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Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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December 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #4: Street Lights by Stefan Johansson

December 4, 2025

Maybe this isn't the most festive painting in the world, but it's still really beautiful... I find it kind of mesmerizing to imagine standing where the artist stood, looking at the lights across the river:

Our heroine took advantage of some serendipitous finds when shopping. She had whappage for a bright orange sweater, but then was very wise and measured when she decided that the green cabled sweater was going to be a core item in her wardrobe.

The striped top is a calculated experiment: she hasn't worn moc neck tops since she was a child, but she has liked the way they look when layered with a sweater. Further, the colors in this top just cry out to be part of her wardrobe. Therefore, she's going to try ... View the Post

December 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #3: Pines by the Sea by Bertha Lum

December 3, 2025

Before we dive into the fund, I have a Public Service Announcement!

Get your wallet out. Take everything out of it, and scan it all, front and back. Now email those files to yourself. 

If you happen to lose your wallet, or if it's stolen (as just happened to me), you will be endlessly grateful to yourself for having this information handy... Having to replace your passport 10 days before an international trip is - shall we say - STRESSFUL!

Okay, let's dive into this most lovely painting. Imagine if I get to move to Ireland, and I have to replace my entire wardrobe for some horrible reason. These colors would be so great...

Our heroine was pretty methodical this month! She knew that she wanted some ... View the Post

December 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #2: Sun, Water Maine by Georgia O’Keeffe

December 2, 2025

I already feel as if I need to find a new Georgia O'Keeffe painting for next year! Her art works particularly well for me, because she's adept at working with a really limited palette to achieve beautiful effects...

In the middle of a legitimate blizzard, our heroine suddenly finds that sweater hold GREAT appeal; can that be surprising?

A brooch in a bow style is classic, and gives you a festive air with just a minute or two devoted to pinning yourself in just the right place...

At the end of our year, our heroine's 52-piece wardrobe (yes, the same number of garments as the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe!) is split 1/3 beige, and 2/3 blue and green. This could have gone the other direction, or it could have ... View the Post

December 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #1: Of by Elizabeth Magill

December 1, 2025

The last additions to this wardrobe! I might revisit these wardrobes later in the month to examine them in more detail, to see if there are "essentials" that have been overlooked. What do you think?

This is our painting - focus, inspiration, and some beauty!

Someone suggested that this heroine needed another pair of wine pants; I can't SWEAR that these are a good color, but based on what we see on the GAP website, they look okay...

I also thought that this heroine could really use a good tote bag. I don't know anybody who doesn't carry one at least occasionally!

With enough of the right accessories, this heroine could go a long way with just her grey clothes; I know that some of you would absolutely ... View the Post

November 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #6: Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay

November 10, 2025

Our last installment for this month - one of my favorite paintings!

This heroine gave some serious thought to what her holiday seasons promises to bring, and came to the conclusion that silky pants and a pretty blouse will be more than adequate for her festive needs. A couple of cardigans that can be dressed up, and some fun star and moon accessories, finish up her November shopping:

please note that "silky" does NOT equal "silk." Neither does "satin." There's a lot of... confusing clothing descriptions in the world...

When she brings home her new things, she finds that everything blends in pretty much perfectly! There is always that satisfaction when you are disciplined with your ... View the Post

November 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #5: Street Lights by Stefan Johansson

November 7, 2025

These aren't really the colors that we think of for the winter holidays, but there's more than enough red and holly green in the world...

 

If one is patient, and disciplined, it is possible to find lovely dressy things that are perfect with this wardrobe:

Remember that if you're looking for a holiday brooch, Talbots is where you want to look first!

The gold sequins blend pretty well into this wardrobe, and the two sweaters are just right:

This heroine has some of the BEST scarves!

And our heroine already had a gold handbag and gold sandals; in warmer weather she can wear her gold sequined garments with sandals rather than ballet flats. Choices are nice to have!

