September 22, 2025
The world does not live in black alone – although if you saw my closet some days you might wonder!
Maybe this is a scarf that you want to pack…
There’s a lovely shade of medium blue in there… but it’s that lime green that our heroine finds most fascinating! Of course she could pack both of those colors as accents, but I didn’t find anything that I loved in the light blue.
Comfortable, but still nicely presentable! Just because you’re going to sleep on the plane doesn’t mean that you MUST wear your pajamas…
earrings – Vintouch Italy; winter pear striped shirt – Lands’ End; cashmere sweater – Caslon; scarf – Artifact.; navy knit pants – L.L.Bean; bag – Radley; navy suede loafers – Birdies
This travel capsule wardrobe is exactly what I packed to take to London, except that it’s all different colors! This is both classic and very current – that lime green isn’t always available as easily as it is this year:
Navy vest – Rails; wedge of lime necklace – Kendra Scott; lime earrings – Kendra Scott; cashmere cardigan – L.L.Bean; navy corduroy pants – Alex Mill; August peridot knit shirt – J.Crew; white shirt – Lands’ End; navy striped shirt – Lands’ End; white tee – Lands’ End; navy striped tee – Lands’ End; floral tee shirt – Lands’ End; denim skirt – J.Jill; wool paisley scarf – Hartford; boots – Easy Spirit; sneakers – Josef Seibel
This heroine feels just fine with two pairs of navy pants, since one pair is a smooth knit with straight legs, and the other pair is corduroy, with a bit more room in the legs. At any rate, the two are sufficiently different from each other that they don’t feel repetitious…
And there’s just a touch of lime green, but it makes a LOT of difference, doesn’t it?
For a week of travel, this is a pretty great wardrobe if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t want to have laundry done! It’s entirely possible that if you’re very busy, or moving around a lot, you won’t have the chance to have things laundered; this wardrobe gives you SEVEN clean shirts. That’s important to some people…
This is another one of those wardrobe from which a bad outfit would be the exception. Maybe the floral tee shirt, a striped shirt over it, and then the floral scarf too? Except that might not be horrible… hmm…
More realistic possibilities:
I’m quite happy with the way this 3x7x3 wardrobe is working; I’m off to search for yet another color scheme!
And we all understand that just because I SHOW this as a travel wardrobe doesn’t mean that these clothes wouldn’t work really well as your autumn wardrobe for being at home and living your normal life, right?
love,
Janice
p.p.s. I know that many of you are fans of Quince – I would show their items here, but they seem to NEVER have “good” photographs of their merchandise. But if you want to shop there, and still support my work, you can click on THIS LINK HERE WHICH GOES TO THE QUINCE SITE.
I’d be grateful….
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This is a lovely cohesive wardrobe. The lime green brightens it so much.
I am currently in the midst of a two week trip and my whatever’s clean thirteen is inspired by your Dark Lady wardrobe. I only have one piece of burgundy, the silk shirt I bought recently, but I’m impressed how much that brightens up the wardrobe.
Oh yes! I’d travel with this. I have no trouble taking two pairs of pants in the same color but different vibe. Just did that on a trip to Austria/Germany. Wide leg chocolate satin trousers with suede booties and a tan knit top & cashmere stole/scarf (coral) worked for concerts. Knit straight leg in the same color with the boots or sneakers and a variety of tops worked several ways. At home I’ll go fancy with those satin trousers OR sneakers, chambray shirt or a tee & denim jacket.
It would be delightful to see how our heroine adds to the travel capsule once she gets home. Maybe she needs: hiking apparel, a raincoat, a warm coat, winter(ish) scarves, something for dinners out, cocktails or weddings and a dress or “suit” that works for banquets, funerals and “serious” occasions. You’ve shown us the wisdom of being on the hunt for pieces that can be worn several ways.
I love this! When younger and my hair was more reddish I wore the lime green quite a bit, and as I went gray I eliminated it. Have recently begun to add it back in – just a few pieces, because I like them. I usually wear it with bright turquoise. Have a lovely day everyone.
Sheila, I love lime and turquoise together!
I just love this. Navy tends to be my most common base color. I’m currently living with a very limited wardrobe, and I centered it all around a base of navy. I’m building a house, which is awesome, but in a teeny rental until my new house is complete. I’ve been with a limited capsule since late June and probably won’t be into my new house before mid-October at the earliest (already it’s a month overdue). Picking one base and sticking with it through the summer, working, travel and now into fall, is the only way I could have managed this.
My favorite note here is the muted lime. It’s not neon (like we all wore in the 80’s), but almost a peridot. I saw this Eileen Fisher sweater on Zappos and, since I’m headed into cooler weather and can’t get to my clothing in storage, just added to my wardrobe. It’s a great color and looks fantastic on so many people. https://www.zappos.com/p/womens-eileen-fisher-crew-neck-sweater-chartreuse/product/10006405/color/4269?utm_source=google&utm_medium=pla_x&utm_campaign=22092939988&utm_term=_o_59832008&utm_content=_g__w__l_Cj0KCQjw58PGBhCkARIsADbDilyGLM04E172KxgGmY72VDA2qT3eIkxZ1MaoOKkmeQWis7s5lTLJJ4saAiFoEALw_wcB&gbraid=0AAAAADnIwa-jvlE-QYFQQjgDsWz2FB_CT&gclid=Cj0KCQjw58PGBhCkARIsADbDilyGLM04E172KxgGmY72VDA2qT3eIkxZ1MaoOKkmeQWis7s5lTLJJ4saAiFoEALw_wcB
I am trying to transition from daytime black into navy and as I already have a limeish green jacket, satin look blouse and a couple of other bits, this gives me confidence to see I am on the right path. I also have navy jacket,trousers and a cashmere sweater so all good to go. The French 5 idea is brilliant for introducing pops of different colour so I thank Janice for that. My burgundy jacket and trousers also go with the navy (I watched Ralph Lauren on You Tube and was impressed).
