Capsule Wardrobe Plans Archives - Page 19 of 62

Accent a Tan and Brown wardrobe with Sandstone and Amberglow

March 6, 2020

These are the last of those crazy accent colors from Pantone New York Fashion Week 2020/21, along with some restful, timeless warm neutrals... It's the Only Color Palette She's Ever Known...

She has hair the color of the last hot coals in the fireplace... Freckles of a warm caramel brown that look good enough to eat... And dark brown eyes...

Nobody else in her family had coloring ANYTHING like hers, when she was a child. So her mother very wisely just dressed her in the ivory of her skin, the rosy tan of her freckles, the subdued fire of her hair and the grounding darkness of her eyes...

As she grew older, it never occurred to her that there were other colors she might want to wear; she was busy playing, ... View the Post

Accent a Bone and Tan wardrobe with Rose Tan and Classic Blue

February 26, 2020

I'm currently in Florida, and the weather is changing every few minutes, it seems! So I thought that I'd share a wardrobe that spans a range of warm-ish weather...

Let's start with some pink!

Some days it's plenty warm enough to go swimming, and other days you definitely want "real" shoes, socks, and a sweater! If you're traveling to a destination like this, you've GOT to plan ahead...

It makes sense that the bone garments will be for the warmest weather...

These last 4 pieces offer a lot more options...

I have a blonde friend (or 10!) who would be beautiful in this wardrobe. These aren't my colors, but I could travel for a long time with this in a bag:

When I started looking at ... View the Post

Accent a Navy and Gray wardrobe with Fire Brick & Peach Nougat

February 21, 2020

This next mix of colors is interesting - the brick, navy and grey could come together in a pretty conservative wardrobe, but the addition of the peach changes the whole feel of things!

Here's where I broke down and added a simple white top - I was struggling to find a really nice item in this color, and I just began to think that we might need a break from colors! Sometimes?

I kept the same navy clothes - partially just to show how versatile simple garments can be when you mix them with accessories and accent pieces! I changed the scarf though; I couldn't believe how hard it was to find a burgundy and navy scarf. This coming autumn, in the Men's Department... That's where they'll be!

And gray, or ... View the Post

Accent a Navy and Stone wardrobe with Ultramarine Green & Samba

February 19, 2020

I thought that I'd try something slightly different with these most recent Pantone colors; start with a "2-Neutral" wardrobe base, and then add in 2 of the accent colors to pull together a 4 by 4 Wardrobe...

My theory (correct me if I'm wrong!) is that most of us have 2 neutrals in our wardrobes, and would like to have more than 1 accent color.

The only hesitation I have here is that there's no light neutral tee shirt or top; I'd be tempted to toss in a simple white tee and white button-front shirt into this wardrobe too!

Let's see how this works...

First up, the accent pieces in Samba:

A different heroine might want a red dress - why not? But this heroine is working now 3 days a week in an office ... View the Post

La Valise de la Garçonne, or How I Packed for Paris

November 13, 2019

By the time you read this, I should be back from a long weekend in Paris. Yes, 4 days... (in fact, literally the moment I was getting ready to walk out the door to the airport, I was SMACKED to the floor with back spasms, and have spent the entire time since then sacked out in bed, or sitting in the jacuzzi in my building, trying to recover... sigh...)

It was somewhat impromptu - friends were going there, and we talked so much about what we might do if I was going to be there too... I'm weak!

This painting sings to me. It feels like black, white and denim, which is my entire wardrobe right now! (I've lost interest in accent colors for myself - I can't explain why!)

My original plan was to pack all dresses, ... View the Post

Start with Art: The Fan by Marie Laurencin, and Test-Driving a New Neutral

November 8, 2019

Her favorite neutral is navy, too. But her approach is a bit different from our last heroine!

She's just plain and simply a more dressy woman. It's her style...

Yes, she has a simple tee shirt, but her button-front is in silk, and instead of jeans, she plans to pack velvet pants... Still, because of her disciplined color palette, she has just as many outfit options as her more... vivid friends!

Her favorite painting dictated pink as an accent color. Nothing else is acceptable!

She already can see so many ways to wear her new additions... touring museums, sitting in a cafe, perhaps an opera or ballet?

