February 23, 2024
This Year, She Wants to Keep Things Simple…
Simple, like this:
She doesn’t want too many things. She doesn’t want lots of flowers or stripes or novelty prints. She wants calm…
Her colors are going to be drawn from this painting – she’s going to use the wee table legs as her excuse to include some brown in her Spring wardrobe!
She starts with rose… this is really what caught her eye first, when she found “her” painting…. that rose wall!
Rose wash cardigan – L.L.Bean; short-sleeved sweater – L.L.Bean; currant tee shirt – Alex Mill; wild rose scarf – Echo; jeans – L.L.Bean; ballet flats – Seychelles
Next, she finds her beige things. They’re not all the same color, and that’s just fine. Beige is nice that way…
Short sleeve shirt – J.Crew; earrings – Amadeus; linen tee – J.Crew; cotton cardigan – L.L.Bean; pants – J.Crew; sandals – Schutz
Knowing that Spring isn’t always warm, she feels drawn to the idea of including some brown in her wardrobe…
Brown cardigan – Lands’ End; Casablanca bandana – Echo; soft nutmeg tee – Lands’ End; shirt – Lands’ End; pants – Lands’ End; loafers – Aerosoles
And last, she wants some white linen in her wardrobe. Many people wouldn’t include white here – she already has beige. They wouldn’t include white – all of her colors are warm, and white isn’t warm…
She wants white. That’s all that matters… Some really hot days, there’s just nothing better!
Linen tunic – Lands’ End; earrings – Kendra Scott; sweater – Eileen Fisher; tee shirt – J.Crew; shorts – Lands’ End; sneakers – OluKai
She’s got everything ready to go into her closet on the first day the temperature goes above 70 Fahrenheit. Which could be next week, at the rate things are going…
While our heroine would be pretty happy just dressing from each of her four clusters, she knows full well that all four of them can be combined in a lot of ways…. just to prove this to herself, she assembles four quick outfits.
Based on the last 2 days here in Chicago, we will all be wearing swimsuits by March first!
love,
Janice
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Oh this is such a restful wardrobe. For me rose pinks with taupe and ivory rather than cream/white. Of course I would have some pattern but I’d keep it soft with a pink/brown scarf. I haven’t got much brown in my wardrobe as it’s not a main neutral for me. So this colour scheme would be an occasional foray for me.
The Van Gogh painting wardrobe is a lesson to us all. We all know that Van Gogh painted in bright clashing
colours so tone it down. Turn to the real life objects and use those colours. Instead of investing in gold coloured clothes, camel or a light brown would have been a better option. In reality, the furniture he was painting was probably pine. Blue was a good choice. The carpet is rose pink and the cover is a deeper shade of pink. Instead of lime green, a light yellow – the colour of sunshine streaming through a window and making the white walls and sheets a soft shade of cream/yellow. This would work as a wardrobe if only she had tones it down.
Morning Beth T. So I have to tell you, over the past year with the addition of four lavender pieces and four larkspur pieces, when I look in my closet now I think of you. There’s a preponderance of blue, and then with the lavender and larkspur – there you go. I had to laugh the first time it occurred to me. Have a lovely day.
🤗 How lovely you are! Wardrobe buddies! I hope you enjoy wearing them. I’m glad that you’ve dipped your toe in the water of lighter purpley colours. They are very restful colours to wear. If I’m having a grungy day, wearing lavender just calms me down and lifts me up.
I mostly have tops, tees and second layers. I bought a lavender Lands End maxi dress a few years ago that Janice featured here.
There is a film called Ladies in Lavender starring the admirable Judy Dench and Maggie Smith.
Light purple colours are supposed to be ‘in’ this year. I shall keep my eye out but I’m trying not to buy anything. I’d love a lavender coat.
Oh that is a beautiful wardrobe and perfect for my soft autumn colouring. I love pink and rose pink is suited to any age. Although white is, as you say, cool, I too would add a little here and there during Summer. Also, being soft and petite, I am only suited to soft small pattern or none at all. I will cherish this. Thank you.
Come for the fashion. Stay for the art. Thanks for the exposure to interesting art I’ve not seen before. Schwontkowski definitely has a bit of the Dali influence at work in his paintings. (Not as much in this one. I Googled him.)
You could have some fun with this capsule graying it out with a few different accent colors. A heroine can change her mind about her wardrobe can’t she??
Trying..not graying. Sometimes autocorrect is idiotic.
Much to my surprise I really liked the rose cluster. Kind of like the other day, I”m not sold on the white, but the rest of it falls together beautifully. I”m wondering if my aversion to white is just a personal thing? Probably. Have a great day ladies.
PS Janice – enjoying your instagram and OOTD…..
Yes, this wardrobe is soft and gentle which we need on some days. I echo the thanks for showing us unique and beautiful art.
I could be very content if this color palette were magically transported to my wardrobe! Truly lovely!
The tonal nature of the colors in this wardrobe make it very soothing to me. I could see myself wearing it, swapping out the rose pink for a lighter teal/aqua shade. I don’t typically like tons of neutrals, but this makes me ask myself whether it’s neutrals I don’t like, or if it’s just dark colors that I don’t like, since the standard neutrals (black, navy, charcoal, etc.) are so dark.
