October 24, 2025
For our first adventure into using the Four T’s as the basis of a capsule or travel wardrobe, I’m (of course!) going to see how black works out…
First, let’s take another look at the brown things that we assembled on Wednesday:
Earrings – Farra; bracelets – Lucky Brand; Cashmere crewneck – J.Crew; necklace – Adina Eden; hooded sweatshirt – J.Crew; Turtleneck – J.Crew; tee shirt – J.Crew; scarf – Elizabetta; watch – Fossil; bag – Dune London; skirt – J.Crew; trousers – J.Crew; tights – J.Crew; boots – Circus NY by Sam Edelman; slingbacks – Franco Sarto; short boots – Sam Edelman
This isn’t at all complicated – now let’s add four black garments. The most basic four garments possible, I think…
We could stop with just these four additions, but let’s get our heroine up to 13 garments. This would meant that for travel, she could wear a 3-piece outfit, and pack the other 10 things. I’m quite smitten – for no good reason! – with the idea of packing 10 pieces of clothing…
Here’s the fun part! Finding accessories that include both black and brown is pretty simple.. And THAT HANDBAG… sigh…
Paisley scarf – Weekend Max Mara; earrings – Farra; wool abstract scarf – The Met Store; necklace – Sita Nevado; loafers – Clarks; bag – Patricia Nash
So as our heroine prepares to pack (or live her autumn life!), this is her clothing:
And these are her accessories. Four pairs of shoes might feel like a lot, but if she packs carefully (and maybe sacrifices one of her handbags???), everything should be packable…
So this is all just fine, and gives us some really appealing images, but can our heroine get dressed easily, and attractively?
Heck yes!
Just when it feels like her outfits are really dark, she can always pull out her white tee shirt or white shirt to lighten up for a day!
I could travel like this for months…
What color next? If I can find it, I’m tempted to pair turquoise with brown…
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, our heroine was skipping her school reunion, and traveling with friends to Edinburgh! Sounds good to me…
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Janice, I just love this brown with black wardrobe and I can see this being a terrific travel collection for the right woman to the right destination. That being said, I do the addition of the white and printed items into the capsule. Without them, this could feel very heavy. Their inclusion helps the wardrobe to feel grounded, yet not elephantine.
I also was THRILLED with the inclusion of the abstract scarf from the Met Store. I’m (finally) moving into my newly built house in one week and I’m literally basking my master bedroom vibe on this very scarf! I’m going to be including some of my grandmother’s finds from Africa and my mother’s Colombian art pieces. I cannot wait to live in “this scarf”.
That sounds like an amazing bedroom color scheme – great vibe but also nice and relaxing! Good luck with the move!
Many congrats on the build completion and move-in! Such a big win!
Please do a warm color- rust, teal, cypress or hunter green. I “only” wear 5 colors, the best for my autumn palette (&mostly solids); then everything matches & I have “many” possible warm accents.
You are a wizard! Thanks so much, Janice!
I would never have paired black and brown but then I worked for a lawyer who wore classy, non-fussy dresses to court. Her most striking one was black and dark brown and it instantly changed my opinion on that colour combination.
Aqua was my instant thought when I read your question on what colour should you try next with this brown core. Teal is aqua’s older sibling (😉) and would also be fabulous!
Maybe I am lacking in imagination — but just HOW does one wear a fine scarf with a hoodie? Please, somebody, help me out here.
Tight up the neck almost like a “turtleneck”; sits under the hoodie and just peaks out, while keeping your neck fabulously warm? (the colors better be flattering for your face though…)
I always think of this example from the Sartorialist that Janice posted a while back:
https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2020/08/august-2020-six-scarves-twelve-months-twelve-outfits.html/
I’m not a scarf person so for me I would have to wear it around a pony tail, as a headband/bandana type thing or tied around my purse strap for decoration. :)
Lovely! I recently visited Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal and the combination of colors really struck me! There were a lot of wood tones (I read as brown), plus: royal blue, deep aubergine/purple, some mauvy-pinks, and an intense aqua-to-teal. It played together beautifully – I was wondering if you would do a wardrobe based on those colors! (all great accent colors for brown! although personally I like Orange with Brown as well)
LOVE these color combos! I second this, Janice!
Janice, this wardrobe makes it so easy to dress. I have a lot of shades of blue and black basics. In the summer I added pops of pink, green and light blue. Also have dark pink, green and burgundy sweaters for winter. That gives me some variety. Looking forward to seeing what you do with turquoise. ❤️
I love black and tan. I used that as my basic colors when I last visited the British Isles. I added aqua, my other favorite, and had a cohesive wardrobe for the first time in my life! I still find it both sophisticated and fun.
No one has mentioned berry. But I think raspberry with both black and chocolate is divine. Teal is a stunner of course.
For me, the combination of dark brown and black really needs the bridge pieces mixing the two colors to sell it, which Janice has demonstrated beautifully in her sample outfits. I think a lighter version of brown like tan/camel or cognac pairs more easily with black, but the dark browns with black can look a bit “oops got dressed in the dark” without something that underlines the intentionality of the combination.
Sally in St. Paul.
I agree ! While Janice has included some added white options, i need that lighter value near my face, preferably in ivory or a cream .
This demonstrates how really strong brown is as an accessory color. You brought in black and everything in brown hung in there. Lots of scarves out there in brown and black. And, brown sells fast everywhere!
Turquoise with brown will be wonderful. Turquoise also looks great with tan. Very enlivening.
Adding a vote of support for the turquoise and brown. I totally agree with your comment about turquoise and tan, too. I’m in the southern hemisphere and heading into summer. Turquoise and tan are fresh and lively for me, reminiscent of dry hills overlooking a glacier-fed lake in my part of the world.
Hi Janice!
Could you please do two more of the “CREWNECK SWEATER” Series in navy and in Light grey please? That was a very useful series!
Warm wishes from Canada!
I wasn’t surprised to see black. 😁
Very pretty outfits.
This makes it easier for me to decide to wear my black coat with the brown pants next time.
I have a beautiful leopard-print scarf.
Leopard print looks stunning with brown and black.
Coral pink with black and brown is rich and jazzy at the same time.
I fell in love at first sight with the all saints mesh top. Unfortunately it only goes up to a US size 10. Cue the sad violin music.
Well shoot, I just cleared out most of the brown from my wardrobe and now these last two posts make me wish I had kept it. I still have a suede skirt, a utility-type cardigan jacket, and a nice leopard print silk scarf. My ankle boots, which I loved, got all cracked and had to go, and I gave away my purse and old, worn T-shirt. I do aslo still have a fabulous pattened leather Ivanka Trump tote bag that I thrifted new with tags for $5 a few years ago! I’m pretty sure it was originally a LOT more than that. Now I think its just funny to have.
I have to be careful with brown, with my clear winter coloring, but for additional colors, I’d be interested to see brown with navy, red or medium pink. Turquoise/aqua would also be lovely.
I’ve long enjoyed black and brown together, but used ivory instead of white as my light neutral. Because my hair and skin are fair, I used black only for skirts, pants, shoes, and purses. I used “bridge” tops because the black wasn’t flattering (over-powered my coloring).When I wanted an accent color, I would use deep rust tones, maroons, or greens which worked very well with my warm coloring.
The only downside is that brown can be incredibly difficult to find some years. It’s why I NEVER threw out brown pieces unless they became unwearable/unuseable. At this point, I have some pieces that are more than 25 years old, stored together in one large storage container :-) . My favorite is a golden brown pair of velour pants. I have loved velour for more than 50 years, so I don’t see that changing. I really like boucle textures as well.