July 8, 2026
Our heroine is spending this month, and part of next month, hanging out at a small rural college in Vermont, where fervent bird-counting is underway! Happily, her responsibility is tallying numbers, and NOT sitting out in a concealed shelter for hours and hours…
She takes her inspiration, and finds her discipline, in this photograph:
Coming into the month of July, this was our heroine’s 28-piece wardrobe. She didn’t bring all of this with her to Vermont…
Neither did she bring all of her accessories. I could easily justify ONE pair of boots for any trip at any time, but two pairs of boots, in July, in North America?
This month’s wardrobe additions reflect our heroine’s rural, hot weather activities, and a nod to being sensible – a black shirt in this wardrobe is going to be a workhorse!
Dotted top – Lands’ End; garnet earrings – Mint & Lily; bracelet stack – Ink+Alloy; red tee – Lands’ End; dotted shorts – Lands’ End; black linen shirt – J.Crew; sneakers – Comfortview
This is how our heroine’s wardrobe looks now; I’m appalled that she only has ONE pair of black pants?!?!? One really good thing about arranging a wardrobe this way is that it makes it easier to evaluate what you need.
I love these accessories. I really do…
The 28 garments that our heroine carried into July look great, and very logical, arranged in a 28-piece wardrobe template:
Some of us would be just fine with 28 garments, but if we want a template for a larger wardrobe, this is how I’ve envisioned it. If you have any better ideas, my ears are always open!
As always, we want to be certain that the additions to this wardrobe work well in a variety of ways:
This would be my wardrobe – maybe replacing the red with purple?
But anybody can get some good ideas from this general structure: a dark neutral, a light neutral, and two accents. Maybe one of your accent colors is something that other would consider a neutral – like brown.
The colors look great, the clothes all fit together nicely, and our heroine is counting birds…
love,
Janice
If you need to look back and figure out how all of this came together, you can find all of the previous posts about this heroine here: Christmas Eve Preview, January, February, March, April, May, June
p.s. Ten years ago, we started with an owl on a branch by Ohara Koson, and finished with a wardrobe for someone who works nights in an office…
p.p.s. Alex Mill is having a sale. A real sale, in which the markdowns are substantial, and things run out quickly. If you’ve ever had something catch your eye, now’s the time!
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This is a fairly well balanced wardrobe. She does need a pair of black jeans. Really liked the look back. Even though I have moved towards navy instead of black, black really is useful, easy to find, and easy to use as a dark neutral. I think I might work a few pieces into my cold weather wardrobe. Love the styling of the accessories!
Shellduck is my favorite of all these wardrobes. The red, black, white and tan is just such a practical, elegant color palette. I also truly appreciate your giving us some warm weather picks for this steamy July. The red shorts and top are very cute and would be a festive, fun touch of whimsy to the wardrobe too. Personally, I love these polka dots! I crave color and pattern in my wardrobe. These fit the bill.
I also want to call attention to the gorgeous jewelry here. In particular, the Ink + Alloy bracelet stack caught my eye. That would be stunning with a simple, monochromatic outfit as the ‘standout piece’. This one is tempting me!
Ink+Alloy has bracelet stacks in a billion colors. Well, a lot of colors. I’m pretty smitten with them. Bracelets are a godsend in hot weather when necklaces feel like a noose! I took – literally – over a dozen Fierce Lynx bracelets with me to Paris, and wore at least three every day.
Next week, when I get around to sharing all of my Paris observations with you (there’s a lot to share!), I hope to mention that polka dots were pretty popular on little summer tops and lightweight dresses.
love,
Jaice
I love polka dots! Always have since a young age. That is such a cute polka dot outfit. I am still looking for an aqua with dots lol I am sure it will show up in a future season … well one can hope. I am retired now but could easily live in this wardrobe.