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Home » May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

May 15, 2026

Our last painting in our “Six Paintings” series – an enigmatic image, with maybe a message inside? It’s certainly one of the most interesting color palettes we’ve ever seen:

Three timeless neutrals, and two accents that are unexpected, and sometimes difficult to find. The best things can require some patience…

At the end of April, our heroine’s 20-piece wardrobe took her to work with ease, as well as lots of other places! Since our heroine works at home a lot, jeans and tops can go a long way…

Even though the weather still isn’t delightful and warm, our heroine decided that she was going to dress as if spring had truly arrived:

turquoise patchwork tunic – Coldwater Creek; necklace – Mignonne Gavigan; ivory tee shirt – J.Crew; silk scarf – Evelyn & Kate; green pants – J.Crew; ivory pointelle cardigan – J.Crew; ballet flats – Jeffrey Campbell

If our heroine is going to be faithful to her wardrobe template, she’s going to need to look for a couple of second layers… Or she could just wait until she’s looking at cool weather clothes and choose the bulk of her sweaters and/or jackets for autumn and winter. Hmm…

Clearly you can draw the conclusion from looking at her clothes that she really likes simple button-front shirts. A linen shirt can be worn every month of the year – it’s a coverup over a tank top in the dead of summer, and it’s a “protect me from scratchy” layer under a sweater on the coldest day. And linen lasts forever, with proper care…

What a range of accessories!

It’s easy to see how her new clothes will fit into her wardrobe, but it is never a waste of time to actually try on these outfits. Do you have the right undergarments? Shoes? Handbag? The try-on will tell you…

The big lesson I draw from this wardrobe  – well, there’s two lessons. One – if you love a certain style of shirt or tee shirt or whatever, wear them a lot. And secondly, pretty much any two accent colors will work with black, bone and denim…

love,
Janice

If you want to look back at all of the earlier posts from this heroine’s shopping, you can find them here: Christmas Eve Preview, January 2026, February 2026, March 2026, 

p.s. Ten years ago, I had packing suggestions for visiting Chicago and our famously unpredictable weather. It’s STILL driving us all crazy…

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

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05.15.26 14 Comments

Tags: beige, black, capsule wardrobe, Six Paintings - 12 Months, Start with Art, travel capsule wardrobe
<<May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the ElderRevisiting Start With Art – Wall of Light Orange Yellow by Sean Scully>>

Comments

  1. Ellen St. says

    May 15, 2026 at 5:38 am

    Well, Janice, put a tent and call it a revival. You have converted me. I was not a fan of this paining and wardrobe when it was first selected. Despite the bright accents, there was something about this painting that i found cold and nearly clinical. Now, I am mad about this whole look, including the painting.

    My favorite two pieces from this month’s additions are the green pants (love a preppy, colorful bottom) and the turquoise necklace. My birthstone is Turquoise…but since I don’t wear silver, it can be very hard to find with gold. This one is a knockout and I just adore it.

    Thank you for opening my eyes!

    Reply
    • Janice says

      May 15, 2026 at 11:01 am

      Have you ever BEEN to a tent revival? They are thing in Appalachia…
      hugs,
      Janice

      Reply
      • Ellen St. says

        May 16, 2026 at 5:28 am

        Hahahaha…..as a Jewish woman, the answer is no. But, I’ve seen them in movies….

      • Janice says

        May 16, 2026 at 11:46 am

        It’s an experience. That’s all I can say…
        love,
        Janice

  2. Kathy says

    May 15, 2026 at 7:35 am

    This is a beautiful wardrobe and one I could certainly wear. I can picture it with some dark abalone jewelry.

    Reply
    • Ana says

      May 17, 2026 at 5:13 am

      Oh my gosh, yes!! Paua shell jewellery in this wardrobe would be perfect!!

      Reply
  3. Rebecca says

    May 15, 2026 at 8:10 am

    I love this wardrobe. I can see it really working well all through the summer….especially those green pants!

    Reply
  4. Mel says

    May 15, 2026 at 8:41 am

    There is indeed a message in the picture: the german word for “lonely” – “einsam”. The rift between the right and left part splits the word into two different words “eins” and “am”, meaning “one” and “at”. So very meaningful graphics. Thank you for the great work you do! Greetings from Germany

    Reply
    • Janice says

      May 15, 2026 at 11:00 am

      OH BLESS YOU!!! I speak maybe three words of German, and they all have to do with glasses of wine…
      I’m going to be thinking about this all day!
      big hugs,
      and lots of love,
      Janice

      Reply
    • Ellen St. says

      May 16, 2026 at 5:31 am

      Thank you for sharing this! My late husband and I lived in Germany for four years…two in the Fulda area and two in Idar-Oberstein. They were the happiest years of my life and I love you beautiful country. My German is quite rusty…and I was never fluent. But, Vielen Dank für das Teilen dieser Erkenntnis!

      Reply
    • lilbear says

      May 18, 2026 at 6:52 am

      Thank you very much for the translation! My poor brain was breaking every time I looked at that painting, trying to resolve the letters into meaning. NOW I can just appreciate the painting!

      Reply
  5. Sally in St Paul says

    May 15, 2026 at 9:27 am

    This month’s selections add some welcome lightness and brightness to this capsule moving into summer! I would love to see a print piece enter this heroine’s wardrobe – I’m thinking of how much the 2 piece print dress has bolstered the red/black/green wardrobe and would love to see how a similar idea might work here.

    Reply
  6. Dee says

    May 15, 2026 at 9:32 am

    This is my type of wardrobe as well. Love that scarf. Have a great weekend everyone.

    Reply
  7. Kristi says

    May 15, 2026 at 1:06 pm

    I love the level of dressiness of this wardrobe! This is my aesthetic for sure. Thanks so much for going a little more casual on this one!

    Reply

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The Vivienne Files is a unique personal style blog with carefully-selected capsule wardrobes based on color palettes drawn from works of art, nature, and more. It helps women buy less clothing, and to love what they buy. Read more...
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