March 20, 2026
I had hoped to see this painting at The National Gallery in London, but I understand that it’s not currently on display. I’m sure I’ll find something else that appeals…
With warmer weather approaching (although we had HAIL last night…) I thought that this felt just right:
Yes, we started with this heroine six years ago, at the beginning of pandemic work from home… I did NOT look back at her original wardrobe when I started this; it’s interesting that yet again, I chose to work with wardrobe clusters!
Our heroine is still working from home most of the time. They’re expected to be in their office four days a month – generally everybody shows up on Thursday because they bring lunch in for everyone. If you have to be there ANYWAY, you may as well get free food, eh?
So she needs a pair of long pants, and a couple of sweaters. Even in March and April, their office can be bitterly cold. The presence of huge banks of servers requires some intense air conditioning. Human needs are definitely secondary!
earrings – Bio-Trimmings; aqua cotton cardigan – Lands’ End; scarf – Echo; bright aqua breeze shirt – Lands’ End; tee shirt – Lands’ End; chambray pants – L.L.Bean; tote – Mark & Graham; flower-trimmed sneakers – Franco Sarto
Nothing looks better than yellow on a gray day:
Double cream sweater – Alex Mill; silk scarf – Banniere; striped shirt – Lands’ End; linen pants – J.Crew; tee shirt – Lands End; sandals – Bella Vita
She may never wear this skirt to her office. And she may wear it every week; it’s good to have options:
white cardigan – L.L.Bean; scarf – Petite Plume; blue blouse – Alex Mill; blue skirt – Alex Mill; white tank top – L.L.Bean; sneakers – Keds; tote bag – Mark & Graham
All of the young people in her office wear jeans every day. Literally EVERY DAY. And for at least a couple of them, she’s sure that it’s the same pair…
Just a few years ago, it was possible to find 100% linen shorts in about a million places, at all kinds of prices. Now, very few brands have them. I look for “pure” fabrics as much as possible to share with you.
Striped gauze shirt – L.L.Bean; tank top – L.L.Bean; linen Bermuda shorts – Eileen Fisher; jeans – Alex Mill
Even on an abysmally dark and dreary day, this wardrobe might cheer you up!
How might she wear these things? She could just reach into her closet and pick any three things from the three categories (top, bottom, 2nd layer) and be just fine. In her office, who will notice???
But she’s a bit more aesthetically astute than that!
If our heroine still has almost everything from her wardrobe of six years ago, she now has a substantial collection of clothes in these lovely pastels. Smart!
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, we started with a Paul Klee painting, and the resulting wardrobe was based on petrol blue and charcoal. Just about as dark as you can get!
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This is so pretty for summer; it reminds me of the ice cream. Although I’d swap the yellow for pink or lilac. Striped shirts in blue, green, pink and yellow are everywhere.
Oh! I understand why you’d hoped to wanted to see Coastal Image in real life. It’s one of those paintings where you want to gaze at it from varied distances and angles to admire the technique. It’s gorgeous.
This capsule is so wearable and fresh. I’m seeing quite a bit of pretty yellow out there this season. It’s an easy color for me- and so pretty with aquas and blues.
In practice this is too low contrast for my colouring but gosh cluster one is so appealing.
Welcome Spring – how wonderfully soft and pretty
I am completely in love with this wardrobe. It has a breezy “coastal grandmother/granddaughter” feel that I’m deeply attracted to. This is a casual wardrobe, but looks sharp and pulled together…just in a soft and peaceful way.
I wish I could wear these colors…I’m okay with light blue and white, of course, but beyond that, they wash me out and make me look ghostly. That being said, I adore them.
I hope you’re having fun in the UK!
This is great for a vacation to the lake.
This is so pretty. It brings to mind beach glass and sunshine :)
This is a beautiful collection—I love it! The scarves do a great job elevating the look, but I’m never sure how to tie a scarf to achieve class and comfort. I don’t like bulk around my neck. Could you show some images of how the scarves would be worn?
Thanks!
Kim
This reply is probably too late, but there is an app “Scarf Art” (for iPhone, I’m not sure about other platforms) that has lovely instructions and video tutorials on many ways to tie scarves of varying sizes. It even shows what sections of the design will be more prominent depending on how you fold it.
Just lovely and so fresh and summery feeling. Hope you are having a marvelous vacation with Belovedst.
The Paul Klee lookback was fun. Maybe it could be revisited in the fall/winter. I would love to see it up close!
So pretty! I’m so looking forward for true Spring to come…! I have to start by swapping my red and some black items for lighter colors.
This is a perfect spring wardrobe!! We are having a crazy heatwave here! Neat 90 degrees today! Love this painting as inspiration. This would be a great travel wardrobe too!
This is so pretty. I will also probably change the yellow to pink or peach, but the yellow is soft enough to consider. I absolutely love these.