October 22, 2025
Why yes, the internet outages on Monday WERE a headache…
Ten years ago, when I was visiting London, I noticed that a lot of women had worked out a really simple way to build outfits, and therefore their wardrobe. I called it The Four T’s, because of COURSE I had some mnemonic to help me remember things!
But it’s simple enough: tee shirt, turtleneck, trousers and tights. Look back ten years to see the original post…
Now that I’m (a) getting dressed each day for legitimate cool weather, and (b) considering what I might pack when I go to Paris in December, I thought that I should look at this idea again.
But not in black! My choices for myself will of course be black, but in the interests of variety let’s start with brown…
You could certain wear just the pants with the turtleneck or tee shirt, but these pieces are made to be layered! And if our heroine (a mythical heroine today; nobody specific has requested this…) has tights, she BETTER have something to put over them. It could be cropped pants, or a dress, but a skirt is the more classic option:
As is always the case with me, the accessories are at LEAST as important as the clothes! I’m certainly not suggesting that our heroine needs all of these things, but none of them would go to waste in her small brown wardrobe:
Earrings – Farra; watch – Fossil; necklace – Adina Eden; bracelets – Lucky Brand; bag – Dune London; scarf – Elizabetta; boots – Circus NY by Sam Edelman; slingbacks – Franco Sarto; short boots – Sam Edelman
When all of this is assembled in one image, it feels warm and comfortable, as well as versatile and easy to wear:
Yes, this would get boring as heck in a hurry, but imagine if you were working for UPS and had to appear at a conference every day…
for those who don’t see United Parcel Service trucks and staff regularly, their signature color is brown!
I see four easy outfits here:
I’m sure you’ve realized by now that this is just the beginning; Friday, I’m going to add some black things (and some black-and-brown things, if I find them!) to show one way this core wardrobe can work…
What other colors? Winter white? Navy? Gray?
There are always possibilities!
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, we started with a scarf, and then plunged into a brown and teal wardrobe!
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I love this core neutral. You’ve just pointed me toward a few missing pieces of my core neutrals. If I’m pairing brown with other neutrals, I like anything in the cream to tan range (including camel), dove grey or light dove grey and bright navy. A steel grey or standard dark navy doesn’t have enough contrast. I can see black for some people, but I really don’t love it – makes me feel and look tired.
As you pointed out, all brown is going to get boring pretty fast, but the real magic happens with accent colors. Flamingo pink, a pretty red (leaning orange), coral, aqua, apple green, tangerine, corn yellow are all gorgeous possibilities. It’s not a bad think to collect a set of accessories and accent tees in more than one of these. So much wardrobe magic!
Im with you on adding COLORS as the additional pieces! Brings so much depth to an outfit. While creams and tans are obvious choices and would be lovely, for me, black is just too close in tone and would bring the outfit down too much.
I live in a cold area. It’s supposed to snow here on Friday. I like to wear brick red, petrol blue and beige with it. Dark yellow, orange, and purple give me 70s vibes. The brown goes with so many colors. I’m looking forward to the upcoming posts.
I discovered this post yesterday:
https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2017/12/expanding-a-successful-travel-capsule-wardrobe-using-brown-with-teal-and-cream.html/
Those are my colors with brown, tan, cream, turquoise and a berry/burgundy! I have a few navy and black base T’s to go with the colors too when I don’t want brown. It’s so pretty for the fall.
I love this idea and I could see this working for a variety of women in a variety of Autumn and Winter colors. Personally, I love the brown. I just don’t have much of it. I could probably recreate something like this in chestnut brown, using pieces that I already….or navy, burgundy or black.
I’m not a hoodie person. But, I can totally see swapping out the hoodie for a chunky cardigan or a brown leather jacket. What do you think? I’d probably also swap in at least one or two prints in this color palette. But, it’s a great idea to pack with one color. Period. As I move into the final phase of moving out of my temporary rental cottage, into a hotel for a day or two, and moving into my new construction, I think I’ll do this…especially considering that I’ll be working the whole time during this transition!
I’m actively debating whether to add brown trousers to my winter wardrobe. I’ve been given two brown floral tops – one with pink/burgundy flowers, the other pale blue flowers. Both brand new but not worn. I have a pair of taupe trousers but considering dark brown trousers.
The added problem then comes about whether to buy dark brown footwear as I would only wear them with the brown trousers or teal green trousers that I’ve added to my wardrobe . I have a pair of taupe ankle boots that I wear occasionally. With problem feet, my footwear is expensive and brown isn’t one of my main neutrals. My handbags are navy, grey, burgundy, purple, teal.
