May 11, 2026
I wonder how many different birds could inspire how many different wardrobes?
This is such an easy and classic color palette. If you absolutely couldn’t live without blue denim (I bet you can, but you do you!) you’ve always got the water to give you shades of blue…
One of the many things hanging on the GIGANTIC pin board in front of my computer is a photograph of a magpie. Black, white and blue… We don’t see magpies in Chicago!
At the end of April, our heroine had this wardrobe. To my mind, the outfits just jump off of the page:
Our heroine was seriously thinking about red when she started browsing, but when she saw this linen jacket and tweedy pants, she changed direction. Slightly – still plenty of red here!
So she grabs the jacket and pants, as well as two sleeveless tops that go with EVERYTHING, and which completely her new outfit in two different ways.
And yes, her handbag is plastic. She’s hopeful that it will outlast a leather one, but it’s a gamble…
Black linen jacket – Coldwater Creek; necklace – Anthropologie; black and white sleeveless tops – L.L.Bean; sandals – Kenneth Cole; linen pants – Coldwater Creek; bag – Anthropologie
Her wardrobe now looks like this, within the template of a 28-piece wardrobe:
Looking at her clothes in a big more relaxed layout shows that the possibilities keep multiplying:
And the red additions to her accessories fit right in – a little brightness is often a good thing!
For the first part of the summer, our heroine will still be working in her office, trying to show the world the importance of birds and bird diversity! So she has all sorts of possible outfits for warm days, cool days, days in which the weather changes…
She has the chance to go on-sight to a major “bird counting event” in New England later this summer. She still wouldn’t be actually out in a blind for 4 hours at a time, trying to count the sparrows… but it’s tempting.
Being around people who are good at what they do is always enjoyable and educational!
love,
Janice
If you would like to look back at all of the steps so far in building this heroine’s wardrobe, you can find them here: Christmas Eve Preview, January, February, March, April
p.s. Ten years ago, I considered the tremendous possibilities of a navy cardigan and a white denim skirt. It’s hard to go wrong!
Like this wardrobe? Save it to Pinterest!
Our British magpies are black and white with irridescent blue/green wings and tail feathers.
The Lilac Breasted Roller Bird would give plenty of variety in a wardrobe.
I’m not seeing much red in the shops. In fact not many of colours at all but lots of brown, black, cream and green. My thoughts are barely turning to summer clothes but it is nearly the middle of May, unreasonably cool and near freezing at night.
Beth t
Thank you for telling us about the lilac roller bird. Now that is a color palette I can love.
For pictures: https://www.sweetlightphotos.com/the-story-of-the-lilac-breasted-roller/
What a gorgeous bird is that lilac breasted roller! But I’m thinking greenfinch for soft and kingfisher for bold.
We postponed a trip to the wetland bird centre near Ely today because of the cold, wet, windy weather, so when we do go I shall be on the look out for colourful inspiration :-)
I co-sign kingfishers – there are a lot of different ones and offer many options for bold color palettes. I actually wrote a post about this, if you are interested – see #6 Animal Style Icons for photos of several spectacular kingfisher species:
https://www.withinaworldofmyown.com/post/tell-us-about-style-icons-an-idiosyncratic-analysis
Australian magpies are black and white, and they have the most beautiful song.
So are the New Zealand magpies, which were introduced here from Australia 😀 They would make a good palette for Janice.
I don’t wear the colours of the shelduck wardrobe, but what a great wardrobe it is. So easy to put outfits together, & they all look great!
What an interesting idea! Could I do without jeans, completely? Is it time? What does one wear to be casual, if not jeans? Food for thought. Thanks Beth t for mention of the Roller Bird. Great colors! I remember the Northern Flicker post Janice did in 2015.
Now, I have successfully gotten away from wearing black. And I never was much for red. But I love this wardrobe! Everything works together so well. I think the basics are well covered. And the accessories are, as always, excellent.
I had to wear jeans for work for years, and now I refuse to wear them unless I’m doing something truly mucky.
From personal experience, wide-leg linen pants for warm weather and cords for cold weather are easy substitutes for jeans. I wear a lot of skirts too, but if I need casual trousers, it’s usually linen pants or cords.
Every time you post this painting and wardrobe, I feel like beginning a chant of “Shellduck! Shellduck! Shellduck!” This is my Fall/Winter color palette, with the addition of denim. I know I ‘could’ live without it…but I just don’t want to. I can see adding a denim dress, denim jacket, denim shirt and jeans to this wardrobe and it would be superb. I do appreciate you showing me how I could take this palette into summer. But for me, this is still a cold weather palette, even though it’s among my favorites.
So, I have to say, I think building capsules around birds would be amazing. Think about the variety! Peacocks, hummingbirds, blue jays, robins, toucans, parakeets, red cheeked cordon bleu, bee eater, etc….these were just off the top of my head, I would completely be down for this idea!
You do you my friend!
And happy birthday to the puppy!
love,
Janice
Thank you so much! MacDuff is very happy and had a wonderful birthday party with all of his doggy friends.
Honestly, as a German Shepherd mom of two pups, my life palette would black, tan, gold and a bit of deep brown so that the dog hair would match my outfits.
This looks great, although I can’t wait to see more of the red in this one. You can count me in for adding denim and letting go the brown instead. I’m not sure why, but I’m recently back in love with red and black for summer. I also found myself tired of floral/ditsy patterns, or at least not wanting to expand with more of them. Maybe I was over blues and navy for so long that it left me longing for more contrast and deeper colors. Or I was in need for some color therapy! The thing is that my very unexpected summer additions were a red/white stripes tee, a red linnen 2-piece dress and black linnen pants! Haven’t worn any for a cold spell were having, but it’s a great start for an up-comming work trip next month as all will work with or next to existing pieces in blue and white.
Thanks again, Janice!
I was just going to suggest the lovely lilac-breasted roller bird and Beth beat me to it! It has beautiful colors. Thanks Abigail for that link to more photos of it.
Anyone remember the pigeon wardrobe? https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2014/07/start-with-nature-pigeons.html/. Pigeon feathers really are pretty!
This one is superpractical, and I also have a tendency to shout Shelduck! when I see it. 🤣. Not my colors at all, but I can easily translate to my black, dark olive, robinsegg & cream/khaki.
I remember the pigeon wardrobe. Loved all the colours But must admit the lilac breasted roller bird is definitely my all time favourite
Oooh, I do love the tweedy pants. I’d grab a pair in a heartbeat if I could find them in a brown and cream tweed. I remember brown tweeds and I once had a beautiful brown and cream herringbone blazer and skirt.
This wardrobe, even though not my color combination , seems very balanced and versatile. And I believe it has the potential to stay balanced throughout the rest of the year.
Love the suggestions on bird colors for a wardrobe…but no one has mentioned the lovely flamingo. Picture coral/pink with accents of adorable fluffy gray baby flamingo coloring. Of course white would be an accent or neutral color, as they do get the random white feathers, along with black from the beak and legs. Adventurous souls could also use yellow/gold/or orange colors from the feet, but I’ll pass on that option! I do think they are amazing animals.