Archives for 2020

2020

Start with Art: Soir de Neige a Terajima by Kawase Hasui

December 30, 2020 A Snow Sabbatical She adores snow...

She likes the clarity and simplicity of a landscape with snow! And so when she was planning her wardrobe for a quick weekend away, she decided to stick with clear, wintery colors:

She will be walking about town quite a bit, but she doesn't expect the weather to be bitter cold. And frankly, she's not concerned - she's one of those people who just does NOT get cold...

It'a gift!

In an ideal world, her sleeveless dress might be a heavier ponte knit, or maybe even wool. But she has her snowflakes with her, and her warm jammies, and slippers that she would cheerfully wear out on the street to breakfast...

She just wants a day or 2 to be away from the usual. ... View the Post

Start with Art: Honor by Elizaveta Egiazaryan

December 28, 2020

She's quite smitten with this painting:

So when they decided, at their family meeting, that they MUST turn down the thermostat and try to cut back their energy consumption, she wondered if the warmth of her flower painting could be translated into real warmth...

Her normal wardrobe is very strictly black and white, and has been that way for quite a while. She really doesn't need a lot of clothing these days, so she's been managing pretty well with just this:

She went back to her current favorite painting, and studied it carefully. Black and white are certainly here, but what makes the painting feel warm to her is the more cream and beige tones. And the luscious pink helps too!

So she created a color ... View the Post

Merry Christmas! A Sneak Preview of Next Year’s Six Scarves!

December 25, 2020

First, and most important of all, I wish you all a wonderful Christmas! Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, may your day be peaceful and full of love, and may your holiday of choice be delightful!

SO... I've worked quite a bit this year choosing scarves. I started with my tally of the color palettes that have been most requested, and then the scarves that have been mentioned to me the most often.

First up, these were the "neutral combinations" which you asked for most frequently in the last year:

So after choosing these six "palette cores," I went back to the list of the most popular scarves and made everything work together. I think...

First up was black and grey - and many of you wrote to me asking ... View the Post

Start with a Ruana: Echo Smoked Lilac Tweed Ruana

December 23, 2020

She loved the whole idea of a ruana, and when she saw this one, she was smitten:

She magnified the image as much as she could, and finally decided that these might be the colors that she would wear with it... if she decides to buy it!

But before she buys anything, she's going to sit down for a few minutes (maybe with a piece of paper and her favorite pen) and think about how she might wear this beauty...

Obvious 1st choice might be black pants and a pink sweater, but her pants will be her favorite velvet jeans, and the sweater will have some lovely textures. And fun socks - of course!

Now she stands for a good, long minute in front of her closet, thinking about the beige possibilities...

A ... View the Post

Need Something Bright? Accessories in 10 “New” Colors

December 21, 2020

Pantone gifted us with 10 more "new" colors for the 2021 London Fashion Week! Actually, we've seen Illuminating yellow before, but the rest of these are new names for lovely colors that have existed since we first had rods and cones in our eyes...

Their colors for 2021 are Illuminating Yellow and Ultimate Gray, which made me laugh; back in about 1998 or so, I worked at an ad agency that unveil their new logo in the very edgy colors of yellow and grey!

The more things change, eh?

So if you're in the mood for a gift to brighten up your wardrobe, I've got a few suggestions!

First is an elusive but really lovely cool pink - almost lavender...

This might not be the easiest shade of green to wear, ... View the Post

Start with a Ruana! Navy Lofty Plaid Ruana by Echo

December 18, 2020 She Knew Ahead of Time...

It's her favorite accessory - it includes all of her favorite colors!

So when she dressed up, rather more than usual, for the staff meeting, she knew that she wanted to wear it. As well as some rather... bold accessories!

Because when they announced that she had won the employee of the year award, which comes with an extra week of vacation, she was READY!!!

She had her suitcase stashed in her office; her boss already knew that she was taking the next week off. She's good at planning...

It's not mad cold where she's going - just cool enough to layer up sweaters and scarves! And walk, walk, walk, all around town...

The "normal" people in her office thought it ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Tiger in the Grass by Echo

December 16, 2020 Channeling her Inner Tiger This is her new favorite scarf:

She loves the colors, and the image of the tiger...

The tiger is going to be VERY important to her during the next couple of days; she's going to have to be quite... tough? Assertive? Imposing?

Suffice to say that she might encounter some acrimony, and she's going to have to stand up for herself!

She's only going to be there 2 days, possibly 3. But during that time, she is going to use all of the tools and resources available to her to represent herself as strong, capable, and decisive!

The night before she leaves, she grabs her tiger scarf and assembles a travel capsule wardrobe that is perfect with it. Sometimes she's more the ... View the Post

I Love It, But Will I Wear It? A Bright Pink Fair Isle Sweater

December 14, 2020

My mail box often contains requests for assistance (or cries for help!), and this one seemed like a bright, cheery question to share. I personally adore Fair Isle sweaters, and this one is pretty gorgeous:

Rather than write a tale of glory about one of our heroines, I'm going to share my thought process as I try to answer our friend's question; I hope that's okay!

My first thought was that this is lovely, and a color combination that would flatter many of us, so my first inclination is to make this work!

Secondly, I looked more closely at the colors included here, and found 2 neutrals - white and navy. (okay, Diana Vreeland assures us that "pink is the navy blue of India" but I'm not in India...) And since ... View the Post

A Special Art Surprise….

December 13, 2020

Go to this site:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/zKwjydzjbb8gmN8vfhds-A

and see how much people can dress to resemble the paintings that they admire...

Be careful clicking around - I have no idea what this might be linked to, as it comes from China. But it is riveting, and inspiring,

love,

Janice ... View the Post

A Rainbow of Wardrobe Accents! (plus a few neutrals…)

December 11, 2020

While we're pondering using Echo scarves for our "12 Months, 12 Outfits" posts next year, I thought I'd dig into their site at some length...

What colors!

If I were forced to choose from among the 12 colors I show here, this might be my choice... Maybe...

Although moving into the darkest days of winter, a bright red could never be a bad choice!

If you like orange and look good in it - WEAR IT! It's just such a nice color, and we don't see enough of it.

Same with yellow - especially a really strong yellow like this. Such a lot of light and cheer you would bring to your home, wearing this...

Yep, you've seen this scarf before! But it's so lovely with this sweater, and this color is just ... View the Post

Start with a Bracelet – Winter Wonders by Fierce Lynx Designs

December 9, 2020

In a Sea of Green and Red... She's going to stand out! Not that we don't love green and red for the holiday season - where would we be without them? But she's going to take the train into the city for a couple of days of admiring decorations, maybe some shopping, and eating room service while watching movies!

And she won't be blending in, thank you!

The weather will be pleasantly cool - no blizzards this year! If she finds that she needs something warmer, she will stop into Uniqlo and pick up a down vest or jacket... But she expects to be very comfortable just like this:

She's really packing quite light - with a clear winter theme!

Looking over her wee travel ... View the Post

Choosing Accessories: Painterly Architectonic by Liubov Popova

December 7, 2020

Remember this most difficult group of colors?

Although it's a challenging work of art, it does include three easily-available neutral colors, and 2 really nice accent colors. Our heroine finalized her wardrobe with this, and it seems pretty practical:

But she wants, and needs, accessories! Let's accessorize a dozen outfits for her, and make some effort to use some things more than once. It would be sort of fun to have completely different accessories for each outfit, but that's not exactly practical...

First off, for those of us spending the majority of our time indoors, what's not to love about a pair of wool clogs? You could certainly dash to the mailbox, or around the block with the dog, wearing ... View the Post