May 22, 2024
She’s never worn accent colors – there are a ton of neutrals, and she’s always been just fine with them!
But she saw this scarf…
scarf – Echo
Immediately, she saw colors that she loves. It’s not that she’s never liked accent colors, but until now, none of them really felt like her. Who are we to question?
scarf – Echo
Her Common Wardrobe is migrating slowly toward spring – a black top with ruffled sleeves is about as racy as she’s ever really gone! But she does have summer tops and a pair of shorts, so she’s off to a good start:
Ruffle-sleeve top – J.Crew; white tank top – Lands’ End; black cardigan – J.Crew; chambray shirt – J.Crew; white shirt – Alex Mill; white short-sleeved shirt – J.Crew; white tee – J.Crew; black tee – J.Crew; linen tee – Alex Mill; jeans – Alex Mill; natural chinos – J.Crew; black shorts – J.Crew
Then one day, she decided to just jump in and shop! She’s still not made the move to wearing earrings – THAT feels like too much a change… (yes, I have two friends who NEVER wear earrings – but then I also have a friend who wear at least six…)
And the green top? She just couldn’t resist it. Sometimes, it’s just that simple – our first instincts are often flawless.
Necklace – Brook and York; cherry quartz bracelet – Niyala; bracelet duo – Arms of Eve; shell pink linen shirt – L.L.Bean; rose wash Henley sweater – L.L.Bean; sunrise pink shorts – L.L.Bean; small scarf – Fable England; spruce wrap top – Lands’ End; sandals – Papillio; wood lily tunic – Lands’ End; rope tote – J.Crew
When she gets home and assembles her spring wardrobe, this is what she has – she’s feeling a bit quivery about wearing the colors, but she’s ready for a big update!
Here are a few outfits that jump off the bed in her eyes – I’m not sure quite how many total possibilities there are – dozens?
She’s not at all sure that she will ever find something in that bright chartreuse that she’s eager to wear. And that’s fine.
Do you know anyone who wears mostly neutrals? Well, you know me, and I wear black, white and grey ALL SUMMER. I honestly don’t think I have a thing in any true “color color” for hot weather…
Is that weird?
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, I assembled some outfits inspired by the colors in the painting “Paris Street: Rainy Day” by Gustave Caillebotte. The most interesting thing I still take from this is that it’s really two adjacent paintings…
Like this wardrobe? Save it to Pinterest!
This is great, but I wonder what about yellow… The frame of this scarf in neon lime is very strong, so perheps it will do?
I didn’t see any garment in that color that appealed to me at all, and I suspect that this heroine might find that color a beat of a leap from an “all neutral” wardrobe. Maybe in the autumn, a classic cardigan in a softened version of this yellow… hmm?
hugs,
Janice
Janice-have you noticed that, when a garment is made in in many of the bright colors, the style is floofy, overly draped or cut in ways unflattering to most bodies?
And, there’s nothing at all weird about wearing neutrals all summer, even black if you love it.
YES! In all fairness, I’m finding that lot of clothing is poorly made, cut oddly with too much fabric and not enough design, and THEN the fabric is synthetic. There’ a reason that I’m becoming more and more loyal to the handful of brands from which I buy clothes.
Sheesh…
hugs,
Janicee
Sigh…. Can’t decide whether I adore your lovely stories or your beautiful capsules more….❤️
Common core for warm weather! Yay! Lovely pink.
hilariously, I never realized to change the Common Wardrobe for summer! i always pictured it as a work clothes thing. but OF COURSE it’s perfect for setting up a summer wardrobe.
Haha same! I kept thinking it doesn’t work in the summer without realizing you need to modify for summer! The cut, color, fabric choice, whatever. Funny how sometimes the penny drops late!
Fabulous choices Janice! I think the yellow/ lime would be a little strong for someone just starting to jump into the world of accent colors, so it makes sense not to see it yet.
Me too: black/white/grey. Winter is much easier but I find summer in my hot sticky climate a real challenge. Love to see what you’d come up with.
Lol just to make it harder, I need sleeves and don,t wear shorts
Same, Ann.
I hear you. Whether to hide figure flaws or for modesty, shorts and tanks are not for everyone, especially us senior women. I do still wear tank tops but usually as a first layer with a coordinating open blouse or wrap. My go-to top in warm weather is a lightweight, 100% cotton V-neck tee with elbow length sleeves from Chico’s. I have several different colors. Both Lands’ End and L.L. Bean are now carrying elbow-length tees. As for shorts, I can get by with a 10″ length, just above the knee. Chico’s Brigitte style (tummy smoothing) works for me in both pants and shorts. I have their shorts in black, navy and tan which I wear a lot now that the weather is warm. The shorts also come in white, etc.
