August 27, 2025
It’s getting to be that time of year…
“So, should take a short vacation? Take a long weekend in October and drive north? Look at leaves. Drink cider. What do you think?”
Our heroine loves autumn – her favorite painting just oozes cool weather vibes:
All of her favorite wardrobe colors are here…
And she’s already decided that for her next few trips, she’s going to experiment with her four neutrals – she will omit one neutral from her travel capsule wardrobe and use three neutrals for her wardrobe. It will be interesting to give herself some slightly different moods…
Viewing autumn leaves is a recreation that actually can be done from one’s car, for a lot of the time. So our heroine doesn’t worry over-much that she’s wearing velvet loafers – they make great slippers in the hotel!
Garnet brooch – Farra; carved garnet earrings – Mounir London; Ivory merino cardigan – J.Crew; print tee shirt – J.Crew; pants – J.Crew; bag – Cole Haan; velvet loafers – Birdies
She does pack a bit more sensibly for the rest of the weekend – jeans, cords, a flannel shirt, sweaters and scarves. Her tan loafers will be more the sturdy enough for getting out of the car at all of the scenic overlooks and picnic areas…
Garnet cluster earrings – Mounir London; pearl earrings – The Met Store; Tuscan red sweater – GAP; plaid flannel shirt – L.L.Bean; camel cardigan – GAP; ecru jeans – L.L.Bean; paisley scarf – Elizabetta; ivory turtleneck – Lands’ End; plaid scarf – Polo Ralph Lauren; twig corduroy jeans – L.L.Bean; socks – J.Crew; loafers – Vionic
She’s only bringing 9 garments with her, but for a long weekend, this is more than enough! And it just looks like an autumn wardrobe, doesn’t it?
It’s hard to put together a bad outfit from this wardrobe! But our heroine double-checks, as do all wise heroines:
“I love to travel with you – you’re always more beautiful than the leaves….”
Well, that makes all of the planning worthwhile, I’d say!
love,
Janice
p.s. We’ve seen this painting before; our heroine was going on a business trip then. Her clothes from 2020 would be perfect with her clothing from today!
Like this wardrobe? Save to Pinterest!
Well, put a fork in me…I’m done. I just LOVE this wardrobe in these colors. Autumn in my favorite season, especially because I live in Maine where the world loves to come to see our leaf splendor! These are beautiful colors…but I can see swapping in a truer red for the burgundy if one is so inclined. That being said, this wardrobe is incredibly practical for more than just travel. I’d wear this every single day!
That being said, the flannel shirt listed here is quite heavy, with deep, thick pockets. It will not work for an underlayer flannel shirt. Here in Maine, we have two levels of flannels…one for layering on the outside (as this one is) and a thinner weight one that can be layered under sweaters. This particular one is just luscious as an overlayer, but much too bulky to wear under a cardigan. Just a heads up for people ordering directly off the LL Bean website….this one listed below would be better if you plan on layering over: https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/506332?itemId=512769&attrValue_0=Bean%20of%20Freeport%20Natural&sku=1000269009&pla1=0&srsltid=AfmBOooUQeACcVEpjBRQzXusjaQ6v1oJw2VNbez1UWjwFbsIBA-LF7MrYMM&SN=findability_search_preview_03&SS=A&SN2=findability_trending_searches_04&SS2=A&SN3=MobilePLA_03&SS3=B&noaa_region=northeast&originalProduct=70362
Have a great day, everyone!
What a long post for early in the morning.😁😁😁
Good point about the thick and thin of flannel shirts. I have a lot of items from both L.L. Bean and Lands’ End and have noticed that L.L. Bean sweaters tend to be more bulky than Lands’ End which impacts layering. Also, Lands’ End colors tend to be more vibrant, L.L. Bean’s more muted.
Love the printed tops! Very lovely fall wardrobe. Thanks Janice!
I often revisit the 2020 post with this painting as burgundy is one of my accents. I’m happy to see that she is making another appearance.
I am loving this wardrobe and the colors! Thanks for all the prints today. :) I am excited to see this series unfold!!
These are good September colors. I also find myself drawn to wine and navy in that month.
I love this autumn wardrobe, both colours and styles.
I love flannel and corduroy! This is so inviting.
A couple irrational thoughts… does anyone else have items of clothing that are total irrational turn offs? White cardigans is mine. My dad, to whom one did not say no, took me clothes shopping starting highschool and insisted I have a white acrylic bulky embroidered white cardigan. Mid sixties the cool girls were wearing bright mohair. So yeah, I do not like white cardigans. Second thought, does anyone else fight with sizing? I cannot wear some company’s clothes. Currently not doing well with Bean although I am a 30 year customer. They say they haven’t changed but my closet says differently. I do wear JJill well. I’m just taller and sturdier than average. Not a plus size. Anyone else wish sizing was more available?
I think many of us have an aversion to certain clothes for whatever reason. I’m not fond of bumble bee black and yellow or pumpkin jack o lantern orange and black. Years ago I wore a lot of true red well but now can’t make myself wear it. I have been many sizes over the years and certain brands just never fit. I’m short waisted, with long legs and full hips. Slim hip brands like Nicole Miller never worked but Calvin Klein did. Knowing your body type and careful review of size charts plus well written reviews help me a lot.
