Many of you have been wondering what these wardrobes might look at in different colors – I’ve got some examples! And you were wondering about the weird round gizmo in the bottom left of the overall wardrobes images…
WELL… I’m envisioning these 4 colors (rust, light blue, pink and yellow) as the 4 symbol colors for the 4 seasons; rust = Autumn, light blue = Winter, pink = Spring, and yellow = Summer.
When I get the book about this written, these 4 colors will be used on each page to somehow signal what season is discussed on that page. I’m not entirely sure how this will work, but I have a vision…
So how would 13 garments look if they were chosen with this lovely painting in mind?
I’m thinking this little capsule wardrobe might look like this:
ivory, dark caramel and dark olive green cotton turtlenecks – Lands’ End; print turtleneck – Ganni; brown cashmere cardigan – Lands’ End; ivory shirt – Banana Republic; brown sweater – Vero Moda; brown fisherman sweater – L.L.Bean; dark olive green cardigan – Lands’ End; brown jeans – Paige; brown knit cords – L.L.Bean; print skirt – Ganni; dark olive green corduroy pants – Lands’ End
Note here that because our heroine has a matching turtleneck and skirt, she decided to eschew the purchase of a dress, and chose instead to grab those green corduroy pants that match BOTH her green turtleneck and cardigan. If you know what you like and need, and you know (in this case) that the skirt with matching top will be ALL that you need for dress, you can accommodate the guidelines to work best for you!
Another thing to consider when you’re looking at things online: when you see a garment that you like (maybe the #11 cardigan in dark olive green, above?), search the vendor website for that color. You’ll find all of the other garments available in that color, as well as… maybe socks? Pillowcases? A little boy’s sweater? You never know…
Can you get dressed with these garments? Heck yes!
brown cashmere cardigan – Lands’ End; print turtleneck – Ganni; print skirt – Ganni; ivory shirt – Banana Republic; dark olive green cardigan – Lands’ End; dark olive green corduroy pants – Lands’ End; ivory cotton turtleneck – Lands’ End; brown fisherman sweater – L.L.Bean; brown knit cords – L.L.Bean; caramel cotton turtleneck – Lands’ End; brown sweater – Vero Moda; brown jeans – Paige
Maybe you love navy with pastels? (Yes, I’m quite sure that these nuns are wearing black habits, but I see navy here! Sometimes you make your own rules…)
I used this painting back when I was helping us all develop Monday Morning Wardrobes. I might need to revisit that idea – Monday’s are NOT getting any easier, are they?
These colors lend themselves well to the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, if you keep an eye out for finding navy garments that don’t look ghastly together:
white cotton turtleneck – Lands’ End; navy cotton turtleneck – Lands’ End; pale mauve cotton turtleneck – Lands’ End; navy striped turtleneck – J.Crew; navy cashmere cardigan – Nordstrom Signature; white silk shirt – Brian Dales; navy cashmere v-neck sweater – Nordstrom Signature; blue cabled sweater – L.L.Bean; pink cardigan – Roberto Collina; blue jeans – Lands’ End; navy cords – L.L.Bean; navy corduroy skirt – J.Crew; navy dress – Lands’ End
You probably don’t need a lot of help finding outfits in this wardrobe…
blue cabled sweater – L.L.Bean; white cotton turtleneck – Lands’ End; navy corduroy skirt – J.Crew; navy cashmere v-neck sweater – Nordstrom Signature; navy striped turtleneck – J.Crew; navy cords – L.L.Bean; navy cashmere cardigan – Nordstrom Signature; pale mauve cotton turtleneck – Lands’ End; blue jeans – Lands’ End; navy dress – Lands’ End
One of my most impulsive heroines EVER packed a long weekend travel capsule wardrobe based on this gorgeous painting:
This capsule wardrobe would be a delight to wear through the autumn…
white and charcoal cotton turtlenecks – Lands’ End; deep burgundy heather cotton turtleneck – Lands’ End; charcoal striped turtleneck – Lands’ End; charcoal cardigan – Lucky Brand; white oxford shirt – Lands’ End; charcoal v-neck sweater – Eileen Fisher; wine mixed-stitch sweater – L.L.Bean; deep port marl cardigan – L.L.Bean; charcoal jeans – J.Crew; gunmetal grey cords – L.L.Bean; charcoal skirt – J.Crew; charcoal dress – Dorothy Perkins
Of course, any capsule wardrobe pulled together with a clear color palette is going to make getting dressed pretty simple, eh?
