September 20, 2024
I can’t believe that September is 2/3 over! You’d think I wasn’t awake every day…
Our heroine has looked at her wardrobe with cores of denim and black, and then with cores of denim and brown. Today, we’re going to see how EVERYBODY’S favorite of denim and ivory looks…
This is our heroine’s starting point – 27 garments in three “neutral” clusters, and then three “accent” clusters.
First, let’s take a last look at her hard-working core of denim garments, with yet ANOTHER group of accessories. Wearing things every week is the fastest way to get your “cost per wear” for garments down; you can buy exceptionally nice clothes and still get good value if you wear things consistently!
Earrings – J.Jill; shirt – Lands’ End; Vest – Splendid; scarf – Gerard Darel; bag – Le Sak; dress – L.L.Bean; Jacket – L.L.Bean; jeans – Lands’ End; skirt – Lands’ End; shoes – Spring Step
The ivory wardrobe core got some new accessories too. The scarf just delights me, for no reason I can explain…
Ivory cotton sweater – Lands’ End; earrings – Miss Cecelia; pincord shirt – Lands’ End; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; tee shirt – Lands’ End; Heritage stone pants – L.L.Bean; bag – Vince Camuto; oxfords – Dr. Scholl’s
For our heroine’s first week of travel, she is taking her burgundy accent cluster:
Cardigan blazer – Lands’ End; tee shirt – Lands’ End; garnet earrings – The Met Store; wrap sweater – Lands’ End; loafers – Trotters; velvet burnout scarf – The Met Store
This is the entirety of her travel capsule wardrobe – it’s clear that she won’t struggle to get dressed!
But as all wise heroine will do, our heroine du jour determines ahead of time what four outfits she may wear. Doing this may help you avoid forgetting the right shoes, or hosiery, or something else essential!
The weekend is for relaxing, doing laundry, and making certain that nothing needs to be mended… Our heroine will be happy to see evergreen clothes take the place of burgundy!
Deep forest vest – Lands’ End; cardigan – Lands’ End; shirt – Lands’ End; malachite earrings – Ann Taylor; scarf – Otto & Spike; boots – Aerosoles
Swapping three garments and three accessories from her first week wardrobe makes a LOT of difference:
Her planned outfits for this week were easy to choose:
And the week that she’s really eager for – her camel accent pieces surge to the fore!
Earrings – The Met Store; cashmere scarf – N.Peal; boots – Söfft; Cardigan – J.Crew; cashmere crewneck – J.Crew; short-sleeved sweater – J.Crew
This wardrobe pushes all of her buttons, in a good way!
As with all of these wardrobes, it would be extremely difficult to assemble a truly bad outfit from these clothes…
Here’s what her 19-piece wardrobe looks like with denim and ivory as her core neutrals. While this would be a lot for a travel wardrobe (although if she wears 3 garments, she’s only packing 16…), but it would be pretty fun!
I’ve got all kinds of things in mind for next week, but week after next, I’m going to tackle this whole idea again. What colors for neutrals? and for accents? The only clear indication I’ve received so far is that rust seems to be a popular accent color in the autumn…
love,
Janice
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Well I hope I’m not in the minority wanting to see Navy in some shape or form.
Nonchi, I second the navy!
I third navy too!! Also, I’d like purple and/or teal accents. This way of organizing clothes is still making my mind explode!! Since I know I’ll be moving to a retirement community and will have little storage, this is so exciting to see how to have a fantastic and varied small wardrobe. Thanks so much!! I’m creating all sorts of combinations using Stylebook and it’s amazing how many you can make out of a capsule and then that’s times three. Then I realized I could combine my three neutrals along with the jeans from the base and get an entirely new capsule! As i said, my mind is exploding!! Thanks so much Janice for this idea – brilliant!!
I’ll add my vote for navy as well.
I’d like to see navy as well.
I’d also like to see navy. And charcoal gray, light gray, and olive.
Yes to navy. And that ivory again.
Another vote for navy!
One more for navy. Purple too!
Navy, charcoal, and cream for the neutrals, purple, teal, and persimmon for the accents!
Yes! Navy, Charcoal, Ivory with Periwinkle, Teal, and Mint is my current Autumn wardrobe. Would love to see the outfit and accessory possibilities.
