September 1, 2025
I don’t know why, but I feel better now that it’s September. It makes no sense.
Maybe because more travel is on the near horizon – London later this month! And – of course – I’m going to Paris in December. It’s a tradition, isn’t it?
Let’s start with this most quintessential of autumn-hued paintings:
Our heroine has kept her color palette unchanged, although she hasn’t yet been able to find anything in that avocado/peridot/lime green. Until now! This is how it happens sometimes – all of the sudden a color is everywhere.
And – if you’ve been planning to include this color in your wardrobe, you’ve got to be ready to strike while the iron is hot. Or, maybe, you’ll reconsider, once you see the color in a garment. Sometimes, we change our minds…
This heroine, however, stocked up!
Peridot cardigan – J.Crew; peridot earrings – Opium Jewels; tee shirt – J.Crew; lime striped tee – Lands’ End; dusty olive corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; scarf – Klements; loafers – Robert Zur
Even better (for no good reason) – all of her new clothes slotted beautifully into her Weekly Timeless Wardrobe template. Frankly, I don’t think the primary 52 garments that I wear would fit into one of these templates! But they’re guidelines, NOT rules. There are no fashion or style rules, beyond the obvious “don’t get arrested, don’t get frostbite.”
I almost put our heroine’s new bright green garments on the page with mustard and ivory, because of the lightness of them. But for now they’re in with the “greens;” I may move them sometime…
Our heroine’s newest scarf is a bit of a departure, isn’t it? The border is dark green, although it’s tough to tell in photographs…
I have to admit that I really like her shoes – especially the mustard loafers, and the lime green driving loafers…
How will our heroine wear her new things?
To be perfectly frank, I wouldn’t have included the bright lime green in this wardrobe, if it was MY wardrobe. But it’s NOT my wardrobe, and so the color is included.
It’s important to remember that you get to decide EVERYTHING about your wardrobe by yourself, only for yourself. There are so many external pressures on us about what colors, styles, silhouettes, etc. to wear, it’s easy to forget that our clothes are nobody’s business but ours!
Be the Subject, not an Object…
earlier installments of this wardrobe can be found here: Christmas Day Introduction, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August
love,
Janice
Like this wardrobe? Save it to Pinterest!
Uuuuuu, that last phrase is a keeper: ‘be the Subject, not an Object.’
And I laughed with: ‘don’t get arrested, don’t get frostbite.’
I’m also greeting September with happiness 😊. Summer was nice, but I feel ready for Fall!
About the wardrobe, I’m on your ‘no peridot, thanks’ group, even if it’s supposed to be my birthstone. I traded it for pearls a while ago – I must give you the credit for that, Janice!
Even so, the grouping looks nice, I can picture a heroine with deep coloring rocking it. Or just anyone who wears flashy colors without care. Makes me think of the French style, which is 10% the garments, 90% the attitude.
Cheers and blessings!
Interesting … I appreciate this wardrobe MUCH more, now that it has the bright lime green. 😊
I couldn’t wear these colours, but it’s a beautiful wardrobe for someone with the colouring for it. Glad you’re feeling a bit better, Janice. I like September too, particularly as it’s the start of spring for us in the southern hemisphere. Thanks for the wardrobe! and looking forward to the others. Love the beginning of the month!
I’m with you – the peridot makes this wardrobe sing for me! And I certainly do wear it – when I can find a peridot that hasn’t leaned too far into apple green territory. Gotta go look at that JCrew sweater… although I’m concerned about synth cuffs on merino. Sigh. Good merino lasts forever on its own!
The light blue of the river in the foreground in the painting speaks to me far more than the lime green you have chosen, and easily represented in the clothes by light denim shades in shorts and jeans. As a further variation I can see a muted aqua/turquoise tee shirt fitting in somewhere. Just my opinion and at least shows I’m paying attention! All the best…
I like Helen’s idea of including aqua/turquoise rather than the peridot/lime green – which to me makes the whole wardrobe seem like one primarily for spring.
Like others, I am ready for autumn!
And I’m with Beth T too – some rust/terracotta would be great.
Beth refers to the original Colour Me Beautiful classification of people and clothes into seasons. I’d be interested to know what you all think of that system?