wine mixed-stitch sweater – L.L.Bean; charcoal jeans – J.Crew; deep port marl cardigan – L.L.Bean; deep burgundy heather cotton turtleneck – Lands’ End; charcoal skirt – J.Crew; charcoal cardigan – Lucky Brand; charcoal striped turtleneck – Lands’ End; gunmetal grey cords – L.L.Bean; charcoal v-neck sweater – Eileen Fisher; white cotton turtleneck – Lands’ End; charcoal jeans – J.Crew
What other color palettes would you like to see? I will be my best, within the limitations put upon us all by the retail powers that be….
love,
Janice
p.s. 2 years ago, I started with a simple Whatever’s Clean Wardrobe in shades of warm beige and tan, and then used a brown, burgundy and russet French 5-Piece Wardrobe to give it an autumn feeling…
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Thank you Janice for giving us further 13-piece capsules to contemplate and learn from – I love them! When you introduced your Weekly Timeless Wardrobe it made me rethink my wardrobe planning: I am now refining four seasonal capsules of 13 pieces, as per your formula (with one personalized change: I do not wear turtlenecks, so substitute long-sleeve tee-shirts for these). I have completed my fall/autumn capsule in Pantone’s Red Pear, camel (tan) and orange; and the winter capsule is coming along nicely in navy, olive and a greenish-gold akin to Pantone’s Ceylon Yellow. Please know what a positive effect your advice has had on this grateful reader, and I look forward to you presenting more capsule wardrobes such as in today’s post.
In appreciation, Rebecca in Rose
Happy to see The Maple back! I’ve long wanted more of that wardrobe.
Thank you for this clarification, it is very helpful. Love this
Love indigo/denim, red or wine and winter white combinations.
Where you use black, I switch out to navy… but really, love them all!
Janice,
Great ideas ! I love the olive and browns capsule, and I could see the burgundy with tan or taupe instead of the gray ! The color wheel thing-a-ma-jig now is better understood, thank you ! I’ll be packing this Sunday again for a trip to the south and visiting my own offspring and theirs ! Your “ Whatever’s Clean 13 “ shall be my template, with planned rewears as we shall be visiting two different families in two separate locations .
I would love to see a wardrobe in petrol/peacock/teal (so many names for that color) and black, plus whatever accent color you would like.
Hi! A search on the site for “black petrol” will give you the biggest post list of the combinations already done.
The grey and burgundy wardrobe is so close to what I pulled together for the fall. My choices were grey, denim, white, mauve, and plum, with accents of tan shoes and jewelry. It worked very well, but I could definitely simplify some things. This outline should help with that!
I don’t wear sweaters or turtlenecks and live in a warmer climate, so I need to figure out what basic pieces could substitute for yours. I just purchased a lightweight hoodie that might work as a stand-in for a turtleneck under jackets and vests.
Please not that “gizmo”. Am I the only follower who suffers from migraines and finds her eyes seriously affected by that pattern? I could never, ever read a book with that on the page. Themscreen is lso almost impossible. Also, I find the colours/seasons business a bit confusing as, like others, I think of my personal colouring in terms of the original seasons. So as a summer I find myself faced with yellow – a colour I shy away from.
I’m going to work on something less troublesome. I had no idea…
hugs,
Janice
It makes me dizzy, too. I have to avoid looking at it. Otherwise, I love this series.
Ohhh…Look at all that BROWN! So glad to see it coming back. I like this nice, neat system that carries a person through the year.
When I was pregnant with my first child I got to put together a wardrobe very much like this, and I just loved the simplicity of getting dressed every day.
Love Maples too. One of my all time favorites. I remember the first wardrobe you did using it as inspiration…sigh
Thank you so much for this post! You are tying everything together for me. I’m having such fun with this. Wish it wasn’t so long til Monday!! You are VERY talented and it’s very much appreciated!!
Sorry some people are having difficulty with your new symbol for the time of year. I thought it was brilliant and easy to understand. On a different note, that pink sweater is yummy!
I was really happy that I dreamed it up, but if it’s going to be a problem for some of my friends, I can think of something ELSE. I can always think of things…
hugs,
Janice
I love the Greys! BTW I will be visiting Chicago mid December coming from a mild California climate. May I ask for recommendations for outerwear including footwear?
Thanks! Teri
Oh my… The best option is to scroll back through earlier blog posts and see what I’ve used here. My favorite shoes currently are Blondo short boots from Nordstrom, and my down vest from Lands’ End. When the weather shifts, that will possible change too!
hugs,
Janice
More thinking… waterproof boots, definitely. And a really REALLY warm coat – a legitimate parka is never wrong in Chicago! Something to at least cover your ears, and gloves. It’s quite a change… You might want to check around about borrowing a parka from someone, since good ones aren’t cheap, and you don’t necessarily need to buy one for just a visit. Does Rent the Runway do outerwear?
hugs,
J
Hi Janice- thanks for all your work on this. I have to admit – I am so confused.
