May 4, 2026
I’m back from a college graduation in Boston – at Fenway Park! It was freezing cold – pants and coats were the order of the day…
Today, we’re going to look at making a small adjustment in this wardrobe. Originally, I had pictured that our heroine would have a color palette like this – long on yellow and brown, with grey accents:
As we look for additions to this wardrobe, it becomes evident that this much yellow was going to be a LOT of yellow. First up, yellow’s not all that easy to wear, even if it flatter you. And secondly, it’s not that easy to find!
So after a bit of thought, our heroine made a change in the proportions of colors she desired in her wardrobe:
She might change it again. These things aren’t mandates or even serious rules. Guidelines are meant to guide, not to make life difficult…
At the end of April, our heroine’s wardrobe was this interesting mix:
So of course, just after our heroine makes this very wise decision, she runs into a TON of yellow. Well, four garments. Four garments that are versatile, and pretty, and excellent quality.
She makes the leap…
I’m sympathetic to this choice; I just bought FOUR pieces of Eileen Fisher in a perfect purple that she calls Petunia. It was extravagant, but in two or three years, when I’m still wear these garments every week in the summer, I will feel pretty happy with my choice!
Butter yellow necklace – Anthropologie; short-sleeve top – Alex Mill; linen shirt – Alex Mill; skirt – Alex Mill; cotton cardigan – Alex Mill; tote bag – Cuyana; sandals – Söfft
This wardrobe now looks like this in a cluster template. I have built a template that will include all 52 garments. Each piece is going to be tiny, but I think we will be able to discern what’s in there! I’m still trying to tweak it…
We’ve reached that stage in wardrobe building where we need to put the clothes on one page, and the accessories on a second. This really makes it possible to see the accessories better!
Our heroine is a big fan of a number of yellow flowers, including dandelions. In fact, she encourages her clients to set aside a portion of their grounds specifically to grow dandelions for food! The leaves make excellent salads, and one can make wine from the blossoms…
So she’s pretty okay with wearing a LOT of yellow. It looks wonderful on her, for what it’s worth. Lucky woman!
Here are a few ideas:
I can easily picture this heroine, talking to clients about wild flowering plants. Feeding the bees, feeding the butterflies…
love,
Janice
If you want to look back at the earlier posts that addressed this painting and this wardrobe, they can be found here: Christmas Eve Preview, January, February, March, April
p.s. Ten years ago, we assembled a very “food-colored” wardrobe, one piece at a time. It’s olive, tomato, and mustard!
Like this wardrobe? Save it to Pinterest!
The balance is nice here. Next month I see a yellow dress and gold sandals.
It snowed on my graduation day but it was in February. My son’s Bachelor’s graduation was on a freezing cold day – there had been a heatwave the previous week! The ceremony was indoors but we had to wait in a queue outside for photographs..Those ladies dressed for a sunny day were shivering. I was wearing a winter coat, boots and a fur hat!
A dress with a pattern of her colors would be nice, I think. Like this one (I know nothing about this brand.)
https://www.next.us/en/style/su439616/at3330?
Next is a reliable brand in terms of quality, but worth double checking sizing as I’ve found that that can vary a little according to style. And this is a nice dress for lots of occasions.
I am completely enamored of the yellow and khaki together. I am a recent yellow convert and now, I just cannot get enough of it. I agree with you about a little yellow going a long way, but when I wear a column of yellow, I always receive compliments about how cheerful it looks. So….I’m jumping in with both feet! Yellow is *happy*!
I turned 60 in December and I have no regrets or sadness about it. That being said, my favorite color of pink has just started to feel a little silly on me. I’m not sure why. I’m not giving away everything that’s pink in my closet, but I’m looking at each piece with a critical eye to see if I’m just as passionate about it as I used to be. I’m finding that as I’m saying “nope” to some pink pieces (which also look rather, due to their age), I’m replacing this accent color with yellow. When one goes in the donation bag, I can purchase another piece in yellow…it is a method that works for me.
I hope the graduation you attended was great fun. I also want to apologize, on behalf of all New Englanders, that the weather was so awful this past weekend. I honestly had a fire going Saturday when we had friends over for the Derby. It’ll be 70 today…so Mother Nature is giving us whiplash for the seasons this Spring.
I’m close in age to you and finding that same transition from pink to yellow happening. Yellow makes me look fresh and bright, and pink is starting to look very pink.
Grey and yellow have always gotten me compliments, and yellow and khaki are great. Where I’m struggling with this one is grey and khaki together.
My brain is not wrapping itself around two neutrals, one accent color, but the two neutrals don’t play as well together.
Sorry the Boston weather was so cold last week. If you are ever in Boston again please let us know. I have been a volunteer tour guide with Boston By Foot and would be happy to give you a tour.
Boston by foot? This sounds amazing! Whenever I have guests, we do Duck Boat tours, but yours sounds so much more personal! I’m in the Freeport, Maine area, by the way, so just a couple of hours north. My daughter lives on the North Shore in Beverly, so I’m in Mass quite often.
Boston by Foot offers walking tours of different neighborhoods of the city. The guides are all volunteers who go through an extensive training program. It’s a great organization.
I like the new color proportions. Janice, that Petunia EF color is gorgeous! Maybe you’d like a new handbag to go with it. I just ordered this color in the Original Bag. https://pompomlondon.com/en-us/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage%2Ccollection&options%5Bprefix%5D=last&q=French+lavender
I’m finding myself loving this wardrobe far more than I ever imagined. It wasn’t the yellow, since I wear that colour but it was the grey and brown together that had me hesitant. I like how you have made it work.
Not sure if you’ve had a chance to look, but JJill has a LOT of yellow in their collection right now. Still well made pieces just not as expensive as Alex Mill.
Good morning! The yellow is so cheerful, but not for me with my blue-undertone skin and blue eyes. I do see some grey pieces i need to check out, though. And many thanks for mentioning the PURPLE items from EF. At my advanced age, I’ve decided price be damned (to a point). A treat now and then is definitely in order!
What an interesting wardrobe! This is a nice middle yellow- not too lemony nor mustardy. I think the grey and brown might be a challenge. A couple years ago I was playing in my closet and tried a pair of charcoal jeans with a coffee brown T. ( With black clogs…) It was surprisingly good. Not as good as, say, navy and charcoal would be, still. I think the grey and brown here need to be the same intensity. Just to my eye. The muted taupe-ish and grey would be subtle and elegant in the right fabric and on the right person. Grey flannel pants and taupe silk top with a soft summer or soft autumn sort of vibe. Just as I see it…
I love the colors together and I think this is turning out wonderfully! I would have to have more short sleeves and way less long sleeves. I wear short sleeves layered under things or by themselves all year. Between heating with wood, so the temp is hard to control in our house and hot flashes, short sleeves are in order. I too was at a graduation this weekend! Our daughter got her masters in education. It was a lovely 70, so we had a great day. Now to get ready for my two high school seniors graduating in a month.
Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! Your household has accomplished A LOT!!!
So happy for you,
lots of love,
Janice
Yellow is such a happy colour it just brightens this wardrobe up beautifully; well done.
I find myself surprisingly attracted to these colors, and I’ve always loved yellow but it makes me look washed out. But I very much like the neutral colors with a warm contrast. I don’t have a problem mixing light brown and gray. An option would be to add a black belt and black shoes perhaps?
I love everything about it.
Beautiful