In my 20’s I was told I was a winter, in my late 40’s told I was a fall, and now I’m not sure what i am as I’m salt/pepper gray (with purple) so I just wear the colors I like and feel good in.
Same as Sheila, I wear the colours I like and feel good in. But Sheila’s range of colours will be broader than mine 😊
Maggie, I don’t know if the season color system works for everybody, but it has worked for me. I’ve known since I was a child, for example, that beige looks terrible on me. I can still remember my mother buying a beige coat for me. (She was probably an autumn and wore brown tones well.) I absolutely hated that coat. I also had an oatmeal dress that I didn’t like much. On the other hand, I’ve never met a deep red that I didn’t like! Also navy, emerald green, dark gray, and, until quite recently, black. I have noticed as I’ve aged that black might not be as flattering as it once was, but I still have it in my wardrobe. I usually wear it with a scarf or with pearls or something that takes away from the darkness of just black. I was once hauled up in front of an audience by Cynthia Griffey, a sewing educator, to illustrate my coloring. I can remember I was wearing a bright red jacket, a white shirt, a black skirt, and a multicolored scarf with bright reds and blues and greens in it. So I guess she agreed that I was definitely a winter!
I bought a Colour Me Beautiful book in the 80’s plus the others that expanded th theme. One book suggested that you were one main season but could incorporate the colours of other seasons based on colour tone and saturation of your skin, hair etc. Now colour stylists go by tonal values a lot plus your style preferences. Accordingly, I’m a Soft Summer but can wear some of the Autumn colours that are cool and muted.
I’m not a slave to the idea but it is helpful when I feel overwhelmed in clothes stores, even large charity shops.
I like the seasons as a starting point, as long as feels reassuring rather than limiting to the person using it. I’ve found the newer incarnations (the ones that incorporate subseasons) to be more useful than the original 4-season version. I also think the seasonal approach is much trickier for those who have olive skin to use than those of us with easily determined cool or warm undertones.
I’m typed a soft summer, and I borrow some of the colors of soft autumn. Shopping (especially thrifting) became a lot easier when I started looking for muted colors instead of clear ones. Between Janice’s templates and the seasonal color theory, I now have a small but hard-working wardrobe in colors I love to wear.
I do love the blend of these colours together, even though I can’t wear them. However, both my Autumn husband or daughter – neither of them like yellow ochre/mustard. It just doesn’t suit them. Maybe it’s because they are verging on Winter colouring that suits deeper tones than someone with true autumn colouring.
I wear the deeper shades of my palette in winter too – navy, purple, teal, burgundy/plum. They just feel warmer and cosier, though I’m not averse to wearing lighter colours on my top half in warmer materials. Though I have seen blonde women in head to toe ivory in the autumn/winter – the Snow Maiden look. It is quite striking and you do wonder how on earth they avoid getting mucky!
Perhaps next month our heroine could add some rust/terracotta items to the mix – a trio of jumper, top and trousers – which are the colours of autumn leaves. She has more than enough yellow and lots of green. I always try to get trios to create columns in all my main “neutral” colours to suit the season and thicker materials.
I’d love also to see an autumn print shirt or top that picks up all these colours. Print shirts and tops give the mileage in my wardrobe as they are so adaptable. It would be great if you could do a post with a print shirt from which to create many different outfits, something that you’ve done in the past.
I’m looking forward to the other wardrobes this week. You do a fantastic job.
Happy September and welcome to the ‘ber’ months….my favorite!
Every time you post the clothing around this painting, I desperately wish I could wear olive green. I’m in love with the mustard and coral here and I am deeply attracted to the olive, but I just don’t think it looks good on me. It could also be the fact that I am the widow of one Army officer and gave birth to another, so olive has been a part of my life in a completely different context. I’m an autumn, but I just feel meh in olive. That being said, the gorgeousness of this painting and these clothes always attract me like a magpie to shiny objects.
My favorite piece in this latest grouping is the scarf. I adore it! I can see this being magical year ’round…even bringing a sense of lightness to an all black outfit.
oh gosh I love this wardrobe. I wear orange quite a bit, and I even have a couple of pieces of neon green – which I never can quite decide if I like on myself or not, but I like to wear it with some of my blue things. While this isn’t a wardrobe I would put together for myself the colors are just amazing and I love them together. Thank you!
