Green and Leafy: Late-Winter Wardrobe Plan

Over on The Vivienne Files, one of this year's ongoing wardrobe projects is based on a 1909 painting of the Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay, and uses mainly navy, brown, ivory/white, and soft green. Delaunay's painting, though from early in the last century,  has a palette that fits well into the blues and greens that were also popular later on (think midcentury upholstered furniture). 

Me as a tot, with my great-great aunt

I recently bought a vintage scarf that, while not exactly the same, does pull in some of the same muted colours. So I thought I would put my own clothes up against those of the imaginary heroine. Because this is a year-long project and it's had only three installments so far, the plan isn't very extensive: there are twelve clothes items and some accessories. I'm trying to curb my impulse to add extra items to this story (such as clothes for spring). So please don't take it as "you could totally live with twelve things and don't add anything else for the rest of the year." It's a beginning, is what it is.

Here's a list of what Janice's "heroine" has so far:

Three pairs of earrings in browns, golds, and labradorite green

Two brown purses

Printed scarf

Shoes, all brown: ballet flats, loafers, sneakers (bronze)

Ivory long-sleeved t-shirt

Brown long-sleeved t-shirt

Teal plaid flannel shirt

Brown shirt

Dusty teal pullover sweater

Ivory crewneck pullover sweater

Navy button-up cardigan

Jeans

Brown corduroy trousers

Navy cotton trousers

Brown midi skirt

Teal striped dress

Looking at my own clothes, I have more navy than brown, especially in accessories, so my take on the colours will be a bit different. Also, it's still the dead of winter here, so snow boots and warm coats are more important than loafers. Plus, I'm Canadian and we wear socks in the house. But we'll pretend to have a normal life where people do wear shoes.

Here's my version:

Three pairs of earrings

Other jewelry:  bracelet set (Fierce Lynx); wristwatch; necklace

Two purses: navy bucket bag, sand convertible mini backpack (from Pixie Mood)

As a third option, if I wanted something dressier, I would add my other Pixie Mood purse (the ivory one was bought new, but the backpack came from a Salvation Army thrift store when we were daytripping last year).

Two scarves (besides the vintage one shown above).  The first one is smaller and lighter weight; the second is the kind you can bundle into.

Three pairs of shoes/boots, navy and charcoal: ankle boots, sneakers, loafers (not shown)

Three t-shirts: navy, frosted teal, winter white. (Two of those tops were bought new. Most of the rest of the things shown in this post were thrifted.)

Navy check flannel shirt

Short-sleeved white blouse with tiny pleats (instead of a brown shirt)

Dusty teal pullover sweater

Winter white mock neck pullover sweater (not shown)

Dark blue merino-wool cardigan. I do have other cardigans and jackets in a more traditional navy, but I'm choosing this one for a couple of reasons, mainly because there's a skirt coming up soon and this is the sweater that matches it best.

But since the dark-blue cardigan is a little lighter and dressier than I might want for everyday, I'm adding in this fisherman-style hoodie pullover. 

Taupe brushed-cotton trousers (not shown). The original plan had brown cords, navy cotton pants; since I have navy cords, I'd put these in instead.

Blue jeans and navy corduroy trousers (not shown). Jeans are usually a no-brainer for me, and I do have a pair of navy cords. If I were trying to live only out of these clothes, though (say for a trip), I might substitute a pair of navy tweed trousers for either the jeans or the cords. Or even a pair of plain navy pants, if I were trying to stay as versatile and dress-up-dress-down as possible.

Dark teal midi skirt (instead of a brown one). I found this at a thrift store--no labels, I think somebody made it at home.

Finally we get to the dress, and that's where I'm going to pass on trying to come up with anything close. If I were going this minimal with clothes, I think the jersey midi skirt would be dressy enough to handle most of what I'd be doing, especially paired with this blouse.

As I said, I don't want to add in a lot of extras to the story just because I have navy, white and teal things in my closet. But there are a couple of things that I do want to include. One is this long knit vest, partly because I like the style, and also because it adds that bit of brown back into the mix.

The other is this vintage tapestry-print blazer that I found last fall at a flea market. Blazers aren't part of my daily at-home lineup, but I would definitely wear this one for church, dinner out, whatever, maybe with navy underpinnings, or with the taupe pants. 

It also works with the green pullover.

I'm not going to show outfits, as this is one of those mini-plans where you can't go too wrong. A top, a bottom, some jewelry or a scarf if you're feeling it. I'm not going to be wearing only these twelve-or-so clothes items, but I am going to put them front and centre for the next month or so. Thank you to the Vivienne Files for continuing to inspire!

Last updated February 6, 2025