October 7, 2026
Our aspiring bank employee is our heroine today! I particularly love this woman; she’s doing things MUCH more cleverly than many of us did 40 years ago when we were trying to take over the world…
Her inspiration is this lovely painting:
At the end of September, our heroine had a 40-piece wardrobe. She’s never had any sense that anybody at her office every notices that she wears a lot of navy, a few accents colors, and nothing else. Clothing isn’t nearly the most important thing at work!
This is her current collection of accessories. She knows that her co-workers have noticed these – especially her scarves! There are occasional questions about where she found something, and also occasional compliments!
Our heroine noticed that the FIRST DAY back in the office in September, everything seemed a bit more dressy. She also her noticed, over time, that her male co-workers own more than one navy suit. Usually they have more than two!
That makes this shopping decision much easier:
Pearl earrings- Anne Klein; pine branch brooch – Anne Klein; cabled cotton vest – J.Crew Factory; navy pinstripe pants – Boden; navy pinstripe blazer – Boden; white cotton shirt – Lands’ End; suede loafers – Vionic
She’s thinking that she will always wear this suit AS A SUIT, i.e. with the two pieces together. This frees her to wear her solid navy suit as separates – blazer and pants.
And she wouldn’t rule out eventually buying a suit with a jacket and skirt. Or a jacket and dress…
Her 56-piece wardrobe template looks serious, but not somber. She’s hopeful that next month she will be able to find some tops that will be able to be worn for that “desk to dinner” transition that starting to loom over many of us at the end of the year!
Grouping all of her tops together makes it clear that this heroine doesn’t struggle to get dressed:
Her bottoms make it easy to get dressed too! Having three dresses means that there is always something fast, but appropriate, to wear to work:
Adding an autumn or winter-themed brooch is always a touch that helps one look festive…
A second pair of navy loafers? Well, one is leather and one is suede. And she wears navy pants a LOT – having two pairs means that neither pair gets worn day after day. Shoes like a day off…
This is the heroine who has planned more than most of us EXACTLY how she will wear her new clothes. She has no cash to waste, and she wants to have a wardrobe plan that’s so clear that she only has to think about banking things:
Our heroine plans all five of her outfits for the week each Sunday evening. Each morning, she gets dressed without a lot of stress, and gets on with her day.
If only we could all be this organized!
love,
Janice
If you would like to see how this heroine got started, and how she built this wardrobe, you can find all of our earlier blog posts about her here: Christmas Eve Preview, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September
p.s. Ten years ago, we started with a soft and lovely painting by Claudio Bravo, and added grey and mauve accents to a neutral black, white and denim wardrobe.
Like this wardrobe? Save it to Pinterest!
“If only we could all be this organized!”
Well, with this wardrobe, or any other harmonious wardrobe, you could simply wear whatever’s clean and still look put together.