Please please make it easier to support you and make these all links. It’s really tedious to find and go back when it’s like to buy shoes or a bag, but I would really rather support you. Thanks.
Another reader who cannot wear these colors, but I adore this heroine’s style! Her compiled outfits make me realize I should add a turtleneck or two to my wardrobe. It is a great way to wear some of my lighter blues in cold weather and make them feel more appropriate for the season. A turtleneck just screams cold weather to me. I really like how the ivory turtleneck worn with the ivory pants with a different color topper seems to make that outfit look more fallish than a tee shirt would.
How fresh the peridot (lime?) tee looks with the white shorts and the lime loafers! Finding those shoes is brilliant. This heroine has a very interesting and varied wardrobe.
Peridot earrings are beautiful. If you love them, you love them! I can wear mine as a punch of color with bright navy, violet, chocolate brown, kelly green, ivory.
Some of the best advice you’ve ever given is if you really love wearing a color, strike while it’s hot in the stores. I’ve been rounding out my basics in brown since it is having a moment. I found beautiful brown Josef Seibel oxfords!!!! The shoe consultant at my local department store tells me oxfords and loafers are really the thing this fall! Not that loafers ever fall completely off the shoe racks.
Well, it’s the start of a new year (the start of the school year always feels more like New Year’s than Jan 1st). Did you stock up on new pens, notebooks, etc? & the weather is usually crisp,& refreshing.
Good morning, Janice.
I love the lime green. I have a scarf with these exact colors in it. Your posts give me great ideas.
Do you keep your closet down to 52 wardrobe items per season or for the entire year?
for the year.
Hope you’re feeling better!
I LOVE the peridot/lime, which would also work with navy or denim or black.
I wear olive a lot and I love the lime green with it. These new items all look so fresh and brighten up the all-olive base. Now I know what I’ll wear today!
When it comes to most fall colors, I am on the outside looking in. Fall, however is my very favorite season. In upstate NY, the arrival of peak leaf-peeping season is glorious. I don’t know if I’m a winter or summer, but I like to steal a bit of deep
loden green to wear with my burgundies and and deep blues. I love the idea of of ivory pants and tee with an outer piece of a vibrant fall colors . As leu2500 said, I always feel that September is the start of a New year. Here, in NY, the season can change from summer to crisp fall overnight. And I love that I now have your templates to build a perfect fall capsule.
HI, I have enjoyed your post for Years! Sadley, the items you post are over my budget. So, I was wonder if you could start an Amazon page to follow. You could post beauty products, household items, clothing, etc.
Let know if you consider this idea so I can follow and purchase items.
Karen
Here is my take on Amazon fashion…it’s “fast fashion”. I have learned that I prefer to buy fewer items of higher quality than binging on Amazon. I’ve been suckered into buying things that looked cute on Amazon, but fell apart after the first washing.
I can’t speak for Janice, but I’ll take quality over quantity any day. That is just my $0.02…
I never link to Amazon. Nor to Temu, or any of those kinds of businesses. We deserve better clothes than that, and the people who work for those companies deserve better.
I could be really politically annoying if I tried!
love,
Janice
Dear Karen,
Thanks for asking, but I boycott Amazon. I know too many people who work for them who are treated badly, and I don’t ant to be a part of that. I support shopping second-hand at places like Ebay and Thredup…
But I’m so glad you’re here with us!
love,
Janice
I really like the addition of the lime green pieces. I couldn’t wear them; I’d just turn the same color! They add a lot of personality and pizazz! Thanks!
I’m too much of a hard core autumn to go for the lime green in this wardrobe! 😄 I want all my colors muted and “dirty”. Lol! Im playing along on this one, and it is a challenging wardrobe! I’ve enjoyed adding “wheat yellow” as a light neutral. Excited that you get to go to London!
I was not a fan of this paintings palette, but very surprised to see how the bright green peaked my interest! It’s a color I used to wear so it has a soft spot in my color-range heart. Especially with the mustard yellow and orange! (Also love with those white shorts.) Maybe because these colors reflect the starting changes of fall in my garden, and fall is also my favorite season.
