May 15, 2024
Sometimes, you don’t have any explanation for what you love… Our heroine felt completely smitten when she saw this:
She already has her core summer wardrobe in hand, with navy and white, and coral accents…. but these colors. OH THESE COLORS!
I feel this way about shades of purple, so I’m sympathetic…
She takes a good look at her current summer wardrobe, because you don’t want to just fly off in all directions without any thought at all…
striped earrings – Canvas Style; blush earrings – Kendra Scott; navy earrings – Talbots; scarf – Vineyard Vines; hat – Nordstrom; striped top – Staud; striped linen shirt – L.L.Bean; Cardigan – Olsen; striped top – Lands’ End; sleeveless sweater/vest – Lands’ End; desert peach top – Lands’ End; tank top – L.L.Bean; Coral quartz sleeveless top – L.L.Bean; dress – Lands’ End; White sleeveless top – L.L.Bean; white shorts – J.Crew; navy shorts – L.L.Bean; linen pants – J.Crew; crossbody bag – Betsy & Floss; espadrilles – LifeStride; sneakers – Naturalizer; sandals – André Assous
And then, she shops! This might look like a ton of stuff to add to your summer wardrobe, but I have a hunch that if many of us collected everything together that we buy between early May and the end of August, it’s as much as this or more!
I know that I can “one thing” myself into very crowded closets…
Snapdragon linen shirt – J.Crew; earrings – Kendra Scott; scarf – Echo; bright cerise tee – J.Crew; print top – Boden; regal rose linen dress – J.Crew; snapdragon pants – J.Crew; bright cerise sandals – J.Crew; gold sandals – Naturalizer
Now, her wardrobe is much brighter, while still having a clear navy neutral…
Such a difference that pink and orange makes!
For what it’s worth, this is still only 18 pieces of clothing…
And as always, we’re going to make absolutely certain that her new purchases look wonderful with her existing garments:
And because I like to be thorough, here’s a list of the three clusters that make up a summer wardrobe in the world of the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe.
And here’s the list for the full year. Please note that if you’re allergic to sleeveless tops, you should just double-up on the short-sleeved things that you found for spring…
It’s suddenly quite warm in Chicago, and I am duly attired in a black oversized tee shirt, black and white tic-weave linen pants, and black sandals…
love,
Janice
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Smashing additions!!! I love these colours.
Did you mean to start with May 15 instead of March?
Probably! I’m so confused and sleep-deprived some days… I’m lucky I have so many friends to help catch my errors!
Maybe it’s some signal about the Ides of March?
hugs,
Janice
Wow those colors are just stunning. Timely, as yesterday I received a purchase of red top, sweater, and lightweight pants. Other than a couple of tops I haven’t worn red for a long time – years – I just wanted something different. Looking forward to shocking coworkers with a stand out color! Thank you for all your hard work. I’ve learned so much over the years. I think I found you in 2012 maybe? Might have been even a little earlier. Anyway – just so appreciate everything I read here and love the comments as well.
Sheila, I wish I were as bold with color as you seem to be! I buy the colors, I put the colors on, and half way through the morning I take it off and put on a navy T… sigh. Inspired!
🤣🤣 My mother loved color – she even painted their house mauve one time… There is one other coworker as enamored of color as I am. People seem to love it on me, but not so confident to try it for themselves….. at 68 I’ve kinda given up caring what other people think……. what is that? The red hat women?
Yes with exclamation points! Yesterday I shifted some clothes around for summer, trying to follow the navy and white core. I really liked it all hung up, but I thought–it all needs something bright! Pink is perfect.
Lovely Capsule! I’ve never put pink and red (or orange) together and it will be fun! Red is so hard to find right now. I’ve been looking for a basic V-neck true red Tee for weeks. I really enjoy how you work from art work to create beautiful, joyful capsules. Looking forward to a beautiful stylish summer!
This will be my summer wardrobe. Navy and white have been my core for years. Lately I’ve been wearing a top I knit a few years ago in a bright coral. I’ve had multiple compliments on the color on me so I’m guessing I need to incorporate a bit more into my wardrobe. And I so love pink. I am very tempted by the linen dress.
Yesterday I succumbed on the Lands End site and ordered the navy polka dot dress. Actually, I ordered it in four different patterns. The royal blue palm print would be perfect in the Magill monthly wardrobe.
Janice, thank you. I’ve learned so much from you over the years. Like, Sheila, I’ve been following you since 2012 or a bit longer. Your blog is the first thing I look at on the days you post. I am always excited to view what you have for us and figure out how I can replicate the idea and feel into my own wardrobe.
About my experiment with 10 tops and 3 bottoms. I found I would have to shift to different clothes. It’s so hot and steamy here in Florida. It feels like August. So, I’m thinking today’s example is perfect. Also, it shows me the holes in my own wardrobe and how I can fill them.
