Clothing Archives - Page 4 of 23

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

Multiple Capsule Wardrobes Starting with Denim, Built Cluster by Cluster

September 13, 2024

In honor of Friday the 13th (not really!), I'm sharing a post that's been lurking in my brain for a while.

It's pretty backwards, in that I'm going to show you the complete wardrobe first, and then show you all of the options in this that I see...

clear as mud, as I can sometimes be, when I'm trying to use words, where pictures work better!

Here's the full 27-piece wardrobe for cool weather:

The questions that brought me to this included heroines who very much want a mostly denim wardrobe, heroines who can only keep a tiny portion of their wardrobe in their "main" closet at any time, and heroines who travel four nights a week EVERY WEEK, and who pack around a core of denim clothing...

So I ... View the Post

Should I Buy the Blazer AND the Pants? Boden Red Plaid Suit

September 11, 2024

She's working for a political campaign! And thus far, she's been wearing summer clothes, of course. But heading into the home stretch of this ENDLESS election (seriously, must this take 2 years?), she needs to pack and all-purpose suitcase for cooler/cold weather...

The temptation is this plaid suit. She loves the plaid, and she's not at all nervous about wearing something this bold. But she's still pondering if it makes sense to buy both pieces:

My approach to helping her with this decision is to show her outfit options using either the blazer or the pants... Her possible colors include the touch of yellow and bright blue found in the plaid, but I think frankly she's going to be a lot happier keeping ... View the Post

Need an Autumn Inspiration? Start With a Sweater – Fair Isle from L.L.Bean

September 9, 2024

Oh, so many of you are ready to buy something fresh for the upcoming cooler seasons, and SO many of you are hesitating...

A question I receive a few days ago - "I love earth tones - all shades of brown - but does it make sense to add this sweater to my wardrobe?"

Well, let's be honest - I love Fair Isle sweaters! All of the DNA tests assure me that I'm Scottish, Irish and French (of course!), so these sweaters are in my blood. And L.L.Bean does some lovely sweaters, that aren't priced to the moon and back. (I recently saw a Fair Isle sweater that appealed, until I saw the $500+ price tag...)

And if our heroine has a closet of browns and ivories (as she assures me she does), this sweater would be very ... View the Post

Can’t Wear Wool? Start With a Fleece Shirt Jacket from Lands’ End

August 26, 2024

It might be any kind of caregiving opportunity... but you've got to go somewhere legitimately cold (and with short days!), and you can't wear any kind of wool. Dear oh dear...

But trust me, there are solutions!

Fleece is wonderful. Warm, soft, washable...

but don't wash too often - this stuff sheds the microplastics that are found in every organ of your body now! Maybe try to find a good filter for your washer output hose...

These colors are particularly pretty, and would be cheery in a place with long cold nights:

I don't know if "shirt jacket" is one word, two words, or hyphenated. I'm going with two separate words for now...

One of the many joys of a shirt jacket is that you can wear it both ... View the Post

Want a Timeless Summer Capsule Wardrobe? Start with a Shirt – the Mountainside Shirt by L.L.Bean

July 12, 2024

While much of the world is getting ready for cold weather (I'm looking at you, Nordstrom!), some retailers are still introducing clothes for NOW. TODAY. Summer... (in the Northern Hemisphere)

One of you spotted this and wondered if it was a good base for a small summer wardrobe:

The three colors in the shirt are obvious for a wardrobe, and I decided to add white to the mix because... SUMMER! If you just don't do white, you can always substitute more navy, or denim, or chambray...

I started with simple navy classics, as well as a bandana, a sling bag, leather tennis shoes and a pair of earrings...

Then I looked at all of the "lake blue" things at L.L.Bean and chose a range of tops. Shorts and sandals ... View the Post

If You’re Only Going to Have One Sweater – Oliver Charles Winter Cable Knit

February 21, 2024

It's here, and I'm wearing it! My sweater from Oliver Charles - lovely, comfortable and beautifully well made... Here's a close-up view:

If you only want to own one sweater (okay, you may want a cardigan too!), this is a pretty good candidate - classic style, luxurious fiber content, neutral color... (this scarf is 100% yak, which is AMAZING...)

I'm going to be wearing my sweater for at least the next 7 days - probably longer, so on Instagram you'll be able to see what I'm wearing each day. But I have so many ideas about how this sweater can be worn...

I truly believe that you could get married wearing this sweater - pile on pearls and go for it!

Any neutral skirt, and a pretty brooch, and you're ... View the Post

A Cool Weather Capsule Wardrobe – Start with a Fair Isle Cardigan

September 15, 2023 RETIREMENT!!!

One of her first projects is to get EVERY SUIT out of her closet. And all but 1 pair of pumps... And donate them to Dress for Success.

She will, of course, save a nice dress and cardigan/jacket for somber events...

But now, she's buying SWEATERS!!! She could never wear sweaters to work... And a patterned sweater just piles on - she couldn't wear any patterns except the most conservative, menswear-inspired prints. If she never sees a pinstripe again, it will be too soon!

Dangly earrings... swoon...

She fell in love with the cardigan, and determined that her first 13 garments would be based on the colors in it...

If you like this shade of "Green Dune", please note that Nordstrom ... View the Post

Accenting Black with Another Neutral

July 26, 2023

I've been thinking about accent colors ever since I finished Monday's post about the blue dress...

What happens when I start with this?

For many of us, finding 2 things like this in our closet isn't tough! Yours might be navy, or grey, but the idea is pretty similar...

And THEN, I was thinking about colors in wardrobes; this is NOT an exhaustive list - just something to remind me to look for Camel, when my wee brain falls black and exhausted!

If you can think of 20 colors, and if you're willing to wear any color with any other color, that gives you 400 possibilities! No wonder I don't run out of ideas!

But maybe you want this to be your uniform - or maybe it IS your uniform, once you get to ... View the Post

Start With a Skirt: black & white gingham linen

May 10, 2023

It's easy to look at a garment and think that you know how to wear it - we are, after all, adults. Mostly.

But it's easy to lose sight of possibilities; one of you is quite smitten with this skirt, but wasn't sure that there were enough options to make it worth including in her wardrobe.

Let's think...

This is the skirt - it's easy to see the appeal, if you're among the "black & white" crowd!

Let's start with the obvious - a white sweater, black & white jewelry, and a very modern pair of two-tone flats:

Similarly, a black sweater, bag and flats are easy choices. Adding pearls and shiny earrings help balance out the lightness and print of the skirt:

Any white blouse could be worn ... View the Post