Capsule Wardrobe Plans Archives - Page 21 of 62

Project 333 For First-Time Participants – 30 Pieces of Clothing!

September 17, 2018

Lots of us are used to having at least 40 or 50 garments available for the current season, so the idea of limiting all of our clothing AND accessories to 33 pieces seems daunting! But 1 thing that I'm pretty sure the creator of Project 333 would agree with - you should just start somewhere, and move on as you feel comfortable!

Therefore, I decided to build a wardrobe template that includes 30 garments - still fewer than many of us are used to seeing in our closets, but a pretty comfortable number...

When I look at this template, it seems like a huge number of pieces! But once you start pulling items out of your closet, it could fill pretty quickly.

I'm planning this wardrobe more or less on what ... View the Post

Choosing Accessories for a Project 333 Wardrobe? How about a template…

September 14, 2018

Monday I built a 4 by 4 Wardrobe based on this lovely scarf from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Store (they have a LOT of lovely scarves...)

Before we dive into accessories, let's remember what our final color scheme was (remember, I had to change the colors halfway through building the wardrobe!):

And the wardrobe was this; yes, I could easily have re-arranged these items to put the camel-colored items into the 2nd row to be the 2nd neutral. Proof that these templates are guidelines and NOT rules!

I've been thinking about accessories a lot... Maybe we can organize them the same kind of way we organize clothes? Let's start with the stuff that most of us MUST have (although bear in mind ... View the Post

Experimenting with Project 333 – 20 garments and 13 accessories?

September 7, 2018

Wednesday I experimented with a different approach to Project 333 - in which I built a template for 4 5-piece "clusters" of clothing:

Partly to showcase 2 of Eileen Fisher's "new" fall colors (Midnight and Nutmeg), I pulled together this wardrobe:

If we're going to be really strict with Project 333, this would only leave us 13 accessories for this wardrobe! But let's bear in mind the LAST thing the creator of Project 333 wants is for us to feel limited or constrained by this process - she just wants us to be thoughtful...

That said, I'm going to see what I can accomplish with only 13 accessories, just as an exercise in planning and in limits! If nothing else, it's educational to see what you really want ... View the Post

Do You Want More than 16 Pieces of Clothing for Project 333? I have a thought…

I've heard you - many of you are concerned that 16 pieces of clothing won't be enough for a Project 333 Wardrobe for the upcoming autumn... (even if you're not participating in Project 333, the exercise of editing and focusing your wardrobe can never be a bad idea, eh?)

How about we bump up the number of garments to 20, chosen in "clusters" of 5 garments each? For me, I think this might be just about right! This is what I'm thinking:

For reference purposes, I pulled together a wardrobe following these guidelines, using "new" Eileen Fisher colors of Midnight and Nutmeg. (the other colors that she included are Dark Red Lory (huh?), Raisonette (a lovely wine), and Monterey (a dusty dark rose). These all look wonderful ... View the Post

Project 333 for Business Travel? Start with Art – Calm Wind by Yoshida Hiroshi

August 24, 2018

Yes, I'm fascinated with this artist... The Autumn Quarter Will Require Numerous Client Visits... That's the title of the memo...

She took a deep breath, and looked at her computer, where the background was this calm, simple, but gracefully beautiful image:

She knew it was coming. Their acquisition by a much larger firm has left many clients feeling uncertain, and visiting them to reassure them of the firm's commitment was an obvious answer. So she has a great idea... First, she decides on a color scheme and overall "feel" for all of her travel:

She's going to choose a Project 333 Wardrobe STRICTLY for her trips. Everything is going to be segregated in a separate part of her closet, and when she knows ... View the Post

A Start With Art Project 333 Wardrobe – Kameido Bridge by Yoshida Hiroshi

It Was Love at First Sight When she saw this print, she immediately knew that she was going to limit her Project 333 for autumn to just pinks and blues... Simple, but versatile, and really pretty!

