August 30, 2025
Back to visit our heroine from Wednesday, and her most alluring and engaging favorite painting:
When our heroine knew that she was going to help out at her high school’s Homecoming weekend, she knew that she was going to need a darker-hued travel capsule wardrobe! Setting things up (and tearing them down) for the entertainment of teenagers is NOT for the faint of heart…
She looked over her options, and chose the palette that omitted ivory. Smart lady!
I have a hunch that almost all of us look at least passably good in burgundy. What say thee, my friends?
And yes, these palazzo pants might look like pants here, but in person, they’re more like a longish split skirt. Talk about useful!
Earrings – The Met Store; scarf – The Met Store; burgundy tee – Lands’ End; burgundy cardigan – Lands’ End; black cropped palazzo pants – Lands’ End; weekender bag – Rains; boots – Naot
She knows that it will be cool, but for those “adult” activities when she takes off with her childhood friends for a meal and/or a beverage, she includes a couple of scarves to take off the chill. It’s not like she’s going camping…
paisley scarf – Elizabetta; hoop earrings – Classicharms; silk scarf – Elizabetta; bracelet – Saachi; black tee – Lands’ End; striped cardigan – Alex Mill; black cardigan – Alex Mill; camel pants – Alex Mill; flannel shirt – L.L.Bean; bag – Apatchy London; loafers – Vionic; black jeans – Madewell
She loves the dark, autumny richness of this wardrobe – who wouldn’t?
Let’s take a look at her delicious options:
I haven’t worn burgundy since the 1980s, but I wonder why – it’s beautiful… hmm…
So next week we’re going to look into the September additions to the “Six Paintings – 12 Months” wardrobes. Should I revisit this painting the week after, to look at the other two color palettes, and the overall wardrobe? Let me know…
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago (minus a day) I was using burgundy as my primary neutral for a travel wardrobe. Amazing the way things come around…
Loving the burgundy selections. Looked at the 10 years ago and found myself lusting after the coat – sigh. Anyway would really like to see more selections and options for burgundy – or whatever it is being called currently.
Yes! I am relying on burgundy for a color pop and accessories in my fall capsule. Would love to see the other two color palettes too.
Beautiful ✨️
This heroine likes to wear plaid.
This capsule and the retrospective are really helping me find an outfit for Sunday, when we’re celebrating my father-in-law’s birthday. (I’m shortlisted for burgundy pants.)
I wear all shades of red… I’ve accumulated quite a bit over the decades.
And I’m already looking forward to the other capsules of this painting.
Of course it makes me happy to see the prints in this capsule. The Persian carpet scarf is a brilliant addition here, and I like that the grey in the pattern points in another direction if the heroine would like to expand her neutrals at some point.
But surprisingly, it’s some of the solid pieces that really caught my eye this time. The palazzo pants that drape like a skirt are so lovely…though I do wonder how they’d look with ankle boots; I suppose it depends on our heroine’s height vs. that of the model. As a rule, I dislike/feel neutral toward beige/tan pants, but the camel pants here are, dare I say, quite appealing! They would not look right on my body shape, and they seem a bit summery for this capsule, but they are pretty. I think the draping quality distinguishes them from the “I work at Target” khaki pants feeling that I associate with many pants in this color.
(There is absolutely nothing wrong with basic chinos in shades of beige and tan, of course! I just personally have associations with them that make them feel blah to me as an option. Since pants in beige/tan also usually look bad on me, it’s an easy one for me to dismiss from my own wardrobe. When I see other people wearing them in outfits, they don’t come across negatively at all, though. Our brains are strange, aren’t they?)
I like the burgundy + black together fine, but since this burgundy is quite dark (at least on my screen), I actually prefer it with the camel pants. That’s probably my favorite outfit in the group, actually. An outfit with camel pants…who am I?
I would suggest that if our heroine can find a pair of pants in that burgundy at LE to go with the top and cardigan, she should probably grab them while she can. I think having that trio of pieces in her main accent color (which is more of a colored neutral, not like wearing neon orange pants) will be extremely useful for creating outfits. “Burgundy” is an umbrella that covers a lot of different colors – some more red, some more blue/purple, some more clear, some more muddy (with significant brown, grey, and/or black in the mix). On the plus side, this means there probably is some version of it to suit most heroines. (For example, I think Beth T’s version of burgundy is a lovely berry shade.) On the negative side, it can be hard to assemble pieces that work together easily from disparate sources over time. How do I know…?
