Build a Capsule Wardrobe Archives - Page 40 of 88

What I Packed for Florida, August/September 2017

September 4, 2017

When you read this, Belovedest and I will be hanging out with my mother in Florida! It's super-easy to pack for these trips, because I can wear her clothes if I HAVE to (her coloring suggests a soft, cool, powdery-pastel wardrobe - not perfect for me!) and I can of course do laundry. That said, one always should have a plan!If this first outfit looks familiar, it should; it's what I wore to fly to Ireland earlier this month. It was really ideal, but I'm making just a few small changes to tweak it to suit Florida better. First up, instead of my favorite Bremerton pants from Eddie Bauer, I'll be wearing J.Jill stretch linen pants. (my Bremerton pants just got back from the cleaners - I splurged - and I'm sort of ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe with Six Scarves in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – September 2017

September 1, 2017

These files are massive, and these posts take forever, but I LOVE them...

For my new readers, the thesis is this: I start with six Hermes scarves, and over the course of a year (on the first day of each month) I choose an outfit based on the colors of the scarf. I accumulate all of these outfits through the course of the year, and thus assemble a pretty excellent (if I do say so myself!) wardrobe...

Please note that I was able to find current links (current as of end of day Wednesday August 30th) for ALL of the scarves - outside of the US, but still available! If you've got serious whappage for one of these scarves, please don't hesitate to call an Hermes store - anywhere - and ask if they can help you get one. ... View the Post

Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Les Glaciers by Alexandre Sergejewitsch Borisoff

August 25, 2017

I don't remember where I found this painting, but the colors are absolutely stunning:

I hope for the artist's sake that he was painting from memory, or a photograph!

Let's dream an extravagant, completely unrealistic dream today... Remember that big conference of CEO's? "The one in Breckenridge? The board decided that you should fly out with the Chairman, because you're the best person to help explain the financial projections..."

the suitcase came in a perfect shade of aqua blue, which I didn't find until the very last minute...

"It's been described as "posh casual," so we assume you're going to need to buy a few things for the trip. Submit your receipts with your expense report and we'll take ... View the Post

How to UNPACK Your Suitcase

August 23, 2017

Ah, the eclipse was amazing! So was our 14-hour drive home... (a trip which charitably might take 6 hours if you're a slow driver....) If today's post feels a bit incoherent, understand that I got 2 hours of sleep!

After we got back from Ireland last week, our suitcases were laying open on the floor in our apartment for a couple of days - partly because we were tired and just didn't get around to doing all of the laundry immediately, and partly because I'm trying to cultivate a very slow and attentive process for unpacking. I'm doing this so that I can review what I packed (and remember what I forgot!) immediately after the trip, and try to learn something useful for future adventures...

You might remember from my ... View the Post

An Early, But Timeless Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Camel and Coral

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

Easing a Neutral Dress into Cooler Weather with Accessories

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

What I’m Packing For Ireland, August 2017

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

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe for Both Coolness and Modesty: Baie de Cannes by Picasso

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

Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Demoiselle Cranes and Lotus by Jessie Arms Botke

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

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe that Starts with Art: Saint John by Gerhard Richter

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

Planning Your Complete Wardrobe, 1 Segment at a Time

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

Do I Have to Use ALL of My Accent Colors in my Capsule Travel Wardrobe?

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