Hi, Debbie – same here on LLBean sizing especially if the sizes are shown as S/M/L/XL. I am taller than average and sturdy, falling between a L and XL where the XL is way too big and the L is just a smidge snugger than I prefer. (No more snug clothes for me! Deal breaker!)
Am also not a fan of JJill propensity toward A-line or trapeze silhouettes.
It’s tough to shop but my goal is to stick to my guns on what feels right to me. Fewer clothes, classic shapes and colors, less closet churn – and recognizing that people really don’t care about what I’m wearing as much as I do. I’m not there yet, but that’s why I’ve been following Janice’s blog for a really long time! It’s great inspiration!
She needs some boots. There is nothing better than going for a walk crunching over dried leaves. We play a game to try and catch falling leaves. Then hunt around for pine cones. Men do have the nicest of scarves. I love the tree brooch and the leaf earrings. Nice to see a printed tee shirt.
The combination of sumptuous and practical in this capsule works surprisingly well! That burgundy print t-shirt is such a great find.
One common issue I have with capsule wardrobes as shown online is that not enough attention is given to the reality of how various garments in different weights/silhouettes/fits/etc. will work together, particularly with layering. I think this may be partly because people are creating capsules from images on a screen, not with the items in hand, so the focus is more on how the pieces look together than how they fit together. Janice specifically has the extra hurdle that she needs items that are shown in a flat lay rather than on a model, which hugely restricts what pieces she can feature.
But also, I think that trying to keep the total number of garments very low while still having a highly mix-and-match-able wardrobe pushes people to want individual pieces to work in more ways than is realistic. The heavy top-layer-weight flannel shirt in this capsule is a great example of that. Stiff spring/summer short-sleeved shirts with the wide cuffed camp sleeves are another one that makes me shake my head when I see it proposed to layer under a classic long-sleeved cardigan; I know from experience that it really doesn’t work very well.
I personally have been happier realizing that I am never going to be successful on the quest for the One Button-Up Shirt To Rule Them All (or any other garment). Sometimes you really do need one shirt for layering under and a different shirt for layering over other things. Or one shirt that works as a stand-alone piece and another one for layering under, etc.
This is part of why I look at capsules like this as a suggestion, not a shopping list. The specific garments not work well together in practice, particularly once a heroine’s own body enters the mix.
This said, it’s not clear to me whether Janice intended the flannel shirt to be a piece to layer under those cardigans; it might be the shirt is basically a jacket layer to go over the cardigans worn buttoned up like a pullover sweater (though I personally would want a light layer under the cardigan rather than wearing it directly on the skin).
Hi Sally,
Yeah, you touched on a topic that I am slowly coming to grips with as well. (For me its more about silhouette than layering, but same concept). If a piece is playing a specific role, and a “duplicate” piece plays a different role, they are not, in fact, duplicates; and they are earning their keep in your capsule. For example the short navy cardigan that goes over dresses cannot be substituted for the long navy cardigan that goes over trousers.
It’s a neat thought exercise to come to the unique mix of clothes/styles/proportions/colors that appeal to us – if it makes us feel like we’re looking appropriate & we’re happy with the look – the capsule size can be large or small!
PS. Janice – i adore these colors and the practicality of this series. just gorgeous!!! and the inspiring conversations in the comments so that everyone can adapt to themselves. Fun to be on a journey of self-discovery together!
This is so nice! I find I always like the capsules that feature white/ivory and a light khaki or similar plus color. This time around, I saw a white, light neutral and dark neutral! But wait, the dark neutral is the color! It certainly works and with the overall slot machine format the mix n’ match seems quite easy. I did agree with Ellen S that putting a flannel under a sweater could be difficult. Maybe a lightweight cotton shirt would work. I can’t imagine any flannel working under a sweater bc flannel “sticks” and doesn’t slip under easily. I guess I sort of feel the same way about them as second layers too. They just don’t slip and float across the other fabrics very easily. But maybe I just don’t behave well enough to keep my clothing in place! Thanks for this series type.
So excited that this is going to be a four part travel. Love the colors and the painting. Thank you in advance. Sally in St. Paul nice to hear from you .
I love this painting and I’m thrilled this is going to be a 4-part post. I can’t wait to see what the final capsule wardrobe will look like. These are my favorite colors. Thank you!
Love these colors and this new approach to building the travel wardrobe. Brilliant as usual Janice. Hope you are in the mend!
Oh, I’m looking forward to the individual capsules.
I love burgundy with light brown and black. The patterned pieces really appeal to me.
@sally
I ALWAYS wear sleeveless tops underneath (unless it’s over 30 degrees).
Janice, happy to see you’re doing better 🫶.
Love these posts, although I’m not a fan of burgundy, this shows that some thought on how to wear things makes a world of difference.
BTW, I think the flannel shirt is placed here as a shirt jacket, worn over the cardigan if it turns colder than expected.
Hope more heroines get to be revisited for fall!
Cheers and blessings 🌻.