In my wardrobe, I have a set of pieces in a redder burgundy (“burgundy”) that go together and another set in a bluer burgundy (“wine”) that go together and then a few pieces that can work with either set. It’s taken a good amount of time to assemble this (many pieces are secondhand so at least it wasn’t expensive), and only because I am happy with managing a large wardrobe is it at all reasonable. Even I would say that having “burgundy” pieces that all work together is the way to go here! And the smaller your wardrobe, the truer it is. The pieces don’t need to match perfectly but go together easily into outfits; they certainly can differ in light/dark value (unless you dislike that look) as long as they work tonally.
Hi Sally, you went “dark” for awhile… its good to see you back I always look forward to your analysis.
Sally, are you still doing your blog?
“Managing a large wardrobe.” I suddenly realize why I veer toward minimalism, I am not good at managing a large wardrobe and easily get overwhelmed. You have given me food for thought.
Nothing wrong with working at Target.
My thought exactly.
Oh my! I love this even more than Wednesday’s cluster. I’m looking forward to next week, I love the 12-month series. But I would love to see how the other two clusters and the final capsule wardrobe turns out for this heroine. I’d be grateful to see how you use the other combinations as I plan October travel. Have a great weekend!
I like the sets without the light neutral, ivory, the best. And vote for yes, continuing with the other combinations of this color set. The method somehow appeals to my brain. I agree with Sally on a pair of bottoms in the lands end burgundy, and right now, I think, they have several knit pants and relaxed fit sweat pants in this color. Also agree with Sally on the beige/tan/khaki pants. I love how they look, out in the world, so to speak, but being short and stumpy they really do me no favors. Oh, I buy them, put them on, look in the mirror, and change to jeans, lol.
I feel like this heroine needs some sneakers for the dirty work. I find sneakers that work with a dressier wardrobe kind of difficult, but it seems like now everyone is wearing sneakers with everything. Which my feet are happy for, but they never quite feel like the right formality level to me. I would love to see more sneaker picks in general, especially if you spot any that go better with collections like this one!
I really like the combo! I surprised myself by admiring the striped sweater, camel pants, and black tee the best. I don’t normally go for stripes – especially with that neckline, but seeing it together makes my heart sing.
Burgundy is a great, classic color. That said, I find these dark capsules incredibly depressing.
I love this so much! Unlike others, I prefer darker colors…not only are they more flattering on my aging body, but they don’t show dirt or spills as easily, which is a huge plus. One of the community members mentioned that this heroine needs a pair of sneakers. I happened to see these gorgeous burgundy and tan Adidas and realized that they’d be a perfect addition to this capsule!
https://www.adidas.com/us/run-70s-2.0-shoes/JQ9589.html
Oh, I love those tennis!! Along with that some really casual tees and jeans, maybe a fleece topper would be great. I would love to see more of this Janice, the colors are right up my alley!
Yes, please.
I’ve had to ponder on this wardrobe for quite a while as this is the way that I often dress – two neutrals and an accent or one neutral and two accents. For some, these are three neutrals. However black and camel don’t feature in my clothes.
These are the variations that I would make:
Burgundy and Plum/Berry shades are neutrals for me in winter as Sally remembered! I have to be careful because some shades of Burgundy can be too ‘brown’ in tone which doesn’t suit me.
However, I would have top, bottoms and 2nd layer in these colours to create columns.
Likewise black would be navy or grey for me. I only wear black for concerts or funerals.
Now to camel. My nearest is taupe of which I have one pair of cotton trousers that I don’t think I’ve worn this year. Camel is a neutral in this palette but in my scheme of things, it would be an accent.
So with burgundy, navy and grey, the accents would be light blue or warm/soft teal blue or teal green or warm pinks (think salmon pink or cameo pink but not coral as that is too orange) plus ivory. Teal is also a neutral for me so I would also have trio in those colours to create columns.
You might think that light blue and burgundy, or warm pinks with burgundy, or teal with burgundy are odd colour combinations but I have the scarves/print blouses that might change your mind. Colour print garment or scarves, like paintings, really do suggest the most interesting colour combinations.
Hi Beth, I think those combos sound gorgeous. What I have come to find in my own wardrobe is that light blue is almost a neutral for me. It looks great with almost anything else I have.
I have never been a big fan of burgundy, i find it a heavy colour, but i love it with the camel and white or ivory. So yes please, lets see what other delights you come up with.
What a nice surprise to find this post late Sunday. Thank you! While this palette is lovely, I was so glad to see some ivory in the met scarf, as well as the sheer scarf and the stripe in the cardigan. I am the opposite of someone else who said they don’t want any white/ivory. I feel a great desire for some white/ivory in many outfits especially those with darker colors. I think it’s because my own personal coloring is fading and doesn’t have much contrast. I would like a return to the other 2 palettes left for this heroine after the 12 month set next week. Thx again!
Wow, what a rich color palette! Sadly not for my muted coloration, but I wish! The Dark Lady is a stunner!