February 7, 2025
I think of this wardrobe as that of someone who once wore black, white, and red, and has now softened and gentled her colors into grey, white and shades of burgundy…
You know, one could easily make a case that some of the background colors look like navy… I’m not going to do that unless I find that I hit a wall building this wardrobe, but it could be done!
As blessed February dawned, our heroine had this very simple eight-piece wardrobe. Nothing amazing, but extremely versatile:
Cashmere sweater – J.Crew; hoop earrings – Kendra Scott; earrings – Ann Taylor; shirt – Lands’ End; cardigan – COS; plum turtleneck – L.L.Bean; tee shirt – Lands’ End; plum tee – L.L.Bean; grey pants – L.L.Bean; scarf – rag & bone; bag – Fable England; jeans – Banana Republic; loafers – Sam Edelman; leather sneakers – Josef Seibel
This seems a good time to fill in more basics for this heroine, so I grabbed her my favorite white shirt, and a pair of black jeans. She already has grey jeans…
The sweater vest is one of my favorite garments, and they’re having “a moment” right now. If you like them, this is the time to look! And the cashmere sweater (in the oddly-named color “floral heather”) is a perfect lighter shade of our heroine’s core burgundy:
Brooch – Anna-Kaci; floral heather cashmere sweater – J.Crew; linen scarf – HeritageModa; white shirt – Lands’ End; sweater vest – COS; jeans – Lands’ End; boots – Munro
This twelve-piece capsule wardrobe would be excellent for a trip that was going to be mostly casual, but with a couple of evenings during which our heroine wants nice pants and a pretty sweater:
I’m not sure you could mess this wardrobe up – maybe the burgundy turtleneck under the rose sweater? Even that probably wouldn’t scare pets and small children…
I cheated just a tiny bit on the grid – I’ve marked that our heroine has a flannel shirt, when in fact it’s her second button-front shirt. I encourage you to make these same kinds of adjustments as you need!
love,
Janice
p.s. The earlier installments of this wardrobe can be found: Christmas Day Introduction, January.
p.p.s. Ten years ago, I helped maximize someone’s “Return On Investment” by finding some fun ways to wear orange boots! Yes, orange… If you have a wardrobe orphan that you really love, let me know; maybe I can help find some lovely way to wear it.
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These colors are lovely! My hair is just starting to go grey, but in 10 years I could see this as a great palette for me.
Love this one so much! I’d call it shades of plum. Definitely do see a dark blue in the art.
Loving these wardrobes, even the ones with colours that wouldn’t be my choice are so relaxed but put together. Easy to see how this one could be dressed up a bit for a more work place type setting…swap out the jeans for a pair of pants just a little bit dressier and throw in a skirt and our heroine is good to go. Looking forward to seeing how these groupings grow.
PS, the burgundy looks plum on my computer screen…isn’t technology grand, lol.
Personally, I think the burgundy and rose would be lovely together! Not seeing the navy. Grey is so easy to find— I doubt you’ll need it anyway.
I’m loving this wardrobe! The plummy and orchid colours are gorgeous with grey, and I’m very fond of grey. I really like the vest, which is a magical match for the lovely sailor-collared cardigan that I still adore (and am still trying to figure out how I could knit it). I’d be delighted if this wardrobe apparated into my closet. Also, I’m liking having the time to get to know one wardrobe at a time. Now that you’ve done it this way, Janice, I realise that the wealth of riches in more than one wardrobe at a time is too much for me to properly appreciate. I guess I could have put the brakes on myself, but then again, it seems not!
Hi, Vicki,
Check out this pattern on Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/16-sailor-jacket
This may work for you.
Gorgeous pattern, but A LOT of work. I think I’d just buy the Cos one!
Love the pattern. Going to check my yarn stash!
Maybe not. Looks like pattern is in Japanese and published 20+ years ago. It was suggested I borrow a copy from a library in Tokyo, over 7200 miles away!
Thank you to Jeri B & other fellow knitters :) Yes it is a gorgeous pattern!
Beautiful! I like these one-at-a-time, too. I can really focus on the selections. This one is my very favorite, so far.
Never in my life have I worn a brooch or contemplated wearing one, I am not even sure how (much like scarves this particular accessory has alluded me). However, this one is calling my name along with the pink sweater. They would look lovely with my navy core. Thank you, Janice! And I agree, I am enjoying one at a time, otherwise I tend to be hasty and not fully appreciate all the elements you have pulled together.
I too find myself challenged with wearing a brooch or scarf! Since I’m heavier on top than the bottom I don’t like the look of a scarf trailing down my chest. Maybe if I searched for You Tube videos I could find a way to tie a scarf that would work for me. And as for a brooch – I REALLY don’t like putting pinholes in my clothes! If anyone can share the secret to wearing brooches and not wrecking your clothes with holes, I’d love to hear it.
