Capsule Wardrobe Plans Archives - Page 38 of 62

Start with a Scarf: Joss Sticks, a Silk Story Scarf

May 14, 2015 A local scarf maker - she travels, takes the photographs, makes the scarf, writes the story behind the scarf, and shares it with all of us! You must visit her site...

I've used shades of brown, a warm beige, and that divine red:

This is a Four by Four wardrobe meant to break rules - starting with a printed skirt! This isn't always something I'd recommend, but in this case, the skirt was irresistible, and it didn't interfere with the versatility and the options inherent in this capsule wardrobe.

And I'm working with two shades of the 2nd neutral. This is also a variance from my usual pretty strict adherence to one color, but as with the printed skirt, these two shades ... View the Post

Start With a Scarf: Orange Hermes Art des Steppes

May 13, 2015 It's never too late to pull out a scarf that you've owned for years and recommit yourself to building around it, and wearing it more! One of you has been living with, and loving, this scarf (a cashmere and silk blend wrap) for quite a while, but feel like there's more to be done with this lovely thing.

My first move with any scarf is to take a good look at it, from a distance, with my eyes squinting, and see what neutral colors seem prominent to me. I then look for colors that "jump out" - those are accents. This is the color scheme that I saw in this scarf. Bear in mind that I could easily find more colors - there's no one "correct" color scheme here!

I'm thinking of this scarf for ... View the Post

A Clothing Diary: Week 11

May 21, 2015 Last week's weather was enough to cause wardrobe whiplash - one day, bare legs and sandals, LITERALLY the next day, coats, scarves and gloves. We who live in the Midwest (or anywhere else in the world!) must remember that we don't control the weather, and remain madly flexible!

Yes, the Vionic sandals are all that everybody told me they would be! I have silver, and red, and it's a good thing I can't justify having more pairs, or I would. Very comfortable, and casual but not junky looking. You know what I mean - those flip flops that look like they're three weeks too late for the dumpster?

My Eileen Fisher dress! Just as perfect as I had hoped...

We went out early ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Project 333: Combining 2 Color Schemes from the Capri Scarf

May 9, 2015

SOMEONE had a brilliant insight, in yesterday's comments - why not combine these two wardrobes from the last 2 days? This is a perfect Project 333 - it actually comes in well below 33 items...

And a long summer travel wardrobe? Perfect. The two neutrals give you plenty of "non-white" core pieces for travel days, and the neutrals play quite nicely together, too.

Here's our expanded color scheme:

And you recognize all of the clothes and accessories from earlier posts:

But here's where the fun really starts - LOOK at this wardrobe!!! You might need to toss in a pair of shorts (grey sweats, or white linen?), but otherwise, I can't think of much for which you ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Capri, again, with a different color palette

May 8, 2015 You ask, I deliver! This very beautiful scarf, from the company Radical Chic, with a color scheme that emphasizes the rosy tones, and the grey base:

Today's core of neutral is quite a bit dressier than the light brown from yesterday; maybe you have more work on your agenda, or the tone of the vacation is dressier. I would think that the Orient Express could justify a skirt...

I kept yesterday's white linen separates - most because I'm smitten with the dress! And while white trousers can never be true workhorses of your trip, they do bring a summery beauty to a travel wardrobe.

Of course, here's where the fun is! But I think we can all agree that finding subtle ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Capri Scarf from Radical Chic

May 7, 2015 Nobody wrote to me asking to have this scarf included in a post - but I was browsing Boticca recently (as I do every day, looking for gorgeous things for you), and I saw this, and I was completely SMITTEN. If this scarf bore any vague resemblance to my wardrobe, I would buy it in a New York minute!

sadly, Bottica is long gone... but the scarf is still available directly from Radical Chic! But I get to do this next best thing, which is to build an imaginary summer wardrobe that uses these colors are the starting point. One could, of course, include some beautiful crimson rose, or hydrangea purple, or burnished gold, if one was so inclined...