This is definitely my favorite.
For next time: maybe a darker wash denim, if your sticking with denim for the base. Neutrals could be: navy, of course, gray, light gray could be the light grouping or charcoal if that suits for a dark neutral, green, either sage or olive.
For accents: rust, warm yellow or mustard, and maybe a different warmer red than burgundy. Lilac would be lovely too.
PS
Coral for an accent. That would look lovely.
I’d like to see Navy, burgundy, and olive with denim, white, and black.
My vote is navy, gray and Olive for the neutrals; accents of purple and…….dealers choice for the second neutral! Citron? Looking forward to it!
I second the navy, gray and olive for the neutrals!
I second the purple request.
Purple could be good!
I second the navy, gray and olive. maybe with coral/pink and green/teal
Gray, black or navy with shades of purple and red would be wonderful!! Thank you!
I second the vote for a dark wash denim theme in the new, “switcheroo” wardrobe. Maybe I’m crazy but I interchange my navy pieces and dark denim pieces, considering them all as navy… some more casual than others.
I love the idea of a clear dove grey or white as the light neutral and the accents could be rust, mid-tone purple and verdant/emerald green.
Amazing what you can do with a clear dove grey. It’s great with other neutrals and I wear it with: flamingo pink, true lemon yellow, Kelly green, apple green, aqua, bright blue, coral, geranium red (no blue in the red), warm, clear violet.
I like the demin wardrobe a lot, but would like to see another less casual dress, perhaps a knit one, in one of the accent colors. Also a brighter accent, like lilac, coral, bright pink or green. (I know it’s not classic fall, but still.)
I love this concept! And, the change of accessories is brilliant.
For me, the neutrals would be navy, dark wash denim, light gray, olive, white (white jeans are year round for me as I live in Mississippi.) Accents: plum, white, pumpkin, rust, red, fuchsia, pink. The rust and pumpkin look fabulous with navy, camel and ivory. Love the possibilities, my mind is whirling!
Janice, you are a genius. Thank you so much!
I’d like to see navy, gray, and ivory/winter white as neutrals, and I’d love to see a clear red as an accent.
Would love those colors as well! Maybe with a mid-tone blue or pink as other accents.
So, I’m in love with the denim starting capsule. I would also, as others have mentioned, work with a darker wash, but I’d love to have my own version of these pieces for a base. I’ll also substitute a tailored denim blazer for the vest and a more traditionally cut denim jacket to work with my lifestyle. However, I’m on board for everything else. I am feeling all the feels with the burgundy cluster. I’d go more olive with the green and I’d also use the khaki cluster (albeit not wearing white pants, but khaki cords). I’m also planning on throwing in some prints for tops and scarves in these colors. This is a great plan!
I’d also like to see this variation dressed up one notch (6 piece in navy for business casual), accents for the working world; and (separately) dressed down one notch ( denim is great for the 6, darker wash preferred; accents more for vacation/retired mode – think hiking, yoga, painting, gardening, some social time …). Colors are fabulous and make our eyes shine but I think this system has more value to be unearthed for different phases of life.
(To offer a colorway or 2: navy-charcoal-olive-ivory-pink/maroon-orange-sage/forest-chambray)
You are, as always, a generous genius Janice. Happy Friday all!
I like this idea of having a core of work basics and a separate core of casual basics. The accent pieces could intermingle between the two and even change from year to year or season to season. Thank you for helping see this. I’m at a place where I need to purchase new items but I get stuck because I want a streamlined wardrobe but I also want different levels of formality between work clothes and casual clothes. I see now that it’s ok to just build out two different sets. So simple. I was overthinking it.
You could use the same colors for formal and casual. Then you can switch to something in the middle by using one piece of each.
I love all of these denim groupings! Denim and chambray are some of my main go-tos! I like the idea of navy/dark denim for formal/casual, with accents in cream, dark gray, some kind of purple, and a smidge of hot pink or fuschia or maybe orange? I sometimes need a contrasting pop of color somewhere.
My vote is for a darker denim, dark olive, camel, and black or espresso for the base….and for the accent colors, purple or red-violet, rust, and a mustard yellow.
