Our heroine the professional listener had great luck last month finding some brown clothes – maybe this month she will have luck with teal?

But first, let’s look at the painting which is her inspiration. The art will endure long after all of our wardrobes have been dispersed to the winds…

After she bought her dark brown garments last month, this is her (currently 36-piece) wardrobe:

And these are her accessories. I swear, I could wear the same clothes every day if I had the right accessories!

The morning of our heroine’s shopping adventure for September, she pulled out of her closet all of her greenish, teal-ish, aqua-ish clothes.

There’s one big gap – she doesn’t have a pair of pants in this color! Otherwise, it seems a reasonable assortment of accent garments:

 cardigan – Fat Face; Aegean Sea merino top – J.Crew; turtleneck – Seasalt Cornwall; patina cashmere cardigan – J.Crew; sleeveless sweater – Coldwater Creek; dress – White Stuff; teal camp shirt – Coldwater Creek

Our heroine decided to take a look at Seasalt Cornwall… And found a ton of things she liked, that are just about the perfect color!

Jacket – Seasalt Cornwall; earrings – Ottoman Hands; cardigan – Seasalt Cornwall; dress – Boden; scarf – Nordstrom; pants – Seasalt Cornwall; shoes – Pikolinos

She pondered finding a pair of teal shoes, and she’s still not opposed to the idea. But she was pretty smitten with the possibilities of a brown shirtdress, and the brown shoes just called her name… That happens!

Is she sticking with her plan? I’d say so… She will need to pick up another top eventually, if she wants to fill in her 56-piece wardrobe template EXACTLY according to plan:

Her closet looks quite a bit brighter with this latest infusion of her accent color!

And her accessories are gorgeous!

When her new purchases are all in her home, she takes the time to launder things (wearing new clothes without laundering is icky – take it from someone who worked in retail for ages…) and then to try everything on with her existing clothes:

I could live for a long time with this wardrobe – maybe the highlights in my hair could be teal instead of purple?

love,
Janice

If you would like to see all of the earlier posts in this series, in which this heroine added all of the earlier parts of her wardrobe, you can find them here: Christmas Eve Preview, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August

p.s. Ten years ago, we were looking at a Diego Rivera painting that’s down at the Art Institute of Chicago. and sending yet another heroine off to her class reunion…

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The post September 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Spirit of Autumn by Albert Pinkham Ryder appeared first on The Vivienne Files.

Our bank employee has stumbled into a perfect bunch of things for her wardrobe… It’s nice that colors come and go, so all of us get a chance to buy what we most love!

Our heroine’s favorite painting is this beauty:

She had assembled a 36-piece capsule wardrobe for work by the end of August. She’s so busy studying everything she can find about banking and finance that she’s not interested in spending a lot of time worrying about what to wear!

She’s delighted that she’s taken the time to find excellent accessories! Having these things in her wardrobe make her morning much simpler:

Shopping was stressful for our banker this month, because she found SO MUCH that fits her wardrobe really well! Eileen Fisher dedicated much of her September release to shades of blue and green, and then Seasalt Cornwall shows up with THREE pieces in this amazing print. (it would have been possible to spend thousands from their new offerings…)

She’s a bit irked that the top looks SO crinkled, but she also understands that she can give this a good steam and it won’t look quite so… squished.

And perfect earrings. Well, they’re clip-ons, but she can have that changed pretty simply. There are people in any city who will add posts to earrings for a reasonable fee. Bless people who do these finicky but SO helpful projects!

Sailor blue cardigan – Eileen Fisher; CLIP-ON earrings – Michael Nash Jewelry; scarf – Seasalt Cornwall; blouse – Seasalt Cornwall; teal cotton sweater – Eileen Fisher; skirt – Seasalt Cornwall; loafers – Rothy’s

The 56-piece template is our heroine’s guideline. So far, she’s adhered to it quite faithfully, and her wardrobe shows her planning:

But woman does not dress from a template! When she puts her clothes into her closet, they look both coherent and inspiring – what better could you say about your wardrobe?

Of course her new accessories blend in beautifully, but they also stand out just a bit – how could you NOT want green loafers?

