Capsule Wardrobe Plans Archives - Page 20 of 62

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

April Showers Bring May Flowers…

May 8, 2019

And sometimes, flowers are what inspire you to update your warm-weather wardrobe...

Many of us have a pretty decent core wardrobe to carry us into the warm weather...

Many people could get through quite a bit of the summer with just these 9 garments - especially if you have to dress for work every day, and this is your leisure wardrobe.

But maybe you want to brighten up your core wardrobe with some pretty colors?

Even just one "French 5-Piece Wardrobe" in an accent color can give you quite a few new outfit options:

Maybe you're in the mood for orange?

Lace is fun for summer - not insanely dressy, just a pretty way to update a tee shirt...

The nice thing about getting a ... View the Post

Ready for a Warm-Weather Wardrobe Update? How about a French 5-Piece Wardrobe?

April 3, 2019

Of course these aren't an entire wardrobe - I hope that's clear. But, to me, the idea of a "French 5-Piece Wardrobe" is the 5 pieces that you plan, and carefully choose, and use to update your normal seasonal wardrobe of classic, neutral clothes.

Let's start here - these are about as basic as you can get!

While this isn't a really exciting wardrobe, it's versatile; you can get two dozen combinations from these 9 garments. That's a working wardrobe, I'd say!

When I thought about doing some French 5-Piece Wardrobes, I was thinking specifically about that Hedge Green color that is so uncommon, and really delightful. But I figured that I might as well work my way through the rainbow... Red, Orange, Yellow, ... View the Post

Start with Art: View from Bodacke, Liden by Helmer Osslund

March 20, 2019

This reminded her immediately of the site of their cabin:

So much so that she decided to make this her wardrobe inspiration for their upcoming weekends away!

This summer, she's going to plan out a simple, small, but versatile wardrobe, take it up to the cabin, and LEAVE IT THERE until they close up for cold weather! She knows that she might need to take something else with her at some point, but she's determined to avoid the "every Thursday night" packing that inevitably results in something being forgotten...

So she's planning a 4 by 4 Wardrobe, starting with "hedge green."

Next, she wants some beige. She's lucky that it looks pretty good on her - if it didn't, she would either swap the 2 ... View the Post

Can I Last a Year Without Shopping? I’m Going to Try…

December 31, 2018

It becomes too clear this time of year - I don't need anything, and when I see things that I want, about 5 minutes of intelligent self-talk reminds me that the purchase would be... wasteful, at best.

I'd rather travel! And I do travel a lot. When you become accustomed to living for a week or 10 days or longer with just the contents of a suitcase as your wardrobe, you learn that you can manage - happily - with relatively little.

So I've got a plan! (of COURSE I have a plan - you're shocked, right?)

Clusters!

I'm going to be in Florida for part of January, but for the rest of January, I'm going to limit my wardrobe to 10 garments - 2 clusters of five...

This is my first cluster - these aren't exactly my ... View the Post

Accenting Winter White with 4 Pantone Spring 2019 Colors

November 28, 2018

Of course I'm going to have to see how a couple of the remaining Pantone Spring 2019 colors look with black, but first let's try something completely different - Winter White!

One thing to remember with this color - all of your clothes don't have to be "dye-lot matched" to look good together - especially if the fabrics and textures are different. Shades of the same neutral can look lovely!

Of course, it's perfectly beautiful to wear an outfit in just these colors:

I'm coming back to Turmeric again with black... this color is fine, but level of dressiness here is a little bit "off." The shoes might be okay with jeans - it depends on the woman!

I think these outfits are fun - certainly at this time ... View the Post

Evaluating a Wardrobe: A Year of Shallow Deep by Wassily Kandinsky

November 26, 2018

Oh how this heroine's life has changed in a year! Back in January she took a pack of 6th graders to New York City - what a brave woman! On a more leisurely note, she went back to New York 3 months later, by herself, to scout out more destinations for students...

Her confidence in planning these trips, and the expertise that she developed, lead to her applying for a job with the State Board of Education specifically dealing with student activities outside of the classroom! When she got the position, she began the frequent trips to the state capital that she will have to make every month or so...

When you look back at these 4 wardrobes, you can see that her style becomes a bit more dressy over time - she has to be ... View the Post

Accenting Charcoal Grey with 4 Pantone Spring 2019 Colors

November 23, 2018

If, for some amazing reason, I ever quit wearing black ALL the time, I can easily picture replacing much of it with dark grey... I just love the way this looks, and the versatility that one would have with this limited number of pieces.

One of the joys of having a neutral core in this color is that pretty much any accent color will go well here! What might not work? Hmmm... lime green? Think of something, and I'll give it a try!

For example, I could probably use any of the Pantone Spring 2019 colors here. For fun, I've chosen 4, just to see how different the ensembles look when it's all pulled together!

First I want to try out this lovely Living Coral. I stand by my thesis that this color will work well ... View the Post

Accenting Navy with Fiesta Orange or Aspen Gold

November 19, 2018

One of the best things about having a solid core of neutral clothes is that you can completely indulge when you are smitten with a "new" accent color. It doesn't require a massive investment in new pieces to be able to pull together a handful of new outfits that include your new sweetheart color...

Let's say you have a passion for Fiesta! And in the course of indulging yourself in its beauty, you accumulate these items:

Now let's further hypothesize that you've got this tidy cluster of "midnight" pieces that you've carefully assembled over time. This has the infinite value of NOT being black; at lots of events and locations you've set yourself apart from the crowd already!

Now, it's obvious that these 4 ... View the Post

French 5-Piece Wardrobes based on Pantone Spring 2019 colors

November 16, 2018

Of course, there are no new colors. And for what it's worth, these colors don't necessarily show up in store any more or less than any other colors...

That said, I still love looking at these color every 6 months, and giving some thought to what I might add to a wardrobe in order to really solidly bring an accent color into an otherwise neutral wardrobe. (I'm always happy to do another post showing these pieces worn along-side a Neutral Common Wardrobe, if that would be helpful)

And yes, I'm going to evaluate all of the "4 Outfits based on a painting" posts that I've done. They take a while!

In my next life, I want a job at Pantone naming colors...

First up is Fiesta, which is a nice bright ... View the Post

What Are You Buying for Autumn? I’m All Finished…

September 24, 2018

(yes, I know it's soon to be Spring in the Southern Hemisphere - I'm interested in that too!)

This is difficult for me - I'm not all that comfortable talking about myself! But I think we should all have a deliberate plan for the changing seasons, as far as being prepared in our wardrobes. So I'm sharing my purchases...

I've been gradually picking up things for... six weeks? Maybe longer! As soon as I saw a black and white flannel shirt, I KNEW it was coming home to me. And a new black velvet skirt was imperative - my old one is too big! My rain coat was chosen to see me through those wet but not terribly cold days - I don't have anything truly waterproof that covers the seat of my pants... Other things caught my ... View the Post

Another “Gentle” Project 333 Wardrobe – 30 Garments based on Navy & Grey

September 19, 2018

Our heroine works in an office, where she is the real power behind... well, everything! She works from home part of the time; she only has to go into the office 2, maybe 3 times a week, in order to kick boxes and take names...

So she wants to strike a balance of authoritative, approachable (sometimes), and beautiful (she does have a private life!).

This is her template:

She likes to this of her first cluster as The Navy with a Twist Cluster

Yes, if she was feeling particularly full of beans she would indeed wear the striped tee shirt with the printed skirt!

Next, she wants something a little bit less assertive - something she could wear on Casual Friday. (hers is one of the offices that observes ... View the Post