Janice,
Apparently I dream in color and my best dreaming time is right before I wake up . This time, I was dreaming about accent colors ( I know, I know, it’s strange) ! My concept was to keep the core of top, topper, and bottom, in each of the denim , maybe a lighter wash for the warner months and a darker wash for colder months, the brown, and the tan/ camel , but using the ivory for warmer months. And then the seasonal accent color magpie that I am comes into play.
For Autumn accent colors, in order to get in my wears, start with perhaps a warm yellow and also use a copper or rust for one week. The next week, keep that copper or rust and add olive green, dropping the yellow temporarily. The following week, keep the olive green and also use teal, Drop the olive the next week, , keep the teal, and add purple, and so on until back to yellow again .
There are 13 weeks in a season , so that means 13 different accent combination weeks of 2 different ones per week, if desired. I know that you could randomly pick any two colors any week, but this rotation makes sure that I get in my wears in a season .
As Fall morphs into Winter , I tend to want to drop the olive , rust and and yellow, and sub in a pine green and add a burgundy , keeping the teal .
Spring and Summer bring back yellow, coral and peach instead of burgundy, sage green instead of darker green , and aqua instead of teal, and some lilac . And always, always, always, off white, no matter the season .
So keep the 3 cores and rotate the seasonal accent colors . Yes, I have a lot of clothes that rotate in and out of storage , but I enjoy it ! I also don’t need to do much shopping as each rotation feels like new clothes !
I love this format of Janice’s and how you would make it work for you Shrebee. I’ve been taking copious notes from both of you. I will comment that while I wear darker denim for a little more formality, I for one do not think it works as well for the starting point. It would make a great accent group for me. As someone commented it could be considered navy.
Yes to navy, gray and olive. How lovely would this be going into spring and summer with other colors? I think this is another reason I prefer the starting point to be the mid-washed denim.
Love all of these groupings. I second the navy and light grey with rust, teal and purple. Whatever you come up with, cant wait for next week, have a great weekend everyone.
Another winning scarf from Jessie Zhao, love it!
Color preferences that work for me:
Neutrals – olive, navy, charcoal gray
Accents – coral/orange, teal/turquoise, butter yellow, periwinkle
This week’s capsules are great examples of how to decrease the cost per wear, a reminder to consider that with each purchase.
Similar from me: Black, charcoal, camel, navy neutrals; olive/sage/citric green, teal/robins egg, fire coral/rust accents. 😊. Core-Switch Wardrobe is a winner! (And yes, I agree with the idea of taking at least some of the cores up a notch or two).
Lovely wardrobes. Is there a link to the blue print scarf that is shown with the denim/ivory/green and denim/ivory/carmel wardrobes?
I’m a fan of this series! What a brilliant way to approach building a wardrobe. Count me in on the dark denim/navy, and charcoal grey for the neutrals. The accent colors might be a challenge considering what is available right now. You’ve already worked in the beautiful cream, forest, and wine. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of variety out there. I spotted some purples called dark grape, teal and some cranberry. Maybe we are stuck in a bit of a neutral holding pattern for fall?
All the comments seem to focus on colors and none talk about the styles. The only piece in the capsule that is a bit modern is the denim skirt with the slit. I would add a few more modern pieces to make this capsule less frumpy. I like 80% classic, 20% chic/modern. I also agree with the others who would like to see dark denim wash. For me, it’s smarter, more elegant.
Don’t leave out the “barrel” jeans. Very current
Hello Janice and everyone,
I agree that dark denim is good for autumn and winter, as most people swap from lighter wash denim to darker wash as season’s change.
Also in the same camp as Lorraine in that I keep whire/ivory/cream jeans in my wardrobe all year round. Granted some items are heavier weight fabric than others but these colours are never left out of rotation.
Accent colours vary depending on my mood ,what is going on and the look I am trying to achieve. As long as there are colours that are discernible from each other and not too dark I am happy to swap colour around between the dark denim and winter whites with abandon.
No colours are restricted to only go with only dark denim or only white . The colours also move around to other colour groups
Last autumn winter I added camel and light grey wool trousers into the mix and it worked out beautifully
Look forward to the next remix
knowing whatever you decide to go with will be wonderful.
Happy Friday to everyone.
