Build a Capsule Wardrobe Archives - Page 67 of 88

How to Wear a Red Coat in a Capsule Wardrobe

November 26, 2014

Nothing seems like a better idea this time of year than a red coat - it's bright, on these darkest of days, it stands out in a forest of black, and it throws a flattering rosiness onto any complexion. But how do you make a red coat work well with your chosen neutral color? As always, I have suggestion!

Grey Neutrals

I believe that any of us who deal with long winters deserve at least a couple of pairs of gloves, a couple of scarves, and more than one hat, so I'm showing multiples which can be worn in a variety of combinations. For gloves or mittens, it makes sense to me to have one pair that matches your coat as closely as possible, and another pair that are your neutral. I think ... View the Post

Metallic Shoes and a Small Bag: How to Dress Up a Starting From Scratch Capsule Wardrobe

November 25, 2014 The first thing I noticed when I was looking for beautiful shoes and bags for your capsule wardrobes: there are absolutely RIDICULOUS, and sometimes positively dangerous, dress shoes out there. Heels that would only be suitable for walking from the limo into the nightclub, where you will be sitting for the entire evening...

But worse than that are the spikes and other lethal implements that now adorn shoes. If you're attracted to shoes with spikes, or even just with buckles or large jewels, make ABSOLUTELY sure that you've checked out how sharp all such things are, and be aware that crossing your legs, or even having your foot brush against your leg, could bruise you, tear your clothing, or even cut your flesh. ... View the Post

A Dressy Top: How to Dress Up a Starting From Scratch Capsule Wardrobe

November 22, 2014 Another way to dress up your Starting from Scratch Capsule Wardrobe is to find a blouse, tee shirt, sweater, or even a sweatshirt that has something dressy going on. There's a world of options around this time of year: lace, sequins, beads, jewels and embroidery are all possibilities.

The Navy and Grey Starting From Scratch Wardrobe

The lace top is beautiful with everything in your wardrobe; you could even wear it under your cardigan during the day, and then pop off the sweater at night in order to be more dressy. A pair of silvery grey dress shoes would amp up the look another bit, but you really wouldn't want to hang a necklace over the lovely lace - a bracelet would be ... View the Post

How to Choose a Winter Coat to Wear with Navy

November 21, 2014 Many of you were interested in a coat to wear with navy clothes, and I had great fun obliging! Some of these coats cost MANY months of rent, but they are amazingly beautiful, and they give us a look and a level of quality to which we can aspire in our more normal coat shopping.

The Patterned Coat

Paisley! Subtle, and almost iridescent, This coat doesn't need much. The hat is divine, the infinity scarf is a subtle melange of the colors in the coat, and the cashmere gloves pick up one of the brighter highlight colors. Feather earrings echo the swirling feeling of the pattern of the coat. Note: These cashmere gloves are going to show up a few times - they are available in a range of ... View the Post

An Embellished Cardigan: How to Dress Up a Starting From Scratch Capsule Wardrobe

November 20, 2014

A frequent concern for many of us this time of year is how to take our normal, everyday clothes, and make them "party-worthy". I don't like to buy a whole new outfit for a party - I'd much rather figure out a way to elevate the things I already own through the purchase of one strategic item.

There are a couple of different ways to do this; today I'm going to explore the possibilities inherent in a cardigan with some sort of beaded, embroidered or metallic detailing.

If you don't want to buy a new sweater, this is a great opportunity to do something crafty - I've seen some amazing sweaters dressed up with ribbon embroidery, or hand beading, done by the sweater owner. In one case, the initial embroidery ... View the Post

How to Choose a Winter Coat to Wear With Black

November 19, 2014

This is a project I'm working on in my own wardrobe right now, and I understand from comments and emails that I'm not alone! I personally have decided that I'd like to get a longer, straight, NOT double-breasted, possibly concealed button wool coat. For our entertainment here, I pretend that I've either completely lost my mind, or won the lottery (which I have NEVER played), and I've indulged in some absolutely exquisite coats. Even if you'd never consider buying a coat this expensive, they're always worth looking at in stores in order to be better educated about quality fabrics and construction. That way, when you get around to buying your own more moderately priced coat, you can try to come as close as ... View the Post

