August 12, 2026
Let’s visit the duck, shall we? I think she’s like a lot of us these days – calm on the surface, paddling like mad underneath…
Our heroine – the wildlife research statistician – is finishing up her stint at the very rural Vermont college…
At the beginning of August, this is the wardrobe our heroine has assembled:
And these are her most delectable accessories:
Maybe she’s exaggerating, but she feels like EVERY person working with her right now puts on white pants or white jeans after work! She decides that she’s going to look at how much white clothing she owns, and to think about making a bold wardrobe addition…
This is what she has right now, in white:
white eyelet tie-neck cotton – J.Crew; white tee – Lands’ End; white cotton cardigan – L.L.Bean; white oxford shirt – L.L.Bean; white tee shirt – Lands’ End; white sleeveless top – L.L.Bean; white linen skirt – Eileen Fisher
The other white thing that keeps cropping up in her mind is a simple white cotton turtleneck. She thinks of it as the garment for which she reaches when she really didn’t want to get out of bed! It’s warm, it’s soft, it goes with everything…
Earrings – Lily Charmed; scarf – Sandro; white cotton turtleneck – L.L.Bean; striped cashmere sweater – Boden; striped top – Lands’ End; jeans – Levi’s; sneakers – Vionic
The scarf could not be resisted. Why even try? And some stripes bright a fresh touch to a lot of outfits…
She diligently notes her new purchases in her 56-piece template…
And then she launders her new things and puts them into her closet. Yes, we wash new clothes – have you ever worked in retail? I think it was that which curled my hair!
Her accessories are so beautiful – her scarves! Her jewelry! Her cool woven handbags…
This is a heroine who makes her living working with numbers – figuring out which sudden increases in pheasant population are meaningful, and which are just random. Is a sighting of a bald eagle near a college campus important, or within the bounds of normal?
If you can do THAT, you can do anything, including planning outfits for your new purchases!
I’m not sure if I love this wardrobe because of the colors, or because the heroine does the kind of work that I really enjoy…
love,
Janice
If you’d like to go back to the beginning of this heroine’s wardrobe story, you can find all of her monthly shopping adventures here: Christmas Eve Preview, January, February, March, April, May, June, July
p.s. Ten years ago, the wardrobe colors were tan with accents of royal blue, orange and white. We started with two scarves…
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I think this wardrobe is the most practical so far. Great accessories. Classic color palette. The red really works.