December 4, 2025
Maybe this isn’t the most festive painting in the world, but it’s still really beautiful… I find it kind of mesmerizing to imagine standing where the artist stood, looking at the lights across the river:
Our heroine took advantage of some serendipitous finds when shopping. She had whappage for a bright orange sweater, but then was very wise and measured when she decided that the green cabled sweater was going to be a core item in her wardrobe.
The striped top is a calculated experiment: she hasn’t worn moc neck tops since she was a child, but she has liked the way they look when layered with a sweater. Further, the colors in this top just cry out to be part of her wardrobe. Therefore, she’s going to try it…
And the green pants go with so many of her tops – why resist? Summer will come again, even though it doesn’t look like it right now in Chicago!
Jasper and pearl necklace – Pearls of the Orient Online; green cabled sweater – Alex Mill; orange sweater – Alex Mill; rose lapel pin – Clifton Wilson; striped moc-neck top – Lands’ End; bright green pants – J.Crew; sandals – Spring Step
Her wardrobe is quite well balanced – and does 52 pieces of clothing look like a LOT to anybody else? I know full well if someone told me I had to reduce my wardrobe to 52 garments, I would kick them in the shins! But this feels abundant:
Our heroine’s accessories are pretty wonderful… And please note that her nifty little lapel pin is NOT technically a brooch! It has a “post” back, designed specifically for jacket or coat lapels. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but something you need to know!
Not just everybody has two pairs of lime green shoes – but they’re pretty useful here!
How will our heroine make use of her new clothes? Pretty easily…
Of all of the wardrobes we’ve looked at this year, I think that this one is the closest to being a real “signature” wardrobe. I feel pretty certain that this heroine’s friends know her well as the wearer of green, gold and orange.
There are worse ways to be known!
love,
Janice
earlier posts about this specific 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 considered accent colors for rust; the rust that I used is quite dark and lovely!
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I love the colours in this wardrobe, though I could never wear them myself. However, for winter, a rich olive/orange patterned scarf or pashimina would be just the thing to bring depth to her accessories. However, I get the impression from the footwear that this heroine lives in a temperate climate where it gets cool but not very cold.
This is a favourite for all seasons except winter.
With the exception of the orange I wouldn’t wear these colors, but I still love the wardrobe. Regarding signature wardrobes, it seems to me that Beth T has a signature wardrobe when she mentions her outfits. I have a signature wardrobe in that I wear a lot of color and mixed patterns. Last time I went for haircut it was black and white day at school and stylist gave me a bad time about not wearing my color. Yesterday when I went I picked out a bright pink and orange outfit – the brightest things I had! Also, yes, 52 items does look like a lot. According to my Stylebook App I have 149 pieces of clothing. However, I do switch out for different seasons. Not everything, but seasonable items, like heavy sweaters for winter and sleeveless tank dresses for summer. I should look and see how many actual pieces I’m currently wearing and have in my closet. Anyway, Love the idea of the artist looking across the river at the lights. Thank you Janice!
I’m not sure why, but at the beginning of the year, I wanted to not like this combination. Seeing it all together has changed my mind – I love it! Your choices are spot-on and gave so much life to what seemed like a very limited, very neutral color palette.
That rose pin is intriguing. I picked up a large vintage cream magnolia brooch earlier this year resale & have found it surprisingly useful as a focal point on a black dress… and I definitely am not usually a pin/brooch person. Hmm… maybe I am if it’s a flower. TVF Insight of the day!
This wardrobe tells me I need more greens in my wardrobe. I already knew that. I love the monochrome green outfits.
I agree – the monochrome lime green outfits are fabulous!
This is great! I LOVE the lime green pants, and the coloured pants in general. I can definitely see this on the right person.
The new pieces really moved in seamlessly for some beautiful outfits. I love that you achieved two columns of lime. No small feat!!
The striped mock neck is definitely going to be worn solo by our heroine.. or with a second layer that shows it off more. (I love stripes.)
I think if we looked at the functional wardrobe available to our heroine at a given point in time (rather than all seasons laid out together), it wouldn’t look like a lot! For example, she doesn’t have 3 pairs of beige pants as it appears here; she has 1 pair that morphs in weight/length for the seasons.
This is perhaps the main benefit of having all the seasons laid out together – to check that a heroine’s important base pieces are going to be available to her in the seasons that she wants to wear them. For example, if she’s a ride-or-die jeans wearer, does she have something to wear in summer that works for that (e.g., lightweight chambray pants or a lightweight denim/chambray skirt or dress)? If she loves column dressing, can she make a column in every season (either two pieces or a dress) in her favored light and dark neutrals? Etc.
Obviously not everything needs to be represented in every season! For instance, the lime green pants make so much sense for warm weather but she doesn’t need a pair of lime cords if that’s not a wardrobe signature for her year-round. But it could make sense to have an olive short-sleeved T, long-sleeved T, and pullover sweater.
For a heroine who changes her color palette more for the seasons, a lay out like this may create the impression of a chaotic mixed up wardrobe while limiting it to the relevant pieces for a given season could show a very different picture.
I think there’s value to both views of a wardrobe – the totality of it with all seasons represented and the functional wardrobe for a given season. I can’t remember if the last post of the year shows the wardrobes divided up by each season but that’s something I hope we’ll see as we close out the 2025 wardrobes.
This wardrobe always makes me smile. I love lime green and have paired it with turquoise and white this summer which looked so crisp and fresh. The new additions are perfect especially those pants. So now I have to figure out what to wear today on a rather wet snowy day. Looking forwards to tomorrow’s wadrobe.
Very pretty wardrobe, and you chose these new additions wonderfully, Janice.
In my younger years (with work clothes), I had around 50 items that I wore in my free time, and they all fit in a one-meter-long European-style wardrobe. Over the decades and job changes, quite a collection has accumulated.
I would definitely pair it with the Delaunay.
Do you remember this wardrobe?
https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2023/10/six-paintings-twelve-months-paysage-algerien-by-renoir.html/
While this painting is far from my fave (it always strikes me as creepy), I do love the wardrobe and would be totally happy if it swooped into my closet! I had to give those lime green pants several thoughts, and I might still skip them, but I can see their value too.
Like Sally, I think it’d be great to see a seasonal layout for the wardrobes if that’s feasible.
This is me to a tee. Looking over at my wardrobe, it is full of shades of brown & yellow toned green, plus flashes of ochre & orange – even my leopard print nightdress that I’d be tempted to wear as an informal party dress, and my thermal base layers fit in the colour spectrum. And yes – I have more green coloured footwear than most people would risk.
However, with the exception of a lovely lime green book tote & matching cross body phone bag, I insist on my every day bags being tan leather, which goes with almost every colour – even ones I’d never wear.