Clothing Archives

Pretty But Relaxed? Start With a Dress – Two Piece Linen Dress in Thistle from Alex Mill

March 28, 2025

A honeymoon? Somewhere warm? Sign me up!

She's all set for what to wear for her wedding, but her travel wardrobe is still under construction. She knows she's starting here:

There's no question that the weather will be warm where they're going - actually legitimately hot during the day! She has no plans to swim, but definitely intends to be at the beach.

And for once in her life, she's NOT going to worry about laundry. It's her honeymoon, for heaven's sake! Maybe not her first honeymoon, but that's neither here nor there...

So bridal white it is!

At this point, she decides she's going to pack all pretty pastels. It will be the last time in her life she does this, so she's going to do it ... View the Post

Adding a “Difficult” Color to Your Wardrobe – Alex Mill Moss linen shirt and skirt

March 26, 2025

Sometimes, you just love something, even though you know that it might take a bit of effort to incorporate it into your wardrobe. This two-piece dress might be a good example:

I searched for HOURS to find other garments in this shade of green/brown. A cardigan - a tee shirt - maybe a pair of shorts? Not to be found in my world...

But there's still a way. There's ALWAYS A way!

How about finding a scarf that's both perfect with the olive dress, and gorgeous?

If scarf designers are happy putting colors together, we can be pretty confident about using those colors in a wardrobe!

Note - for leather accessories, a color like this one is a good match with bronze leather. And the entire scarf-based color ... View the Post

A Two-Piece Dress is ALSO Two Separate Garments!

March 21, 2025

Let's take a second look at this two-piece dress, or camp shirt and skirt, as you wish!

You can - of course - wear these pieces separately. The only thing you want to be sure to do is launder them together always, so you don't have a really soft and faded shirt with a still crispy and bright skirt!

I'm going to start with fairly obvious ways to wear the pieces, and then branch out into more adventurous ideas...

There's no color that you can't wear with beige - some go better than others, but all are worth at least trying!

Same with white - I think that this shade of blue, with white, looks lovely for summer:

If you want to cover your dress for some reason, having this shirt handy works well. I ... View the Post

Five Ways to Wear a Two-Piece Dress

March 19, 2025

When I saw these matching shirts and skirts, I knew that I wanted to share them with you. What a practical, sensible, and just plain pretty option!

These two piece meet my "requirements" for a simple dress that can be worn a lot of different ways; if you don't wear dresses very often, it makes good sense to own a dress that offers you plenty of choices.

The easiest and most obvious way to wear this two-piece dress is with beige - summery and classic:

Okay, in the true hot weather, white is the most obvious neutral! Wear it - if it gets dirty, clean it. Don't be intimidated by the prospect of your clothing looking as if you actually WEAR it...

This scarf reminded me of one of our favorite accent ... View the Post

Want A Different Way to Pack? Start With Sandals – Ellen Backstrap Sandals by Keen

March 14, 2025

Sometimes, you're inspired by something that might not speak to many people. That's fine - you're one of a kind, and your inspiration will be unique!

How about these?

I didn't find all of these colors readily available right now in summer clothing, but it's always good to know colors to keep in mind...

Our heroine's dashing off for a quick weekend somewhere casual - and the weather promises to be unusually warm for March! It can happen - yesterday was shirtsleeves weather in Chicago...

So she's driving off like this:

It's very likely that they will go out for dinner - somewhere nice, but not stuffy or prim... Otherwise, she expects to walk and look out over the water, or to sit, and look out over ... View the Post

To Buy, Or Not to Buy? Yoke Detail sweater by Celtic & Co.

February 14, 2025

It's always a dilemma - you see something you admire/love, but you're not quite sure WHAT you'd do with it, if you make the decision to purchase...

What about this sweater? If you look lovely in soft shades - especially in beige, tan or taupe, this might call your name:

For no good reason I can identify, I decided that I would look at this sweater through the lens of the Wardrobe Slot Machine - a system in which one chooses nine garments that are foolproof for assembling outfits. This is the blank template:

Thinking about buying a top suggests that your first question would be about what bottoms you would wear with your new sweater. Jeans? Chinos? Cords? And do you have shoes to wear with your new ... View the Post

Accessories for a Summer Wardrobe – Floral Strawberry Watercolor Swimsuit by L.L.Bean x Summersalt

February 12, 2025

Remember this lovely swimsuit from two weeks ago? I left us hanging, with lots of lovely clothes but NO accessories!

