June 8, 2026
So what is our glamorous Gothic researcher up to?
Let’s enjoy her favorite painting for a moment; it’s easy to just skip right past the paintings to get to the wardrobes, and that’s a pity. I take AGES to choose these paintings, and they all have something to offer us each time we look again…
At the end of May, our heroine had a 24-piece capsule wardrobe that definitely leans toward the dressy! But she also has a pair of jeans, so she’s not entirely a princess… If I had the joy of a trip for weeks and weeks, to all kinds of different weather conditions, I would try to pack something along these lines:
Her accessories at the end of May are pretty nice…
Although this particular heroine marches to her own Gothic string ensemble (no mere drummer for her!), she is trying to work within the suggestions of a wardrobe template. Therefore, this month she wanted to find two “second layers” to add to her wardrobe.
She found TREMENDOUS cardigans, and then chose a two-piece linen dress…
Her new earrings are really cool, by the way!
Earrings – Angel Barocco; red lace cardigan – Seasalt Cornwall; embellished black cotton cardigan – J.Crew; skirt – Eileen Fisher; scarf – Echo; black linen tank top – Eileen Fisher; sandals – LifeStride
Her wardrobe template is perfect. We expect nothing less from this woman!
When you look at her clothing in a more relaxed layout, you can easily see how versatile her wardrobe is:
And her accessories are the stuff of my dreams! But she doesn’t have a necklace – HOW CAN THIS BE?
Next month, for sure!
It’s not really tough to imagine how this heroine can wear her new clothes!
I have to admit to being very tempted to cut my wardrobe back to black dresses and black “columns” with second layers in prints or colors. Maybe in my next life, eh?
This wardrobe could be replicated in navy and white with… pink and yellow accents? Grey and white with purple and turquoise accents? Lots of ways to make this general idea work with any colors…
love,
Janice
If you would like to look back at earlier installments of this heroine’s wardrobe build, you can find the posts here: Christmas Eve Preview, January, February, March, April, May
p.s. Just for fun – let’s look back more than TEN YEARS to the very first time we met today’s heroine. She’s ageless….
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This is just such a beautiful painting and such a beautiful wardrobe. Maybe it’s because the painting has such a gothic feel to it, but I have imagined this heroine working at the Met Cloisters in NYC. (If you’ve never been, I highly recommend a visit if you are in New York..they also have a stupendous gift shop). My great aunt Ellen (yes, for whom I’m named) used to live not far from there and I had more fun noodling the gardens and exhibits there, daydreaming all sorts of adventures.
This heroine, I can tell, is NOT a daydreamer. She admires beauty, she knows her career requires a degree of formality, but she wants to focus on the art…not herself. These are gorgeous pieces that make sense together. Initially, I was worried this wardrobe would be too Christmasy, but it’s not at all..it’s just right with the amounts of red, green and gold.
My favorite piece this month is the black skirt. It’s just right and can be paired with anything from a dressy top and heels to a tee and sandals. I can see it being a workhorse in this heroine’s wardrobe.
I love her shoes. I’m drawn more and more to funky shoes, even though I have to really search for ones that don’t aggravate my plantar fascitis. Those red Mary Janes in particular speak to me.
You could probably dress in a black column with a printed or colored second layer for a few weeks from what you already own. Might be a fun experiment?
My favorite painting and wardrobe of the series. But what about a red dress? I’d love to see one.
The additions this month feel perfect for our heroine…except maybe the earrings, but that might just be my bias – I love organic shapes, but these earrings creep me out for some reason! Too insect/worm-like? Not sure, but definitely I can see how baroque pearls would fit right into her wardrobe.
Funny you should say that today. The thing I most enjoy about your blog is the painting at the beginning. I started as an Art History major and it never really left me. The algorithms gave me your page because I’ve been a little obsessed with wardrobe planning for the last year, but you’re the only one I’ve subscribed to because of the art. Thanks so much for doing this. It’s really fun!
I’m so glad you enjoy it – I think we should be inspired by things that are truly inspirational! Not just some random person telling us what we need to buy this week…
love,
Janice
Would love to see what you would do with a western Americana painting sometime. You could do it with panache and not kitsch. There are plenty of female painters of the genre that deserve attention
For me, one of the joys of the six painting series is taking a look at the art before I go into the wardrobes to see what detail I’ve missed. I now do that when I visit a museum so thanks Janice. As to this heroine and her wardrobe I just love her and her clothes. Black with an accent color has always been my aesthetic but the beauty, art and finese of this heroine takes it a step further. Looking forward to how all of these wardrobes keeps evolving throughout the next six months.
So interesting to compare this lady’s first wardrobe with this one! I’m finding that the richly textured, primarily tone on tone initial wardrobe felt more luxe to me than the patterns in this second one. Learning…
(I just put together a travel wardrobe for my conference this week, in black, camel & ivory with a splash of dark coral, muttering “black column, twinset, accent color” as I did it. You’re in my head, in a good way!)