Archives for October 2016

October 2016

Italy – What They Wore, What I Saw, and other random thoughts

It was glorious. Absolutely, positively wonderful. Of course, anybody who knows me at all understand that 2 weeks alone with Belovedest is going to be the best thing in the world, no matter where we go. But I've got to tell you - if you've EVER got the chance to visit the Abruzzo region of Italy, DO IT.

The mountains area extremely steep, and the towns (many of which date back thousands of years) are perched on the tops of the mountains where they are stunningly picturesque, and easily defensible if a band of mounted villains try to attack. If I ever write a Medieval romance, it will DEFINITELY be set in an Italy mountain town...

We went hiking - there's a hermitage near where we were staying that we really wanted to visit. But we ... View the Post

Tote Bag Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Red, Blue and White

It's always interesting to work with red, blue, and white in a capsule wardrobe - the challenge is to do justice to three colors that look great together, without ending up looking like someone's flag... The grey here, the 2 shades of red, and the 2 shades of blue, give us lots of options to avoid a very "bleu, blanc, rouge" kind of look. (unless that's what you want - I'm not going to tell you no!)

For this very abbreviated little ensemble, I focused on just four colors. Introducing a spectrum of grey could give you a million options...

He Falls Asleep....

At the symphony. Always. Audibly...

And that's kind of a drag for her, because she LOVES it. The longest Mahler, the most repetitious theme and variations from Bach - ... View the Post

Tote Bag Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Camel, Green and Burgundy

I'm back from Italy - we saw nothing of the earthquakes yesterday. Thanks so much for all of your emails and texts checking up on us!

And for those of us looking for clothes in teal or a GORGEOUS dark maroon (they're calling it fig), check out the November collection at J.Jill....

hugs, Janice

I love camel.... I never wear it, because I look like death on a hot day when I try, but it always looks so rich and elegant in a capsule wardrobe...

There's at least 1 shade of blue lurking in this scarf, as well as a variety of green hues... and the solid scarf, on the website, is described as "olive." That seems... strange. But it's proof that you have to really search high and low, and in all sorts of odd places, to find ... View the Post

Tote Bag Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Orange, Black, and Sand

These colors could be "Halloween-y," in a capsule wardrobe but I'm going to keep that from happening!

The presence here of the sandy tan, and some white, are critical!

She Wrote Her Thesis...

about Lázsló Moholy-Nagy! So when she learned that the Art Institute of Chicago had a HUGE special exhibit of his work, she cleared a couple of days from her calendar...

His work influenced all sorts of things in her life - not the least, her affection for orange!

She knows that she's going to have to leave the museum and dine, and go to sleep, but she's headed back the next morning for more.... more....

More joy? More appreciation? More admiration? More happiness.... love, Janice ... View the Post

Tote Bag Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Olive, Denim and Ivory

This just feels like cozy autumn clothes, doesn't it?

The primary neutral in this capsule wardrobe could easily be denim blue, and you could include accents of red or yellow, too...

She Owns ONE Dress...

And ever month or so, in the cooler weather, she puts it in her messenger bag, and she goes downtown for the night, with her sweetheart... Sometimes she feels like she should get something different, but...

He loves olive green. He loves the dress. He loves these special evenings when they go to the theater, or just dinner...

But he loves her, most of all... love, Janice ... View the Post

Tote Bag Travel in Orange, Rose and Sand

Not what you normally think of as autumn colors, but why not:

She Had Hoped that Nobody Noticed....

That she was working from home on the day of the holiday party...

"You're going to be here later, aren't you?" "No, I didn't plan to..." "You can have one of the Executive Committee hotel rooms...." "Well, ***sigh*** I'm not going to wear a dress..."

Later, the Chairman told her that she looked like "a spring flower in the midst of all of these black dresses..."

She's not sure how she feels about that, frankly. love, Janice ... View the Post

Tote Bag Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Black, Yellow and Red

Strong, classic colors, with LOTS of accent possibilities in the Hermes scarf:

But for just one night, we only need a couple of accent colors in the capsule wardrobe color palette...

She LIKES Carmen...

But nobody else seems to... so she's going to the opera alone!

A nice pre-theater dinner is in the cards too; if she's going to do this, she's going to do it right!

And she's got a knockout brunch planned for the next morning... love, Janice ... View the Post

Tote Bag Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Teal and Jade

Subtle and dark, but NOT boring:

Window Shopping As soon as the weather is VERY cold, and the holiday decorations are everywhere downtown, she goes into the city...

She leaves her bag with the hotel staff, and then she walks, and walks, and WALKS... All alone, for hours...

Can anyone explain WHY this duffel bag is for men?

Then she goes back to the hotel, takes a long hot shower... Room service and a good book are her only companions...

The next morning, she's prepared for anything that the holidays can thrown at her; a little solitude and contemplation is good for the soul. love, Janice ... View the Post

Tote Bag Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Navy, Hot Pink and White

Classic colors, timeless design:

The clever color scheme of this scarf opens the door to a capsule wardrobe with accent colors of red, bright pink, or cobalt blue... maybe even grey?

Sisters From Different Mothers

They've done it once a month for YEARS...

They get a hotel room downtown, and spend the night together. Some evenings they dine out, sometimes they go to the theater, or an opera. But they always dress us, and they always laugh until their sides hurt. Even at the opera! (heck, especially at the opera...)

Tonight, they're just going to an old favorite restaurant. Then they'll sit up half the night talking...

Everybody should have this kind of unconditional friendship, eh?

love, Janice ... View the Post

Tote Bag Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Black, Sand and Teal

I love this scarf - in fact, in the next 2 weeks, you're going to see it FIVE times, in 5 different color combinations. I do these kinds of things to show the inherent versatility in simple garments, once you start playing around with the color combinations! So let's start here:

I'm going to resist the temptation to focus on the black, and use sand as our main color:

HOW Did He Do It???

It was the place that's booked until Christmas. Christmas of 2018...

When the phone rang, she wasn't surprised to hear from him. But he had to repeat himself THREE TIMES before it really sank in that they're going out to dinner. THERE. TONIGHT....

Notice the angular earrings and bracelet that echo the pattern of the skirt fabric?

Thank ... View the Post

Tote Bag Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Black, White and Red

As you might already know, I'll be in Italy when this post goes "live"! But I've got 2 weeks of lovely capsule wardrobes lined up for you, all of them starting with a pair of scarves. From there, our protagonist is going to spend one quick (but lovely!) night somewhere... Starting NOW!

This is our color scheme, although careful scrutiny of the left scarf suggests that pink might have also been a possibility here:

Barely Enough Time...

Okay, she checks her watch...

As soon as she's off the train and in the cab, (1) change earrings, (2) add bracelet, (3) change shoes, (4) stuff cardigan in bag and grab wrap, and (5) make sure she has what she needs in her gorgeous evening bag...

Worst case - the way she's ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch – Finishing Up

Frankly, at this point in proceedings, you could easily stop building your capsule wardrobe, and be just fine!

But it's always reasonable to stop and evaluate where you are with your wardrobe - are there things that you still need? Items that might make OTHER items more versatile, or get them used more frequently? Are you sure you're ready for whatever events might come up in the future?

The answers to these questions will be different for each of us, but they are worth asking...

The biggest lack of balance that I can see is that I'm "navy-heavy" here. This often happens - it's normal that either you simply like one of your neutrals more than the other, or that it's much more readily available, or that you want to have a solid core of ... View the Post