June 2, 2025
Remember, there will be a blog post EVERY weekday this week. The first week of the month is when I always push out all six of the “Six Paintings – 12 Months” posts over six weekdays. I feel like these posts benefit from being seen close together – what do you say?
The more I look at this painting, the more I like it! There’s really quit a lot going on here to admire:
This month, I’m feeling like I need to be really organized for all SORTS of things, and that’s going to show up with these wardrobes! I think we’re going to start with each heroine’s Weekly Timeless Wardrobe list, and try to very logically fill in four items that are missing.
I’m not at all sure that any of these wardrobes will, in December, have a nicely filled-in template (like the perfect BINGO card!), but perfection isn’t really the goal. Having guidelines, and discipline, and a wardrobe that does what we need for it to do – THESE are the goals.
At the end of May, our heroine has these things:
I’m already getting the feeling that our heroines are going to pick up mostly things for warmer weather, but also add in something for autumn and winter, if they bump into something useful. It’s worth bearing in mind that prices might be going up on clothing, so if you know you need (for example) a grey cotton turtleneck, and you see one available, why wait?
Wild lilac top – Lands’ End; earrings – Vintouch Italy; grey tank top – Lands’ End; white crossbody bag – Baggallini; gray turtleneck – Lands’ End; white denim shorts – Lands’ End; white sneakers – Vionic
These pieces are all obvious, useful things for this heroine, and they all fall into her seasons list easily!
Our heroines are all going to have 28 garments at the end of June – a nice-sized wardrobe! This wardrobe could do almost everything you might need, if you wear a uniform for work, or spend half of your time in gym clothes:
And every heroine should have her own very personal, and very lovely, collection of accessories:
Let’s take a look at how this heroine can wear her new garments. Remember that summer tops can become a warm under-layer in cold weather!
I’m not sure how I would adjust to wearing mostly two colors, but I could certainly embrace the clarity and focus of this wardrobe!
Is anybody else feeling overwhelmed these days? Just by life in general?
love,
Janice
All of the earlier installments of building this wardrobe are here: Christmas Day Introduction, January, February, March, April, May.
p.s. Ten years ago, our heroine was packing for uncertain weather. Isn’t that pretty much ALL THE TIME these days?
Like this wardrobe? Save it to Pinterest!
These aren’t my colors, but oh, how I wish they were. What a beautiful wardrobe and how easy it would be to get dressed using this template. I think that the “two-color, but various shades” idea is an intriguing one. I just love that it really delves deeply into various hues within each of the two color palettes presented.
I am currently home with a compression fracture in my vertebrae, so I’m window shopping online. I saw this skirt at Garnet Hill and thought it would be another nice bottom. As a skirts and dresses wearer myself, I always look to replace one pair of pants with a skirt. This comfy skirt is truly seasonless and could be just as cute with sandals in summer, as boots in winter. The grey color of dark ash wood would be so pretty in this wardrobe. https://www.garnethill.com/favorite-maxi-knit-skirt/334123?uniqueId=334123&isNewProduct=false&newItemBadge=false&hideNewTagFromPLP=false&searchTerm=skirt&
I am so excited for this week’s wardrobes!
To Ellen S, my sympathy as you heal from the compression fracture. You seem to have great strategies for dealing with the discomfort. And I like the skirt! Take care.
Beautiful, Janice! It’s a treat to see a daily post from you, and side-by-side comparisons are always helpful.
Yes, to feeling a bit overwhelmed and needing order now. Clarity and focus are great!!
Thanks for providing a vision of focused closets! =)
Camille
Although this is a limited wardrobe colour wise it would be very easy to rid oneself of the lilac and replace with one, two or three accent colours to give it more oomph. The neutral components will work with any accent. I find that I put the big money into the neutrals as I hate to spend a small fortune on an $$ accent shoe or cashmere piece only to tire of it in a year or two. Thrifting in good shops can also produce a piece in a desired accent as clearly someone had tired of it and is passing it on. Also unless a piece of jewelry is made of real gold or silver and precious or semi precious stones I stick to good costume for accent pieces…thrift to the rescue again!!
I agree with you that clothing prices especially those coming from off shore will probably be increasing in the USA so very prudent to look for items one might need for the next few seasons as they become available and buy the best you can afford, they will need to last a few years.
Then again, new clothing might be the least of the collective concerns.
Now that you’ve got me taking a deeper look at this painting, I’m seeing it as inspiration for a mystery novel.
Grey shows itself to be an exceptional neutral. You could swap out the plum/pinks for coral or red or yellow or fuschia.
ooh! let us know when you get it written!
Yes. I do feel overwhelmed by life in general. Lovely wardrobes and unflappable heroines help a lot. I smiled at the white shorts, grey sweatshirt and cute earrings–my much younger self would wear that in a heartbeat and flaunt tanned legs and shiny dark hair. Current self not so much. This post has inspired me to bring out the grey jeans, a grey light-weight lace sweater, and a purple tee. Would love to wear lavender but most pieces are too pale and washed out for my coloring. Enjoy your day, and your unique place in this world.
I absolutely love these colours and this wardrobe. I would extend the shading to include orchid pink and soft plum.
I’ve been lucky to find some lilac trousers for summer. I’m contemplating buying a cashmere sweater in a gorgeous shade of purple. My only caution is that it would be a moth magnet.
I think the addition of the white pieces makes a huge difference to this two color wardrobe! It gives our heroine the option of wearing some white when she wants greater brightness/lightness in her look or more contrast. I’m looking forward to seeing some darker purple colors join the wardrobe as we move into autumn and winter at the end of the year, and if our heroine were to find something she loved in black, that could fit in well too.
Grey is a helpful neutral since it spans the entirety of the white-grey-black range and makes adding pieces at the two extremes easy to do. I think that’s why I end up with more grey + black than grey + navy outfits. I prefer grey + navy as a combination on myself, but grey seems to blend so much more seamlessly with black. For example, I often find the more interesting grey knits (that are a mix of tones rather than just one color) that I gravitate toward marry up quite easily with black. So I like putting grey + navy together in an outfit – and overall prefer it – but it definitely feels harder for me to accomplish than grey with black and/or white. And for a capsule, I think the white-grey-black spectrum is so so easy to work with.
This wardrobe resonates with me so much! If I replace the grays with blues, this is much like my closet. I adore the simplicity! I am working hard on having a sustainable wardrobe that will last for years and trying to purchase now. Janice and her creativity are a welcome reprieve from the chaos. Concentrating on something as trivial as my clothes is a welcome distraction. Thank you Janice!!
This capsule looks beautiful. If it gets darker by winter, it’ll be very versatile.
I wanted to go no shopping last year, but this year is much easier for me. Unfortunately, that’s also because there’s almost only polyester clothing available these days. If I’m being realistic (and taking my love of color into account?), I’ll choose at least two capsules for the year.
And of course, I’m looking forward to the daily posts. 🤩
Yay! Something from Janice every day!
This wardrobe is definitely one of my favorites. Gray is one of my two main neutrals, and shades of soft purple are one of my three accent colors. I would wear the heck out of this!
In about 6 weeks I’m going for a summer trip to Denver for 6 days, and I’m planning to take a lovely mix of navy, white, pink and mid blue for my wardrobe. Museums, a visit to the zoo, and the gorgeous botanic gardens are all on the itinerary! And even high tea with my besties at the Brown Palace one day for lunch. Fancy!