August 18, 2025
Ah, for the winter holidays, our heroine has plans to visit friends and family, with a particular fun twist – all of these families seem to be the ones with small children!
Now, our heroines loves children, and will spend much of her long weekend on the floor, playing with new toys, reading books for the 37th time, and just generally cuddling sleepy, grumpy tots…
But as always, her packing starts here:
She wants soft things. Dark things that show spots a bit less. a necklace or two that can be quickly tucked into a collar, to avoid the inquisitive fingers of the wee babies in the crowd…
Small hoop earrings – Nordstrom; necklace – Rare Matters; jacket – J.Crew; everglade tee – Eileen Fisher; suede bag – J.Crew; black corduroy pants – J.Crew; black loafers – Vionic
She’s even packing a pair of shorts; she spends a lot of time on the floor…
onyx earrings – rōz; brown & black earrings – Retro Chic; brown necklace – Mango; striped ginger tee – Lands’ End; black short-sleeve tee – Lands’ End; ginger quarter-zip sweatshirt – Lands’ End; green cotton sweater – Grobund; rich ginger sweatpants – Lands’ End; lily pad shorts – Lands’ End; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; brown sneakers – Pikolinos; seafoam sandals – Bueno
This wardrobe is darker than she usually pack, of course, but she still quite likes the mix of colors:
And for one last time, we will take a look at the outfits that she has at her disposal:
Wednesday, I’m going to aggregate ALL of the clothes that this heroine packed for her four trips so we can see what kind of wardrobe she has. Can you build a wardrobe suitcase by suitcase?
I’m optimistic!
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, our heroine was promoted, and went shopping! Her inspiration is a painting by Matisse…
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Good morning
Interesting that you don’t combine the colors. That wouldn’t be a problem for us colorists. And with the first and last suggestions, it looks as if our heroine just took off her jacket. Yes, I know:
Accessories ~ They’re beautifully chosen.
This outfit is perfect for wearing at the playground and on long afternoons of play at home. And I’m excited to see everything together.
Have a nice week, everyone.
That last sweater didn’t lend itself to a whole lot of outfits… Sometimes, that happens!
hugs,
Janice
Funny how we are all different. To those of us who like limited color, removing a jacket is a very plausible alternative outfit. This is my favorite set, but not because of the colors. I like that every outfit works swell without a scarf and they are much the style this Oma wears.
I was always grateful to relatives and friends who could keep my children entertained and occupied when they were little. Practicality is the order of the day; children spend a lot of time on the floor and activities can be messy. They are special memories those children will hold dear when they are adults with their own children.
I’m certainly intrigued to see all four wardrobes together. Although the colours aren’t mine, this is how my wardrobe has evolved with activities and occasions in mind. Perhaps it’s a throwback to my childhood when we had playing out clothes, decent clothes for family outings and Best clothes for parties and special occasions.
Since following you all these years, I’ve learnt that the same clothes can be worn for a variety of different occasions just by switching second layers and accessories. My son paid me the ultimate compliment at the weekend when he said that the blue/lilac floral shirt and pale grey jeans I wore during the day would be OK for the party we were going to in the evening. I said it was too ordinary – my son was amazed that I should think so. My husband was going to wear the same check shirt and beige chinos with a jacket over the top. Instead I changed into the trusty aqua floral print jersey maxi dress that I’ve worn on several different occasions this summer. I bought it from Lands End several.years ago. I topped it with a cardigan instead of a jacket. My son and his girlfriend said that I looked lovely. When I got to the party – it was just right. For me, I could wear this dress to a wedding, a party, a pub lunch, or on a day out and just feel at ease. I don’t know what it is but this dress just draws compliments. ☺️
I’m looking forward to seeing the whole collection on Wednesday. That gorgeous and very tempting ginger brown goes so well with what I think of as sage green – a lot better than the sage green/chocolate brown combo that I’ve tried and abandoned before now! Does any green really work with chocolate brown?
Personally, I think emerald green, turquoise and petrol look very pretty with dark brown.
Thanks, Maria. I’ll certainly try the turquoise and petrol/teal, great suggestions :-)
Beth T, my son sometimes says same to me. A couple of weeks ago he took us out to dinner and he told me I didn’t have to dress up. I was just wearing the outfit I’d worn all day at home…..
This is a little dark for me personally, but I like it overall. Looking forward to where you take it on Wednesday. Happy Monday everyone!
This has been an interesting journey with this painting. I can see the time and care you’ve put into each post in this series. While I still don’t care for this shade of green, you have given me so much to think about, in terms of working with ‘challenging’ colors. I love the overall idea of this series, and while the colors don’t work for me, it’s easy to see how to manipulate a 4 distinct color wardrobe. I can see this being recreated with four colors that a woman does like.
Me? I don’t like brown and green together. I just find it to be too Girl Scout….but, I appreciate that it really does work for many women. I’d love to see this concept with another 4-color palette.
Good idea
I think (dark) blue, white, red, and kelly green would be nice.
I’d also love to see this concept with another 4-color palette. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of four colors, but I know navy blue and white or off white would be two of the four colors. So much food for thought.
I’m still loving these colors!!
Camille
I’m in love with that Land’s End color ‘ginger’ and have already bought way too much of it.
Good ideas, but if she really is playing with toddlers, I would suggest more print tops, and stud earrings only!
While today’s palette is too dark for me, I appreciate this approach to building a wardrobe. Originally, I was drawn to this blog because it hits two of my sweet spots – travel and color – and uses them to build capsule wardrobes for different heroines with fun stories.
But there is so much more. I like that there are different approaches, palettes, and styles, something for everyone. A bonus is the community that’s grown over the years. Some days, reading the latest post is just the pick-me-up I need to start my day. I like to think of TVF as its own flavor of eye candy.
While I like the looks of the black J.Crew jacket, I see that it’s a crop jacket so that’s a no go for me. I appreciate that you put the ginger brown outfit as well. I’ll probably be getting that one as I ease into grandma mode. Thanks for all you do.
Last time I flew internationally the most relaxed and put together people were the ones in that kind of tracksuit. I’ve been keeping my eye out for one ever since that doesn’t overly emphasise my barrel torso. It’s also incredibly useful for at home days and when you pop to the shops.
I can definitely build a wardrobe suitcase by suitcase! We often travel different times of year and the weather will dictate what I pack. If shopping carefully for a trip, those purchased items happily mix with the wardrobe from home. And there will be times when I don’t buy anything and all the packed clothes still work! Although, for one trip I used three colors – navy, chocolate brown and olive – and while everything looked well together I just about died of boredom. Olive does Not look good on me either.
As far as another 4 color combo, how about gray, brown, navy and red? Or gray, brown, red and gold? Of course finding the right red is the hard part!
I’m determined that I’m going to find a painting that will work – any suggestions? I love the colors you’re suggesting…
hugs,
Janice