I used to wear a ton of vintage brooches back in the day, and I found that the secret was to wear brooches with very thin pins on woven clothing that had a relatively loose weave, so the pin just slips through the ward and weft of the fabrIc. Any combination with thick pins and/or tightly woven or stretchy fabric will always end up with pin holes.
The author at Chronically Overdressed uses strong magnets on the back of her vintage brooches. I can’t remember the brand, but it’s something like this one (https://magnapin.com/shop/). One side of the magnet slips over the bar on your pin, and the other goes behind the fabric.
I haven’t tried it yet, but for $15 it seems like a good experiment!
Another one who is loving these one at a time. I also see this burgundy differently on my screen. Looks like lilac. I am picturing grey, navy and lilac. I thought I was going to go the route of grey and soft pastels when my hair became silver but it totally washed me out even more. I have a similar preferred winter palette now; black, navy, grey and burgundy.
This is just so lovely! As a woman who used to wear lots of black, I feel this in my soul. I don’t wear nearly as much as I used to. I now prefer black in prints and designs, rather than in a head to toe look. Grey is just beautiful and I love this with all the members of the plum family. I’d call the new pieces more lilac than burgundy, which is just beautiful with the grey. I have almost none of this color, but it’s growing on me. I tend to me a pink person (and all the shades therein) rather than a purple person, but this one is temping. This reads very winter to me, which I love, so I’m excited to see how this capsule turns into spring and summer!
A gorgeous plaid skirt in the lilac and grey is on sale at Talbots right now, for those who are drawn to skirts as I am. https://www.talbots.com/dreamy-plaid-a-line-skirt/P214018800.html?cgid=apparel-skirts&dwvar_P214018800_color=VIOLET%20TULLE&dwvar_P214018800_sizeType=PT#start=1&sz=108
Although I’d get bored with the limited color range, if you forced me to put together a wardrobe with just two colors, I’d take this one.
I see two pairs of jeans and one pair of sweatpants. I have the LL Bean “perfect pants,” love them and wear them a lot around the house, and they look presentable when they are new but soon bag at the knees. I know my style is more formal than that of a lot of people who comment here, but if you’re looking for “nice pants,” you should know that the Bean pair are sweats without ankle elastic. And if your “nice pants” are “jeans that are not blue,” then you’re fine.
Thanks for the caveat on the knit pants’ baggy knee issue. I haven’t thought about baggy knee pants in a long time but this comment made me remember a pair of stirrup pants (anybody else remember those?) I wore in the 80s that had the same issue and I hated it! It’s interesting that post-COVID is also post-hard-pants for so many people. I wear a range of styles of pants but still do think of my hard pants as my “nice” ones. I know there are more and more options for nice pants in knit fabrics but I think it can be hard to know in advance which will continue to look nice and which won’t. I personally find ponte knit a good option for “nice” knit pants because of their heft; a jersey knit like these pants…I’m sure they don’t look like pajama pants or yoga pants but they kind of sound like it.
They are very comfortable and sometimes I wear them to do errands but I would never wear them to work or to a restaurant. If I wanted dressy pants that weren’t structured/hard, I’d go for velvet.
Good velvet pants are amazing – I will wear mine with virtually any top in my wardrobe. Comfortable, warm, and always elevate the look of everything!
hugs,
Janice
I, too, am really liking the one at a time approach. That way I am not constantly scrolling up and down to see what people are talking about! I agree with Julianna, I like all these wardrobes even if they are not colors I personally wear. There’s not a klinker in the bunch! This is just beautiful. Like Dame Eleanor Hull I get bored with a limited color range, but this is amazing. Thank you Janice, and a have a lovely weekend.
Last year, I followed and put together the Georgia O’Keeffe, black and red wardrobe. This year I am loving this painting and wardrobe.
So far at least, I have been able to put it together with clothes pulled from my closet.
I would love it if you would post “The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe” that corresponds to The wardrobe you have put together so far.
The days you post this content, it’s always my treat for the day.
I love this grouping. I ended up focusing on your line about wardrobe orphans! With your concepts, I am slowly trying to weed out orphans and end up with a more cohesive look and style. I work from home and I am tired of the same old shirt and pants look. I should dress for me regardless of whether anyone in the outside world ever sees my entire outfit.
This is my favourite. I could wear shades of purple and grey all year round and never get bored. They are my go-to comfort colours which suit me best. I get the most compliments when I wear purple. At this time of year, I mostly wear grey cords, purple cords and plum cords. I do have a pair of charcoal houndstooth jersey trousers too. I even have purple coats. I wore a whole outfit in purple yesterday.
Just noticed that the WTW grid is missing from this one.
Oh my great chocolate-frosted cheese! I just put it in… Thanks for letting me know! Please – everybody – never hesitate to let me know if I’ve missed something or made a mistake. I’m so merely moral…
love,
Janice
The Munro boots are rather perfect for the winter season. I’ve noted how we need at least one pair of boots/ shoes with grip when snow hits.
The entire series is looking lovely.
Re the look-back; I’m so curious about whether the orange boots are still being worn!