Capsule Wardrobe Plans Archives - Page 2 of 60

Brown with Black? Start With the 4 T’s in Brown…

October 24, 2025

For our first adventure into using the Four T's as the basis of a capsule or travel wardrobe, I'm (of course!) going to see how black works out...

First, let's take another look at the brown things that we assembled on Wednesday:

This isn't at all complicated - now let's add four black garments. The most basic four garments possible, I think...

We could stop with just these four additions, but let's get our heroine up to 13 garments. This would meant that for travel, she could wear a 3-piece outfit, and pack the other 10 things. I'm quite smitten - for no good reason! - with the idea of packing 10 pieces of clothing...

Here's the fun part! Finding accessories that include both black and brown is ... View the Post

Like Unusual Accent Colors with Classic Neutrals? Start With Art – In Vaudeville by Charles Demuth

September 26, 2025

If things go REALLY well, I'm flying back from London to Chicago today. I'm writing this on the 17th, so if things are sold out or if something is haywire here, I apologize! I will fix it next week... xoxo, J

We looked at this painting a long time ago, and I still think of it often. The colors are like nothing else!

This could be quite a complete wardrobe in ivory, taupe and black, of course. But adding yellow and rosy coral is a real departure from what one might expect...

Our heroine's going to a dance competition - having talented children occasionally requires hitting the road for a few days! They're going by train; the dancer in question has a LOT of gear to bring, so packing small is in our ... View the Post

Love Olive for Autumn? Start With a Scarf – Velour Garden Scarf by Artifact.

September 24, 2025

One last look at the fun of packing 10 simple garments, based on something really beautiful like this scarf:

There is enough blue in this scarf that you could include denim in this wardrobe; I haven't done that here, but it's worth remembering!

Maybe she's driving, and doesn't have to worry about getting her cool beige cords dirty...

The red tops don't have to match, unless you'd like to layer them together. Even then, a good strong dose of "similar tones" should work; I think that the two tops here could go together if that appeals.

This feels perfect for autumn, for those among us who don't wear orange or brown!

As with any wardrobe that includes a carefully chosen and edited ... View the Post

Prefer Navy for Your Travel Capsule Wardrobe Neutral? Start With a Scarf – Eon Silk Scarf by Artifact.

September 22, 2025

The world does not live in black alone - although if you saw my closet some days you might wonder!

Maybe this is a scarf that you want to pack...

There's a lovely shade of medium blue in there... but it's that lime green that our heroine finds most fascinating! Of course she could pack both of those colors as accents, but I didn't find anything that I loved in the light blue.

Comfortable, but still nicely presentable! Just because you're going to sleep on the plane doesn't mean that you MUST wear your pajamas...

This travel capsule wardrobe is exactly what I packed to take to London, except that it's all different colors! This is both classic and very current - that lime green isn't always ... View the Post

A Complete Cool-Weather Wardrobe? Start With Art – The Dark Lady by A.K.Zinkeisen

September 15, 2025

Let's take one last, lingering and appreciative look at our painting inspiration:

This is the color palette with which we've been working, taken from this painting. You can always add faded denim - there's a glimpse of the sky in the top left corner...

Let's remember too, that we have four possible color palettes using only three colors...

For our first Six-Pack travel capsule wardrobe, our heroine decided to forego wearing black for a few days!

For her second travel capsule wardrobe, our heroine chose to not pack anything ivory - we can all picture this kind of trip!

At the approach of the winter holidays, our heroine focused more on burgundy, and omitted camel for this capsule ... View the Post

Want to Stick to Neutrals? Start With Art – The Dark Lady by Anna Katrina Zinkeisen

September 12, 2025

The last of the four "three-color" wardrobes based on this gorgeous painting:

Our heroine is on her last of four palettes - a perfect calm, neutral color scheme for after the holidays, when one needs to be disciplined and focused for the adventures ahead! Our heroine isn't even quite sure where she will be traveling, but she's pretty confident she will be able to pack without stress...

Warmly bundled up - she could easily wear a camelhair coat, or a black parka, over this outfit...