I'm using a nice warm light ... View the Post

A Clothing Diary Week 10

April 29, 2015 Why yes, it IS April, but we aren't seeing any weather that feels warm! I wore gloves, without exception, every time I was out - most of our highest temperatures were just around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. While I love cold weather more than most people, I have to admit to being ready to move into something just a tad warmer... My week was filled with preparations for moving (down the hall, but it involved two different landlords for each of the apartments, a renovation about to start in the new apartment, and plans for renovations the second we're out of our current digs), visits to my doctor, and accompanying a friend to her appointments too! If there's ever a market for guided tours of Northwestern Hospital ... View the Post

A Clothing Diary Week 9

April 21, 2015 Some clarification is needed about how often I wear gym clothes, and where. Yes, I probably have gym clothes on EVERY day of the week - 6 days a week maybe at a minimum. BUT!!! I don't wear them outside of my building unless I'm running outdoors. The gym where I workout is in my basement; residents of my building see me in all of my athletic glory (ahem...), and I might stop at the grocery store in the basement of my building after I've worked out (yes, my building has a grocery store. And a dry-cleaner...) but that's as far as it goes. Wearing gym clothes frequently is NOT an excuse to be wandering the streets in tons of too tight, too thin, or too brief clothing. Frankly, on any given day on the ... View the Post

A Four by Four Whatever’s Clean Capsule Wardrobe in Black, Beige, Marsala and Natural

April 18, 2015 As soon as I launched the newest Pantone Spring and Summer 2015 color scheme file, someone asked me to do some work with the color of the year - Marsala. She had honed in on the black and khaki, and after a bit of discussion we agreed that the best 2nd accent color would be an unbleached linen/natural color. This is the palette we finally chose for a capsule wardrobe.

I started with black, of course! Sleeveless and short-sleeved, cropped pants and "normal" pants, and all from 3.1 Phillip Lim, just for ease of matchy-matchedness. You can, of course, find your four pieces from a different, less pricey, company, or mix them from a few different places.

In fact, in order to ... View the Post

What Cost per Wear Really Tells Us…

April 10, 2015

If you do a lot of reading about wardrobe planning, you'll run into the concept of cost per wear. It's a pretty simple idea - you just remember what you paid for something, and then you figure out how many times you've worn something, and you divide.

If you get something expensive and don't wear it very often (like a $200 sweater that you wear 4 times - a CPW of $50), your cost per wear is pretty poor. Conversely, if you get a great tee shirt for $30, and wear it every week for two years your CPW in 30/104, or teeny little pennies... So it's only logical that if you've got something that has a great, low cost per wear, you can say that you got your money's worth, much more than the expensive ... View the Post

Color and Proportion – Step 3: Adding Print Scarves and 2-Tone Shoes to Solid Garments

April 7, 2015

Here's where the fun starts, for me! As an avowed fan of scarves and what they can accomplish to balance, accent, and just generally jazz up, I was happy when we get to the patterned scarf part of our experiment..

I've owned these black and white loafers a COUPLE of times in the past (literally, I believe they've been making these since the '80's) and I always wear them to death. And I'm embarrassed to confess that the Trotters loafers are, in fact, beige and dark brown. On my monitor, the trim looks black! I truly didn't know the "real" colors until I was almost finished.... sigh...

And you can always find deck shoes in a ton of color combinations...

I personally now really like the first two outfits, but ... View the Post

A Clothing Diary Week 8

April 6, 2015 Because of the holidays and some family visit, I got to spend a lot of time with B and his peeps this week. It was handy to be able to just grab clothes and feel confident about putting together attractive outfits... This skirt is fast becoming a workhorse in my wardrobe. It hangs beautifully, and has pockets!!!

I had the immense good luck to find red Tod's loafers at a site called The Real Real. (silly name, but a great site) The price was a single-digit FRACTION of retail...

I will take a better photograph of the scarf when there's sufficient good lighting - it's really excellent, with strong blue and red accents on a charcoal grey and white ground. I'm finding a lot ... View the Post