July 14, 2025
She’s loving her 5 piece of ivory clothing. It’s easy, it’s elegant (in a casual way!), and she wants to wear these things well into autumn.
Can she?
Let’s start with some inspiration:
Her accent colors are clear:
Her ivory core wardrobe is pretty well suited to extend into cooler weather:
Cardigan – Alex Mill; earrings – Katy Faye; snake chain necklace – Mink&Ivy; brooch – Farra; tee shirt – Lands’ End; crochet-trimmed sweatshirt – Boden; bag – Cole Haan; barrel jeans – J.Crew; socks – Nordstrom; flats – Dolce Vita; heritage stone chinos – L.L.Bean
As soon as our heroine starts looking at clothes, she realizes that for Autumn, she’s going to shop in the very darkest versions of her accent colors. Maybe in the Spring we’ll revisit this heroine to see if we can find her some pretty pastels…
But these additions are pretty delicious!
Brick orange sweater – L.L.Bean; earrings – 1928; bay leaf sweater – L.L.Bean; bay leaf tee – L.L.Bean; scarf – Artifact.; thyme pants – L.L.Bean; brown loafers – J.Crew; green boots – Spring Step; tote bag – Longchamp
Nine pieces of clothing doesn’t feel like a lot…
but it’s almost impossible to put a foot wrong in this wardrobe! Plenty of outfit possibilities here:
Our heroine is prepared to toss all of this into a suitcase and take off for… almost anywhere! The travel bug is hard to scratch sometimes.
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, I did the calculations to figure out “How Many Pieces of Clothing Do You Need?” It’s different for everyone…
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When I first saw this ivory wardrobe last week, I thought it was very pretty, but fairly impractical. That being said, I’m seeing it with new eyes with the orange and olive accents. Frankly, I adore the orange and olive combination and find it to be both warm and chic. The way that these colors play with the accents both keeps the ivory from feeling “ungrounded” and the accents from feeling too “heavy”. You did an incredible job with balancing the light and dark here. Well done, Janice!
I’m also in love with this gorgeous scarf!
I hope you’re continuing to have an amazing time in Ireland.
I really like the art. Thanks for finding and sharing.
I was skeptical about ivory for autumn, but you made it all work. I have to admit, though, I always plan to wear my white jeans in the autumn/winter and then when I put them on and go out, it just doesn’t feel right. Our heroine seems to not have this problem.
This is a lovely collection for those late summer days when it can go from bright sunshine to a howling gale.
Over the past few years, I have successfully incorporated pastels into my cold weather wardrobe, though not on my bottom half. However maroon and dark purple are just too much in warmer weather.
I’m trying to make most of my clothes wearable for at least six months. The exceptions are short sleeve tops and heavy jumpers that are specifically seasonal for three to four months. Some materials are seasonal too eg linen in high summer and velvet in late autumn/winter.
As for how many items I need? 😂 I like variety but I’m leaning more to the idea of creating complete outfits in tried and tested colourways – jumper or cardigan and bottoms with a couple of tops. Or a dress and jacket. Plus accessories and jewellery. My experiment this year is to wear more teal and blue-greens.
Love the artwork, very fun. The white core really brightens up those lovely autumn colours. You always give us something new and fun to think about. Hope you are enjoying yourselves in Ireland.
Love this. The elegance of ivory is just a chef’s kiss and always will be. Adding 2 rich colours for autumn is brilliant while freshening and lightening up for spring will be delightful.
I know the accent in the painting is black, but wondering if a nearly black brown would be a terrific addition for winter. I can envision something “furry”, velvet, corduroy maybe…. ah! love it.
Another gorgeous collection of items, thank you Janice.
I not only get your inspiring blogs coming to my inbox each day, but also one from Tiny Buddha, and I thought I’d share today’s piece with you all, as it certainly spoke to me:
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/how-getting-dressed-became-a-love-letter-to-myself/
Best, Maggie
Thank you Maggie for sharing 🤗.
The scarf is such an elegant way to elevate and pull each outfit together.
✨️ Beautiful, especially the scarf.
I went to a party this weekend and wore olive pants, a light blouse, and pink shoes.
Looking back is thought-provoking, especially the comments.
I take photos of my outfits every day to see what I’m REALLY wearing.
I’m going to replace the buttons on a blouse tomorrow because the current ones look too bulky.