Build a Capsule Wardrobe Archives

January 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

January 14, 2026

Ten years ago, her friends invited her for the weekend. A bit of bird-watching, sitting on the veranda... Just a relaxing time in a warm climate with people she loves...

After spending so much time admiring these birds, she decided to take her wardrobe very much in this direction - with the addition of the snappy red accent!

Well, her relationship with birds has taken on a whole new meaning! First thing - when she left her morally bankrupt corporate job, she almost immediately found a position helping coordinate worldwide bird censuses.

It requires both a knowledge of data base administration, and bird species! Who ever knew that SQL and birds could co-exist?

She does get to travel from time to ... View the Post

January 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Spirit of Autumn by Albert Pinkham Ryder

January 12, 2026

She's a professional listener...

She doesn't want to be invisible - that would be creepy! But she does want to appear warm, unobtrusive and comfortable. Her clients will speak more freely if she doesn't look as if she's going to rip off their head...

So she chose this most calm and reflective of paintings, and an assortment of colors from brown to bone, with accents of rust and a pretty greenish-blue that matches her eyes:

She started building her new work wardrobe with the most classic of ivory and brown, but in soft textures of cabled cashmere and corduroy:

She knows that finding her favorite green is going to be difficult, so she has to jump on anything she finds that suits. And although the ... View the Post

January 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Ruffled Autumn Clouds by Emile Nolde

January 9, 2026

She doesn't have to wear a uniform anymore! She didn't really mind - it's a good job - but it does get tiring to wear Oxford grey, pale pink and pale yellow ALL THE TIME.

Not to mention that everyone on the street knows where she works...

But she's been promoted to back-office support and auditing, and she can wear pretty much whatever she wants! And this is where she's going to focus:

She really wants to have navy as her wardrobe core; she's noticed that ALL of the top executives wear navy a lot. Since she's pretty ambitious, she figures that she may as well accustom herself to owning and loving classic navy.

But she's going to give herself the choice of four accent colors! One for each season - more or ... View the Post

January 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Winter Cottonwoods by Georgia O’Keeffe

January 7, 2026

A surprise painting that I snuck in on everyone - almost including myself!

But I always want to include the wardrobe visions of those among us who have a desire for their wardrobe to remain in the background - subtle, nuanced, and quiet...

Her color palette might change in proportion - she's feeling like she may want more grey, and ease back on the gold/yellow. These things are a work in progress, NOT a rule!

She's know what career she wanted ever since she was a small child, and watched people digging up her favorite flowers from her front yard - what's wrong with dandelions?

And she's been fully focused on her desire to redeem the reputation of native plants for pretty much her entire life; her ... View the Post

January 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

January 5 2026

Our second heroine also has a black base to her wardrobe, along with denim blue and bone (thanks to whomever pointed out that I'd complete SKIPPED the beautiful bluish grey...):

Our heroine is a graphic artist; her specialty is working with designs that incorporate multiple typefaces. She's the absolute master (mistress?) of mixing serif and sans-serif fonts! And it's not as easy as one might think; persuading clients that she's right about things can be difficult. Therefore, she tends to dress in a pretty timeless and neutral fashion, so that clients will concentrate on what she shows to them, and not on her.

But she does plan to include both turquoise and bright Kelly green in her wardrobe, in moderate ... View the Post

Let’s Evaluate the Last 4 2025 Wardrobes

December 31, 2025

This seems a fitting way to finish up our year here together, doesn't it?

I love this painting; I always fear that I'm going to be absolutely sick of the six paintings by the end of the year, but it's never happened. Yet. Good art has legs...

One thing I noticed as I was sorting out the contents of these four wardrobes: If you start with a plan, and proceed in a pretty orderly manner (like we did this year, when we added four garments and three accessories each month, and each group of 4 garments included a "bottom"), you're probably going to end up with a great wardrobe.

There were very few glaring omissions in these - did you miss something that you thought should be included?

