December 26, 2025
Happy St. Stephen’s Day!
Let’s take a look at two of the wardrobes that we worked on this year, to see what we might learn, or what might be added to the wardrobes to make them work better for our heroines.
Bear in mind that THE ONLY REASON to buy clothes is because you need them, and because you’re going to wear them a lot. Desire isn’t sufficient. Admiration certainly isn’t sufficient. Let’s get ourselves reacquainted with the true meaning of need.
And let’s all try to remember what we felt BEFORE we owned a certain item, and the longing that we felt for that item. if you can recreate that feeling of eagerness to own something every time you pull it out of your closet, your might get more joy out of your existing wardrobe. It’s worth a try…
First up:
We already know how our wardrobes break down by color, because that’s how I’ve had to share them with you for the last few months, But do we have all of our functional areas covered?
Sweaters are such a subjective part of any wardrobe. I know people who own and wear THREE sweaters all winter, and they don’t seem to mind a bit. I, on the other hand, have quite a few more…
Dresses and skirts can be tough; I know of at least one woman who doesn’t own ONE of either! While I admire her fidelity to her preferences, I also suspect that most of us will trot out our legs (encased in tights?) at least once or twice a year!
Yes, this wardrobe could go on for a long time with no additions; the world is full of people with far less clothing than this who look amazingly nice every day…
The second wardrobe we’re going to look at a bit today is based on this most beautiful of paintings:
One place where all of these wardrobes seem to be just fine is in the realm of tops. Which is only reasonable – they’re close to your face and thus often seen and remembered, and they almost certainly need to be laundered more often than anything else in your closet, except undergarments!
You know, if I think rationally for a heartbeat, I would accept that living through winter with 13 sweaters would be one of the great luxuries of human existence…
If this heroine had to dress up tomorrow for a cold-weather event, she would have to wear pants, or layer up that navy dress with something warm over it…
When you’re talking about core wardrobe items, you’re more often than not looking at dark colors. My post on Christmas Eve was of concern to many of you because it looked really dark, but that’s because I was trying to secure those essential neutral basics for our heroines…
Here’s another case in which clothes that are versatile are also in a dark neutral. Yes, a bright green dress can be versatile too, but most of us are going to be more comfortable wearing a navy dress three times in a week!
I’m hopeful that I will have the last four wardrobes analyzed over the weekend and posted for you next week. I’m eager to explain something that I learned in Paris before I get back to these….
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, I considered the …difficulties of wearing hot pink!
Morning, I’m with you on the sweaters Janice. I can’t hardly wait until I can break them out every year. Love love love my sweaters. And I have four sweater dresses I love equally as much. My tshirt collection rivals the first wardrobe. They are so versatile, to wear by themselves, under a sweater, or under another shirt. Have a great weekend. We are off to northern Idaho today to look at houses over the weekend. I have put in retirement papers and we are listing our house in February. I’ve been working on this for at least two years, and it seems a little unreal it’s finally happening. Have a good weekend everyone!
Congratulations!!
Congratulations! Such an exciting time for you!
Congratulations. I hope you find your dream home. Make sure it’s got good sized closets.
Can the colour Rosewood be used for this capsule? I often combine Rosewood with Navy, but can it be used here? Thank you for bringing back this weekend, grey/charcoal for the 2026 season with variations on Marionberry.
My interpretation of rosewood is either a brownish pink or a brownish red. I tend to wear rosewood with brown, taupe, burgundy or dark blue (like prussian blue or teal blue but not navy which is too flat).
Perhaps Janice might look at Rosewood as one of those weird “what colour is this and how can I wear it?” moments.
Re Rosewood: just an opinion, but I think it would depend on the item, as I’ve seen “rosewood” vary from fairly warm (something that would suit warm colouring) to a bit cooler, more towards an ash. So it might depend on what kinds of greys you were trying to combine with what kind of rosewood. A bluish grey with an ashier rosewood would be gorgeous. If it was too warm, though, I can imagine it fighting with a severely cool grey.
Actually, what I came on here to say was that the Met Store scarves are all on sale right now, for anyone wishing to satisfy their deepest Monet or Morris longings.
Thank you, Mama Squirrel, for your explanation of Rosewood. I love your blog posts on your personal wardrobe journey. You are very inspirational to me, with your personal wardrobe choices and accessories. Please post more to us on the treehouse blog. Have a wonderful weekend.
Oh, thank you so much! I will try to post more often this year.
Oh–never mind about the sale. I realized afterwards that it’s not the regular Met store site, so maybe it’s better to wait for things to come back into stock there.
Good morning and happy Boxing Day!