Dang Auto-Fill. Debra Boyer and Debra Indy are the same person. I think the location is more helpful than last name. Need to figure out how to add a profile pic.
Ann,
Ditto !
Sewlibrarian, after reading your comment yesterday about Loes Hinse, I did some research. Quiet clothes, indeed! What I saw was classic, elegant and looked comfortable. Inspirational style. I so wish I sewed.
Yes, you’ve nailed her design ethos!
In case you’re thinking of buying the Lands’ End tunic in the Wood Lily color. I have purchased this garment and a few others in this color – leggings, striped blouse, gauze shorts. Wood Lily is more of an orange coral, very vibrant, not as seen online or in the catalogs. Fortunately, the color does work for me, and I already had other coordinating pieces in this color family. The tunic’s fabric is a very soft gauze, and Lands’ End has some other garments in this fabric in other vibrant colors. Nice lightweight, breathable pieces for hot summer weather.
Funny thing… At the very bottom, I noticed your retrospective back to Paris Street rainy day painting. Followed the link and lo and behold there is my current summer and spring wardrobe! So I immediately pinned it as even more inspiration. So many of your posts are truly timeless!
This would be really pretty for the right person. To me the green kind of sticks out a little, but I have no constructive advice on how to “fix” it, and I do like it with the black shorts. Like many others, I don’t wear shorts, and when I wear tanks I too layer a lightweight topper over it. And crowd my arms with bracelets to take attention away from my old lady arms. Coworkers laughed when I told them the reasoning for all the bling. In the summer I tend to live in dresses unless traveling or some other activity dictates pants, and then I have some very lightweight pants that I wear. All in all though, this is very pretty as is the scarf.
Does anyone else recall the term “house-dresses”? My grandma used to wear them all the time. This is going back 50-60 years, but my vague memory was a cross between a short robe and a cotton summer shift. I never saw her in shorts…ever!
House dresses are the most comfortable lounge wear ever!
House dresses remind me of Kaftans or frumpy shapeless dresses that you wouldn’t wear outside the house. I love reading alternate perspectives on it. Not sure where I picked up a negative view of the term, but would be happy to rewrite the mental narrative. I think that was how my grandmother used it. She was beautiful in whatever she wore, but it was her perspective ” not appropriate/ good enough to wear outside”
My grandmothers both had house dresses and they only wore them around the house. Maybe outside to sweep the porch but definitely not out and about. I guess that’s how I equate workout clothes. I wear them to workout in but nowhere else. The few workout friends who are of my generation all understand and agree. The ones younger say I’m crazy to not wear my leggings, sports bra and tank to the store. It’s comfortable and you look fine are the comments. Just can’t do it.
Oh yes, my grandma only wore it around the house! But she was at our house all the time! My Mom and Dad had 4 children in 27 months plus 2 more in the next few years.
Does crowding your arms with bracelets work as a distraction tool? Asking for a friend – wink wink! My mother wore tank tops but even though I’m smaller than she was, I just can’t do it.
I jumped in to see if others never wear earrings. I don’t! I do have vintage clip-ons if I’m in the mood and situation. But ick, I don’t want anything on my ears. I wear little jewelry, mostly brooches or natural stone bead necklaces. I don’t like the feel of chains. And my wrists are too big for bracelets. Literally.
Cindy, my great grandma wore house dresses. Hers were a soft print shirtwaist style. I dreamed of the day I would be like her but I haven’t found anything appealing. I wear long Bermuda shorts and t-shirts in our very hot summers.
My mother wears loose cotton dresses that we get from Vermont Country Store. They’re not cheap, but they hold up well and they’re VERY pretty…
hugs,
Janice
Thanks for mentioning the Vermont Country Store. I’ve been on the hunt for new jeans for my 97YO mother who prefers a pull-on style in a lightweight cotton/poly blend which is hard to find. Her comment is they don’t makes clothes anymore for people like her. I think I found an option at the Vermont Country Store. Fingers crossed!
My sister and I have purchased what my 97 year old mother calls track suits from Vermont Country Store. She likes the top to zip up the front not half zip and not pullover. It’s a great catalogue for many things!
