August 7, 2024
The first thing I saw in this scarf was a upside-down Ukraine flag…
“Your Costumes Will Of Course Be Transported For You…
but you will have to carry your warm-up gear, as well as your personal attire.”
Ballet dancers might travel with a lot of personal gear – she’s seen it before. But NOT her… First, she chooses a classic palette that she found in her favorite new scarf:
“And I’m going to remind you again – we expect you to dress like ballet stars – NOT shabby teenagers. No jeans, nothing torn, cropped, or otherwise sloppy. People should know immediately that you are an artist…”
Well… OKAY.
She starts with her favorite dress:
Leather earrings – By Anthropologie; dress – Boden; scarf – Echo; cardigan – Boden; tote bag – Madewell; lapis bracelet – Harfi; pumps – Jeffrey Campbell
They are allowed to wear pants; she picks out her loveliest…
Butter yellow tee – L.L.Bean; scarf – Echo; earrings – Kendra Scott; sweater blazer – J.Crew; textured satin pants – J.Crew; bag – Betsy & Floss; driving loafers – Ann Taylor
And she can’t imagine going through an entire tour without her navy pants…
Earrings – Farra; cotton sweater – L.L.Bean; scarf – Echo; brooch – Farra; pants – L.L.Bean; yellow sweater – Vineyard Vines; boots – Vionic
She’s tempted to include another dress, but she realizes that a skirt will be more versatile:
Sweater – Boden; scarf – Echo; earrings – Ana Luisa; striped sweater – Boden; skirt – Boden; ballet flats – Naturalizer
Thank heavens the Company takes care of dry-cleaning for them! With some lingerie, a pair of pajamas, and a few old leotards for staying warmed up, this all fit into a medium-large suitcase. With wheels. Which she can carry for at LEAST a block, if necessary!
Yes, there are lots of shoes, but her feet are maybe the most important consideration for her! One needs room for padding, bandages, or just wiggling…
She’s already got a half-dozen outfits sorted, but she muses over her possibilities (for maybe a hot minute!) as she carefully folds and tucks and arranges:
She knows that the members of the company who present themselves well will be chosen for the television interviews that they will do in each city they visit…
love,
Janice
p.s. Roughly ten years ago, we considered the wardrobe of a woman who works in a conservative office.. I used the steps for a “Starting From Scratch” wardrobe, but substituted appropriate clothes at every necessary point in the process.
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Janice, you always send us hugs when you respond to us and I want to join with this community to send you hugs at this time. Please feel no pressure “to deliver” if/when you feel the need to pause.
Today’s colour combo is a much-loved classic for me even though I cannot wear yellow near my face. If I were this ballerina I might also enjoy wearing a classic Diane von Furstenburg style of wrap dress in a graphic blue and yellow pattern. 💙💛🤍🖤
What a lovely capsule.
What a beautiful combination of colours. I bet I could pull something like this from my wardrobe. Thanks for the ideas!
I will also echo the above commenter – please don’t push yourself on our behalf. If you need a break, take one.
Hugs to you Janice.
Even if I wouldn’t wear particular colour combos, you always set me thinking about how the permutations of a small set of clothes can play out.
Wow! I like everything about this capsule. Maybe I need to upgrade from my jeans, corduroys, and flannel shirts!
I love the simple elegance of this wardrobe. However, I’m wondering how practical and robust the tulle skirt might be? I was gifted a grey tulle skirt which is not my thing at all. I’m intrigued to know how I might wear it but I’m worried that it might get ripped to shreds.
This is lovely, and I can’t help thinking what a wonderful addition it would make to the Magill all-blue monthly wardrobe, if one wanted to add a color.
Navy and yellow make a lovely pairing, but I would probably want a scarf that visibly combines the colors for days I want a more clearly integrated outfit. The featured scarf is very nice but the “yellow” looks much more mustardy-gold to my eye. Luckily an extra scarf is easy to squeeze into a suitcase :)
Just wondering what your ballerina will wear on traveling days?
Morning, I love the yellow and navy combo. And I agree with Mary about inserting yellow into the Magill if you wanted to add another color. A couple (few?) years ago you also did a post on yellow and blue and I liked it at the time and went down the road of adding some yellow into my navy basic wardrobe. I still have one light blue dress with yellow lemons on it and get compliments every time I wear it. Right now I am more smitten with blue and orange. But in any case, I can just picture this ballerina in these clothes. Just perfect.
Also – I can’t remember who asked on Wednesday, but I also use StyleApp. I use it mainly to track how many times I wear something, so if something never (or rarely) seems to be worn it takes a trip to Goodwill. And I love looking at the cost per wear feature.
Lovely everything! But I’ve been around a lot of ballet dancers, and they are very young and very stylish. They wear sky-high heels if they are dressed up, and very skimpy clothes–I’ve been amazed to see spaghetti-strap dresses and bare legs in the dead of a Canadian winter. But then they are all layered up for class or rehearsal–go figure!