I thought I understood that there were going to be 4 seasonal wardrobes, each with 13 items. Somehow, I got it in my head that I had to keep going with my original colour choices even into the next 13 weeks (if that makes sense)? So, that if I chose grey, black, merlot and cram for my first 13 fall items, then I carried that into the winter season as well.
Now, I think I understand that I could change colour schemes and basically come up with 4 “capsule” type wardrobes that vary according to the seasons here? Is that right? Or have I completely lost the thread?
Many thanks for all your brilliant ideas – even when I seem to have messed them up!
Honestly, this is no help whatsoever: you can do either! If you want to pull together separate 13-piece wardrobes for the 4 seasons, with varying accent colors, you certainly can. Or you can sort of blend them all together, the way I am, into 1 big wardrobe of 52 pieces. Then you just choose the pieces that are right for the time of year that you’re in where you life.
That said, I personally could see doing kind of a hybrid, where all of my neutrals through the year are black and white, but then you can shift your accent colors from… (hmmm…) red for winter, shades of blue for spring and summer, and maybe shades of purple for autumn. The accent colors don’t have to go together, so long as they go well with your neutrals.
Clear as mud? If you’re still muddled, let me know and I can try to help more!
hugs,
Janice
Thank you, Janice, for making time for such a clear and thoughtful reply. I understand much better where I am going with my wardrobe (I think) – and look forward to Mondays for your posts! You are simply awesome.
Big Sunday Hugs!!!!
Janice
Hi Janice
I’m loving your posts and creativity. I’m deliberately losing weight (two stone (28 pounds) so far) and your principles are helping me to review my wardrobe as I discard clothes that are too big. I’m exploring new colour combinations and pinpointing where the gaps are (currently patterned or textured tops to my plain bottoms). It makes shopping easier because I know what I’m looking for. I needed to replace my ancient long trench coat and I’ve always wanted a pale blue coat to add to my wardrobe. Problem solved when I saw a blue long trench coat in Mark’s and Spencer! I was even looking at the Persian rug in my lounge for inspiration the other day – red and cream with accents of blue-grey and black or navy.
Keep up your good work!
Thank you!
hugs,
Janice
Thank you for showing different color schemes. The colors of the Autumn painting really resonate with me.
XO
That gray, white, and burgundy wardrobe is fabulous! – nancyo
Now that I have the hang of this – and see that the first four shirts are not part of this wardrobe, and that we’re really talking four “whatever’s clean 13” wardrobes – I am having a great time following these. I have many more clothes than this in my fall wardrobe, because last year I began a less formal job and I haven’t decided which pieces to jettison completely yet, and I realized I like blue a lot more than black. But this helps rein things in as I make new combinations. I do like blue and black together, so I don’t have to get rid of all my nice black and gray things!
May I just chime in to comment the wheel. The thing is that I suffer from certain neurological condition, so seeing the wheel makes me nauseous and sick, even for the brief period that takes to scroll down. I would really appretiate if there weren’t black sections in it! Small wheel isn’t that bad, though, just a big one. I am describin this since you mention the book. Seing that kind of pattern in print makes me nauseous, too, it is not due to screen. I wouldn’t be able to look at that page if that was a book. Black wedges are the issue, they make the whole wheel spinning in very unpleasant way.
Just a thought, in case you may be interested.
I’m working on a substitute; I definitely need to be told about these things! I wouldn’t know if nobody was kind enough to take the time to let me know…
hugs,
Janice
Hi Janice,
Love The Maple, I took these colours with me to visit Vancouver, to see Luzia by Cirque Du Soleil. For four days. Warm colours but cooled off by the greys. Thank you for the capsule suggestions, I took three bottoms, three tops, and three scarves, plus sweater and coat. It all popped into a tiny 20 inch bag. Great I use to travel with a huge suitcase, even for a weekend. Thanks
By the way the black and colour circle looks like it is moving, not good for migraines, thanks for trying to find something else.
Meant to mention also, thanks for the descriptions and these three wardrobes, it now all makes sense to me. Please could we have some more colour schemes (wardrobes), if you have the time.
Thanks
Janice, I’m really enjoying following along and would love to see a dark brown, red, mustard and ivory wardrobe palette. Thanks for all you do.