When this heroine goes shopping, she has clear goals in mind, and she already knows HOW she’s going to wear her purchases. But she still comes home and tries on complete outfits – you can miss something that’s a real deal-breaker if you don’t put clothes ON YOUR BODY. Photographs are great, but they aren’t the same…

I wish I had been this disciplined, back in the early days of my career! So much money could have been put to better use than clothing…

love,
Janice

If you are curious about how this heroine got to this point in her wardrobe building, you can look back at every step! The earlier posts are all here:  Christmas Eve Preview, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August

p.s. Ten years ago, we started with a painting of a cow’s skull. Ah, that Georgia O’Keeffe… she could make anything interesting!

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The post September 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Ruffled Autumn Clouds by Emile Nolde appeared first on The Vivienne Files.

Starting with a beautiful painting, and finding yourself with a lovely, subtle wardrobe…

At the end of August, our heroine had the following wardrobe – a balanced mix of yellow accents with a touch of grey, and a wide range of cool-ish, dusty browns:

And her accessories are a thing of beauty – I’m always SO smitten with each heroine’s combination of essentials and ornamentals!

Our heroine doesn’t have any one thing she desperately needs, but she quickly saw the usefulness of a matching cardigan and pair of cords for cooler weather! And she’s learning that any time she sees a classic top in a “new to her” shade of beige or brown, it’s worth a second look…

Cotton cardigan – J.Crew; earrings – VIEA; bracelet – Saachi; hickory ash tee – J.Crew; poplin shirt – Banana Republic; corduroy pants – Coldwater Creek; sneakers – adidas

She finds the 56-garment Template useful in that it gives her a clear overview of everything in her closet without having to actually LOOK in her closet. When you’re shopping, it can be handy to refer to a sheet of paper or your phone, to be sure you’re not duplicating purchases!

Don’t ask how many times I’ve bought more black pants than a woman can ever justify owning!

Arranging her wardrobe in her closet gives her so many ideas…

Her accessories still look wonderful – just a little bit more abundant!

This is one of the easiest wardrobes possible for day-to-day dressing! But our heroine always brings her new purchases home and immediately tries on new outfits (before her new things go into the laundry!). If something isn’t going to work, it’s best to discover that while the garment still has its tags…

This wardrobe could be re-created with an accent color other than yellow… What might be nice? Green, definitely. Rose pink could be interesting….

love,
Janice

If you would like to see the steps that got our heroine to this point, you can follow along at these posts:  Christmas Eve Preview, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August

p.s. Ten years ago, we started with a lovely Portrait of a Young Woman by Henri Regnault, and assembled a wardrobe in navy, brown, blue and white. Our heroine was heading to a class reunion…

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Our typography expert has some travel in her future; she’s been tapped to redesign the colophons and other graphic signatures for a group of publishes owned by one company. What fun! New York in the autumn…

First up, let’s re-visit the painting which inspires and informs our heroine’s wardrobe:

At the end of August, our heroine had added black garments to her wardrobe, and now things look pretty balanced:

Her accessories are delectable…

After last month’s dive into the black clothes in her wardrobe, our heroine thought that it might make sense to examine her light neutral clothes too!

She calls this color – depending on what comes to mind first – natural, ivory, bone, or off-white. Maybe cream? There are lots of color names…

Cashmere cardigan – Banana Republic; ivory pointelle cardigan – J.Crew; Ivory tee – Lands’ End; tank top – Eileen Fisher; ivory tee shirt – J.Crew; linen shirt – J.Crew; ivory sweater – J.Crew; sea salt cotton shirt – Duluth Trading; ecru pants – Alex Mill

She decides that cooler weather suggests a cashmere turtleneck and a pair of corduroy pants in her light neutral. But when she sees the green sweater and striped shirt, she hesitated for a heartbeat – this green isn’t EXACTLY the green in her painting.

Then sanity kicks in, and she remembers that she’s not going to be wearing all of these green things together – they don’t have to be flawlessly matched. The important thing is that they feel right for HER, in HER wardrobe…

Green cashmere sweater – Alex Mill; green striped shirt – Alex Mill; cashmere turtleneck – Lands’ End; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; bag – Paul Costelloe; corduroy barrel pants – Lands’ End; boots – Aerosoles

She puts her new garments into her 56-piece wardrobe template… she still needs to find a second layer – which should be easier as fall clothes flood in on us all. And it would be delightful if she could ever find more of her favorite shade of blue!

Showing her wardrobe in a more relaxed arrangement makes it clear how complete it is!

