December 1, 2025
The last additions to this wardrobe! I might revisit these wardrobes later in the month to examine them in more detail, to see if there are “essentials” that have been overlooked. What do you think?
This is our painting – focus, inspiration, and some beauty!
Someone suggested that this heroine needed another pair of wine pants; I can’t SWEAR that these are a good color, but based on what we see on the GAP website, they look okay…
I also thought that this heroine could really use a good tote bag. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t carry one at least occasionally!
Herkimer diamond earrings – Harfi; merlot cardigan – Alex Mill; grey cashmere turtleneck – Alex Mill; striped shirt – Lands’ End; tote bag – Coach; velvet loafers – Birdies; jeans – GAP
With enough of the right accessories, this heroine could go a long way with just her grey clothes; I know that some of you would absolutely die of boredom, but some of us would find it comfortingly simple. Each to her own, right?
When I look at her wine and white clothes, I feel like I’m missing that essential white cotton turtleneck that is worn under EVERY sweater at least occasionally. Otherwise, nothing jumps out at me by its absence!
It would have been nice to find a few more print garments, but I just plain never saw them. This is the kind of thing that you just keep in the back of your mind ALL THE TIME, and you might run into something perfect when you least expect…
I would love to have found a paisley or classic print scarf in “mostly grey, with wine”… I haven’t yet seen it, but I’m sure it’s out there!
Grey shoes are impossible. They’re every shade of color of weirdness in the world EXCEPT grey. Happily, our heroine can always wear burgundy leather items, which tend to be beautiful… And burgundy velvet is even better!
As always, our heroine can easily wear her new clothes as soon as they are laundered. Yes, trust me on this, you do not EVER want to wear something “fresh” from the store. At a bare minimum, steam the living daylights out of a garment before you let it touch your skin. Retail is not for the faint of heart…
I know that I could love this wardrobe – I wore nothing but black and white for at least a decade before the millennium…
What do you think? What if it was only for a season, and it was your two favorite colors? Maybe nothing but navy and burgundy (or navy and bottle green) for the winter?
White is always a wild card!
love,
Janice
earlier posts about this wardrobe can be found here: Christmas Day Introduction, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November
p.s. Ten years ago, we were choosing an accent color to go with grey. It’s a pretty perfect “posting partner” for today’s wardrobe!
I love the 5th outfit down. Yeah, I already know I couldn’t do two colors. As some of you might remember back in 2020? 2021? I wore black/purple/white for a year or two. I got so tired of it I purged everything and am only now reintroducing purple to my closet. The accessories for this wardrobe are amazing.
This is my favourite wardrobe. I’m wearing this today. Plum cords, Silver grey poloneck, Lilac-pink jumper, Plum waterproof (wet and windy), Grey and lilac paisley scarf. My only jewellery is my silver day watch and a dark pink agate and silver ring (£3 in a flea market).
My ankle boots are black. Grey is even harder to come by if you have problem feet. I do have some mauve suede DM’s but it’s pouring with rain. I find that burgundy footwear in the UK is too red. I rarely see Merlot in any accessories (or at least those I can afford).
My bag is pewter. I do have a plum bag but just can’t be bothered to swap everything over.
I buy patterned/embellished tops, shirts and blouses in plum/purple/lilac whenever I see them.
All of the wardrobes you created this year, this one has been my least favorite. That being said, the interesting piece is that this wardrobe has started to grow on me. Even though purple and gray are not my colors, the appeal of a two color wardrobe is intriguing to me. I don’t see myself going this direction, but it’s definitely given me food for thought
For winter, I definitely go with black and red for my two colors… for spring and summer I’d be attracted to navy and pink. And autumn, it would be very hard for me to choose because I love all the autumn colors. However, I probably have to go with chestnut and navy.
I cannot wait to see the rest of this week final offerings!
This combination is lovely, as always.
Unfortunately, I can’t use most of your combinations: beiges, pastels, orange/yellow/brown/rust/olives all wash me out. The ones I can wear, though, are wonderful: blacks, reds, royal blue, and a lot of the colors in the Georgia O’Keefe paintings.
The whole shoe color thing is maddening, right? I think we found a lot of grey shoes, boots, handbags mid to late 20-teens. It’s frustrating because grey really IS a versatile neutral. It’s especially nice with this burgundy. It will make its way back as another really excellent neutral disappears for awhile. I do think retailers pay attention these days to search algorithms so maybe if enough of us search for grey shoes, they’ll get the hint.
Not sure they are in the US as well, but for the European heroines : MANGO added some beautiful greys in their A/W collection! I bought the slingbacks in grey and they go with about everything wintery
Dear Kleo,
There’s a huge Mango opening on Michigan Avenue in Chicago sometime soon. Come visit!
hugs,
Janice
I would love to revisit these wardrobes one last time but I doubt very much if you have missed any essentials, except for a bathing suit 😊
This winter I find myself wearing a lot of navy and turquoise/teal. Loking forwards to the week..
i am wearing a lot of navy, burgundy and cream this winter. Would love to wear grey but it doesn’t suit me at all mores the pity as I really like the colour of silver grey.
What about a pair of dark silver ballet flats in place of grey shoes? Though maybe not for your Chicago winter…
But dark silver boots would work!
I was just outside, and walked about 20 blocks. It’s already so clear that most people are wearing sneakers…
hugs,
Janice
A very nice compilation.
Perhaps this heroine will visit a secondhand shop (with her purple pants). I always find the most beautiful, unique patterned clothes there.
I’m looking forward to seeing a post every day this week.
Though this didn’t start out as a favorite inspiration wardrobe, I did learn that it isn’t just TWO colors. With gray as the neutral in its various intensities and all the variations of purple (really love the burgundy addition) there are way more than two colors. Inspired by you and a scarf I tried this past summer with blue (denim, and royal) and variations on pink (from pale to fuchsia). It was easy to combine day by day but by the time I got home from my trip I needed to wear all of the other colors in my closet to ‘reset’. The one item I missed most: a black t-shirt.
The other lesson: packing is an experiment in prediction every time. It’s okay if you don’t wear everything or need to buy something to fill a gap (usually a warmer second layer). Thanks for your continued inspirations and I am so looking forward to a new post each day this week.