Maybe I could just wear the tops with burgundy or navy trousers instead. Would that work?
Morning Beth T. I think burgundy or navy trousers would be fine rather than introduce a color you don’t really wear and all the associated one-offs of shoes, handbag, etc… I hate buying something to go with one item, and then finding nothing else I can wear it with and not really liking it in the first place! I recently had that experience with a brown sweater, which I am now donating……
Thank you Sheila for your wise words. I asked my daughter and she agrees with you.
So I put together a couple of outfits:
1. The brown top with pink flowers with burgundy cords and burgundy chunky cardigan
2. The brown blouse with pale blue flowers with navy trousers and a light blue boucle jacket.
I took photos, sent them to my daughter and she approved. She especially liked the brown and burgundy.
It’s a pity that we don’t have a TVF Facebrook group where we could post photos, ask advice and model our outfits.
I wouldn’t stress about matching the shoe color to the trouser unless that’s your jam. I have no issue wearing black shoes with brown pants, or lighter value taupe with darker brown. Even better, grey or olive shoes with brown pants. Best yet – leopard shoes with brown pants!! If your shoe & handbag colors match, i’d pair the brown with burgandy shoes with the pink flower top and with navy or grey shoes and the blue flower top. Food for thought :)
Thank you, Ezzy. I’m always concerned if my bag and shoes are mismatched with my outfit but I really can’t be bothered swapping the contents of my handbag every day!
Leopard print would be great!
Beth T, Don’t Do It! You have, I believe, a very definite color scheme that you have invested in and built up, that sounds lovely! The brown trousers would not be a successful experiment. I speak from experience! I now see you have decided not to, and have planned some nice alternate outfits. Just my little rant, lol…
Thanks Sandy. I knew that my fellow heroines would save me from mistakes. The brown trousers have been returned. Phew!
What a great set of outfits. I look forward to seeing the brown and black together.
I echo the desire (post above) for dove grey and bright navy…the possibilities for expansion are enormous.
Why I shall never know, but I have loved wearing brown since I was a young teenager many years ago – the only one in my circle of friends who did so. Now in my 70’s I am still the only one in my circle of friends who does so!
Love, love all these clothes and accessories. Sadly beyond my reach as I am in Europe…shipping and duty make most prohibitively expensive. Sometimes I think I must be masochistic reading ‘The Vivienne Files’ as where I live it is almost impossible to find anything that suits me without radical alterations (thankfully I can sew) but such inspiring posts!
Julia, you’re not alone! I’m in Spain, so almost nothing is available. To me, Janice’s work is just too good to miss out for not being able to actually purchase the items shown.
Started to read for looking like an adult for grad school conferences, still here 12+ years after!
One issue with trying to do monochrome outfits in navy or brown, not so much with black, is that the variations in colour are more noticeable. Your navy t-shirt may end up fighting with your trousers, especially without the buffer of other colours. But if they’re too perfect a match, you may give uniform vibes, or have flashbacks to the (Sears) Winnie-the-Pooh kindergarten line. On the other hand, a heroine who is able to buy a cashmere pullover may not worry about matching too much or not enough.
Texture is the key here to not worrying about perfect matching. Suede with corduroy or boucle or velvet or a flat knit or a thicker cable-knit or a silk … each reflect the light slightly differently so its less (to me) obvious if the shades are an exact match or not. seems to blend better.
Good point! Thank you.
Quince! $50 and a ton of colors including brown
Janice has a link under “support the Vivienne Files”
I’m in Canada, so Quince isn’t an option here–but thank you for the suggestion!
I always feel this is the other way around … mismatched blacks drive me crazy but I don’t mind mismatched navy or various shades of green.
I belonged to a choir many years ago. The ladies were all instructed to buy black velvet or black velour trousers (we were having colourful tops made). The wardrobe mistress was aghast when we all stood in a line across the stage – the blacks didn’t match! It was explained that black has an undertone – blue, green or red. Also velvet and velour reflect the light differently. In the end, we were all instructed to get the black velour trousers from the same shop. Problem solved.
Oooo count me in for charcoal grey and that bright navy! Great idea to revisit Janice! Love it :)
I would love to see burgundy and tan. I think that one could make a great travel wardrobe with two of these packs in colours that work well together.
