September 4, 2025
Let’s continue our adventure with our heroine who is trying to see how far she can take a wardrobe that’s essential two colors, with white added in. Her inspiration is this wonderful painting:
It’s finally the time of year – and the right year – to find some burgundy clothes! And our heroine very wisely picked up a charcoal cotton turtleneck while it’s available. It’s amazing how frequently something that you would expect to be available throughout a season just vanishes before the season even properly starts!
Charcoal turtleneck – Lands’ End; scarf – Elizabetta; earrings – Vintouch Italy; burgundy Donegal cashmere sweater – Lands’ End; lace skirt – GAP; corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; ballet flats – Abeo
Our heroine managed to stay in her “winter” column when shopping this month! She may never be quite as on time as this again… But we did fudge things a bit – this isn’t really a “warm” skirt, unless she wears tights under it!
Her 40-piece wardrobe divides into 18 grey garments and 22 in the white-to-burgundy spectrum. I could always move the white things in with the grey, or even give them their own page. There are no rules, right?
My favorite images are always the accessories – I’m particularly smitten with these scarves, and the jewelry…
I like her shoes and bags too…
The acid test – always – is how easily new purchases integrate into an existing wardrobe. If you can’t wear what you’ve purchased, no matter how much you love the particular item, it’s a failure for you in YOUR wardrobe…
I find the simplicity of a three-color wardrobe appealing; for me, I could probably wear black, white and denim blue… Wearing the same things over and over doesn’t bore me!
love,
Janice
past installments of this wardrobe can be found here: Christmas Day Introduction, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August
p.s. Ten years ago, I shared a quote from one of my favorite French style books…
Burgundy, or variations of it, seems to be everywhere this season. I’d even bet this heroine can find something in burgundy velvet for the holidays.
The simplicity of a two color wardrobe is appealing. I’m not that person, but I do live with only three lip colors.
Not sure I would be happy with just 2 colours, but I have lived with a 3 colour wardrobe for some years, shades of blue, green and brown (and 1 lipstick shade!) and it makes life so much easier. However, now I have embraced grey hair I am thinking I may branch out with grey and mauve too, and try some different lipstick colours!
When you first posted this painting and wardrobe, I have to admit that I wasn’t a fan. I also wasn’t sure that it would be possible to create a 12 month wardrobe, using only 2 colors, plus white. I stand corrected! While this isn’t for me, I can completely see this being right for the heroine in question, as well as countless other women out there, looking to simplify.
My favorite piece in this month’s grouping is the lace skirt from Gap. It is SUPERB! How pretty would this be with a black velvet top, or a white silk blouse, for the holidays? Love it!
I have to agree – that skirt is SO pretty!!!! I went back to look through the tops and didnt see anything i would like to “dress it up” a bit more; I hope that is an addition later for this wardrobe!
My favourite wardrobe. These are staple colours for me. Though my white would be ivory or a soft cotton white. I up the ante with velvet, satin, silver thread and faux fur. I am quite happy to wear a sparkling purple polo with plum cords.
Beth, i think your comment makes a lot of sense to me – the more limited the color palatte (hello magpie here!) the more important to me to vary the textures. Suede, velvet, satin … bring it on! [I need to do better on that in my own magpie wardrobe… somehow its always “flat knits” that get worn, and satin shine that gets bought and then considered “too fancy” for every-day wear. Velvet seems to hit that middle ground for me… what other textures are there?]
I think texture is an important garment/outfit element that is underdiscussed. I agree that a mix of textures is a key to working in a limited color palette and making outfits visually interesting. In the fall/winter months, my outfits are more simple, relying more heavily on solid pieces that I wear more frequently compared to my spring/summer looks that include all the colors and all the prints. In the coming months, there are a lot of sweater + pants/skirt + boots + scarf outfits in my life, for example. Luckily colder weather wear offers such a wonderful range of textures – knits of all types, tweed, leather, suede, faux fur, corduroy, puffy/quilted fabrics – that we can really lean into texture to create interest. I’d say texture and layering possibilities are probably what I like most about fall/winter style.
“Satin shine” is a texture I don’t wear very much. Rather than “too fancy,” I find that it is “too polished” for my own style, and the shininess of it doesn’t do my more roughly textured skin and especially hair any favors. Even fine knits can veer too far into smooth and polished territory for me. When I wear them, I prefer silk/silky fabrics that have a more matte finish. Even so, adding a scarf with “satin shine” into an outfit with rougher textures works very well for me so I have a good number of them in my wardrobe that I pull out in all seasons.
