May 21, 2025
Today’s heroine has such a lovely inspiration:
She’s particularly excited because she’s about to break out of her navy and white routine. Her travel capsule wardrobes usually look like this or this.
So she’s making just a little bit of a change; if you’re one of us who’ve dressed in a monochromatic wardrobe for YEARS, you understand what a big change this is!
Our heroine’s core wardrobe is based on her navy suit. When you buy a suit, you should assume that it’s going to be worn a lot, in a variety of ways. (Suits are expensive!)
For short trips, during which our heroine might only have one “serious” meeting, this is typical of her travel wardrobe:
bow brooch – Bling Jewelry; earrings – Shabella NYC; white shirt – Lands’ End; navy blazer – Alex Mill; small dotted scarf – Lauren Ralph Lauren; striped tee – Lands’ End; navy pants – Alex Mill; navy cotton sweater – L.L.Bean; white jeans – Alex Mill; striped socks – Comrad; bag – Baggallini; loafers – G.H.Bass
It’s going to take our heroine all summer to accumulate these 10 things—you shouldn’t just rush out and buy a stack of things all at once! (No, a haul is NOT a good shopping strategy.) But she’s excited—and a little bit nervous. She’s decided that she’s going to get a simple black top that she can wear with her white jeans, but ALSO WITH HER NAVY SUIT. Navy and black together?
I’m getting lightheaded just thinking about it…
Rectangle scarf – Elizabetta; black tee – Lands’ End; green earrings – Bling Jewelry; red earrings – Donatello Gian; green cashmere sweater – J.Crew; bracelets – Fierce Lynx Designs ; red linen pants – Alex Mill; square scarf – Lazyjack Press; red loafers – Robert Zur; white loafers – Earth
This is what her expanded travel capsule wardrobe looks like – quite a change! She can still wear navy and white on those days when she’s not able to face a new color, but she has some interesting possibilities now:
Let’s take a look at ten ways that she can get dressed:
The idea of adding colors to a wardrobe that’s been very stark, for a very long time, is fascinating to me. I did this when I started wearing all shades of blue denim, and of course some purple!
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, we considered red cowboy boots. And we decided we like them!
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These are great colors and clothes. As always, the bracelet is lovely. My sartorial life would be So much easier if I were brave enough to wear navy and black together!
Love this! This is such a practical wardrobe for so many women.
I freely admit that I’ve never been a suit wearer. As someone who has worked in the arts and in education, a suit has never been my vibe. I will wear a blazer at times, but unless it’s incredibly comfortable, I have to admit to feeling suffocated in one….especially a fitted one. I have made suits out of cardigans with coordinating skirts, pants or dresses. That being said, my denim jacket loving self (even at age 59) is still dedicated to that classic look, but in updated styles, such as sleek blazers in refined denim (Talbots has a great one!) or collarless (mine is from APNY). They give me the overall vibe of a blazer, but aren’t as stuffy, in my humble opinion.
Finally, for what it’s worth, I’ve worn navy and black together since the 80’s and I love the combination. However, here is my personal rule: the navy needs to be vibrant enough that it cannot be mistaken for blacks that don’t go together, if that makes sense. It has to be a firm navy and nowhere near midnight, or it just looks off to me. But, it can be a beautiful combination.
Janice, I’d love to see what you can do with refined denims, such as these from Talbots. There is an entire refined denim collection that I adore.
https://www.talbots.com/refined-denim-jacket/57776774.html?recommendation=adobe_rec_pdp
https://www.talbots.com/refined-denim-dress/57776460.html?recommendation=adobe_rec_pdp
Navy & black look great together. Love the navy suit with black tee – very safe combination.
Love the red loafers too.
I love navy and black together, so chic… I just this week put together a travel wardrobe (including black and navy) and took photos as an aid to memory, for 12 days in Adelaide, South Australia, in July. 9 pieces and two scarves has given me 10 outfits to be excited about and I have never felt so prepared.
Your work is an inspiration.
I love everything about this capsule ~ beautifully curated.
Perhaps this heroine will find a patterned top that incorporates all the colors.
Yes, great patterns are something I’ve been missing a lot lately. There used to be some lovely ones “back in the day” but now it’s all ditzy florals. Le sigh I don’t look right in ditzy florals. I’m more of a medium size softly stylized florals and water patterns type of girl. Ah well…they will come round again some day!
This is great. I would pack this in a suitcase and go for a long time. I’m wondering about the red pants though. For someone who is new to adding colour, adding such a bold colour of pant is quite a step. I wonder if she should have gone for a red shirt instead. I wear a lot of colour and still struggle with colourful pants.
I think in part, one would need to really commit to wearing them at least once per wash cycle to really get used to them. Cycle through tops with them to find your favorite combinations and then make sure to include them often.
My thinking for her was that the color would be far from her face, and thus easier to wear. I know that doesn’t make sense for a lot of us, but I was out of the box!
hugs,
Janice
Great combination. But sadly, I realized years ago that I simply cannot take white or even very pale colored clothing on a trip. Too many occasions when I got food on a white shirt in a situation where I couldn’t wash it out right away, and that was the end of the shirt. It’s just safer for me to assume I’ll get myself in a mess.
I don’t think I could manage without a skirt or dress, but I know that some people never wear them. To me, they’re so much more comfortable. I value your introduction of Wool& dresses — I now own 3 of them and adore their versatility. The black one even went to my trip in November to the Caribbean!