It’s quite clear that she has a weakness for any scarf that combines blue and green:

As always, our heroine thinks through in great detail exactly HOW she’s going to wear her new clothes. She really loves the way that she can have “light-ish” outfits and “dark-ish” outfits…

I love how our heroine is committed to her accent colors; that’s one way to have a really efficient wardrobe!

love,
Janice

If you’d like to go back to the beginning of this wardrobe to see how it’s developed, you can find all of the earlier posts here:  Christmas Eve Preview, January 2026, February 2026, March 2026, April 2026, May 2026, June 2026, July 2026, August 2026

p.s. Ten years ago, we shared the third of the “navy dress” posts – this one with muted accent colors.

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So Friday’s version of “what to wear with chinos?” focused on a pair of pleated, warm-hued pants, worn with neutrals. Today, I’ve found a pair of more grey-ish, taupe-ish pants – (they call it stone), and I’m pairing them with pastels and soft accents!

I love dressing like this – I can wear a sweater or top that’s distinctly pretty, but I don’t look twee, or over-dressed, because the chinos take the mood in a more relaxed direction:

Stone chinos – J.Crew

The first thing I tried was putting these pants into the very LAST outfit from Friday – the one with the labradorite jewelry, and the perfect scarf and boots:

Scarf – The Met Store; earrings – st. Moran; faded sage cotton sweater – L.L.Bean; pants – J.Crew; labradorite bracelet – Satya Jewelry; boots – Söfft

After that, I just looked around for pretty scarves or sweaters! I love this mixing of shades of pink:

Tee shirt – L.L.Bean; twilly – Silk&Soul; cardigan – Boden; pants – J.Crew; velvet bag – Fable England; Mary Janes – Dansko

This next outfit is just so you can see the scarf, with the piano-playing panda, and the rest of the animals surrounded by the lovely flowers:

Earrings – Karine Sultan; sweater – Eileen Fisher; ivory shirt – Lands’ End; pants – J.Crew; scarf – Wenzi; sneakers – Söfft

If you don’t look good in straight pink, have you considered coral?

Merino cardigan – L.L.Bean; earrings – Ninemoo; Tee shirt – Lands’ End; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; pants – J.Crew; loafers – Spring Step

Or maybe you have a colorful necklace that needs to get out and about a bit more often?

Earrings – Elk & Bloom; necklace – Anthropologie; silver blue cashmere sweater – L.L.Bean; turtleneck – Lands’ End; pants – J.Crew; sneakers – adidas

Wearing a pretty sweatshirt doesn’t mean you have to look like you’re going to the gym….

Sweatshirt – Lands’ End; scarf – Lost Pattern New York; earrings – Bounkit; ivory tee – Lands’ End; pants – J.Crew; Mary Janes – Clarks Originals

It might be a bit early to think of snowflake motifs, but you could always be prepared for the upcoming holidays!

Scarf – RaluFineArt; earrings – Lily Charmed; lavender sky sweater – J.Crew; pants – J.Crew; bag – The Sak; boots – Gabor

I love this bright but not overwhelming pink – and I love this cardigan! (I have the purple one – I know you’re shocked…)

Ballet pink cardigan – Alex Mill; earrings – Swarovski; cream turtleneck – L.L.Bean; pants – J.Crew; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; loafers – Gentle Souls

When you struggle to find the right shoes, remember that metallics are a great possibility! Especially with a softly blue cardigan and a pretty scarf…

Oxford shirt – L.L.Bean; earrings – Quince; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; pants – J.Crew; cashmere cardigan – Lands’ End; loafers – Anne Klein

Do you keep track of what you wear? Have you learned anything interesting from doing so?

I’m tempted to spend more time thinking about the possibilities of my favorite garments…

love,
Janice

p.s. Ten years ago, we were looking at how to wear a simple navy dress – on the last day of August, we tried it with bright colors!

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The post Can Chinos be Pretty? Starting with Flat-Front Cotton Pants appeared first on The Vivienne Files.

I keep track of what I wear – I actually have an Excel spreadsheet that I’ve been keep for years…

But I don’t often actually USE this data for analysis… Until just a few days ago, I decided to see what I could learn about myself and my wardrobe from this diligent record-keeping.

Most frequently worn garment? Blue jeans

Second most frequently worn garment? Black jeans (I sense a theme…)

THIRD most frequently worn garment? Khakis! Or chinos! Or whatever they’re called in your neck of the woods… We call ’em khakis around here….

