January 14, 2026
Ten years ago, her friends invited her for the weekend. A bit of bird-watching, sitting on the veranda… Just a relaxing time in a warm climate with people she loves…
After spending so much time admiring these birds, she decided to take her wardrobe very much in this direction – with the addition of the snappy red accent!
Well, her relationship with birds has taken on a whole new meaning! First thing – when she left her morally bankrupt corporate job, she almost immediately found a position helping coordinate worldwide bird censuses.
It requires both a knowledge of data base administration, and bird species! Who ever knew that SQL and birds could co-exist?
She does get to travel from time to time, to visit and consult with other “bird data” experts. Birds are nice about not observing national borders!
And her wardrobe reorganization? It started with the classic brown and black:
Earrings – 1928; toasted coconut cardigan – L.L.Bean; toasted coconut crewneck sweater – L.L.Bean; black denim pants – L.L.Bean; black tee – L.L.Bean; tote bag – Longchamp; boots – Trotters
For her January wardrobe additions, she focused on getting two good basic white tops – they go with everything, and give her a feeling of light and freshness that’s hard to find in most other clothes.
And a red cardigan! Quite daring, in her world… Brown chinos, and she’s done. (well, except for amazing earrings, a great scarf, and the same boots as her brown ones, in black!)
Red cotton/cashmere cardigan – Alex Mill; earrings – Ebru Jewelry; white tee shirt – Lands’ End; brown chinos – L.L.Bean; white oxford shirt – L.L.Bean; scarf – Kargede; boots – Trotters
This little bundle of eight garments has at least a dozen possible combinations…
She’s been thinking that she would limit her wardrobe to some (as yet undetermined) number. For now, she’s working on filling in a 28-piece wardrobe template; this should be a good start to any wardrobe!
For a short trip, she would have plenty of options for getting dressed each day:
No question – this is my wardrobe! I’m working on a way to use the 28-piece template to help me slowly clean out my closet; I will share my thoughts on Friday!
I’m going to include a variety of these 28-piece templates that you can print from here…
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago????? We met this Common Shelduck heroine!!! What are the chances?
And we went back to visit her in January 2020, at the very beginning of the pandemic…
And back AGAIN later in the year! You can clearly tell that I’m drawn to this image, can’t you?
Love the wardrobe and the heroine!!!
Yes, after so long with brown and black, she needs to lean into the red. For another adventure, she could add dark green which is the colour of the Shelduck’s head.
I think sneaking in a bit of dark green now & then would be nice. Jewellery etc.
Of all of the beautiful wardrobes you have begun thus far, this is my favorite. As a matter of fact, I had to laugh. I wore the January additions today! My white blouse, red cardigan and dark khaki chinos are honestly piece by piece the same. My only difference was tan booties, rather than black. While I think this painting is cute, it wasn’t my favorite amongst the works of art that inspired you for this year’s selections. That being said, these are my colors and this is my jam. I’m here for it!
The nature photos are some of my favorite wardrobes. I saved all of it he Colorado lightning collection and fondly remember the pigeon.
I love the wardrobe but these aren’t my colours. I will replace the black with navy, the brown with grey and the red with blue. I wonder what bird wears these colours?
Sharon possibly a blue grey gnat catcher. Or a blue jay.
Please remind me–are these 28-piece wardrobes supposed to consist of things that can all be worn together/mixed and matched (which you can add to with either MORE pieces that can all be worn together, or with some pieces that might look good because of cut or color or purpose with only, say, a few of the bottoms or tops)? Or is it supposed to already include some pieces that don’t go with everything else?
I had that thought here. I would not wear an Oxford shirt with casual chinos. But I think the idea is to accumulate what you need for your life. Business casual dressy etc. Over time you have what you need but also a signature look.
In these wardrobes, the clothes will probably all together. But for most of us I suspect it will be the 28 things that we wear the most in cold weather (Northern Hemisphere). I’m actually going to do a post about this template on Friday; there won’t be any rules about how to use the template – just ideas!
hugs,
Janice
Thanks! I look forward to seeing that tomorrow!
Another success. If I didn’t need more variety in colors this one would appeal. I just seem to need more of a crayon box wardrobe. I have found through past experiments I just get too bored with a limited color palette. I wish I didn’t, but I do. That being said, this is terrific. Love the black, brown, red combo.
Sheila,
I have the same dilemma !
I just bought six cardigans in every color available because they are gorgeous, unique colors. I. am. hopeless.
I love this deceptively simply wardrobe, despite the fact that the colours wouldn’t do me any favours. I’ll be following its evolution with interest!
I’m looking forward to the template! I’ve already started thinking what my clothes would look like laid out like that. I very rarely wear second layers but I recently wore cardigans buttoned as you mentioned. I had forgotten that look.
You said using the 28 to clear your closet but you’ve also mentioned 50 black sweaters. I think I currently have twice 28 total garments. Totally unknown luxury for me. What is a reasonable sized wardrobe?
There’s no number that suits us all. A reasonable wardrobe is one in which everything is worn regularly (even if that’s a “once a year” sweater for your office party), and in which everything is cared for with an eye to keeping things for a long time. My insane collection of sweaters is being minimized every week, as I find that I don’t wear some of them…
I have a hunch that one of my closest friends only wears about 20-24 garments in the winter. We never talk about clothes; I must ask her!
hugs,
Janice
This color combination is wonderful! It does, however, cry out for an animal print (cheetah) as a scarf or sweater.
Yes!
I usually pull my capsules together by season because my color preferences and styles shift between winter and summer. But right now I have assembled an “I just had rotator cuff surgery and things have to be easy to get off and on” capsule! :) It includes lots of button up shirts, V neck tees and easy to button or pull up pants. I had to pull from all my seasons and add probably 4 items (because I am a teacher part time so some of those items had to look more professional). But I have been happy to have some basic pants/jeans to pair everything with and that my colors generally hang together. Thanks Janice!!!
Wishing you a smooth & complete recovery!
Love this and the pop of red in that cardigan really makes it sing!
I love the colors in this picture. As others have already mentioned, I would also use the blue in the water and the green on the neck.
I very rarely wear a white blouse and could even do without one altogether.
Another great heroine and loved the look backs as well. I am in the Sheila Shrebee camp of needing a rainbow of colour. Having said that, I can see the advantage of keeping to one or two accent colours to make a very cohesive wardrobe. Definitely some lessons to be learned here.
These are my colors! My biege is more golden to go with my skin tone, but I wear from biege to brown, and, I must say, mostly black, and pops of red (and cobalt blue). I don’t wear white in the winter because I’ve had many people ask me if I’m OK when I wear a white shirt or sweater. So white is reserved for summer when I have a little color.
I can’t wait for this wardrobe to enfold each month. Thank you!