November 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Spirit of Autumn by Albert Pinkham Ryder

November 9, 2026

Our heroine who lives in mostly brown! I know this feels sort of dark and limited to some of you, but I think the range of possibilities available to her with her limited palette is fascinating…

Her painting? So soft, muted and calming:

At the end of October, our heroine had a lot of clothes! At least it feels like a lot to me, when I’m trying to arrange them all on one or two pages…

She also has a pretty comfortable assortment of accessories – especially scarves! But if you’re a scarf person, the concept of “enough” is hard to picture. I’m the last woman in the world who could criticize someone for owning a lot of scarves…

Somehow, our heroine managed to get her tops and bottoms out of whack, and she had (based on her 56-garment Template) too many bottoms.

Shopping for tops is so much fun! Such an easy project…

Yes, I’m giving this heroine the silk blouse from Banana Republic that you’ve seen before. I accidentally put mine in the wash (on delicate) last week. I ironed it. It looks gloriously good… I can’t recommend this blouse enough!

This template is a completely artificial and arbitrary way to structure a wardrobe, but you’ve got to have SOME kind of plan, or chaos ensues. There’s a certain satisfaction for our heroine when she gets her wardrobe re-balanced:

Neatly and carefully arranged in her closet, our heroine’s wardrobe reflects her favorite painting perfectly:

And her accessories continue to get better and better. There’s really nothing that makes a wardrobe “work” better than the right shoes, bags, and jewelry. Scarves are just a bonus!

This heroine doesn’t necessarily have a clear plan for each garment that she buys. When you have a good core of neutral pants and skirts, you can be pretty confident that you can incorporate new garments with ease. A bit of discipline gives you a lot of freedom!

How might this heroine wear her new things?

I’m surprised that my parents didn’t dress me like this; they were absolutely gobsmacked that I have brown eyes…

love,
Janice

If you’re new to The Vivienne Files, or if you just want to refresh your memory of this heroine’s wardrobe past, all of the earlier links are here: Christmas Eve Preview, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October

p.s. Ten years ago, we were building a wardrobe from scratch; the third installment addressed the need for a dress. No, you don’t ever have to wear a dress, or a skirt, again in your life!