I have been wearing several items in lime green this summer. Paired with lots of white it really feels fresh. With autumn and winter coming I intend to give it a try with burgundy. If it doesn’t work I will fall back on my usual black.
In the continuing education of myself to adopt but adapt I had to stop and reflect on the stunning painting but ( to me) awful colour wheel…how would I change that? First to go would be the awful mustard gold …there is probably a handful of people in this world who can wear that and look good and they are not me. Then the weak and wussy apricot peach. Gone. Lime green and peridot I adore..the olive is ok but relegated to a supporting role not main character. Off white or whatever it is changed to winter white, the pale peach to saturated orange, the mustard would be the beautiful blue in the painting. For the main colour I would go for navy or black maybe charcoal. They all look good with olive, peridot, saturated orange and the blue ( which could take various forms from chambray to turquoise) maybe I’d toss in some deep coral..
Although I am a winter I am attracted to these colours but only in their saturated versions, my husband just gave me a beautiful custom pendant with a large peridot green citrine in the middle flanked by two wings of matched sea jasper that is green with orange in the middle, it looks like a Luna moth who dabbed orange paint on their wings. This heroine would love it!!
I love the clear peridot/lime greens, so these are my favorite additions to the wardrobe. I’m rather picky about the versions I will add to my wardrobe, but as with golden hair and green eyes, the right version of this green works on me despite my pink-tone skin color. Peridot/lime looks great with white, and I find it can go well with olive, though it’s a bit fiddly to get the tones right. I think I like the clear versions with white and the muddier versions with olive.
Though I would never wear this autumnal color palette, I really admire the inclusion of accent color pieces that are not matched in color but work together beautifully. Even the mustard (which I believe is my least-favorite color and not-coincidentally the one that looks worst on me) is not as much of a cringe color as usual in the context of this wardrobe.
I’d also like to say re: my previous comment about beige/tan pants and Target employees that I 100% agree that there is nothing wrong with working at Target or looking like you work at Target…or Walmart…or any other store like that! I actually wore similar pants in a slightly darker tone of tan/camel 5-6 days a week when working the counter at a fast casual restaurant in college, so part of the work/job association for the “tan khakis” comes from my own life. In any event, I only meant that for me personally, the association of that color/style of pants with a utilitarian work uniform doesn’t float my style boat at this point in my life. No broader meaning intended!
Thanks to everyone who’s greeted me back this week – I am very happy to be back to this lovely community. To the question about my blog…since we can no longer add our own website info to the comment submission, I will share that my blog is at: WithinAWorldOfMyOwn.com. I am back to blogging there after a break as well, though I am off to a bit of a slow start (I have a post there with a bit of a life update for those who are curious). Thanks, Janice, for your graciousness when we commenters discuss among ourselves :)
I love peridot but it doesn’t love me so much! Back in the late 90s, I had a lot of it in my wardrobe (for better or worse). I liked wearing it with black or white or denim. Sadly all that is left of that phase of my wardrobe is peridot earrings and a pendant with peridot and moonstone, all of which I still love but rarely wear.
As Janice has often said that introducing a new colour like peridot could be an inexpensive necklace or bracelet or a scarf bought in a charity shop.
Dear Janice,
On the thought of “don’t get arrested, don’t get frostbite,” what shoes are you thinking of for your Paris in December trip? I’ll be in Paris at the end of December/first of January. I know it’s early to plan but shoes are giving me pause. I’ve never been to Paris at the end of the year. Once I leave Paris I will be heading east to cold and snow. A pair of snow boots will be in my suitcase for sure.
Thanks for your thoughts, Ginger
I will probably take a pair of short suede boots – sort of like chukka boots, a pair of loafers and a pair of sneakers – maybe my silver ones. Even if it snows a ton, the sidewalks are always cleared pretty quickly, and if it doesn’t snow everything is kept beautifully clean. You actually have to watch for running water in the gutters where the sanitation people are cleaning!
hugs,
Janice
This wardrobe is so colorful. I have exactly one shirt in this beautiful light green.
Recently, my brother’s girlfriend picked out a cardigan in this color and brought it to me. I just find it difficult to find matching jewelry (unless I like to shop online).