November 25, 2024
Our heroine has a couple of weekend holiday trips this year, and since the people that she will see don’t overlap (that’s handy!), she’s decided to really refine a small wardrobe and take it for all of her trips…
AND!!! She’s really being brought down by the darkness that comes so early in the Northern Hemisphere this time of year. Therefore, she’s decided that she’s going to work with bright colors to accent her chosen neutral of navy…
This scarf would be delightful in the heat of summer, but she’s going to make it work in November and December!
She’s chosen her accent colors from the many that she found in the scarf. Orange might be tough to find in November (oddly enough – isn’t it a fall color?), but she’s not worried… She doesn’t need to have every color with her!
Her travel outfit is BRIGHT! And warm, too. She will hang her navy coat in the back seat, in a garment bag, for when she wear a skirt. Otherwise, she’s going to be indoors almost all the time. Her family and friends won’t be hauling her out to sled-ride or ice skate!
and yes, you can put a pin on an insulated coat or vest – just do it carefully. I can generally get at least the insertion point for the pin’s bar to fit through a bit of quilting stitching, and then I poke the tip of the bar back out very gently. When you take the pin off, take a minute to smush the holes away…
scarf – Echo; snowman brooch – Talbots; earrings – Talbots; red vest – Lands’ End; white turtleneck – L.L.Bean; green cashmere sweater – J.Crew; navy knit cords – L.L.Bean; red shoes – Minnetonka
Knowing that she will be attending at least one even that’s solemn and that her mother likes her to dress conservatively for that, she makes certain that she has enough of her core navy to prepared. Offending people is NEVER in good taste, no matter how great you look.
Ornament earrings – Talbots; green earrings – Gold & Honey; blue lightbulb brooch – Talbots; fuchsia scarf – Elizabetta; necklace – Gem Bazaar Jewellery; evening bag – Jewel Badgley Maschka; pink cotton sweater – Boden; navy cashmere sweater – J.Crew; cobalt turtleneck – Lands’ End; skirt – Boden; striped silk shirt – Boden; Navy pants – L.L.Bean; loafers – Earth; flats – Vionic
The night before she leaves, she double-checks everything – navy opaque tights? navy sheer stockings? extra socks?
Picturing your outfits, and actually imagining getting dressed, can help you remember these essentials.
Enough brights to cheer up everybody she sees, and enough neutrals to be appropriate – just right!
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, I was adding metallic accessories to wardrobes to dress things up for the holidays. I’m still astonished by seeing shoes with SPIKES STICKING OUT OF THEM! A careless moment crossing your legs could require plastic surgery…
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Definitely my kind of wardrobe; navy with accents is my style. I could wear any one of those outfits.
With regard to brooches (pins to you) going into quilted items, you are right, use the quilting lines, but I also put a piece of felt behind to support the pin and put less stress on the garment. I do this for knitted items too. In fact I keep a felt square in my jewellery box, ready to use. My bug bear is the sticky backed “badges” that you expected to wear at venues to show you’ve paid and may enter. They sometimes leave a sticky residue on quilted items, or waxed coats, that is impossible to get off. I refuse such stickers these days.
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Perhaps keep a pretty pin that you can use to pin the sticker on to your garment. That could work if you can leave the paper backing on the badge.
Mostly they’re peel-off, so no backing. I have occasionally brought my own pin-on version for such times.
In many places these kinds of temporary IDs are necessary for security. I work in an office that is frequently threatened and has armed guards. I hope if you visit you value the security of the people who work there at least as much as you value your clothes, and please wear the sticker, even if it clashes or leaves a residue. Stepping down off my soapbox now
Joining you on your soapbox – or am I taking it now that you’re stepped down? Belovedest is in the same boat – put on the sticker!
Offices in big cities get threatened a lot, and it’s scary…
love,
Janice
I wouldn’t refuse where security is an issue, ( I don’t think I’ve been anywhere like that) it’s more at open air venues such as gardens, or heritage museums where you wander over a large site. I try to put the sticky sticker on an area of garment that doesn’t stay sticky afterwards, cotton shirt or scarf usually. I’m always happy to reshow my admission ticket or membership card.
I just wanted to add that I have found a way to get this residue off, even if you’ve washed the garment with the sticker on. There is a company called Schaeffer’s and they generally do oil products but they have something called Citrol that is a de-greaser and I use it on all my laundry (ok, I don’t have any super fine clothes). But I have used it on grease stains, sticker residue and much more. This is not an ad, I just know how hard this is. Honestly it comes in a case and my friends love it so much that I buy a box and they buy the cans off me! :) My FIL used to sell the oil, that’s how we found out about it.