One of the real ... View the Post

Cool Weather Travel? Start With a Scarf – William Morris Mixed Patterns by The Met Store

December 19, 2025

If all has gone according to plan for the last eight days, I'm flying back from Paris! Cross your fingers for my experience in the Charles De Gaulle Airport - it's usually dreadful...

Many of you love your navy neutrals, and rely on it particularly when you're traveling. That's the role a dark neutral should play in your wardrobe - what to wear when you might get dirty, or spilled on, or just plan have to wear the same outfit for a really long time!

How about we start with William Morris as our inspiration?

Today's wardrobe isn't going to include red, but it's worth remembering that it is a possibility:

Just as we did on Wednesday, we begin with a dark "suit" to which we add an accent top and our ... View the Post

Don’t Know What to Pack for the Holidays? Start With a Scarf – Snow Globe by kate spade new york

December 17, 2025

I should still be in Paris.... fingers crossed!

I've heard from quite a few people who just don't know what to do when they have to pack for a holiday-season trip. Some people want to go full-tilt festive, while others just want to pack sweatsuits and hide indoors...

I can't necessarily help you know what's best for your trip, but at least for me, I'm finding that starting with a scarf is a good option!

This Christmas content of this scarf is pretty subtle:

And there's nothing about these colors that identifies with any specific holiday:

I'm always going to suggest that you travel in either a "suit-like" ensemble, or a solid column. Why complicate things? Nobody's going to look at this outfit and ... View the Post

Three Words, Personal Style, and Packing for Paris

December 10, 2025

If all goes as planned (which hasn't been the case recently!), by the time you read this I will be heading to the airport with Belovedest for a trip to Paris. Belovedest is only going for a long weekend; I will be there for a week (yes, he's tough, and we're flying in First Class, so he should get some sleep on the plane).

I'm trying really hard to pack a tiny amount of stuff. When you vacation in the middle of winter, most of the world ONLY sees your winter coat, and even then, they don't pay attention, and they don't care!

Maybe the hardest thing to remember when traveling (or at any other time!) is that you are ONLY the center of attention in your own mind. So long as you are clean, don't smell horrible, don't ... View the Post

Want a Complete Capsule Wardrobe? Start With Art – Red Rotation by Victor Servranckx

November 21, 2025

After all of this traveling, our heroine is starting to realize that she has a LOT more clothing than she needs. She's already quite disciplined, in that she makes all of her purchases within this color palette:

Our heroine's first trip this fall was to see her alma mater play women's basketball:

Her second trip was to an office that she'd never visited before! It's always a challenge to pack for these kinds of unknowns...

Her third trip was also for work. For many of us, the majority of our travel is for work - at least mine was, for years! It gets to the point that if you're in the office for too long, you feel like something's gone wrong.

And her final trip this year was for the THREE ... View the Post

Want to Pack Only Neutrals? Start With Art – Red Rotation by Victor Servranckx

November 19, 2025

Our last travel capsule wardrobe for this heroine - although I am going to accumulate all of her wardrobes together on Friday to see where she finds herself, clothing-wise. I may even see some additions that she could use...

Here's the painting with which she always starts her planning:

Her overall wardrobe palette includes four core colors:

Her recent numerous travel adventures have included travel capsule wardrobes based on these four related, but all slightly different, palettes:

A Dressy Long Weekend It happens every few years - ALL of the work-related holiday parties to which they are invited fall within a few days of each other!

Their solution is to find a hotel room that's centrally ... View the Post

Want to Skip Brown? Start With Art – Red Rotation by Victor Servranckx

November 17, 2025

Our heroine is back to business travel... but no matter why she's packing, or where she's going, she always stick with her inspiration:

Her complete wardrobe is mostly these four colors:

And she has realized that if she omits one color from these four, she has four ADDITIONAL palettes that are ideally suited for small travel capsule wardrobes:

It's business travel again, but to an office that she knows pretty well. This trip is not particularly dressy, but there are excellent restaurants near them, so she still wants to be able to dress appropriately for that!

And her last trip, when she wore her velvet blazer, was full of excellent customer service. Thus she's wearing it again! Get ... View the Post