I’m averse to plain colours unless the garment has texture or interest: rib knit, cable knit, marling, ombre, stripes or polka dots, sheen, silver (or gold) thread, corduroy, velvet, faux fur on cuffs and collars. I probably wouldn’t wear satin every day because of attracting marks. Satin is for evenings only. I would quite happily wear a cotton stripe shirt under an interesting jumper with velvet trousers.
I love the idea of a black, white and denim ( or navy) wardrobe! Could we see that in 2026, please?
Or maybe a generic capsule wardrobe template that can be adapted for your personal palette? I’m thinking it would consist of a dark neutral, light neutral, denim and accent color. Choose what colors work for you. Brainstorming as I write, you could show how to apply this concept in different palettes using the Clean 13 garments.
I love the variety of grey shades – really beautiful!
For me, the real “proof is in the pudding” question is how well the burgundy pieces blend tonally with the lighter pink/mauve/orchid pieces into outfits (with or without grey and/or white as well). I think there are some lovely possibilities there!
The lace skirt + sweatshirt look makes me very happy – a nice combination of textures and a fun juxtaposition of refinement levels. For true cold weather, I like the boots and larger scarf (and presumably burgundy tights); for a warmer day, I’m seeing the pewter sneakers and a wispier scarf.
I wear pink, mauve and lilac with plum and berry shades.
Ok, the beautiful lace skirt with a gray gym sweatshirt is so brilliant, plus the boots. The highlight of the show today. Also, I really like your comment about the acid test of wardrobe planning–how new purchases integrate into existing wardrobe. It’s not rocket science, but it is SOME kind of science. I have the dark gray LE mock turtle shirt and it sucks the color out of my face. Even though I love a lot of other shades of gray, that was not a good purchase. And, finally, thanks for providing this wonderful, useful distraction during these way too exciting and troubling times.
Love the skirt! A cashmere sweatshirt/hoody and the boots would pick it up a notch as the wardrobe is more grandma than funk but put together the right way there is hope. Again ( with the exception of a couple items) the jewelry choices are underwhelming, ok but meh…grandma..and I am 70 and a grandma! The shoes are terrific ! Love the choices could use a higher pair of lace up boots ( think Doc Marten, Rieker,Remonte) and she requires a tote bag or knapsack sac the tiny bags are fine but not practical for daily use…a wine/burgundy leather tote or sac à dos for winter’s quotidian rounds would round out the wardrobe nicely. I rarely wear pumps anymore but sometimes…I’d go for black leather ( I prefer suede but leather can make it through the year) with a kitten or block heel…the ballet flats give major school marm…not the look I’m going for on date night, festive or more serious occasions.
This colour scheme is beautiful!
I love the idea of the lace skirt but I would want the built in lining to fall below the knees. The design’s mini skirt lining just won’t work for me.
Love this wardrobe! It is totally my idea of a color scheme, but replacing the various grays with various blues and a denim shirt and jacket. My wardrobe is even more skewed toward blue than this heroine’s is toward gray. I have about 50% less rose/reds and ivories and 50% more blues. I find it liberating!
I love the burgundy cords. Cords are such a great texture, just following on from the texture discussion above. And also, I will always have a soft spot because they were IN, when I was a teenager, and came in gorgeous colours. I remember having light blue, teal, and a sort of sage-y? green, charcoal grey, and ivory. NOT all at the same time! That would have covered ages 15 – 22, I think :) It was probably fairly near the start of the fast fashion movement at that time, and we didn’t have multiples of anything. How I wish that had continued! This wardrobe is beautiful, Janice. If it was mine, I would be wearing the burgundy cords with the sailor neck grey cardigan on day 1!
There was a flea market here this weekend. I bought a burgundy blouse, a skirt, barely worn dark blue boots, and jewelry.
I’ve owned several very chunky cable-knit cardigans for ages. They’re 100% cotton and look like new.
I also have some corduroy items, a pair of dark blue velvet trousers, and so on.
And, of course, lots of patterns.✨️
P.S. I like wearing this shade of gray (well, gray-brown) and would love to mix this capsule with the Delaunay.
I also love the dark berry tones in this capsule.
i love this color concept – essentially 2 colors so much i am experimenting with this for fall winter. and i love the graphics so much, it’s pretty close to what you are showing as well! a slightly warmer pink and a definitely warmer burgandy. the latter happens to be my alma mater’s colors so that’s a bonus!