She really, really, REALLY wanted to find that bluish-purple color that's on the left ... View the Post

Start with Art: The Sunshade by William John Leech, and Working with Accent Colors

November 6, 2019

She loves this painting...

And so she decides that when she goes on vacation this autumn, she will use this painting as the inspiration for her accent colors! Her core wardrobe is navy and white...

She knows that she could travel with just these pieces and do just fine; she might want a couple more shirts (although she remembers that she could certainly wear her crewneck sweater without something underneath it, for more options...)

But she sticks to her heart, and starts to search for green. She decides that she doesn't needs to wear her green tops together, which gives her quite a bit more freedom than if she were going to try to get 2 matching garments! (2 green pieces at once feels, to her, like a ... View the Post

New Colors? The Pantone Colors for Spring/Summer 2020

October 18, 2019

Oh hurrah, new colors.... Which of course is absurd, but it always give us a chance to look at a whole bunch of French 5-Piece Wardrobes (which is also absurd...)

These are little ensembles of a sweater and some accessories, based loosely upon the colors that Pantone has chosen to feature for the upcoming Spring and Summer. The items that I've chosen do NOT match the Pantone colors exactly, because that's the road to madness!

First up - RED! Always available, and a color that you either love or just never wear...

Saffron is the "Color of the Year" for 2020. If you can wear it, jump in and stand out in the crowd - the rest of us will just stand back and admire...

This looks like a muted navy ... View the Post

What Can You Do With a Weekly Timeless Wardrobe? Add an Accent!

October 16, 2019

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe is enough clothing for a lot of us - enough different garments, and enough colors. But what if you bump into an accent color that you can't resist?

For demonstration purposes, I'm going to start with the Week 16 Wardrobe...

And then let's imagine that our heroine sees this shade of blue on the L.L.Bean website. And she recognizes the value of true "whappage" - that feeling when you walk away, and are still thinking about something hours or days later. It takes a while to really know the difference between a crush and real love, and in the same way you have to cultivate your sense of "I could wear the dickens out of that color" vs "gosh, that's pretty..."

She realizes that her ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Yellow Tree by Linda Jacobson

October 4, 2019

Five years ago, I talked at some length about how to assemble a 4 by 4 Wardrobe, using this painting as the inspiration for the color palette. I used the most muted colors visible in the painting, at the time...

Someone recently asked me to take a look at the brighter colors - there are plenty from which to choose, aren't there?

So You Can't Travel Anymore? When her medical condition began to strongly suggest that wearing dresses or skirts was going to be MUCH better than wearing pants, her friends suddenly assumed that meant that she was going to sit at home, wearing your grandmother's mu-mu, and watch daytime television...

So she packed her tote bag, made dinner reservations and bought concert tickets, and ... View the Post

How Do I Know I Have Enough Accessories? Revisiting Double Vision 1974 by Edwina Sandys

September 20, 2019

It's one thing to get a good work wardrobe sorted out (as we did for our heroine on Wednesday), but how do you know that you've got the accessories that you need, and moreover want?

Let's remember our source of inspiration...

Our heroine's going to have to go back to work in her office, after years of being able to work from her home 95% of the time. She's got her clothes sorted, but she's not sure about her accessories...

So she pulls together 5 outfits - 1 for each bottom in her work capsule wardrobe - and then determines what accessories she would wear with each outfit.

First up, she knows that she will be wearing her black pants a lot...

And she knows that her tan pants will be important, so ... View the Post

Revisiting Double Vision 1974 by Edwina Sandys

September 18, 2019

She spent most of the summer at the beach house; she had been allowed to work from home for years, so she was able to work while sitting on the balcony, looking out at the shore...

You'll Have to Work in the Office... Since the acquisition, she knew that things would change, but she hadn't expected this. But they're giving all of the staff who had been telecommuting a small bonus to re-establish their commute. (or their office wardrobe?)

So she reverts back to her favorite painting, and starts planning...

She knows that she will need some neutrals, so she gets a great cardigan blazer, some washable wool pants, and a really cool coated denim skirt! But she's determined to include her favorite red and tan ... View the Post