Start With Art: Trumpet Creeper by Abby Williams Hill

November 13, 2014 Isn't this beautiful? One of you sent it to me, and it captivated me immediately. The vertical layout, the soft background, the muted shades of green and blue, the accents of warm rust, gold and orange - what a wonderful painting. There are so many things about this that could serve as inspiration and focus: the colors, the organic nature of the image, the soft blending of the background colors, the use of about a billion shades of bluish green - there's just no end to the ideas that can come from this one work of art. (but that's probably true, for the right person, of any work of art, right?)

This was my chosen color scheme - a base in very dark navy, accents of all those ... View the Post

Start With Art: Call of the Loon by Ewoud de Groot

November 6, 2014

There's a lot of beauty here, and colors galore...

I settled on these, using ink blue as my base neutral. Realistically, you could choose anything soft and muted in the green/blue/purple family and be extremely successful.

This is for someone subdued, a little bit dressy, going away for a couple of days to a warmer destination. Maybe not the beach, but someplace where lighter fabrics will be comfortable. The dotted texture of the water is echoed in the first scarf, and the floral earring and pewter loafers are feminine but not girlish.

A linen dress, a silk skirt and a couple of tops, along with some pretty accessories are all you ... View the Post

Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing with Scarves: Missoni #2

November 5, 2014 After Friday's post about a Missoni scarf, I received an email with this picture - another really lovely combination of colors...

There are a lot of possibilities here, of course. One could concentrate on the beige, ivory, and periwinkle, but I chose to work with the brighter shades apparent in the scarf.

In my vivid and bottomless imagination, I pictured this protagonist as someone who had to travel for work, but who's work is something rather creative; she's one who likes to wear things a little bit bold...

While many of the garments are relatively simple and classic, the accessories are anything but! And the dress... I personally love ... View the Post

Start With Art: Flowers from Rosablue – a Four Pack for Business

Turns out that this beautiful thing is from Rosablue, who prints her own fabrics...

Beyond the very obvious black background, there are quite a few colors in here that could come to the fore in a color scheme. How about black, white, and the orange and green? Or black, pale green, pale blue, and soft pink? But for today, I've chosen these colors:

As a woman in search of a red duffle coat, I'm drawn to all red coats right now, so that seemed a reasonable place to start. In my mind, the person in this vignette is heading out of town for a day of two of business meetings in which the people being visited have to do the impressing - her job is just to sit quietly and evaluate ... View the Post

Travel Capsule Wardrobe Packing with Scarves: Missoni

October 31, 2014 One of my most loyal readers recently purchased this scarf and wanted to know what I would do with it - the answer is, of course, a LOT. One of the many joys of a scarf from Missoni is that they contain a wealth of colors that you wouldn't otherwise put together. I don't know why I saw bright pink here - when you get your nose right up against the scarf, it's not really there. There's teal, as well as a softer sage green, quite a bit of light blue, some slate greyish blue, navy... Lots of things to consider... Missoni scarves are available in a lot of places, and often on sale. Different vendors get different designs, so if you have your heart set on one particular color scheme, don't forget to check ... View the Post

Packing: A 5-Pack Would Have Worked…

September 30, 2014

Or, in my world, 8 = 42...You might remember my excellent travel outfit:

I had this outfit on for an eternity of time, and I don't regret a thing! It was ideal, and I will almost certainly wear something very similar for future trips. But my suitcase was TOO MUCH STUFF... I'd have been well-served to have just packed this:

I understand that this seems like amazingly little, but I need to remember something really critical about my trips to Europe - especially my trips to Paris:

I SHOP!!!

I shop a lot. I start shopping the second or third day, and I tend to wear my purchases almost immediately. Thus, I leave things in my suitcase unworn, and I ... View the Post