These were my two least favorite of the wardrobes when we began the year. The lack of choice made me uncomfortable, especially with the purple and gray capsule. I learned a great deal from watching you develop these concepts. The Magill painting began to speak to me as a concept, even though gray and purple are my least favorite colors. Narrowing your clothing choices to these extremes is terrifying to me. That being said, I can see how the simplification of wardrobe development can be liberating.
The same goes for your needs vs. desires thoughts. I know what this means. I understand the concepts. But, my issue is that I truly *love* shopping. I do have a rule, however…if I buy a new piece, an old piece must be donated. If I’m not willing to donate (or sell on Postmark), then I need to think carefully about my purchase. It’s a system that works for me personally. But, I have a large closet and I adore fashion…so it is what it is. I just don’t think I could limit myself to never shopping…by my choice. I enjoy it too much. But, I hear you and I’m marinating on it.
Janice, thank you for this. My husband said you look deep in thought, as I mentally compared with my clothing. It’s very helpful for me to think in terms of how many items. As I live in a climate of six month summers I need more short sleeves and shorts than most, although I recently discovered wide leg linen pants. However, I love sweaters and jackets and probably have more than I need. But the joy of wearing my 30 year old cardigan even twice a year earns it a spot in the drawer.
My question is if I have plenty of jeans do I let go the pair I like least or wear them every day to wear them out?
I’d let the least-favourites go, & wear my favourites whenever they are clean!
Personally, my favorite tops are V-neck with 3/4-sleeves. They can be worn in 3 seasons, all but winter, and are easily accessorized with scarves, necklaces and bracelets. Plus, the sleeve length offers more coverage without being too warm. If the V-neck plunges too deep, a scarf easily adds modesty.
My solution to wearing a sweater with a too-deep V as a solo top—a scarf filling it in!
Janice, in the years I have been reading The Vivienne Files, you have helped me buy fewer clothes. Whenever you present a wardrobe that deeply calls to me, I think about the items in my closet that are similar to what you present. In addition, you have shown me how to wear an item I love, but never figured out how to wear! I am much more focused on how a new item will be wore with items I already have. Thank you.
These were my two favourite wardrobes! Still love the sailor collar cardigan. And these additions are great, particularly the navy dress.
I need way more skirts than either of these wardrobes. But overall, my closet is has fewer pieces than these wardrobes.
Given the choice, I’ll almost always take a sweater and skirt combo over anything else, unless I’m doing a truly mucky activity. I’d be perfectly happy with a pair of wool pants and four skirts for winter. I kept a pair of jeans just in case I need them, but they’re never my first choice. And I don’t own a single pair of shorts; in hot weather I prefer loose linen pants or skirts.
I own several v-neck wool cardigans, and they are so versatile. They’re cut like 40s-style cardigans, so when completely buttoned they still have a shallow V-neck, but they look great with a couple buttons undone on their own or over a collared shirt. And they end at the waist, which is exactly what I want with high-waisted vintage style trousers and skirts.
Oh, I’m so happy to see this year’s six wardrobes again!🤩
I wonder why the second heroine only owns two cardigans?
And yes, to those stunning dark blue skirt and dress! 💙
I don’t have a tumble dryer, so clothes take longer to dry.
I bought very few items this year. I didn’t manage not to buy any clothes at all.
I’ve worn the aubergine and olive-colored pants many times, and they’ve become favorites. ✨️
By the way…
The first heroine would look great in a few black pieces.
And I’m impressed by the second heroine’s choice of blouses.
New Year’s resolution, I am not buying anything I haven’t tried on in store. That includes That black and white, fair isle, JCrew cardigan you showed recently. Made me look like a linebacker.
I love your evaluations so much! Really enjoy these two wardrobes!
As for: “When you’re talking about core wardrobe items, you’re more often than not looking at dark colors. My post on Christmas Eve was of concern to many of you because it looked really dark, but that’s because I was trying to secure those essential neutral basics for our heroines…”
Personally the first core items were not my concern but rather that there was a lot of black and brown in the colour palettes and I was wondering how dark or light you would take the accent colours. Only one of the palettes (the last one) could be described as mainly light. We shall have to wait in anticipation for your work!
(My apologies for forgetting “Lonely” – a very bright palette with only one dark colour!)
I love to see how you round out these wonderful wardrobes. I am one of those women who don’t own any skirts or dresses. I live in Michigan so like you I love sweaters and need more shorts lol.
In planning my holiday travel wardrobe this year, I took your advice to heart. We were with family and expected the “kids” (all adults) to get gifts that would need to be packed home. The other caveat was that my MIL was manning the thermostat. I packed a small number of short-sleeve shirts that matched the 1 cashmere sweater I brought plus one long-sleeve red top for Christmas dinner (fancy, but could still be worn with the sweater). I had plenty of room to pack some of the kids’ stuff with me and still not pay baggage fees.