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Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Clothing Archives - Page 15 of 22

From Desk to Dinner Party: Silk Blouses

December 17, 2013   If you know you have to go straight from work to a nice dinner, it's easy to plan ahead so that you can look special without having to do a complete change of clothes.   First off - even if you wear jeans, a nice silk tee shirt can spend the day under a cardigan and a scarf, but then can stand on its own with a gorgeous necklace and festive, but still comfortable, shoes.  

  A beautiful blue blouse (that matches your eyes?) looks perfectly serious and businesslike under a cardigan during your business day.  But lose the cardigan, pop on some dazzling earrings, and a slightly dressier shoe, and you're ready to go.   If you have any reason to believe that you're going to have to ... View the Post

Casual Packing: The “Triple Top” Secret

October 29, 2013   Here are a couple of examples of how my Triple Top Secret selection of tops can work for a really casual trip (or just a day to day wardrobe).  First, I started with a cool flowered shirt, got really gutsy and tossed in a striped tee shirt, and worked from there.  Yes, I would wear the stripes and the flowers together...  

I realized after working with this idea for a while that there are, in fact, two "triples" inherent in this idea:

 

  Yes, the button-front shirt is critical!  A shirt that can both be worn as a jacket or 2nd layer, but also layered under a sweater or sweatshirt, is key.  

    Here's an example of how this can work with some ... View the Post

Packing: The “Triple Top” Secret

October 28, 2013   I found, after a few days of travelling, that the shirts and sweaters that I had packed gave me a lot more options than I had anticipated!  A reminder: these are what I had in my bag:  

  Of course, I could wear any of these except the cardigan on their own.  But as the weather, and my location, shifted, I began to experiment with different ways to layer these 5 garments.  I discovered that, ultimately, I had a DOZEN options.  In the coldest weather, I was able to layer three tops together for maximum warmth, and thus the Triple Top Secret was born!    

But I quickly realized that, if I had chosen JUST a little bit more carefully, I could have had even more ... View the Post

Chic Sightings: A Simple Black Dress, a Cardigan, and SNAZZY shoes

October 2, 2013

 

Cardigan – Chinti and Parker,  Grey pumps – Everybody,  teal cardigan – House of Fraser, teal-trimmed pumps – Carolinna Espinosa    

Black & brown pumps – Softspots, brown cardigan – Paul & Joe Sister, camel cardigan – Burberry,  Camel and black pumps – Enzo Angiolini  

Grey cardigan – Massimo Alba, Floral slingback – J. Renee,  maroon cardigan – Sonia Rykiel, pumps – Marvin K.  

Dress – Stefanel   ... View the Post

Simply Seasonless: Navy Skirt with White Dots

July 19, 2013    

 

Navy sweater -  Maison Martin Margiela, Scarf – Brooks Brothers, Boots – Frye, Pink sweater – Proenza Schouler, Necklace – Georg Jensen, Sandals – Softspots

Anchor-trim sweater – Lucien Pellat Finet, Pearl necklace – Ann Taylor, Navy suede flats – Brooks Brothers, Quartz earrings – Nikki Baker, green boucle tee shirt – Michael Kors, Hermès vintage scarf,   Suede flats – Butter  

Navy tee shirt – Paul Smith, Striped bag – TL 180,  Pumps – Bettye Muller, White embellished tee shirt – 3.1 Phillip Lim, Leather bracelet – Totokaelo, Striped flats – Jenni Kayne  

Tank top – Organic by John Patrick,  Earrings – Georg ... View the Post

Packing for Special Occasions: A Floral Coat, and Flower Colors

July 10, 2013

Sometimes, you have to travel for a special event to a place where the days are warm, but the evenings can be quite cool. This is a perfect opportunity to invest in an astonishingly beautiful coat, which gives you lots of colorful options around which to build a travel capsule wardrobe.

Regarding the question about the handbag color? I personally would always opt for a metallic when I'm not sure of what color. Not a blindingly shiny gaudy metallic - something more subtle and muted, in the same general color range as the clutch shown here. I find that metallic are a lot easier to blend in with a variety of colors than anything else that I see.

love, Janice

PS - For more color inspiration, check out ... View the Post

When a White Shirt is PERFECT

Sometimes, a white shirt (tee shirt, tank top) is the ideal choice for an outfit...  First and foremost, if you love the way you're dressed, then you're wearing the perfect clothes, no matter what ANYBODY else says.  In hot weather, when you're wearing other light-colored garments, or when you need the brightening effects of white near your face.And you do understand that "your" white might be ecru, or cream, or ivory, or some other variations of white?  Choose what's best for you.  Always. Every day.  Without exception.  Your happiness is really the only standard by which your garments should be evaluated.

The lighter-background tee shirt is much more in keeping with the feeling of the white jeans. ... View the Post

When White Shirts Fail

June 28, 2013   White shirts are an absolute classic, right?   Everybody should own one.   Everybody should pull it out and wear it whenever they're in doubt about what to wear.   Uhhhh - I don't quite agree. Yes, there are times and places where a white shirt is the most appropriate choice - a conservative job interview, for example. But many of us, on a day to day basis, might be better flattered to wear tops that are closer in color to our pants or skirts -  if not a solid color, then a darker background. See what you think...   Belovedest and I saw this woman a couple of days ago, and he asked me why she seemed  so out of proportion - the woman in question is actually tall and thin. Her white ... View the Post

Another DVF dress; 1 dress, 6 ways

June 7, 2013  

I thought a lot yesterday about the mystique of the Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress. I've never even tried one of these on; I'm super-skeptical about how a traditional wrap dress will work with my short-waisted, full-balconied, and generally no-waist torso. But I browsed through a lot of Diane's other dress designs, and found the beauty below.  This really calls out to me in all kinds of ways - it's got my favorite colors, a much less dangerous décolletage, and some side shirring that seems as if it would be very flattering...

Sigh...    

 

 

love, Janice   ... View the Post