I personally don’t look great in monochromatic outfits – maybe it’s my height? I need to have clear differentiation between my top and bottom halves, but if I had two different colours, I could combine them in varying ways.
monochrome isnt “my jam” either – not that it doesn’t look good, I just have a matching issue. While texture play helps fix that issue, I somehow gravitate towards buying mostly fine/ flat knits… I need to work on that! (OTOH I love a “gradient” like navy trousers and a lighter blue top or grey into black or burgandy into pink..) I like your idea of multiple colors; assuming the tan you have in mind is on the lighter side of tan (for that higher contrast), I like your color combo too! If, for some reason, you want to dip into the monochrome world, maybe a contrast belt would work well for you, helping visually split your upper & lower body?
The throwback to ten years ago and the 2017 posting suggested by Maria are more my speed. Both lovely palettes. If I do wear brown, it’s either as a bottom or as a color in a pattern. There are so many different shades of brown – coffee is too dark, chocolate works as a bottom, toffee is the most flattering for me.
I second doing a palette based on charcoal gray.
I love the browns you have chosen. Very yummy, indeed!
The past few posts have all been lovely and interesting but what really gets to me are the ADORABLE FANTASTIC WONDERFUL handbags!!
How about slate blue with brown? That is my entire wardrobe, and I love it. Dark jeans with a brown or slate blue (paler version of indigo jeans) top is the best combination!
I would wear more patterned tops that have both of these colors, but they are hard to find. They look so great with jeans and a brown leather jacket over them!
I do have a number of patterned scarves, including a couple very similar to the post.
And brown and dark blue short suede boots are so deluxe!
My hair is brown, my eyes hazel with slate blue rings on the outside and brown in the middle. This combination is literally me!
I can’t wait for more on this thread of brown, brown, brown.
When I was in college (mid 60s) chocolate and baby blue was a thing.
When you wrote Tights the first time I thought it was an American word for leggings… and reading on realized you really meant … tights!
Just making a mini capsule in burgundy/plum, your posts are at the ideal moment to make the finishing touches- thank you again!
Long time lurker here. I have been in southern Arizona for the last 20 years, so much of my interest has been in the color combinations and only dreaming about the sweaters and second layers. However we are moving to southeastern Pennsylvania in 2 weeks and the need for warmer clothing will be immediate. I am hoping to get some advice from those of you who live in cooler areas regarding tights, such as Janice has included here. What are some good brands? I have a pear shaped body and thick thighs, so brands that cater to that in particular. Also, where do you prefer to buy sweaters from…LLBean, Lands End, Quince, other? Thanks for any tips!
Lifetime Midwesterner here – my cotton & some cashmere tends to come from Lands End; have recently been very pleased with merino from Woolx – jury is still out on longterm durability but doing well so far; love the ribbed cotton/cashmere from Quince (so flattering!). And I wear Uniqlo Heattech under anything (not a sweater, but the right base layers are key)!
Lifetime Midwesterner here – my cotton & some cashmere tends to come from Lands End; have recently been very pleased with merino from Woolx – jury is still out on longterm durability but doing well so far; love the ribbed cotton/cashmere from Quince (so flattering!). And I wear Uniqlo Heattech under anything (not a sweater, but the right base layers are key)!
For tights that fit almost every body, try snagtights.us They also have a selection of merino tights that are fantastic. Just a warning, some may consider the images on the site NSFW, but they have real sized models of ALL sizes and are very proud to show off their product.
They are based in Scotland and right now the selection from their US site is a bit lean due to the recent tariff/shipping situation, but they are working on building it up.
A great tip to remember if wanting to add a new colour into your wardrobe. Love it.
I agree! I wish we had a Fans Of The Vivienne Files Facebook group lol. :)
I don’t really spend ANY time on Facebook, but you have my permission to start a group. I’m not really territorial about The Vivienne Files…
love,
Janice
Ooh, chocolate brown! I love a dark base that is not black. I think this would look lovely with a cognac/saddle brown color! Maybe rose or teal as an accent…
I have fond memories of colored tights and a coordinating turtleneck or tshirt. I cannot believe that was already 10 years ago! Oddly enough my favorite “set” was in chocolate brown like today’s post though I never wear brown these days.
I have spotted a couple of women out and about in the past few weeks wearing footless tights under a skirt/dress. I kind of miss that look also because footless tights are definitely more comfortable than the alternative (though I don’t wear many skirts or dresses these days).
Me too, Adalyn, & I’m still wearing that look in summer! I like the look for it’s own sake, but other advantages are it’s cool (literally), it keeps the sun off, & saves on leg shaving.
Lovely pieces and concept, but I am mostly commenting to say I snort-laughed at the UPS conference. 🤣