Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature
These are the eight winter garments that I've chosen to keep, which I wear in order to leverage the all-black core items already chosen to survive the wardrobe purge (you didn't really think that I wear unrelieved black every day, did you?)
First I show my additions to my edited wardrobe, and then below, I show all of the items that have been specifically chosen (so far) to stay, through the first four stages of the curating and distilling process.
Yes, I really love argyle...
... View the Post
My last springtime adventure in imaginary shopping is the "how to experiment with a fashion color" question. I'm totally smitten with this striped top, and my desire for it would be sufficient to convince me to introduce pink into my wardrobe for six months or a year - however long the top lasts. Here is a case in which I would NOT spend a lot of money on jewelry, and I would buy a decent pair of shoes or sandals, but not a long-term investment pair. This small shopping spree is designed to brighten up my wardrobe for spring, indulge in a garment which I love, and participate in the "brightly colored pants" trend, without breaking the bank.
Tee shirt – J. Crew, cropped pants – Diane von Furstenberg, pink ... View the Post
Today, I've scaled back my purchases a little bit, and chosen to "buy" a more trendy color - cobalt blue. I loved cobalt when we all wore it back in the 80's, and am happy to see it back again. But I'm not willing to make quite such a major investment in blue as I was willing to consider yesterday in my imaginary red extravaganza... So I would look to purchase the following:
Cardigan – J. Crew, tee shirt – DKNY, pants – Piazza Sempione, skirt – Diane von Furstenberg, scarf – Givenchy for Liberty of London, lapis earrings – Astley Clarke, lapis & onyx bracelet - Nordstrom Based on the idea that I want to leverage these core wardrobe items:
And this is how I would wear my new ... View the Post
I'm not shopping these days, but I do LOOK at lots of things (as you well know!). So I decided to do some imaginary shopping; sort of walking through the process of what I would do IF I were in a shopping phase of my life. First up: What basics do I already have in my wardrobe that I wear a lot, and want to use as a basis for leveraging my purchases?
Now, what do I want? I've chosen to splurge on red this shopping spree. It's an on-trend bright color, but it's dead classic, and never goes out of style. It's a color I wear well, I already have a couple of beautiful scarves with a lot of red in them, and it mixes brilliantly with black.
So... a cardigan and a tee shirt (sort ... View the Post
tee shirts - Lands' End
Pants – Eddie Bauer, socks & tights – Lands’ End love, Janice ... View the Post
It's amazing how much wearing a uniform for work can change the way you look at getting dressed in the morning! Most days, by biggest concern is getting my tie tied correctly, or seeing if I can finagle being allowed to wear a hairnet rather than a visor or ball cap. Oddly enough, the hairnet is cooler, and doesn't interfere with my peripheral vision as much. Plus, I sell more because I get that little old lady sympathy purchase...
But I did dress up a few times - working the pink and grey combo a lot this month...
On St. Patrick's Day, in honor of the last day of the 6 Nations Rugby tournament, I wore my completely out of character "This is NOT Soccer" tee shirt...
And late in ... View the Post
These next eight garments are things that I wear almost the entire year - maybe not the dog days of August, or the teeth of a bitter blizzard (not that I really remember what that's like), but month in, month out, these clothes never go into storage.And the accessories - same thing. They are my standby goodies, over and over again.
Both striped tops - L.L.Bean bot tee shirts - Lands' End both dresses - Lands' End both pair of pants - Eddie Bauer
Scarves - Hermes Flacons, and Jardins des Metamorphoses earrings - Cartier Stone necklace - J. Jill pearls - Etsy gold penny loafers - Cole Haan cross-body bag - Osgoode Marley Tote bag - Tumi
If I were to pack the eight solid black garments I chose for my last wardrobe ... View the Post
Yes, I'll be in New York for about 24 hours - I'm flying in, having dinner, sleeping (I hope), and then running literally TWO errands the next morning, and flying back. Because I'm going to be racing about with very little "down time", I've determined that I don't want to pack more than I'm prepared to carry with me at all times...To the rescue - the Tumi bag that I've been carrying for almost 10 years as a brief case. It was originally a diaper bag, but it's logged more miles as an all-purpose bag than I can remember. I've determined that I'm NOT going to wear my usual argyle cardigan - switching from black & white stripes to grey with Hermes will give me at least a different feeling on the 2nd day. Clothing, pajamas, ... View the Post
This month saw a couple of dinners out with friends, and a couple of job interviews which weren't overwhelmingly dressy - the bakery job didn't really require full-on suiting, thank heavens. So I found that for another month, I had everything that I needed or wanted, and was comfortable, appropriate, and (I hope) attractive for all activities.
I visit catalogchoice.org every week to continue to pare down my temptations which arrive in the mail. Fewer catalogs = fewer dead trees, less recycling, and less time thumbing through them looking at things I don't need.
... View the Post
Every season, you can find lists upon lists of "what's hot, and what's not", which basically means "what you should go out and purchase, and what you should throw away". I refuse to let someone else tell me what I need, like, or prefer, so I decided to put together my own personal "What's Hot" list. The results follow....Sometime soon, when I catch up on sleep, I'll do a "What's NOT" list too.
... View the Post
So I've decided that I'm going to curate my wardrobe in groupings of eight, in keeping with the plan that seems to be working so well for other wardrobes that I build! And first up, the highly utilitarian work wardrobe for the winter holidays. Cotton turtlenecks from Lands' End, sweatshirts from Lands' End and Adidas, and jeans from NYDJ (stretch jeans are ESSENTIAL if climbing is in your job description). I didn't need a lot of clothes, because I'd have to come home most evenings and immediately launder whatever I'd been wearing... To me, this wardrobe, while not particularly dressy or innovative, is elegant, if you define elegance as simple, timeless, and appropriate to the situation at ... View the Post
Lots of people really liked my post about a "Chanel-inspired" wardrobe based on 2 suits, but expressed concern because they found it too dressy. So I've tried here to work from the same general idea - four garment groupings in 2 neutral shades, and then build around them for a 24-piece wardrobe. This is primarily a very casual wardrobe, with only one skirt, and one dressy blouse. There are some flowers, and some lace, and the obligatory Spring 2012 pair of "fashion color" pants... Enjoy!
Sweater – Topshop, pants – Rabens Saloner, tee shirt – Shakuhachi, denim pants – A.L.C., olive sweater – Cacharel, olive pants – Closed, blouse – Bruuns Bazaar, shorts – Denim & Supply
Beige Cardigan – ... View the Post
