April 15, 2026
They’re going to finally open their archives to the public! She’s been waiting for YEARS for this…
She designs fabrics. And sometimes wallpaper, or other decorative things. And floral is her thing!
She’s going to visit the archive for a couple of days. She knows that she won’t see a fraction of what she wants to study; she’s really making this trip to decide if she wants to come back for a lengthy (six weeks?) visit in the summer…
Her current wardrobe inspiration is this:
And her color palette is this:
It’s not a long trip by train…
Earrings – The Met Store; cardigan – L.L.Bean; deep lake blue tee – L.L.Bean; silk scarf – RainSisters; bag – Longchamp; loafers – G.H.Bass; linen-blend pants – L.L.Bean
It might be really warm there. It might not. But she’s been promised that there is NO mucking through dusty cabinets and files – everything has been prepared for the researchers who are expected to flock to see the archives. Hurrah for that!
Hummingbird earrings – The Met Store; deep lake blue cardigan – L.L.Bean; blue necklace – Marcia Moran; lavender tee – J.Crew; green necklace – Farra; hibiscus earrings – Kiara by Ki-ele; small silk scarf – Adiba; linen shirt – J.Crew; sea green dress – L.L.Bean; Bermuda shorts – Lands’ End; embroidered bag – Pick Happy; lake blue sleeveless top – L.L.Bean; flat sandals – Naturalizer; gold sandals – Talbots
She’s not taking much for research tools – just a couple of notebooks and one set of colored pencils. Things like her Pantone reference kit can wait for her return trip!
Although she will only be there for two nights – maybe three? – she has plenty of options for dressing, no matter what the weather does!
And she’s prepared to go out to dinner, either on her own, or with another researcher (or more!) who want to join her. It’s a small club, and she fully expects to run into someone she knows…
If she decides to go back for most of the summer, we will of course need to flesh out her travel capsule wardrobe!
What would you add? How much more would you need, working with the assumption that laundry is easily done?
I would probably want 16 garments – a tidy 4 by 4 wardrobe. Or more?
love,
Janice
p.s. Yes, you’re not crazy! We used this same painting in 2024 to help a heroine prepare travel capsule wardrobes for long weekends of local travel.
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This is the perfect spring/summer palette. Easy on the eye and widely available. In fact, I can find similar pieces in my closet. I haven’t much use for cardigans where I live, but I do need an over shirt. That blue also translates to faded jeans. I hope we see her take the longer trip this summer. Great jewelry selection!
Well done! This is a gorgeous travel capsule, and any woman would happily wear this. It has the right amount of professional and comfort and can easily be dressed up or down. The colors are soft and ethereal, but they don’t look washed out, which can happen to so many lighter shades.
I particularly love the heroine’s backstory. My mom was a graphic designer and an art director, before embarking on a career in architecture and as a hotelier. One of the things that I loved best in her studio was playing with her old wallpaper sample books. Most of the ones she had (that she used for reference or inspiration) were going to be thrown out and she rescued them. My grandmother (also an artist) had shelves of rescued fabrics that she designed with, too, in her collage installations. The fun I had playing with these old papers and fabrics was immeasurable. I see my students now addicted to their screens (at age 8) and it breaks my heart. Having access to great patterns truly is a magic key to unlock creativity and an eye for design.
In any case, I’d love to see more from this heroine!
Ellen, what a lovely story. Thanks for sharing.
Ellen, that sounds so amazing! I actually have a stack of wallpaper and upholstery fabric samples on the table next to me right now, ready to create beads from. (Though the pink Morris strawberry thief wallpaper sample is so gorgeous that I think I’m just going to frame it and hang it on the wall.) My mom worked part time in a friend’s craft store (back in the 1980s when such things existed!), and I could (and did) spend entire days exploring the inventory, putting things together to see what they looked like, and designing projects in my head. My grandmother also had a quilter friend who let me go through all of her fabric scraps to design my own crazy quilt for a doll – I designed it and she made it a beautiful reality. It was all very hands-on and engaged all the senses. I had never thought about how those experiences (and others – I am so fortunate that they were frequent in my childhood) gave me the basis for a life-long passion for playing with colors, textures, prints, etc.
Love this! Colors and styles. I’d add one more dress and a pair of sneakers. That would be plenty for me.
In San Francisco, no less. It was an interesting childhood, to say the least! I feel very blessed by how I grew up, even though it was not a typical American suburban upbringing.
(My father was in advertising, so it was a very creative household too!)
What a lovely colour palette! Just beautiful!
I’m envisioning her in an air conditioned room for most of the summer so she will definitely need a few more long-sleeved options.
Chambray and denim wouldn’t go amiss here. Also, I think a skirt and matching top (aka a two-piece dress) would give her lots of mileage.
Those hummingbird earrings are delightful!
If she were going back most of the summer, she would maybe need two expansion capsules – one 4 x 4 for sure, but then one sportswear/swimwear capsule because it just so happens that there is a lovely pool or beach nearby.
This palette is so soft & lovely. Doesn’t hurt that I wear a lot of blue, green & purple.
That was my thought too – air conditioning! She needs more pants! (I freeze easy.). Looking at the art, she could sneak in some indigo too – I know she’s mostly inside, but still… it’d save her some laundering. Maybe a pale popover with indigo embrodery & some faded indigo linen pants?
Love this wardrobe. But for two or three nights, that’s a lot of clothes to lug on the train! I would remove one sweater, one of the two T-shirts, and one of the pairs of shoes, and maybe swap the basket bag for a more packable flat bag.
For more time away in the summer, add another dress, another pair of trousers and shorts, plus a swimsuit and sun hat.
Big fan of hydrangeas. In my yard there are six regular-sized hydrangeas and one huge, 10-foot tall oakleaf hydrangea. As for the wardrobe, I agree to adding a pair of sneakers but also more green pieces – a pair of pants and a top, either a short- or long-sleeved tee. A patterned top would also be a nice addition.
Another thought…a floral cardigan would be a lovely addition.
Those hummingbird earrings are delightful🤗. Personally, I am a messy person, I somehow manage to spill coffee on myself, get the sticky fingers wrapped around me and why do the loose dogs in the park jump on me lol. So yes I would need a pair of jeans, another pant or skirt and a couple more tops to go with the sweaters. Hopefully our heroine does not have theses problems lol.
I could live in this wardrobe for a long time. Though my main neutral would be blue and I would swap the sage for light green. I could suffice with a couple of ivory tops. Lilac and periwinkle would be my main accents. I have an ivory and lilac/periwinkle floral cardigan that would fit right in.