Our heroine's very pretty, feminine and summery wardrobe was this:

I'm going to take a handful of outfits and accessorize them - I think that should get us everything we need!

For warm weather, don't ever forget sunglasses and a good hat - you don't want to be one of us who have to have wee chunks chopped out of our scalp in our mature years...

Just for fun, I've been thinking that this heroine might be heading out for a Valentine's Day vacation; this might inspire a few of her choices!

When she gathers up all of her accessories, this is the absolutely lovely ... View the Post

Pink, Orange and White for Summer? Start With a Swimsuit – Floral Strawberry Watercolor Suit by L.L.Bean x Summersalt

January 31, 2025

I don't believe I've ever before been SO happy to see January end...

You asked for another swimsuit, and I hasten to satisfy. This was a specific request, and I can see why!

Honestly, isn't "Summersalt" the best brand name for swimwear?

My first instinct - I think it would be so for a lot of us - was bright colors. But then when I really spent some time with the image of the swimsuit, I found myself more and more drawn to the soft pink, and the lighter shades of orange..

But let's start with white - always right for hot weather and being near the water:

Next I knew we had to find some soft pink. While the cardigan might seem sort of dressy, I thought that (1) it was worth showing to you, because ... View the Post

Looking for Summer Accessories? Start With a 4×4 Summer Wardrobe

January 29, 2025

Of course you remember our swimming heroine from Monday - a new swimsuit spawned a full 4x4 summer wardrobe plan!

This is her new suit:

And this is the 16-piece capsule wardrobe she chose to go with her swimsuit - you have to start somewhere!

So that our heroine can be sure to get all of the accessories that she needs, she's going to take a handful of normal outfits from her wardrobe, and accessorize each of them. The most important thing might be to include all of your "bottoms" when you do this, so that you don't show up somewhere with a lovely outfit and the wrong shoes. Worse things happen every day, but if you can avoid this...

Let's start with the essentials - a hat and sunglasses!

For ... View the Post

Need a Summer Overhaul? Start with Swimwear – Ditsy Lilies by Lands’ End

January 27, 2025

She swims EVERY DAY. Everybody who lives in her very large building has seen her in the elevators, in her swimsuit and robe. She's long past the point of feeling self-conscious!

But she's realizing that she needs new swimwear. And new summer clothes. The whole exercising, eating right, avoiding junk food project seems to have worked!

In the summer, she swims every day, outdoors. Hours by the pool. Swim wear is what she's wearing most often, so she realizes that she might want to start there to re-build a summer wardrobe:

She's pretty methodical about this - her first choice is a dress that will certainly be considered a "cover-up" in her life! A navy tank and shorts seem logical, with a striped shirt to wear ... View the Post

I Love It, But Will I Wear It? Grey Cashmere Sweatshirt

January 13, 2025

It's something we all need to do - wear what we already own much more frequently, and make certain that anything we buy will be worn a lot, for years and years...

In pursuit of making good decisions, I hear from you. A current dilemma seems to surround the idea of a cashmere sweatshirt - is it a sweatshirt, or a cashmere sweater? Do I wear with casually, or do I dress it up?

To which I respond? YES. Yes to all. Swing every which way with a beautiful sweatshirt, and wear it so often that it's a comfortable "top of mind" starter for any outfit, for most occasions.

I have ideas starting with casual and ranging up to somewhat dressy. I'm going to share these without comment, so I can clearly hear your ... View the Post

Three Travel Capsule Wardrobes in Denim and Black

September 16, 2024

You certainly remember that on Friday, I grouped a bunch of wardrobe clusters into a wardrobe that offered lots of possibilities for travel or for visibility in a small closet:

But we need accessories! While this wardrobe is fine without them, it's not much of a reflection of how women actually get dressed, eh?

Starting with denim! If you find denim shoes that you like, and you can picture wearing them, grab them. Denim shoes aren't growing on trees, and a lot of them are tricked out with lots of sparkles, embroidery and other unnecessary stuff that will just fall off if they get wet or you brush against something...

Today, I'm going to focus on wardrobe that use just two of the neutrals available to ... View the Post