Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature
August 14, 2017
This wardrobe was constructed over 5 years ago, but you could still pack every piece of this and wear it today... that's my primary goal. Timeless. Elegant. Classic.
When you know that you can wear something for years, you can feel quite a bit better about buying the very best items you can... It's only logical to make sure that your beautiful things will last, right?
love, Janice ... View the Post
August 7, 2017
If you've got a dress that you dearly love, but you're wondering if you're going to be able to wear it when the weather cools down (in the Northern Hemisphere), let me suggest that you look at an earlier post of mine, where I show a navy dress with a whole BUNCH of very muted, autumn-ish accessories....
The power of a simple dress is easy to under-estimate, until you get one in your closet and really put it to work!
love, Janice ... View the Post
August 2, 2017
I leave tomorrow! My original plan was to go to Italy, but my friend had to postpone, so Belovedest and I decided that I would just get off the plane in Dublin (through which I was originally connecting) and spend the 12 days there. I'll be in an Air BNB for 6 days, and then B arrives and we'll move into a hotel. I'm mad excited...
This is a really uncharacteristic pack for me - it's a TON more stuff than I often take. But I'm going to get up in the mornings and do an alternate sprint/walk down the river toward the docks. (The wander back will probably require coffee shops...) That means that I need running skorts, shoes, tee shirts, socks, and probably some 2nd layer; Ireland is a lot cooler than Chicago, this time of ... View the Post
July 26, 2017
You have asked me this question a lot - how can you handle traveling to a hot destination, where you need to be appropriately dressed when occasions or locations require modest attire?
Modesty almost always means 1 or more of 3 "things" need to be covered: 1. your shoulders 2. your knees, or 3. your head
So we've got to make certain that we have available to us at all times (in the backpack!) a shirt with sleeves, a skirt (or the zippy-on pieces of zip-off pants...) and a scarf... If you're one of those clever people who can wrap and tie a scarf in such a way that it works as a skirt, you're in luck...
Let's start with a lovely abstraction of a wonderful beach destination:
These are lovely ... View the Post
July 19, 2017
I could use paintings from this artist for WEEKS! She had an amazing career, and her body of work is beautiful - graceful, colorful, yet true to nature. Genius...
Please be aware, when looking at paintings online, that a LOT of work has been "touched-up" by people gone mad with Photoshop. If something seems wildly out of the normal style for an artist, look for multiple versions of the image. Especially once something gets to Pinterest, it is widely circulated, even though it might NOT be authentic. This is also true if you see a photograph of a bird that seems unlike anything found in nature - some of those pictures have been really altered... sigh... Same Lake House, Different Weekend... "You know that there are ... View the Post
July 17, 2017
This could qualify as Moderately Extravagant Monday!
And here's some art that might not be to everyone's taste, but colors that certainly have energy and make a strong statement:
(I personally love Gerhard Richter, and this work especially...) They Think She's Crazy...
She sleeps like a baby on airplanes. Well, any place she can sit down, she can sleep soundly. And she uses this to her advantage!
Those last-minute plane tickets that are dirt cheap, but only work if you can leave in 2 days, and only stay someplace for 3 days? She's all over them...
Most people eschew such quick trips, because they can never get over the jet lag, and they don't feel like it's worthwhile to spend all that time on ... View the Post
I've made some progress on the 52-Piece Wardrobe Plan that we discussed last Wednesday.
First, I included the idea of columns for each of the "categories" of garment - I think this works pretty well:
The only real question here has to be about how many garments fall into each of the three categories, and that's going to have to be something that each of us personalizes. I will of course lay out my guidelines, but they're never carved in stone; I call them guidelines, and NEVER rules!
I tried to do something around the idea of using multiple colors for borders, to show that some garments were able to serve in multiple functions - FAIL. The page is pretty crowded already, and adding another border (thin as they are) just made ... View the Post
July 6 2017
Of course not! But let's look at an example: Just a Quick Weekend at the beach... She'll catch the bus Friday afternoon, and arrive in time for a late dinner. This part is easy - she can wear what she wore to work, with a light jacket to compensate for the Arctic air-conditioning on the bus.
She bought a new swimsuit, and she loves it - so much that she's building her entire (tiny, six-piece) travel wardrobe around the colors in it!
Yes, she's a serious swimmer!
This is what she sees as her color scheme, but she's really... hesitant... about the lime green!
Her travel outfit is navy and other shades of blue, which really echo the ocean and water colors of the swimsuit...
As she assembled her ... View the Post
A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was pondering what it would mean if you used four "Whatever's Clean 13" wardrobes for your year-round wardrobe. I'm still in the "thinking about the possibilities" stages, but I wanted to share with you what I've been thinking, so far...
At the beginning, I'm starting with the original 13-piece "Whatever's Clean" wardrobe. The idea behind these 13 pieces was that they would be chosen in such a way that you literally could NOT put together an outfit that would clash; all of the colors and styles would harmonize to the point that you could, literally, wear "Whatever's Clean." (I was thinking of travel, or vacationing at a cabin, beach house etc...)
Just in order to make sure that I could fit lots ... View the Post
July 3, 2017
This is a month for shoring up some basic tee shirts and getting a last pair of shorts (and sandals!) before the stores are full of cashmere sweaters. (shortly after July 4th, typically...) I toss in a necklace that's not madly expensive - this is the time of year to indulge in something that's not a big investment, and that might even qualify as a trend or fad. If you're ever going to follow fashion, a summer accessory is a good choice!
Five of the six wardrobes got a nice clean white tee shirt, to wear weekly until it falls to pieces from a combination of sweat and sunscreen... in madly hot weather, sometimes there's nothing nicer than plain, simple, classic white.
(FYI, the new Hermes scarves are on their website. ... View the Post
June 30, 2017
Of course you can! And our heroine here on "Financially Reckless Friday" is going to do just that. (really, I am going to settle on these posts on Wednesdays, I promise...) It WAS Illegal... And they owe her a LOT of money. Now she has to fly back to the Federal Court Offices to sign the paperwork and pick up the check!
She decided to spend the weekend there, in order to take in a concert of a favorite violinist, so she felt that a bit of shopping might be in order; she certainly wants to be appropriately dressed for her legal encounter, and her other activities...
So she starts at Alexis Bittar, where she falls under the spell of a bracelet:
She can immediately see the possibilities - serious black ... View the Post
June 29, 2017
It's my birthday! I'm such a child when it comes to celebrating birthdays...
Today, I'm taking you back 2 years, to a travel wardrobe for which our heroine had essentially no clue what awaited her. In order to make sure that she was ready for (almost) anything, I somewhat loaded up her suitcase - 13 pieces total for a trip that might be only 3 days...
And there's a shout-out to one of the funniest TV shows I've ever watched. Much of it is silly, but if you've ever worked in a big corporation, there will be moments that will make you laugh until you're in pain. How bad can that be?
There are still times when I wish that I was traveling for business...
love, Janice
... View the Post
