, however much we love those colors. It’s ok to have a few “outlier” pieces for when you need a change of pace. Tops you can throw on with your neutral bottoms and dresses that can stand alone make great outliers. Our real closets don’t have to look as perfect as Janice’s posts!

      Reply
  3. Sharon says

    May 6, 2019 at 11:44 am

    Absolutely love these starting from scratch wardrobes and have been building mine for the past few years, buying in the sales as and when pieces appear. My only weakness is choosing and sticking to a small palette of just two or three colours that work together. Like many, I get enticed by what is available, what is ‘current’ and what mood I’m in when browsing. Basically, I just love colour and have no self discipline!

    Reply
  4. Tracy Flinders says

    May 6, 2019 at 12:07 pm

    If our heroine really wants more of that rich brown, I saw it in many store windows in Rome! Just a quick flight from London…

    Reply
  5. Robyn says

    May 7, 2019 at 1:03 am

    What a satisfying conclusion to this “set”. It’s always good to read your thinking, Janice. It’s also useful to be reminded that getting dressed in the morning should/can be easy as well as pleasurable, and that our magpie tendencies can get in the way of that. (Note to self …)

    Reply
  6. nancyo says

    May 7, 2019 at 5:32 pm

    I love this wardrobe, and it is very close to what I build for my cool weather travel wardrobes. My accent color is usually teal (rather than light pink), and I do love having some white tops for contrast. This year I was lucky to find corduroys in that brown color. I’m super tempted by that cable cardigan, but am trying hard to resist! – nancyo

    Reply
  7. Judy says

    May 8, 2019 at 5:18 am

    I like Nancyo’s suggestion of replacing the blush pink with real.
    Is it possible to see this post again but 28th real and a scarves and jewerly in that color.
    Just a thought.

    Reply
    • Judy says

      May 8, 2019 at 5:20 am

      Teal. My ipone replaced teal with real.

      Reply
  8. SuD says

    May 10, 2019 at 6:44 am

    NIce overall, but the brown seems too warm for the baby pink and vice versa.

    Reply
  9. Alice Palmison says

    May 6, 2021 at 5:26 pm

    Love your ideas and choices! It is more difficult to find nice choices in plus sizes though. I find that I’m all over the place with colors just because I’m happy to find something flattering, but not necessarily the right color choice.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

logo
The Vivienne Files is a unique personal style blog with carefully-selected capsule wardrobes based on color palettes drawn from works of art, nature, and more. It helps women buy less clothing, and to love what they buy. Read more...
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

STAY UP TO DATE

Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

  • WOW Wardrobe Of the Week – January 22 – 28, 2023
  • Start with Art Morris GravesRain by Kay RussellStart with Art: Morris Graves/Rain by Kay Russell
  • Start with Art A Travel Capsule Wardrobe based on Two Geese in the Snow by Komori SosekiStart with Art: A Travel Capsule Wardrobe based on Two Geese in the Snow by Komori Soseki
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Dazzling Theme theme by Restored 316