June 16, 2025
She goes away a LOT of weekends in the summer. Many of her friends have places on lakes or the seashore, or in a forest near a lake… And she must be an excellent guest, because she’s always invited somewhere!
This is one of her favorite paintings:
She always feels like the window at the end of the hall is crooked!
Her colors that she’s isolated from the painting are shown here; she doesn’t include the tiny touches of red, but she does wear a good red lipstick sometimes…
She usually leaves for her friend’s home straight from work – she’s close to the train station when she’s in her office! She dresses simply, but with a cardigan to battle the office air-conditioning.
navy cotton cardigan – L.L.Bean; earrings – Marchesa; mist blue tee – L.L.Bean; scarf – Saint Jane; linen pants – L.L.Bean; tote – Bogg Bag; flats – Earth
She doesn’t swim – she’s more the “sitting on the porch with a book and a beverage” kind of weekender. And she’s recently been really happy wearing a lot of chambray, and wearing brown accents. You can cram a lot of personal preference into a pretty small weekend wardrobe:
Blue earrings – Steeltime; brown earrings – Panacea; cutwork trim tee – Boden; chambray shirt – Alex Mill; brown tee shirt – GAP; misty aqua tank – Lands’ End; bag – Mafalda; cotton scarf – Echo; shorts – Alex Mill; chambray pants – Alex Mill; leather thong sandals – J.Crew
It seems like a lot, but summer clothes fold down into tiny spaces! Even with the addition of undergarments and something to wear at night, this is still a small travel capsule wardrobe:
It might be cold, it might be hot! But our heroine is prepared:
I can see the possible need for a pair of sneakers and a pair of socks – cold feet are never fun…
It feels like all of Chicago goes away for the weekend sometimes. Is this normal where you live?
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, I was packing for 18 hours, and my imagination turned this into a Six-Pack – one of the first!
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Oh, such a beautiful painting and lovely wardrobe.
These earrings are so fantastic.
When I pack for a (long) weekend, I take two very different outfits that can easily be swapped around. So I don’t feel like I’m always wearing the same thing and have variety.
Yes, unfortunately, I’m still a long way from wearing Janice’s ‘same thing for several days.’
Who knows what that would be like in a remote cabin or island… 🏝
I love this! I think chambray, as a core of four, is such a smart choice because it’s comfortable, it’s beautiful and can easily be dressed up or down. I can also see how wonderfully this would pack!
I do just want to put it out there that many women (myself included) are not comfortable wearing shorts in public. I have no moral or ethical reason not to wear shorts, but I just feel as my thighs are not a feature I want to highlight these days. I bought this skirt to fill in that ‘chambray shorts’ blank space’. I would be completely comfortable substituting the shorts outfits with this skirt. It is very comfortable and it would not be a stretch to dress this up, for the brunch at a seaside restaurant vibe either. What do you think? https://www.nordstrom.com/s/ruffle-faux-wrap-denim-midi-skirt/7782640?origin=keywordsearch-personalizedsort&breadcrumb=Home%2FAll%20Results&color=402
Ellen s,
What a pretty skirt! Thanks for the link.
Very easy to wear, too! I’ve dressed it up with dressy sandals and a pretty blouse, as well as down with flip flops and a tank. It’s very versatile, especially for those of us who just aren’t shorts people.
Great! This has summer weekend, or summer retired life, all over. I have some chambray, but now I’m thinking not enough!
What a comfy, classy weekend wardrobe. You found another perfect set of accessories, especially the brown earrings. I have a beautiful two-piece brown knit top & skirt set that cries out for those earrings. Maybe the handbag, too!
I do think our heroine can add a tiny touch of red one weekend with a scarf or bracelet. I love red as an accent to brown.
oooh – I have a lot of open tabs for shopping suggestions right now! This is a great post. The dark brown is a little jarring to me, but I do like something contrasting in this collection – maybe a pink for me instead? I also tend towards skirts or skorts instead of shorts. I can never seem to find ones that fit comfortable without having to tug or pull at the legs or waist. And for such a small garment, shorts are awkward to alter.
Yes! My city often clears out of people on big holiday weekends. Many people leave for cottages, family or other smaller towns.
What a lovely wardrobe. I would definitely add in some red though, maybe a scarf, bag and sandals.
I would not have noticed the crooked window!! Now I can’t unsee it! I love the brown and blue you have put together. That color combo always looks so elevated. I live in TX a& shorts are a must for me! Try Talbots, they have multiple lengths. Size up if you must; shorts have to be loose to accommodate air circulation and look cool. That said, I love skirts too. So much more versatile. Sneakers are a good addition as mentioned . Have a lovely summer.
The inclusion of the brown pieces is the kind of thing that can sometimes look jarring in isolation, but in the context of a heroine with brown hair, I think it will look terrific! For myself, I could easily imagine substituting gold for the brown in accessories and a print top for the brown one. The chambray pieces are very welcome indeed and could work with so many different capsule color palettes.
I really love paintings of the insides of houses, for some reason. Cozy? Maybe. But especially this picture, with lots of frames of different sizes lining the hallway, and a lovely (crooked?) window at the end. Such a nice combination of colors, too. Thank you for the inspiration!
Another non shorts person here. I only wear skorts in the garden, sarongs at the beach and skirts or midi casual dresses for shopping. I find skirts far more comfortable in really hot weather. Love that blue green in this capsule. Have a great week everyone.
When you feature paintings of real places, I like to see what they look like in reality. I found photos of the interior of Tullynally Castle online. An architectural gem. Such an amazing place! I couldn’t find a photo of this hallway so wonder whether there is artistic license with the colours.
The brown is too dark; taupe would be better. I would sub light grey as it would be easier to draw the colours together. I’ve been looking for chambray trousers instead of heavy denim jeans. I have yet to find any that fit or not so wide that they are a trip hazard. I did start looking late so maybe next year.