Our heroine ... View the Post

November 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #4: Pines by the Sea by Bertha Lum

November 6, 2025 Breaking the Rules - Sometimes You Just Want To! Our heroine has this lovely painting to inspire her wardrobe choices:

Our heroine needs a dressy outfit for a VERY special occasion. She looked and looked at her "usual" colors - especially teal. But she came back, and back again, to these two (very expensive!) pieces in sequined taupish brown. And she finally caved...

Now, her wardrobe doesn't look a lot different, except she now has these two sequined garments that sort of stick out...

As always, are we smitten with her jewelry and scarves?

The shoes and bag that she bought for her event don't really blend in with everything else. This is okay; imagine the flats and bag worn with denim, or with ... View the Post

November 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #3: Sun, Water Maine by O’Keeffe

November 5, 2025

I love this painting - it's not unlike the view from my window...

Our heroine's preparation for the holiday season is pretty simple - she buys a simple sweater that has sequins knitted into it! (I confess, I have a black cabled cashmere sweater with sequins, and I wear it a LOT more than I ever imagined...)

She adds in a pair of winter white wool pants, a classic Aran-style crewneck, and a navy turtleneck. Some gold accessories, and she's ready for anything her schedule might thrown at her!

She has fewer beige/ivory clothes than she has navy and green. This makes sense to me; the lighter colors aren't as versatile for many of us.

The time that I'm always tempted by a wardrobe is when I look at ... View the Post

November 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #2: Of by Elizabeth Magill

November 4, 2025

I'm still able to find lovely clothes for this VERY limited color palette. Can you imagine wearing only two colors?

Years ago, when I was a bookstore chic(k), I wore only black and white. For years...

Of course, if you wanted to be strict to this painting, there could be much more white, and a denim-ish blue:

Her new tops are all quite festive, but her skirt can be worn for all kinds of things throughout the autumn and winter...

She still has fewer grey garments that in the other colors! Of course, I could move the white things onto the grey page...

I'm very smitten with her jewelry and scarves...

Her new clothes give her a LOT of options for getting dressed-up these next few ... View the Post

November 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #1: The Swan No. 24 by Hilma Af Klint

November 3, 2025

I'm always so excited to start these posts each month! Here's today very thought-provoking, but beautiful, inspiration painting:

So I seem to remember that most of us felt like the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe template wasn't really serving a useful purpose at this point, so I've discarded them! Instead, this month especially I'm going to concentrate on getting all of our heroines dressed for the upcoming bundle of holidays.

Today's heroine is getting a couple of velvet pieces, which can be worn with other fabrics to instantly bring a festive feeling to any day. And I'm also giving this lovely lady a couple of cashmere sweaters - another instant upgrade for anything you wear. Yes, they're expensive. If cared for ... View the Post

October 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #6: Street Lights by Stefan Johansson

October 8, 2025

This painting feels like an October evening to me...

For no good reason she can pinpoint, this heroine plunged headfirst into a feast of green! She was particularly thrilled to find her lime green cotton crewneck sweater, since she's loved her cardigan in this color... And her cardigan jacket matches her new pants - a suit is never a bad idea!

Here's another Weekly Timeless Wardrobe that's gone somewhat off the rails - not that it matters! No rules, and the most important thing in any wardrobe is that we have what we need, and what makes us happy to wear.

This month, I moved the five truly orange garments onto the same page with the gold and white pieces. It looks good!

I've always pictured ... View the Post

October 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #5: Pines by the Sea by Bertha Lum

October 7, 2025

Three REALLY easy neutrals (brown, denim and white) paired with teal, which is an accent that lots of us seem to love!

Could you keep the three neutrals and replace the teal with... pink? or peach? I'm sure there are other accents that would be perfect with the three neutrals. Hmm...

If's finally getting cool where THIS heroine lives, so she was happy to grab a couple of turtlenecks and a warm dress!

This heroine is keeping up - somewhat - with her Weekly Timeless Wardrobe. As with so many other among our friends and their wardrobes, this one is going to fall short when we get to the winter holidays. But there are no rules...

This wardrobe is relatively well balanced; when it comes to putting ... View the Post