I really benefited when we did this a couple years ago. I’m glad we are revisiting it. Also glad it’s assembled all at one time. And the addition of the accents is the missing puzzle piece. Still trying to establish my accent colors, though. Maybe this year!
Fantastic! Love the addition of the vibrant snapdragon color. Thanks for putting it all together.
Navy is my neutral, but I rarely wear it on top. If I do, there has to be a brighter color under it to lighten my look. For example, a navy cardigan with a white or true blue or medium pink shirt (like today’s dress) underneath. Like someone mentioned recently in comments, the inner core of navy does not work for me. So, is navy really my neutral if I wear it basically on half my body? A trivial conundrum!
On this “trivial conundrum” (love it), I vote YES. It sounds like both navy and white are your neutrals and that you have figured out how to wear them in ways that suit you. A nice reminder that the color formulas Janice demonstrates with inner column, outer column/suit, “twin set”, color blocking, etc. are offerings on the outfit buffet from which we can sample freely and select those we like.
Exactly! One should ONLY dress in ways that please us – we don’t need lots of clothes, nor expensive clothes, but they should be the “just right” things for us.
I feel strongly about this, you can tell!
hugs,
Janice
I think I mentioned the dark core with accent on top. Just feels so weird to me. But the suit look or twin set look is perfect. I can do a column of navy if the second layer is a bright scarf. Weird right?!
And how about this: a floral top with a white background will be chosen over one with the navy background. And they’re all the same colors!
And my mom would have told me pink and orange don’t go together! Not blue and green! Haha.
Not should be nor. Silly spell checker!
Oh my GOODNESS—I do adore these accent colors! The sandals are such a nice touch, too. Navy isn’t my neutral, but it certainly works beautifully here, doesn’t it? For myself, I’d replace the navy with dark brown.
Love these bright pink and orange accents with the optic navy and white; I think they stand up very well with both neutrals (separately and together). The “snapdragon” pink is surprisingly great with the soft light coral as shown in the last outfit.
The paisley scarf is a lovely way to tie the accent colors together, and the blue colorway is also very pretty. I have a lightweight scarf with bright pink, orange, navy, and white (plus some yellow and aqua) that would fit in perfectly with this wardrobe.
I was a teensy bit disappointed not to see any red added to the palette because it’s so fabulous with navy and white. A strawberry red would be a nice addition, but I do think it would be harder to pair with the other accent colors than with the neutrals. Depending on how a person likes to combine colors, though, a couple red pieces could still provide a lot of outfit options just mixing with navy and white. And in the US at least, the navy + white + red color combination is a true summer classic. I would be sad to go all summer without wearing some nautical stripes in an outfit with a navy, white, and red color scheme.
Sally are actual strawberries in this year on clothes? In the last week I have seen two t-shirts with strawberries and a woman wearing strawberry earrings! I do love strawberries as we grow them here, but it’s taking me back to my nine years working at the berry farm! As for what Janice put together I love it!! :) I have something similar to this in my wardrobe right now. I even bought a pair of dressy wide leg capri’s in a raspberry color and my neutrals are definitely navy, but strangely enough I am the opposite of Cindy… I love navy next to my face and when I wear white it doesn’t feel quite right. So I do lots of denim and chambray with navy (although I do have a couple of white/cream pieces)
Kristi – are you the one that also lives in PNW? Yes, I did all the berries – strawberries, blueberries, raspberries – which are really hard to pick and build up an amount because they squish! Long sleeves and hats.
We are opposites! I have totally eliminated denim/chambray from my wardrobe as it has too much gray in it for me. I love how Sally described Janice’s offering as a buffet. It is fun to hear about all our different palettes!
Sheila, yes! I am in the utter PNW. I forgot we talked about strawberries last year! It was hard to fill a bucket. I remember as a 9 or 10 year old taking the time to fill the berries with rocks to help them weigh more. If I had just spent more time picking!
How gorgeous this is! I have really learned to appreciate Rothko and I believe this might be my favorite. The accessories are perfect, as always. I am continually amazed when you point out that this is only 18 pieces of clothing. It looks like so much more. Again the right accessories make such a difference.
If you get a chance to see Rothko paintings in person – especially if you can visit a “Rothko room” – you must do so! A Rothko Room is a small room with Rothko paintings on all four walls. There’s only room for 2 visitors at a time, and you come out of the room with a new appreciation for how complicated, textured and layered colors can be. Images of his paintings are wonderful, but nothing can substitute for the real thing!
hugs,
Janice
This is so beautiful! I hadn’t expected to like it, but I love the shades of pink and coral together. I think if i had to start over, I could be happy with this. I feel the same way about shades of green from chartreuse to teal, and will happily combine them, but maybe that’s just my years of living in the PNW rubbing off on me.
I think this was made for me! My French 7 in orange fits right in as well as the pink! 😍