December 17, 2025
I should still be in Paris…. fingers crossed!
I’ve heard from quite a few people who just don’t know what to do when they have to pack for a holiday-season trip. Some people want to go full-tilt festive, while others just want to pack sweatsuits and hide indoors…
I can’t necessarily help you know what’s best for your trip, but at least for me, I’m finding that starting with a scarf is a good option!
This Christmas content of this scarf is pretty subtle:
And there’s nothing about these colors that identifies with any specific holiday:
I’m always going to suggest that you travel in either a “suit-like” ensemble, or a solid column. Why complicate things? Nobody’s going to look at this outfit and thing “oh my, she’s pretending that she’s wearing a suit…” They are more likely to want to get a closer look at your scarf!
Black cashmere cardigan – J.Crew; earrings – Joiana Jewelry; scarf –kate spade new york; corduroy pants – Lands’ End; red tee – Lands’ End; boots – Trotters
After getting the REALLY important outfit out of the way, the easiest thing to do is pick out two more outfits that go with your scarf. Because our heroine knows that she’s got to get dressed up at least once, she starts there:
Heather natural cashmere sweater – J.Crew; bow earrings – Talbots; black silk shirt – Alex Mill; tulle midi skirt – Lands’ End; scarf – kate spade new york; pumps – Jewel Madgley Mischka; sequined bag – Talbots
Her second outfit is something to be worn around the house where she’s visiting. Unless there’s a ton of snow on the ground, this would be a good outfit for going out to a movie and then a casual dinner:
Sea green sweater – L.L.Bean; earrings – Katie Loxton; ivory turtleneck – Lands’ End; jeans – L.L.Bean; scarf – kate spade new york; sneakers – Revitalign
And to finish up, a few tops, and another pair of pants…
Ivory and black tee shirts – L.L.Bean; earrings – Lila Rasa; scarf –Richard Allen London; cardigan – Alex Mill; satin pants – Aritzia
When you get everything for your travel capsule wardrobe gathered together in one place, you can pretty quickly see how things work:
For me, the real test of a travel capsule wardrobe is to be able to assemble outfits other than your three “starter” outfits. If you can’t find ways to rearrange these clothes into a LOT more outfits, you need to back up and figure out where you’ve gone wrong.
Happily, this wardrobe has a ton of possibilities:
This plan for a travel capsule wardrobe will work any time of year, with any colors. This wardrobe is essentially the winter version of a wardrobe from back in May, which we built around an Artifact. scarf…
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, I shared with you my views of the Paris streets in the run-up to Christmas… I was there just a few weeks after the terrorist attacks; it was moving.
Like this post? Save it to Pinterest!
What an awesome scarf and love the collection. Those satin pants look pretty comfy!
This is a home run of a travel wardrobe. I can see these outfits working just about anywhere (unless you happen to live in Miami or are flying to Bali for the holidays. I can see this having just the right mix of dressing up and casual cozies.
The real standout is the scarf, of course. It’s just fabulous! At some point, please please please share how you wear these gorgeous pieces to show the maximum beauty of the art created!
What a lovely wardrobe. I would inject more green somehow but that’s just because colour is a real pick-me-up for me. That scarf is gorgeous; I’d happily buy a wall print of that image.
Had to immediately purchase this scarf before it sells out , forever. This scarf is the scarf of my dreams. Got the red tee, too. It’s on sale, ending today.
Thank you so much for finding this scarf for us. To ring in the New Year, I’ve decided to budget to only purchase scarves in 2026. This will be hopefully the first for a gorgeous collection of scarves, inspired by Janice.
By the way, these are perfect colours. Viveanne would approve. 🙂
A thought just occurred to me: Are YOU Vivienne incognito?
Wish! Wouldn’t that be nice. Lol.
Beautiful scarf! Love all the clothing choices too. I think this would make for a great holiday travel capsule. Hope you are enjoying Paris!
Perfect timing as I am trying to pack today. Hope you are finding small treasures in Paris. Wishing you all a wonderful week.
I absolutely fell in love with the scarf and the wardrobe. Beautiful and all my colors.
Great taste!
A lovely wardrobe, and the retrospective is very nice too.
Hope you have a wonderful time in Paris.
Love the scarf, colors and motif. I think anyone who loves NYC should own it. The best scarves are meaningful to the wearer. PS, I bought the JCrew fair isle cardigan you featured Dec10th. PPS my son works for Ralph Lauren Paris. It truly lives up to “The City of Light” this time of year.
Loving the Kate Spade scarf and just ordered it. What I like about this capsule is that the red and green colors are different shades than the traditional holiday versions.
This is an easily replicated capsule with plenty of options for casual to dressy outfits and a balanced palette of a dark neutral, light neutral, bright accent and soft accent colors. The only thing I would change would be to swap out one of the black layering pieces to add another red piece.
Janice, I absolutely love this capsule. Unfortunately, the scarf is unavailable. But I will absolutely keep looking. In the meantime, I will choose a scarf and go from there for my Christmas trip to Massachusetts. I’ll let you know how the capsule works out. Enjoy Paris.