Fennel seed cotton pants – Madewell

These aren’t exactly like mine, but these are really nice! All-cotton too…

I resisted buying chinos for decades. Literally decades. But I found a pair – used – very low price, and I took the chance. And now, any time I want to be comfortable, but I want to look just a little bit like I’m dressing nicely, I reach for them.

Why? They go with anything. Okay, I’m sure among us all we can thing of SOMETHING that won’t look right with them, but it’s an effort. These pants are versatile! 

Let’s see…

What navy – a classic:

Tee shirt – L.L.Bean; scarf – Lauren Ralph Lauren; cardigan – L.L.Bean; pants – Madewell; navy suede bag – Madewell; boots – Munro

Pretty much any shade of green – wouldn’t you go to some lengths to be able to wear these boots all the time?

Earrings – Karine Sultan; sweater – L.L.Bean; ivory shirt – Lands’ End; pants – Madewell; scarf – Barbour; boots – L’Artiste by SpringStep

Black is an obvious pairing – especially with floral shoes!

cashmere sweater – J.Crew; leaf earrings – Maison de Gala; white tee – Lands’ End; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; pants – Madewell; loafers – L’Artiste by Spring Step

All of the earth-tones are perfect with tan – and these pants make a sweatshirt just a wee bit less “sweaty.”

Earrings – Kate Koel; sweatshirt – Lands’ End; ginger striped shirt – Lands’ End; pants – Madewell; bag – The Sak; sneakers – Pikolinos

This is how I often wear my khakis – I have a glorious Irish cardigan, and a work-horse chambray shirt…

Cardigan – L.L.Bean; pearl earrings – Esterah; scarf – Lost Pattern NYC; chambray shirt – L.L.Bean; pants – Madewell; sneakers – adidas

Grey with tan? Why not – it’s a great opportunity to wear jewelry with both silver and gold…

Tee shirt – Lands’ End; necklace – Kendra Scott; earrings – Ana Luisa; cardigan – COS; pants – Madewell; shoes – Arezzo

Of course. Brown.

Cardigan – L.L.Bean; earrings – A Weathered Penny; cream turtleneck – L.L.Bean; pants – Madewell; scarf – Maryell; clogs – Blundstone

Burgundy is lovely here – especially with a wonderful scarf:

Oxford shirt – L.L.Bean; earrings – Janus Edinburgh; scarf – The Met Store; pants – Madewell; fig cotton sweater – L.L.Bean; loafers – Trotters

And when you’ve got fascinating accessories in that enigmatic color of labradorite (aren’t the boots and the scarf excellent with the jewelry?), all you need is the simplest of clothes:

Scarf – The Met Store; earrings – st. Moran; sweater – J.Crew; pants – Madewell; labradorite bracelet – Satya Jewelry; boots – Söfft

I struggle to avoid buying a second pair of khakis…

love,
Janice

p.s. Ten years ago, we pondered the possibilities of wearing a classic navy dress with pastel accents.

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The post Chinos? Khakis? Whatever You Call Them, They’re the Surprise Star of My Wardrobe appeared first on The Vivienne Files.

One last suit, and WHAT a suit it is! The pants are 7/8 length, so your shoes get some attention, and the jacket is a snappy somewhat short style… The Boden site shows this suit worn with nothing underneath the jacket – would you do that?

Blazer – Boden; pants – Boden

You really have to get a close-up of the fabric to see what colors are here – I could have chosen a shade of rust, but I opted for the red that Boden was showing with these pieces.

Frankly, I think having the suit in your hands would be helpful before you started doing a lot of “outfit building” with this jacket and pants!

yes, I’m re-using quite a few things in this post  – this is deliberate, and not just bone-deep laziness on my part! Good, classic items can be used in a variety of ways, for years and years…

scarf – Echo; earrings – Inari Jewellery; tee shirt – L.L.Bean; blazer – Boden; pants – Caslon; flats – French Connection

Yes, you absolutely can wear a striped tee with houndstooth pants! The brown cardigan over the tee will provide a moderating note, but it wouldn’t be necessary if the weather warms up!