Get a clear badge holder either the clip-on style or one with a lanyard. Then slide the sticky-backed badge into it. I have a lot of these badge holders from my trade show days.
I am in love with the necklace by Gem Bazaar. It can be worn with everything.
I’d love to have that pink cardigan.
This wardrobe is fun without being over the top.
A great way to start a Monday.
Thanks, Janice!
I love this! Of course, you all know how I love my color, and navy is my basic. Back to work today after several days off because of power outages due to the cyclone bomb that roared through here Tuesday. Some schools still don’t have power, but most of them do at this point. Many people still without. Your heroine isn’t the only one craving brights – I’ve got a red and orange outfit all laid out and ready to go. The little snowman brooch is adorable. My personal favorite is an Avon Christmas tree I bought close to 20 years ago….
Such a pretty capsule to me! I love the brightness and cheerfulness here. That being said, it’s just not saying “holidays” to me. I completely agree that holidays don’t have to be kitschy red and green! However, this is a capsule I’d take with me somewhere in January or February—cozy, bright and cheerful. At that point, I’m completely over the holidays and looking forward to Spring. Up north here, that doesn’t happen until late April, so I love bringing in these cheerful colors long before the temperatures warm up. This is inspiring me for my February ‘city’ visit trip.
I would definitely wear the pink and cobalt with navy. I’d love to find an orchid pink cardigan that can be worn most of the year around. The snowman brooch is so cute. I know that the bauble earrings come with a brooch. Wearing non-traditional colours during the winter certainly brightens me up. I’ll be getting out the sparkle too.
Probably just not fully awake yet, but it looks to me as if she packed a pink cardigan and scarf (“in her bag”), but then didn’t wear them? Sounds like something I might do!
Sweater is missing from “everything” as well. I noticed it, too, because it was my favorite.
Yep – I completely overlooked it! So she actually has more options than I showed, which is always the case…
Yours in forgetfulness,
love,
Janice
It’s a lovely pick, in any case.
I love the cute brooches but have a problem styling them. How / where to pin it so it doesn’t look like an insect just landed on you? With a scarf, necklace, just alone. Ideas please.
You could try pinning to the collar of a turtleneck, or a lapel of a blazer, the knot of a scarf if you’re not afraid of holes. I wouldn’t try that with silk, but maybe a knit or woolen scarf. Have fun with it!
I have attached a brooch to a beret or stocking cap if I’m going to an outdoor event— tree lightings, botanical garden holiday lights. Definitely on the turtleneck if it’s a small brooch. Adding here, that I love the discussions in comments as much as the posts. Lots of insights and clever ideas. 💙💙💙💙💙💙
Putting a brooch on a hat is genius! It always catches the eye and brings a smile…
love,
Janice
OH MY GOSH, once again I want everything! I love how you coordinated the colors! I love the grass green color but will look for something not so $$. BTW you don’t show up in my Facebook feed like you use to, even when I add you to favorites. Glad for the newsletters! Hugs, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
This is a fun one!
I’m traveling to Norway mid-December to visit my son and his family. He’s in the Air Force and is stationed there. We’ll be there specifically for my grandson’s baptism and I feel like I’m going to have to take my whole winter closet to accommodate everything from frigid Christmas markets to religious events. I have a black/grey core with accents of dark teal and turquoise (65 year old redhead going white). Any ideas would be amazing even if it doesn’t happen before we leave.
I travelled to Poland three years ago and received tons of invaluable help from Janice (she wrote two posts for me!) and the gang (via the comments on those posts). Here are some tips I from them and from actually being in a northerly (it’s farther North than my home in Canada!) European country in November and December:
– Comfortable footwear is essential; you’ll probably do a lot of walking. Outdoor footwear needs decent grooving on the soles for traction in ice and snow.
– A puffer coat is perfect for travel. It’s warm, waterproof/ resistant, it forms a windbreak and it mashes down in your suitcase.
– I don’t wear hats but a pair of earmuffs saved me on multiple occasions. They take very little space. As a backup, my puffer coat had a built-in hood when I needed full head coverage.
– I took a crossbody purse and bought a mid-sized, non-sports backpack. This freed up my hands and gave me storage while shopping. It also gave me a place to stash gloves, a pashmina….whatever I needed during the day. Then, the backpack served as my personal item on the planes.