And yes, I would wear the white, even white and beige together!
Side note: after a recommendation from someone here, I started using a wardrobe app to track what I’m really wearing. So far this year, my most worn neutral is beige/oatmeal by a landslide, and it’s not even spring yet! I would NEVER have come to that realization without tracking what I’m wearing!
Didn’t know wardrobe tracking apps were a thing. Which app do you use?
Debra,
There are several apps out there. My personal favorite is Stylebook. I use it for tracking and for packing. It helps me remember what I need and what I take on trips.
Debra,
I’ve been using Stylebook as well and quite like it. I looked at several, and while some are free (with in-app purchases or subscription *wink*), I opted to just pay for this one – I think it was $4.99 one-time – and it’s worth it to me not to be constantly spammed with ads or offers.
It’s really eye opening isn’t it? I had a blouse (or sweater) I thought I wore frequently, yet when I looked at it on the app this summer I hadn’t worn it for years – obviously went out of favor at some point! But I would have carried on with it in my closet thinking I was wearing it frequently…..
I use StyleBook I take a look periodically and if I haven’t worn something in a year it goes in a goodwill bag – except for things like dresses, blazers, that I know I only wear once in awhile. It also helps me keep things in rotation so I DO wear them. And I love the Cost Per Wear feature.
Thanks for all your great feedback, will look into Stylebook. For a short time toward the end of my employment, I took daily “What I Wore” photos just for fun. What I wear now is very different, especially on those stay-at-home, no makeup days. Will be interesting to see which clothes are in most and least rotation.
Well, shoot. Stylebook is available only for iPhones and iPads. Any recommendations for Androids and PCs?
I’ve been using the Your Closet app on Android for many years. It hasn’t been updated in ages, but still works, free and no ads.
Janice,,
My take away is always in the planning of it first, and then colors secondarily. Recently , as I had communicated , I searched for a prior packing post about starting with 2 interchangeable outfits that included velvet jeans — it was the Small Group packing post, I think . Then , was it just this week ? 4 interchangeable outfits. Then the cluster method, which is probably my favorite, that adds a second top “ within” each outfit ensemble . For my preference, within a cluster, I might make one of the tops either an accent color or a print that can interchange with the other 3 clusters . Or not . Love it !!! Nice soft colors here in this one !
Janice, this gentle wardrobe is calming and lovely. Even though the colours are completely wrong for me I appreciate and enjoy the gentleness of it. I looked back on your “worst” wardrobe and while the garments themselves are just fine the colours were definitely questionable. All I could think of is OOPS😳.
I’ve shopped my wardrobe to dress in today’s theme. I’m wearing brown cords and a soft pink turtle neck and soft pink Gap pointelle jumper. I agree with Sheila that ivory is more flattering .
Re the wardrobe app: I just began trying one last month, thanks to the suggestion of someone in the Archives… never knew about them before. I sprang for the $20 a year Cladwell, which took me quite a while to figure out! But after taking pictures of my clothes, it’s like resurrecting my remembered and loved paper doll phase, and although there’s more stuff to set up before I can track what gets worn, it’s pretty fun to see everything put together before my eyes, and I get to nix the combinations they make, or add ‘em to a favorites list. Of course, I could just put everything out on the bed/beds…..
I agree with AK, come for the fashion stay for the art. For me it is similar: come for the style, the art, and stay for the community. Thank you Janice for all your hard work and inspiration and for creating a space where everyone can contribute.
You can learn something from EVERY person in the world. It might take a couple of conversations, but this is absolutely true…
hugs,
Janice
If the brown were a tiny bit on the cooler side of the color wheel I would happily exist in this wardrobe for a good long while. I love the rose and cream and white!
The look back was certainly eye opening. I really don’t think I would go with gold as the basis for a whole wardrobe, especially with such clashing other accents. I would want a LOT more neutrals! The blue that was included however, was just lovely.
I’m in the earliest planning stages of my first ever “girls trip” with my best friend. We’re meeting in Rapid City South Dakota sometime in the next month or two. I’ve already been playing with wardrobe ideas. What should I do…4×4, clusters or a whatever’s clean 13? I suppose time will tell! The colors are set already though: mid blue, pink and lilac tops with light and dark blue denim, gray, and black pants. I know for sure I will be relying heavily on what I’ve learned from this blog!
Thank you for all your amazing work Janice!
I absolutely love this rose color and actually tried to work it into my wardrobe this year. I had a sleeveless button up last summer in a brighter mauve-rose that looked great on me. What I have realized is the muted mauve is not the same and in fact looks pretty bad on me. Kind of the same as my skin tone. I bought some fabric in that shade and made a sweatshirt. It was super comfy but so unflattering. I ended up changing the neck binding, sleeve cuffs and bottom band to a plum color and that helped quite a bit. It’s amazing the differences in tones of colors! I actually really like the white with the other colors in this set. I think it looks really good!
Oh, how pretty.
I would also like old pink ballerinas. Combined with olive, this is my capsule. 🤩
This is gorgeous. I really love the concept of making clusters that can interchange. That way you can build the wardrobe gradually and it will feel complete at any stage.
This wardrobe is lovely! I love all colors, wish I could have it all!