And if you’re going to buy a suit that emphasizes pink, I think leaning into LOTS of pink is a good way to start:

Cotton cardigan – Lands’ End; earrings – Talbots; striped tee – L.L.Bean; suede bag – Coach; pants – Boden; suede flats – Talbots

After some thought, I decided to include red with this capsule, because Boden shows this jacket with a red dress. I have to trust them…

Blazer – Boden; brooch – Panacea; earrings – Argento Vivo; camel scarf – tirillm; dress – Boden; pumps – LifeStride

This sweater was serendipitous – I think it’s just about perfect with these pants…

sweater – J.Crew; earrings – Heaven Mayhem; necklace – Tuckernuck Jewelry; pants – Boden; wrap – Nordstrom; loafers – Frye

To me, this suit screamed for camel or a medium tan color. I’ve been seeing chinos A LOT lately – I’ve got a couple of posts coming up to show you what I’ve seen. But I love these pants – they look very “drapey” and fluid…

Blazer – Boden; earrings – Atolea; ivory cashmere top – J.Crew; silk & cashmere scarf – Nordstrom; chinos – Lands’ End; sneakers – Prologue Shoes

I keep sharing this silk blouse. It’s not cheap, but I have the ivory version, and I’m tempted to get the black one too! It’s really nice quality, and makes everything else you’re wearing just a touch more dressy and elegant.

And the cardigan looks perfect…

I believe that these may be the first mules I’ve ever shown on The Vivienne Files! With these slightly cropped pants, I felt like they would be just right.

Cardigan – Banana Republic; earrings – Kendra Scott; silk blouse – Banana Republic; bag – Donna Karan New York; pants – Boden; mules – Beek

What would I add onto this wardrobe at this stage? MORE BROWN!!! A beautiful lacy knit sweater, a lovely leather skirt (talk about something you buy once and keep for the rest of your life…), and the same red tee shirt we’ve seen before.

And a scarf. A winsome, witty and perfectly-colored scarf!

Red tee – COS; brown sweater – J.Jill; scarf – RaluFineArt; leather skirt – Nordstrom

When assembled on the bed, before packing, this wardrobe looks amazing – unlike any travel capsule wardrobe I’ve done before! I could see packing this for any trip over a week or 10 days, for any number of destinations. You would NEVER fade into the crowd with these clothes.

Conversely, if you only have to dress like an adult a couple of days a week, this could BE your entire fall wardrobe:

In a 4 by 4 Wardrobe template, these clothes fit quite well. I cheated and included the pink wool scarf, because it could qualify as a third “piece” over a top and bottom.

Or you could find a lovely brown blouse – maybe a floral in pink and brown? I couldn’t find one, but I’m sure it’s out there…

It’s a rhetorical question – can our heroine wear these clothes in different combinations from those that we’ve seen?

If she can’t, she needs to start over. Versatile, multi-use garments are the key to a good capsule wardrobe:

I never wear pink, but if someone stole my entire wardrobe (THAT would be a chore!!!) and left this in its place, I’d be looking pretty wonderful on the street of Chicago. (Dublin, New York, Paris…)

love,
Janice

p.s. Ten years ago, we considered FOURTEEN ways to wear a grey dress. That’s versatile!

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The post A Pink & Brown Checked Suit – Is It Worth It? appeared first on The Vivienne Files.

Ah, some of you still need to dress conservatively… And there’s a lot of struggle around the wisdom of owning a good navy suit.

If you don’t like wearing navy, DON’T DO IT! But if you like wearing navy, and you’re comfortable in a blazer, and you can envision needing a classic suit, you could do worse than this:

Blazer – Banana Republic; pants – Banana Republic

What can you do with such classic beauty? Well, let’s start with a very conservative color palette and see what’s possible!

Blazer – Banana Republic; pants – Banana Republic

I’m going to approach this the same way I looked at the striped suit on Friday – a half-dozen outfits, a few additions, and then another half-dozen “remixed” outfits from the 16 garments in our capsule wardrobe. 

Let’s start casual:

scarf – Nordstrom; earrings – Color Shout; tee shirt – L.L.Bean; blazer – Banana Republic; jeans – Levi’s; sneakers – adidas

The wine shade that I’m using is “fig” from L.L.Bean. When you find a garment in a color that’s really useful for you, check around for other things they may have made to match…

I don’t think wearing a paisley scarf with a striped shirt is a reach – a men would wear a paisley tie with a striped shirt in a heartbeat!