I love the inclusion of the floral top. It immediately suggests adding a pair of jeans or chinos for the lighter blue. Accents don’t have to be on the top half. Lands End have a dress in a similar colourway to expand the wardrobe.
I’m not sure that I would pack a white shirt and a white tee; one or the other would be fine. I would also choose between the navy/white stiped shirt or the navy/white striped tee. I would only need 5 shirts/tees max for a week.
I’m glad that waistcoats are coming back into fashion. Worn on their own as a neat look but ideal as a warmer layer under a chunky cardigan. I’m also experimenting with sleeveless pullovers. This will help me with my outfit choices on the day that I’m in primary school as a reading mentor. Layers are a must if I’m sat with the children in a corridor.
A perfect wardrobe for me. It is beautifully balancef and versatile.; very good for London at the moment where it us sunny but not hot – I call it champagne weather. It may get windier and wetter as the werk goes on but you are from Chicago so good at weather of all kinds. I will keep an eye for your purple scarves and wave if I see you. Thank you for sharing you tremendous knowledge . Best wisges. Janice (another one)
Thanks for the great travel wardrobe ideas, as always! FYI re doing laundry, having just gotten back from 2 1/2 weeks in the UK, I’m happy to report that the 2 Lands End no-iron shirts I brought came out looking nice & crisp –I just washed them in the hotel sink & smoothed them a bit as I was hanging them up in the shower stall to drip dry. (I was determined not to have to iron or go to a laundromat or send clothes out to be laundered.)
Janice,
Speaking of PJ’s during travel, hubby and I recently traveled back down to home from Canada, At a needed rest stop, I was rather shocked to see an adult female in a zip front Onesie, like you see on a baby, complete with slippers. And it was a hot day !
Earlier in the season at a resort town, I observed a young woman walking around in a pajama shorts and collared top set . These are bedroom attire and not for public display ! What has gotten into some women ?
PJ’s are sold as leisurewear. I often see people wearing PJ’s and knitted leisure wear going out shopping. Quite bizarre.
We were in Chicago for a reunion this past weekend. Passed a 20-30 something female in what could only be described as underpants! Skin tone with black paint splashes was the look. Worn with a cropped tee shirt. I was dumbfounded. Should not be allowed on the plane!!!
This capsule is such a good template to follow. I definitely could wear these colors and actually have one lime green tee by Kettlewell. Kettlewell tees are so well made, but currently are a bit too rich for my blood. It’s very difficult to purchase from Europe right now because shipping rates hurt the bottom line.
By the way, I am using the Dark Lady capsule for my 5 day stay in Massachusetts. I added one pair of grey pants to the white, black, burgundy capsule and it’s been perfect. The extra pants were insurance against a mishap while chasing around after grandkids. Have a wonderful trip.
Pretty! That light blue makes me think of a medium denim wash or chambray, which I could really see playing well with the other colors in this wardrobe.
I really like this wardrobe although for my level of dressy (if I’m not teaching) I would change the skirt to a pair of jeans. I traveled in similar knit pants from Lands End (although wide leg) last May and they were perfectly comfy and put together! I would also have all the t-shirts be short sleeve to account for hot flashes. In other news I finally found a couple of striped t-shirts that I like! I realize for me they have to be a little bit wider stripes. I got black and white and tan and white and am wearing them all the time. Now I understand everyone’s love of stripes!
While this wardrobe is not -exactly- as I’d personally choose it, it’s really very, very close! Navy as the base neutral, white in shirts (but not pants), many stripes and a floral print top, the luscious lime/apple green, the denim skirt, the sneakers, the scarves…and yes 7 shirts! I’m one of those “need a fresh shirt each day” people and the options here work nicely for layering. My own selection would lean more toward the knits than the woven button ups (such as subbing the lime T with thin white stripes for the pear striped button up) but at this point it’s just quibbling. I would like to see the light blue represented with a chambray shirt or light-to-medium wash jeans. If Jessie Zhao could be induced to make one of the leopard zoological print scarves in this colorway, I’d be over the moon. But I would probably add a leopard or cheetah print shoe to the capsule to get my fix.
Also the lime jewelry is very cute! If you’re going to lean into lime, you might as well go all the way :)
Sally, as soon as I saw the navy base with 2 pants, and the prints, I thought “Sally will be all over this!” 😊 I think it’s both beautiful & practical, and would be great for a holiday wardrobe. I tend to rule out lime green for myself, as being a bit bright. But someone mentioned muted lime green, which sounds like an oxymoron, but I remember having a “muted but still clear and bright” lime green tee that suited me well. So many words required to describe a colour properly! It’s very clear in my mind, but possibly not out loud!
I love this wardrobe. Classic with a twist (of lemon).
This is a beautiful wardrobe
where you can change the accent color to whatever you like.
This spiky lime goes fantastically with it. I have a striped shirt with different shades of blue and yellow.
I wish you a speedy recovery, Janice.
The retrospective is so beautiful, too.
i have a striped sheath dress with these exact colors. now i have a scarf to acquire! i already have jackets and shoes. <3