Of course, if she's packing her long plaid coat/cardigan, then her long coat would make more sense. Unless she won't NEED a coat over her "coatigan". It depends on where she's going, what time of year it is, what she's ... View the Post

Avoid A Warm Neutral? Start With Art – The Dark Lady by Anna Katrina Zinkeisen

September 10, 2025

Back to exploring the possibilities offered to us in this most beautiful painting:

If you have four neutrals colors in your plan, you (by definition!) should have four three-color color schemes that you can use for smaller wardrobes, like a single season, or for travel:

Our heroine is planning ahead to pack for the winter holidays. She wants to stick with lots of red, and some black and white because that feels festive to her! That's really all that matters - pack what you want to pack! (I'm planning my packing for London right now, and I have to keep reminding myself of this...)

As far as she can tell, she's going to have a church service to attend the evening she arrives at her sister's ... View the Post

Avoiding Wearing Light Colors? Start with Art – The Dark Lady by Anna Katrine Zinkeisen

August 30, 2025

Back to visit our heroine from Wednesday, and her most alluring and engaging favorite painting:

When our heroine knew that she was going to help out at her high school's Homecoming weekend, she knew that she was going to need a darker-hued travel capsule wardrobe! Setting things up (and tearing them down) for the entertainment of teenagers is NOT for the faint of heart...

She looked over her options, and chose the palette that omitted ivory. Smart lady!

I have a hunch that almost all of us look at least passably good in burgundy. What say thee, my friends?

And yes, these palazzo pants might look like pants here, but in person, they're more like a longish split skirt. Talk about useful!

She knows ... View the Post

In the Mood for Autumn? Start With Art – The Dark Lady by Anna Katrina Zinkeisen

August 27, 2025

It's getting to be that time of year...

"So, should take a short vacation? Take a long weekend in October and drive north? Look at leaves. Drink cider. What do you think?"

Our heroine loves autumn - her favorite painting just oozes cool weather vibes:

All of her favorite wardrobe colors are here...

And she's already decided that for her next few trips, she's going to experiment with her four neutrals - she will omit one neutral from her travel capsule wardrobe and use three neutrals for her wardrobe. It will be interesting to give herself some slightly different moods...

Viewing autumn leaves is a recreation that actually can be done from one's car, for a lot of the time. So our heroine doesn't ... View the Post

Avoiding Light Colors? Start With Art – A Forest by Leon Spilliaert

August 18, 2025

Ah, for the winter holidays, our heroine has plans to visit friends and family, with a particular fun twist - all of these families seem to be the ones with small children!

Now, our heroines loves children, and will spend much of her long weekend on the floor, playing with new toys, reading books for the 37th time, and just generally cuddling sleepy, grumpy tots...

But as always, her packing starts here:

She wants soft things. Dark things that show spots a bit less. a necklace or two that can be quickly tucked into a collar, to avoid the inquisitive fingers of the wee babies in the crowd...

She's even packing a pair of shorts; she spends a lot of time on the floor...

This wardrobe is darker than ... View the Post

Don’t Want to Pack Black? Start With Art – A Forest by Leon Spilliaert

August 15, 2025

Back with our heroine and her multi-faceted wardrobe, based upon this painting. Today's color palette is the one shown here, in which she eschews black and concentrates on the other colors.

Maybe your family thinks your wear too much black? Maybe it just doesn't feel right for a particular holiday, like Thanksgiving? Maybe you just want to try something different?

Of course you're not going to quit wearing black just because it bugs your sister, but you can be a bit flexible just to keep the peace. Especially if you get to wear this luscious shade of green!

Packing in this wardrobe is always so easy - enough ivory to dress up if the occasion warrants (maybe take everyone out for dinner some night, so you ... View the Post

A Warm Color, Classic Palette for Fall? Start With Art – a Forest by Leon Spilliaert

August 13, 2025

Our ongoing inspiration:

Our heroine from Monday has another trip planned; she's going to her college Homecoming!

She's not planning to attend any of the more formal, dressy activities; her agenda is more the football game, and then hanging out at the home of one of her friends who stayed in the city after graduation. Much sitting around, eating, talking, and laughing is what she has in mind...

But she still wants to look nice, and she really wants to have that autumn feel when she gets dressed. Time for some brown!

Her color palette for the upcoming festivities is this:

She starts with a lovely brown tee shirt, her black cardigan, and a different pair of black pants - somewhat warmer than the linen ... View the Post