October 14, 2026
Our last heroine, but NEVER the least! In my next life, I’m going to major in French, and make my living translating arcane French documents buried in the Bibliotheque Nationale…
And I will use this painting as my inspiration, just as our current historical architecture expert does:
When she left for her autumn term teaching in Paris, she had this wardrobe. I suspect that she packed everything – 40 garments isn’t insane for 4 months if you’re in one place, and can unpack, hang things, and do laundry:
And I’m QUITE certain that she took all of her accessories with her – they’re the fun part!
This month, the first thing our heroine wanted was another black dress. As much as her sleeveless dress is a true wardrobe workhorse, she was really interested in a second black dress, with sleeves…
And she tried to NOT buy the black floral cardigan that she’d see here on The Vivienne Files, but in the end, she caved! A couple of tops to wearing under the cardigan (one casual, one dressy) and she is set!
The scarf was unmissable. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day? In HER colors? And with a sort of hint of Christmassy festiveness? Yes, please!
floral cardigan – J.Crew; earrings – Monica Vinader; red turtleneck – Lands’ End; cotton bow blouse – Boden; black ottoman dress – Boden; Thanksgiving Day Parade Scarf – Macy’s; pumps – Quince
Now, when she puts her new purchases into her wardrobe template, things still look… well… pretty doggone good! And that’s a way to describe things that our heroine would NEVER use…
When she gets her clothes into an armoire and takes a good look at things, she couldn’t be happier:
And her accessories? Perfection…
Of course, this is a woman who knows how something will be worn long before she hands over a credit card! Let’s peek at some of her ideas:
When she does her shopping next month, she might be thinking about preparing for holiday festivities. Not that she doesn’t already have plenty of appropriate things to wear for all kinds of events!
love,
Janice
Would you like to go back to the beginning of this heroine’s wardrobe to see how this all has come about? All of the earlier blog posts can be found here: Christmas Eve Preview, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September
p.s. Ten years ago, we wrapped up a multi-post “Starting From Scratch” with some ideas for evaluating what you might need to add to your wardrobe.
Leave a Reply