Cotton cardigan – Alex Mill; earrings – Auree Jewellery; tee – GAP; scarf – Elizabetta; pants – Banana Republic; loafers – Clarks

You can easily wear a blazer over a dress if the top half of the dress is simple – no ruffles, frills or other things that might bunch up underneath:

Earrings – The Pearl Source; blazer – Banana Republic; brooch – Loni Paul Jewelry; dress – Nordstrom; bag – DKNY; slingback pumps – Calvin Klein

Outfits don’t have to be complicated, nor do you have to wear three pieces every day. A simple sweater and pants look lovely – especially when you wear a small scarf at your neckline, and then swoosh on a cozy wrap:

Fig cotton sweater – L.L.Bean; garnet earrings – Macy’s; dotted scarf – Talbots; pants – Banana Republic; navy wrap – Tuckernuck; boots – Trotters

If you’ve ever been near a country club, you’ve seen a man wearing a blazer over a polo shirt. This is a much nicer version of the idea…

Earrings – Ottoman Hands; pearl pendant – Ettika; blazer – Banana Republic; gray merino polo sweater – L.L.Bean; gray pants – L.L.Bean; loafers – Sam Edelman

A really nice silk shirt isn’t cheap, but there’s nothing quite like it to make a simple outfit look special!

Cashmere cardigan – L.L.Bean; earrings – Ana Luisa; silk blouse – Banana Republic; bag – Pom Pom London; pants – Banana Republic; boots – Spring Step

Our heroine certainly needs a couple more grey things, as well as a white oxford shirt to play the same role as her silk blouse. I’m always a sucker for a cabled sweater – especially with piping!

And the skirt? It’s DENIM!!! But it’s dark, and it’s long enough to be warm and modest. 

Charcoal tee shirt – Lands’ End; gray cabled sweater – J.Crew; white shirt – Lands’ End; denim skirt – Boden

The complete wardrobe looks pretty appealing!

As soon as I look at our heroine’s 4 by 4 Wardrobe Template, I want to rush out and get her a navy top of some sort – tee shirt, blouse, button-front. Maybe a cashmere turtleneck? But she’s done shopping and she’s ready to travel…

As our heroine carefully wrangles her wardrobe into her suitcase, she takes the time to envision six more outfits she has available. I’m quite sure that this doesn’t exhaust her possibilities:

I love the classic clarity of this… 

love,
Janice

p.s. Ten years ago, I started with a beautiful painting of a storm approaching a beach, and assembled a travel capsule wardrobe in navy, beige, soft blue and white.

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The post Is a Navy Suit REALLY Useful? appeared first on The Vivienne Files.

This is the third year that I’ve started with Boden’s autumn suit (it seems to be something they do each year) to build an autumn/winter capsule wardrobe.

The first one was here, and the second one was here. You could ABSOLUTELY justify having all three of these suits, if you’re in a suit-wearing environment, you love these colors, and you’re happy wearing bold prints!

Our heroine works for political campaigns. I feel for her…

But how about this suit?

Blazer – Boden; pants – Boden

I absolutely believe that this heroine could own all three suits, and pack two of the three for each trip. Return home occasionally, swap out one of the suits, back on the road!

This is the color palette I picture for this suit – there is indeed a red stripe here.

Blazer – Boden; pants – Boden

Of course our heroine can wear this suit AS a suit, with a navy, camel, red, or white top, but what about separating the pieces and thinking of options?

Most obvious – camel top, navy pants:

scarf – Elizabetta; earrings – Talbots; tee shirt – L.L.Bean; Blazer – Boden; navy chinos – J.Crew Factory; loafers – Frye

When looking for a scarf in colors like this, which are common in menswear, don’t forget to look in the Men’s Department! If you can wear men’s sizes (or boys!), check there for sweaters and tee shirts. Better quality, and often lower price.

If our heroine HAD to have a second blazer, navy would be easy; I’m thinking cardigans though…

Cotton cardigan – Alex Mill; earrings – Talbots; white tee – L.L.Bean; suede bag – Talbots; pants – Boden; loafers – Talbots

If could be warm. She could want a dress, but not an eye-popping cocktail dress. Dark wash denim seems like a really versatile option:

Blazer – Boden; brooch – Panacea; earrings – Argento Vivo; camel scarf – tirillm; dark denim dress – Lands’ End; pumps – Trotters

Our heroine has traveled with a ruana the last couple of years, so there’s no reason to change. And I have to say it again:

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A TRAVEL SCARF! ALL SCARVES ARE TRAVEL SCARVES

I need to get that out into the world every few months; it’s absurd to be sold specific things JUST for travel…

Red sweater – Boden; earrings – Heaven Mayhem; necklace – Tuckernuck Jewelry; pants – Boden; navy wrap – Tuckernuck; boots – Munro

Our heroine also needs to be prepared for cold weather. I swear that there is nothing in my wardrobe warmer than my cashmere turtleneck:

Blazer – Boden; earrings – Nadri; cashmere turtleneck – Lands’ End; scarf – Mark & Graham; chinos – Lands’ End; sneakers – Tory Burch

Camel, and cables. Quintessentially autumn!

