I’m in full “dreaming of my summer wardrobe” mode right now, although I’m not sure how soon I’ll be able to actually go OUTSIDE to wear it… Or how often I’ll be able to go out, for a while.
That’s what fantasy is for, right? And we will all be out and about eventually; we just have to do what’s most important for a while…
There are no real rules for buying a dress, except of course making certain that you adore it, and that you’ll wear it to pieces…
If you’re following along with the Six Scarves wardrobes, I was easily able to find lovely dresses to go with each of the scarves:
navy lion and peacock scarf – Aspinal of London; navy striped tee shirt dress – L.L.Bean; mustard “A” Floral scarf – Aspinal of London; taupe dress – Eileen Fisher; Magenta Robins scarf – Aspinal of London; black knit dress – L.L.Bean
I swear, when we’re all out and about again, I’m going to be a LOT less of a sissy about wearing white clothes. You get a spot – life goes on! Perspective…
mint green “A” Floral scarf – Aspinal of London; bone dress – Eileen Fisher; Earth Mandala scarf – GISY; olive dress – Treasure & Bond; shield scarf – Aspinal of London; black knit dress – Lands’ End
I LOVE this plaid – talk about cheerful! And I think it’s just a wee bit cheeky to wear a green bracelet when all of the rest of your accessories are hot pink. I like cheekiness, in personal style matters!
earrings – Kendra Scott; dress – Polo Ralph Lauren; green onyx bracelet – Astley Clarke; sandals – Bueno; straw tote – Sensi
This next dress it the complete opposite of the madras plaid dress – this is the garment embodiment of subtlety!
earrings – Lele Sadoughi; dress – Banana Republic; white agate bracelet – Astley Clarke; tote – INC International Concepts; sandals – Blowfish
I can heartily recommend a denim shirtdress – it can be casual, or medium dressy (there is a limit to what you can do with denim!), and it can be worn open over pants and a top, or even over another dress, as a duster. Versatile is always good, when you’re trying to minimize the total number of garments in your wardrobe!
earrings – Kendra Scott; dress – Polo Ralph Lauren; bracelet – Komang Wirawan; bag – Travelon; sandals – Jambu
Another denim dress – VERY different from the shirtdress! This dress would be perfect with virtually any cardigan on our planet, and with a staggering array of accessories. Versatile, again.
earrings – Jennifer Behr; denim dress – J.Crew; leather bracelet – Djuna; sandals – Söfft; bag – INC International Concepts
Of course, any dress is versatile if you just simply love it and wear it often… The following dress would be lovely with pumps and a simple navy evening bag.
Blue crystal earrings – Talbots; dress – J.Crew; pearl & amethyst bracelet – Buana; sandals – Ara; bag – Marks & Spencer
I love this striped dress – it’s classic, but bright and cheerful! Imagine it worn over a simple white tank and capris…
Earrings – Jenny Bird; green striped dress – J.Crew; bracelet – Allsaints; tote bag – Vince Camuto; sandals – Franco Sarto
This wardrobe is finally 100% spring, and I love it! I decided to changed out the red tee shirt for a pink striped one (my goal was to find a tee shirt that matched/coordinated with the pink cardigan…).
White and black tees – Lands’ End; pink tee – Marks & Spencer; floral tee – Lands’ End; linen cardigan – Halogen; shell pink linen shirt – L.L.Bean; striped tee – Banana Republic; striped short-sleeved sweater – Max Mara; pink cotton cardigan – Lands’ End; black cropped pants – L.L.Bean; black pants – L.LBean; black skirt – Lands’ End; shirtdress – Banana Republic
The last of the spring garments! I’m always a little bit astonished to think about how very quickly 39 weeks have passed…
Just because many of us aren’t going out RIGHT THIS MINUTE doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be planning for warmer weather, and better times, right?
love,
Janice
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It’s incredible how switching just one item made the wardrobe much more cohesive! I love it.
Also, if you feel like taking requests: I’d love to see a spring/summer wardrobe in brown (more or less a cognac shade), denim, yellow, off-white and possibly a touch of pink.
I’ve noticed these are the colors that make me feel happiest when the sun comes out, but I still end up wearing a lot of black because I don’t have many shoes that go with brown (I’ve already decided my birthday will bring a pair of cognac moccasins in my life…) and the only denim pieces I currently own are a shirt I use as a “jacket” and the Fortunate Lynx bracelet, which I adore.
I actually have a pretty clear vision for my dream warm-weather wardrobe (www!), down to specific pieces, I just don’t have the means of creating it right now. I’ve had to replace homewear items that were literally falling apart, and I’ve already spent all the money I can possibly allocate to clothes this year.
Janice,
These dresses just sing “ Summer “ to me ! I wore shirt dresses in my younger and thinner days and loved them ! Now that adds incentive to get rid of my excess lbs. to feel good in one again! The black knit dress from LL Bean looks so comfy !
Wow what a pleasant surprise to get extra posts from you. What a great start to my day. Thank you Janice for bringing us a ray of sunshine. I look forward to your gorgeous educational posts and this was certainly a treat.patval
I love dresses in summer but prefer an A-line style. I’m always a bit cautious of button-through skirts and dresses because of gapping when you sit down. My favourite dress on this theme is a pink candy stripe dress which is many years old in a lovely soft cotton. It looks so fresh with very fine stripes of pale pink, rose pink, primrose yellow and duck egg green. The stripes on the top half are vertical and the stripes on the skirt are diagonal like a chevron. I wear it with thin belts and cardigans to pick out the accent colours. I also have a soft denim dress with flouncy sleeves but I can’t wear a cardigan or jacket because of the sleeves so it has its limitations.
I’m loving how your pink and black wardrobe is shaping up, though perhaps you could be brave and incorporate pink linen trousers or a pink dress. I bought a pair of pink linen trousers a few years ago and they look so pretty and have expanded my options no end.
Yesterday, I was doing more wardrobe sorting and it occured to me that by the time we are allowed out, it could be summer. So I’m sorting and storing on that basis. It’s tricky getting the balance right because it’s warm indoors but still chilly outside when we go for our daily walk. Yesterday, I was wearing a hat, scarf and gloves to because of the cold wind!
I love your blog💕. I just cut out a rust color shirt dress to make! Happy Sunday!
I just ordered a bright green dress! How fun that that’s your wtw post for this week. If it fits, I might just wear it on my walks anyway. It’s getting warm in Texas already.
Hi Janice, I have enjoyed your posts for a while now and get a lot from your advice, even though we are the opposite season down here. I can’t begin to express how much your posts are cheering me up now, when we are in a nation-wide lockdown and heading into autumn/winter. Thank you so much for your work, keep safe and well everyone!
It’s such fun seeing all these big variations on the one idea, and the accessories bring everything to life. The “embodiment of subtlety” illustration (I don’t know what yo call the colour) may have completely blown my “no shopping just now” rule.