She has always intended to build her Autumn Project 333 Wardrobe around navy, because it's been her favorite neutral for years. Thus, the first part of her wardrobe plan was simple:

For her second Core of 4, she looked for soft fabrics like rayon and velvet, and also thought that a touch of floral print might be nice:

She wanted to make sure she didn't get TOO dressy, so she made sure to include a couple of classic tops in pink, as well as 2 relaxed sweaters in muted blue:

For her last 4 garments, she got a little more ... View the Post

Want to try Project 333 for Autumn? A Couple of Tee Shirts Could be Your Inspiration…

August 15, 2018

She knew that she wanted to pare down her autumn wardrobe - she just needed to find a clear focus for what she wanted to wear for the next few months...

She was pretty seriously interested in Project 333 - it seemed to work for a lot of other people, and so she thought it might be good for her too!

First up, she knew that she needed 2 new tops, so she decided to start with a pair of shirts that really caught her eye and won her heart:

She's very casual, and loves khaki, beige, and ivory, so the first 4 garments were easy to choose:

And she really doesn't need a ton of variety - she likes sweaters and sweatshirts with hoods, and she's only going to wear pants (unless something AMAZING happens in her ... View the Post

Are You Interested in a New Accent Color? Pantone Autumn 2018 and some French 5-Piece Wardrobes

August 13, 2018

I think most of us wear the same accent colors for years at a stretch - I know that I've been wearing red and French blue since the 1980's...

But it's not that difficult to "test-drive" a new color for a season or 2 - you don't need to buy dozens of pieces to effectively incorporate a new color into your wardrobe; literally 3 to 5 items will do the trick!

So lets look at the "new" colors that Pantone has chosen for Autumn 2018, and see what we could do with them...

(yes, the idea of new colors is absurd - but I always like to take a look at what Pantone has chosen because it might give us some new ideas... and please note that a LOT of these pieces are VERY expensive - they're ideas, not necessarily a shopping ... View the Post

Want to try Project 333 for Autumn? How about Starting with a Scarf?

August 10, 2018

If you're not familiar with Project 333, it's Courtney Carver's brilliant idea to cut your entire closet back to 33 items, for 3 months.

I think a lot about Project 333 - it's a very tidy way to experiment with a smaller wardrobe. And it works beautifully with a 4 by 4 Wardrobe, and a stack of accessories! Let's pretend... It Was a Gift No matter how much she loves a beautiful scarf, she wasn't likely to buy it for herself! But when someone hands it to you, all beautifully wrapped, and presented with so much love, what's a woman to do?

To her, this was the perfect opportunity to organize her wardrobe for upcoming cooler weather, and for school-related functions which always seem to crop up as soon as autumn ... View the Post

When Your Wardrobe Plan Hits a Snag – The Kiss, by Max Ernst

June 13, 2018

It all starts out so well. You've got your art inspiration in front of you, and quite a few of your garments are clear in your mind...

The brown was hard to find, but you're really happy with the results:

This is a great start...

The turquoise wasn't too tough to find; the maxi skirt is going to be SO nice to have on vacation...

This is where the wardrobe is supposed to get fun - finding tops that work with both core colors, and that pull them together. But you find that the things you were thinking about packing are too big. Too small. Too worn out. Too much in need of laundering. But you really don't have time to do ANYTHING except rethink things...

This isn't a bad wardrobe, so far, ... View the Post

Revisiting Van Gogh, and Using Cool Sky Blue to Accent Navy and White

July 11, 2018

Someone wanted another visit to this painting, someone wanted some navy and sky blue together, and someone wanted to see another French 5-Piece wardrobe. Here, I present ALL of that, and more. First, let's enjoy this painting, and the idea of the shore...

Warmth, salty breezes messing up your hair, reapplying sunscreen... The stuff of a million dreams!

And although this painting seems pretty monochromatic at first glance, when you look carefully at it for a while you find a whole BUNCH of different shades of blue and green, as well as dark brown, and warm orangish-tan. (I'm ignoring the red signature, except for lips and nails!)

I start a LOT of my blog posts with a core wardrobe of classic, neutral, timeless ... View the Post