Cardigan – L.L.Bean; earrings – Ana Luisa; silk blouse – Banana Republic; bag – Pom Pom London; pants – Boden; boots – SoftWalk

What else might our heroine want? A skirt makes good sense for her, and a comfortable but still “nice” sweater too. And let’s not neglect her accent color…

Red tee – COS; striped sweater – Frank & Eileen; scarf – Echo; navy skirt – M.M.LaFleur

Here’s her travel capsule wardrobe for the last two months of the campaign. Yes, everybody traveling with her will recognize her clothes. And she will know theirs pretty well too. Traveling for long periods of time with the same people breeds a deep familiarity with their wardrobe, and this is completely unimportant. Repeat outfits! Wear out your clothes!

This is a sort of 4 by 4 Wardrobe – I probably should have put the camel pants in the 2nd Core of 4… But you get the idea!

How is our heroine going to wear this wardrobe? Well, we’ve shown six outfits, but there are plenty more possibilities:

I’m sure our heroine is a nervous wreck much of the time, but at least she’s not freaking out about what to wear….

love,
Janice

p.s. Ten years ago, we explored the possibilities of a red dress, and fourteen ways to wear it…

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The post Year #3 of Start With a Suit – Boden Navy & Camel Stripe appeared first on The Vivienne Files.

We’ve met this heroine twice – once in February, and then again in May. She travels every three months or so, so we catch up with her just in time to see what’s new in her wardrobe….

Her inspiration painting is a winner – intriguing, and much more complex than one realizes at first glance. And what a range of colors!

Her next trip should be in weather that’s a bit cooler than we’re having right now! They want to go leaf peeping. Yes, it’s kind of an irritating term, but it’s a glorious and very rewarding way to spend a few days…

She’s chosen the following for her wardrobe palette:

Let’s take a quick flash back to see her earlier travel wardrobes – the first was for cool spring weather:

And her second travel wardrobe was for summer:

She’s going to continue with her usual plan of choosing three outfits to pack, and then adding a few extra pieces – clean shirts or tee shirts are always nice to have!

Her first outfit is all about the scarf – isn’t it perfect for her?

Earrings – Karina Sultan; scarf – Maryell; ivory rollneck sweater – J.Crew; striped shirt – L.L.Bean; rustic teak jeans – J.Crew; bag – Hobo; shoes – L.L.Bean

I’m sort of fascinated to see how colors are being named “maple” this year…

Earrings – Quince; maple syrup cashmere sweater – Alex Mill; floral shirt – L.L.Bean; scarf – Uskees; maple brown jeans – L.L.Bean; waterproof sneakers – Blondo

Yes, she will fearlessly wear a printed scarf with a checked shirt! If you feel hesitant to mix patterns like this, look at the way menswear mixes printed shirts and ties. (and sometimes a THIRD print in a pocket square)

Camel cashmere sweater – Nadaam; earrings – Ettika; bandana – Echo; plaid shirt – Madewell; brown corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; suede loafers – Quince

If the colors are going to be named maple, then our heroine will find a maple leaf necklace!

Necklace – Farra; sand turtleneck – L.L.Bean; leather & metal bracelet – Saachi; cashmere hoodie – J.Crew; toasted coconut tee – L.L.Bean; rich ginger tee- Lands’ End; metallic loafers – Robert Zur

This is our heroine’s travel capsule wardrobe, collected in one place. You could absolutely get dressed in the dark!

As I can never resist, we shall see what options are available to our heroine:

At this point, this is our heroine’s collected wardrobe. It feels like a TON of clothes, but I suspect most of us own a lot more…

And her accessories – what a LOT of shoes. But then I walk into my bedroom and realize that this is nothing…

I’m smitten with this mix of brown and black…

love,
Janice

p.s. Ten years ago, we considered what a handbag wardrobe might include…

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