I have 2 questions about the common wardrobe. What should you do if core items in the list of common wardrobe items are those that you are not allowed to wear at work (no tees, sleeveless tops, denim, sweatshirt, sandal with toe strap, sneakers, etc)? I also wonder about swapping the black for a light tan as the 2nd neutral?
Dear Kari,
You can do all of the swapping necessary to make this general idea work for you – back in the original version, I realized that I was NEVER going to wear a light blue oxford shirt, even though about 50 of my co-workers seemed to wear them frequently. So I substituted a black & white striped shirt, which is practically a neutral in my life!
What I really want us to learn and remember from A Common Wardrobe is that it’s possible to wear these “quiet clothes” frequently, get good value from buying high-quality versions of them, and still not look like everyone else we see. Failure to invest in nice neutrals make getting dressed harder than it needs to be – and life is hard enough!
hugs,
Janice
I’m in the No Color Camp as well. I have neural diversity challenges and wearing color is overwhelming. Soft fabrics only. No jewelry ever… too jingly. Long sleeves and hats always for sun protection. Pants are uncomfortable, only skirts.
My neutrals are navy, soft white, dark charcoal with dark brown leather goods. I do have one periwinkle cardigan that I wear if I’m feeling wild.
In summer I wear silk, linen or cotton tanks with a long sleeve linen cardigan or linen shirt over it, a mid length skirt (xcvi) and giant sun hat.
No one has ever said I dress boring, in fact these days I’m often the best dressed person in the room!
I buy beaded bracelets online, usually in sets of three and love wearing them, and they absolutely don’t jangle. They stretch over your hand and are frequently the only jewelry I wear. I’m not sure if I can mention the brand name here, so let me just say that the bracelets are made in Nepal and the company says they are the “original roll over bracelet” company. If you find any online that you like, make sure you sign up for emails from the company first so you can get notifications of the sales which certainly make the bracelets more reasonably priced.
It’s a pretty scarf, but the border ruins it for me. I wonder why the shocking yellow was chosen?
I never wear earrings. I let my piercings close. I’m allergic to everything. I do like earrings. Maybe I should try again?
Have always loved the common core pieces.
I’ve had very good luck with earrings from Simply Whispers: https://www.simplywhispers.com/
Janice,
I am packing today for a 6 day trip out of state for the holiday, and while I start with two or three , 3 piece neutral clusters ( one neutral is dark, one is lighter, and one is a basic color — denim blue), I have to hold back magpie me from adding too many accent colors into the mix. It would be so simple to pack if I could wear the same outfit both day and evening, but this group of people we’ll be staying with religiously change for dinner, so I end up packing far more than I really want to , so I use that as my excuse to pack one more color !
Janice, thank you for clarifying. I need to do some creative adjusting to the core CW garments. My quiet clothes until recently were acceptable, but per outdated rules are not allowed in one building…where I expect to start working soon. For Lily, you may need to wear 14k or higher posts or a platinum. I end up with an infection if I try anything lower than 14k. Not sure what you have near you, but Sam’s Club has a tiny but affordable selection of earrings. Check in person if you can…though they do have jewelry online too.
Heads up for all of the brown lovers…the new Talbots catalog has a number of very attractive brown items…solid and print.
Greedy woman that I am, here’s a link to Talbots that will generate wee commissions for me… (seriously small – usually less than 1%. Still, it helps!)
https://shopstyle.it/l/cbGTU
Thank you, as always, for remembering that this is my work, as well as my joy…
love,
Janice
Well, I’m all about color. I adore it! But, having the common core wardrobe of neutrals stretches your wardrobe further. My neutrals (particularly denim) are the backbone of what I wear and I throw in the color for a bit of “jeuje”. This capsule presents a fantastic balance.
Any suggestions for those of us with the opposite issue: lots of accent colors and few neutral items?
During the pandemic, I moved with only a few belongings to a new country with a much sunnier climate and found myself buying much more colorful clothes (turquoise, greens, blues, violet, orange, hot pink) which work with my new silvery hair.
But now I need to find a way to add in neutrals to create a coordinated wardrobe.
Hello,
I would combine white, beige or a light gray with it.
Any suggestions for those of us with the opposite issue: lots of accent colors and few neutral items?
During the pandemic, I moved with only a few belongings to a new country with a much sunnier climate and found myself buying much more colorful clothes (turquoise, greens, blues, violet, orange, hot pink) which work with my new silvery hair.
But now I need to find a way to add in neutrals to create a coordinated wardrobe.