– Janice designed a wardrobe grid for me based on a few bottoms (mine were all skirts), an equal number of second layers and then she included twice as many tops as the bottoms. It’s a great formula!
– We discuss neutrals and pops of colour frequently here and this was an issue for me. Poland’s fourth quarter weather is very grey. Unrelenting, grey, cloudy skies. That sort of thing affects me so I was glad that I had a cheerful red scarf with me and a couple of colourful tops to wear with my navy skirts. I don’t know if this will be an issue in Norway but it’s worth considering.
– Try not to overpack going over; you’ll probably need room for a few treasures on the return trip. 😃
I hope you have a marvellous and memorable time!
Good grief! I misspelled my own name in my comment above! 🤦🏼♀️
Thank you for these ideas!!
I have a question about Minnetonka. I drool over them. I noticed you planned to pack them for your trip. Do you walk in them or are they for airplane and hotel? I have a pair unlined that haven’t really worked even at home. I just got new ones which I now won’t be wearing. Sitting here with a newly broken foot realizing all I won’t be doing this winter. But bright happy clothes I can do! I enjoyed this!
I walk in them – my feet don’t need support as much as they just need some room! Here at home, my old pair are now basically slippers; a lot of the time here at home I’m only wearing socks, but if I want to dash down (48 floors) to check my mail, or pick up something from the grocer (49 floors down!) I just slip them on and go.
My neighbors here in the building might well think that I only own them and my gym shoes! But in a setting like this, you tend to see your neighbors in… casual attire. I’ve seen more than one bathrobe in the grocer…
love,
Janice
Hahaha… I’ve twice lived in a high rise and I’ve seen it all. One was in a building near the lake in Chicago then called OntErie Center. There was a groceries across the street, lots of Nortwestern med students and the pajama look was definitely a thing.
This may be my favorite scarf in the series so far! I enjoyed the accent colors, and the what appears to be last-minute substitution of red for orange worked out well, esp. for those who like to wear red at least a bit during the winter holidays. The lime green and pink are wonderful non-traditional but very cheerful and navy-compatible accent colors for winter, and I love the individual pieces chosen for them.
I really like the ornament earrings and the toggle-front necklace…though with the necklace, my mind does boggle a bit at the description of some of the beads as “neon (glass) apatite” because it’s unclear whether the beads are actual neon apatite stones or a glass bead to made to mimic them. I don’t have anything against ersatz stone beads (and neon apatite can be pricy so it’s not an unreasonable substitution), but of clarity in product descriptions is frustrating!
THIS capsule is SO me. The styles you present are always what I love. But I live in these bright accents. (Scurries off to check out that scarf!) 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
During winter, dress in bright clothes both for yourself and others. You will enjoy the reactions. Although I do wear deeper colors this season, I like to mix in lighter and brighter colors. My favorite thing to do is wear my woven coat-of-many-colors I bought in Ecuador ten years ago. Lots of smiles and compliments. People need those pops of color to lift their spirits during the gray times.
Wow to those in high rise apartments. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like to not go out but instead to go down to the shops etc. Small 2bedroom semi house here with a 10 minute walk to the butcher,baker,optician,doctor etc but it’s very cold outside today so you have the advantage.
Within a ten minute walk of my apartment, we have EVERYTHING. I’ve lived in the center city so long… but I’ve never had a driver’s license… seriously! And I’m 64…
Even in the city, that’s unusual!
love,
Janice
Love the idea of adding brightness with a beautiful scarf! Do you have any tips on pairing scarves with different outfits? Thanks for the inspiration!
I can’t imagine not having a driver’s license! I was driving by age 12, took the driver’s ed class so my parents could get the discount on their insurance. The first time we went out driving for the class the instructor asked me how long I’d been driving! I know I never put in the driving time required! I hope to still be driving at age 92, the same as my dad. Okay. I did grow up on a ranch in Montana. Things are a little different in the farm and ranch lifestyle.
I don’t think our lives could possibly be more different – at least when it comes to needing a car! Not having a car is what made it possible for me to travel so much through the years – no $200/month parking, no insurance, no maintenance, no gas… You get the picture!
However, I have frozen some body parts, waiting for buses or trains!
love,
Janice
This is really a beautiful scarf with many possible combinations.
I usually choose a patterned scarf or item of clothing and take matching pieces for traveling.