August 5, 2026
So now that stores are filling up with clothes, I’m going to look at all six of our wardrobes and try to fill in gaps and find some balance for our heroines.
Our next painting is a favorite of our landscaping expert, who is most comfortable wearing mostly subtle colors found in nature:
Coming into August, our heroine had this lovely wardrobe, but it really doesn’t reflect that she planned to use grey as an equal neutral with shades of brown. Hmm….
Her accessories are gorgeous…
Our heroine has four grey garments, and an ivory tee shirt. These are all excellent garments, but she’s interested in looking for more grey. Oddly, it can be the most difficult color to find!
tank top – L.L.Bean; waffle fabric shirt jacket – Lands’ End; ivory tee shirt – Lands’ End; Cashmere hooded sweatshirt – J.Crew; jeans – Banana Republic
But since Autumn is coming – and has already arrived in the retail world – she decided to look around. She would LOVE to find grey corduroy pants, but she thinks a second pair of grey jeans can still be useful.
Yes, she splurged insanely on the scarf… And the grey loafers with brown ties delighted her heart!
Earrings- Ross-Simons; scarf – Ralph Lauren; v-neck sweater – GAP; tee shirt – GAP; jeans – GAP; cardigan – L.L.Bean; boat shoes – Tory Burch
With just these additions, her 56-piece Wardrobe Template looks more balanced between browns and grey:
Grey is still clearly the “lesser chosen” neutral (which is fine – they don’t have to be 50/50!):
Her accessories continue to delight; she has some lovely things…
Adding grey into a wardrobe that’s mostly “warm” colors takes some imagination, and a willingness to wear some unexpected color combinations. Our heroine likes to challenge her clients to plant things that aren’t the usual “golf course” greenery, so this is just right for her.
I wear brown with black, which is kind of the same idea – just not as uncommon!
love,
Janice
If you want to go back to the beginning and see how this wardrobe has been assembled, you can find all of the older posts here: Christmas Eve Preview, January, February, March, April, May, June, July
p.s. Ten years ago, we started with a navy, hot-pink and ivory travel capsule wardrobe and expanded it to a 4 by 4 Wardrobe! That’s a travel wardrobe too, right? ANY wardrobe can be a travel wardrobe if you’re gone long enough…
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You have done it. You’ve made me fall in love with grey again. I used to wear lots of grey in the 90’s and early 2000’s. But, then it sort of fell off the radar for me. I tend to use navy as my neutral base in warmer months and black as my neutral base in cooler months, though I am finding navy bleeding into my cooler months too. I don’t know why I felt this way, but as I got older, I felt as if grey would leech color from me, even though I do color my hair. (After I had cancer at 37, I went completely WHITE overnight.)
This was a wardrobe that I had found far too limiting at the beginning of the year. Now? I’m digging it. It’s still a bit too limiting for my personal taste, as I love my red, coral, pink and turquoise. But, I can see why this ease would be appealing. I also am sure that this landscape architect has a separate wardrobe of shorts, tees, Carharts, jeans and work boots for when she’s onsite. But, these would be fantastic when meeting with clients.
I do like these grey pieces. Those shoes!!
Grey is another really useful neutral. I recall several decades (and a few sizes) ago, I splurged on a mini capsule of grey and yellow from one of those trunk show brands. The grey was lighter- not charcoal and didn’t have a blue cast. The yellow didn’t veer into heavy gold. It was a pretty yellow, not too pale or too saturated. The group consisted of grey wool trousers, grey light wool skirt, yellow blazer, yellow turtleneck, a short sleeved yellow and grey knit tee with a matching zip up cardigan. Imagine the wear I got from those pieces! I absolutely loved them.
I love grey and yellow. That capsule sounds so nice!
So relaxing, so soothing, so wonderful! I own not a stitch of any of the colors of this wardrobe, but boy is it lovely.
Beautiful additions! Maybe if she wants to add more grey she can veer into the charcoals – that would make it as “ranged” as the browns. But, to your point, its not a requirement!
I think this is my favorite wardrobe – and as a Soft Summer, I could wear the whole thing harmoniously. I love the gradiations of colors in each set of neutrals, rather than stark sets of contrasting colors. I think darker grey would be more difficult to integrate into this wardrobe, but I could be proven wrong.
Recently discovered that Lands End has a couple of really nice merino sweaters – in the men’s department! I recently got the chocolate one and was very pleased with it. They’ve also got a pale grey that would suit this heroine. I’m waiting for the vneck to show up in a darker charcoal so I can grab it too.
(I’ve been comparison testing the men’s and women’s clothing that comes in the same colors/fibers/basic styles at LLBean and Lands End and consistently finding the men’s to be about a million times better quality. So I just buy the smallest guy’s size I can find!)
I’ve also shopped the men’s department in both Lands’ End and L.L. Bean, particularly for sweaters. Although the color choices might not be as pretty as in the women’s department, I can usually find some that do suit me. For example, I got a pretty aqua, V-neck cotton sweater at L.L. Bean’s after-holiday sale. The best fit is to go down one size. If you wear a large in women’s, get a medium in men’s. The only hitch is to check the “sweep” in men’s sweaters to make sure it is not too tight for your hips. Sweep is the circumference of the bottom of the garment.
I love the soothing nature of this entire wardrobe. Well done. lilbear that is very interesting about Lands End!
I am particularly enjoying this wardrobe – all those beautiful browns! I don’t wear a lot of grey but I’d be tempted by some of these combinations. And you’re absolutely right, she has a lot of really Nice Things! Thank you for one of the best parts of my day….
Love the addition of more grey and mixing it up a bit with yellow and brown. Beautiful and I can see myself with this kind of wardrobe. Love most neutrals mixed together with just one or two accent colours. Fantasy wardrobe as I can’t escape blue….my best colour.