Susan
Ooh! I would love to see a navy core with pale gray, white and charcoal as the second neutrals, with soft pink, periwinkle/lavender, and teal for accents. Water colors sing to my soul. Lol. I know it’s not very autumnal but I can’t help what I love.
Another thought would be going for warmer undertones for those with warm complexions. Maybe start with the 6 piece olive core, with brown, camel and cream for the three second neutrals, and rust, mustard and pumpkin for the accents. Those would look lovely.
pepper from minnesota
Being a “ warmie”, I totally agree with your color choices in the above post. They would clearly work for me, though I always like to balance warm accents with a cool one, such as throwing in teal or a medium pine green, or even the light denim blue as an accent .
I would love to see olive neutral with dark!! teal and rust/copper accents. Depending on the depth and tone of colors, any one of these could be base or accents.
These are the colors I live in. Lighter for spring and summer, darker for fall and add black for winter.
I agree that navy or dark wash denim would be great. My accent colours for fall would be purple and teat or pine.
I’ve really been enjoying these latest posts. I often wear denim and already have plenty of camel/brown/ivory clothing. Most of my denim is very dark. I’m thinking of getting more chambray but that might make more sense in the spring.
Thanks for all your hard work Janice. It really helps to have someone else highlight different ways to mix and match wardrobe items.
Take care of yourself.
Oops – I meant teal!
Another voice for navy!!!! Thx
If I wore that dark green, I would definitely wear it under a v neck or crew neck or a cardigan and top it with the checkered scarf!
Oops… forgot to specify I’d wear the striped blouse with the above!
denim, navy, gray, burgundy, forest green colors
Neutrals for me would be navy, grey, teal blue/prussian blue/ocean blue, purple/plum.
Accents purple/plum, lilac/lavender, salmon pink/cameo pink, orchid pink, silver.
I echo the charcoal/light grays vote. I’d love to see that with rust. Then, some evergreen would pair nicely with all of it, I believe.
I started with nature on that one: one day in fall I picked up tree pieces with the two grays (one almost white), a rust-colored leaf, and some dark pine needles. I think that could be a good capsule wardrobe set!
Thanks for all you do, Janice!
Camille
I love rust and grey paired together. Now I’m keen to see that combo.
I like the softness of these colors.
I have olive and rust as part of my fall wardrobe.
Hi Janice this is so helpful and inspirational! Based on your previous posts I was already trying to plan two capsules : inky/midnight blue with gold accents, and black with dark camel/rusty light brown as second combination.
Looking forward to your next posts!
fantastic
Actually you can do this with any color that harmonizes well. And it has endless possibilities. It won’t be boring at all.
This is my wardrobe with about 15 colors.
I look forward to your new posts (as always)
The base neutral for me would be the light denim. The three neutrals would be navy, charcoal and ivory. The three accents would be purple, teal and burgundy. 😀. I do know that anything you put together will be brilliant!! Thanks for all your work.
Janice,
Olive green , please ! Thank you !
Furiously reading archives and learning so much and now addicted to this site. I LOVE this capsule idea and it helps me learn how to create wearable sets of clothing for retirement, which isn’t too far away. A denim/navy core with the addition of 4 season appropriate weight fabrics and colors as accents makes me think it’s achievable. Different hues of pink, burgundy, green and blue as accent, with core colors Denim/Navy, charcoal, winter white/ivory.
You wrote: “…but week after next, I’m going to tackle this whole idea again.” Just a little reminder that you left some folk waiting, enamoured with the idea ;)
I found this idea of one larger core of execptionaly versatile neutral with several interchangeable cores of complimentary neutrals and accents on rotation absolutely brilliant. It got me rushing to my own wardrobe and storage, notebook and camera in hand. The only peeve I have is that I don’t see light wash denim working with burgundy and most other colours shown here, but these posts are still pure genius. I second requests for navy. Navy as the main character, with burgundy, chocolate brown, forest green, champagne, roman purple, etc as secondary clusters, and I’m set for a few years at least (or for 9 out of 12 months of several years)
AHHHH!!! My medicine that I take to help me sleep affects my memory – that’s my only explanation. Yes, it sounds like a lame excuse… But after we visit the new wardrobes at the first of the year, I will get myself back to the idea of neutrals and accents on rotation. I promise!
love,
Janice