Beige Archives - Page 43 of 57

Navy and Beige Wardrobe gets the (Turquoise and Periwinkle) Blues

April 23, 2014

Many of you mentioned mixing shades of blue with your navy and beige, citing the always beautiful suggestion that this reminds you of the sand and the sea. How can anybody make this happen?

Say this is your summer shopping - these are the accent colors that you use, rather than the red and green that I used earlier. So your color scheme is this:

In addition to changing out the accent colors, I'm going to make two simple changes to the original core wardrobe. First, I want to include a floral sweater that does justice to our chosen accent colors:

and I'm swapping out the patterned skirt from earlier for a solid navy skirt with a ... View the Post

Leveraging the Floral Trend: 1= 20

April 22, 2014

Once more, let's visit this beige and navy spring and summer wardrobe. You're happy with this wardrobe - it provides appropriate and attractive options for pretty much every event in your life. But you decide that you WANT something floral, just to participate in a current trend. You love flowers. You want a new tee shirt. You just plain want to shop! Keeping your color scheme in mind - either through carrying around some skeins of embroidery floss, or a photograph of your closet, or whatever mnemonic works best for you:

You stumble across this beauty in your shopping:

All your colors. Floral. It seems perfect... ... View the Post

More Wardrobe Leverage: 3 = 30

April 19, 2014

Let's say that you are the happy owner of the 24 piece wardrobe in navy and beige that we've looked at for the last two days... And you decide that you want a little bit of brightness for spring!The only real thing you want to keep in mind while shopping is the degree to which anything new that you choose can be worn with your core pants and sweaters. A scarf that includes your core colors, along with a couple of pretty accent colors, is a good place to start. Pick up a pair of tee shirts in the accent colors, and you're on your way!

At first, these don't see to be a particularly compatible choice for your original wardrobe:

But in ... View the Post

2 dozen = 12 dozen, at least

April 18, 2014

I'm always intrigued by how many outfits you can pull together from a well-chosen capsule wardrobe, so after I built yesterday's ensemble, I started pulling together outfits, just out of curiosity...Remember, these were the 24 garments with which I started:

There are almost certainly more possibilities here; I threw in the towel after I passed twelve dozen...

love, Janice ... View the Post

A “Two Suit” Wardrobe in Navy and Beige

April 17, 2014 Another visit to this concept, keeping the beige linen (I'm SO lazy...) and using navy as our other neutral. I'm going to try to explain the steps for choosing these items in more detail, so that you can recreate what I do in your own closet.

Also, I want to address the question of having multiple pairs of dark neutral pants. Often, we're told that "you shouldn't own three pair of navy pants", but I heartily disagree, because of the wide variety of navy pants that you might own. In this particular example, I've included very narrow navy capris in a cotton fabric, a wide-legged trouser (full-length), and a silk-like palazzo pant. My feeling is that these three pants give three very different outfits when ... View the Post

Can Chanel Guide Us to a Workable Casual Wardrobe?

April 16, 2014 One of the most popular posts I've ever written was asking if Coco Chanel was right when she told us that a woman only needs two suits to be well dressed. (find it here) I'm often asked how this idea translates for those among us who wear mostly casual clothing, and who don't really have any use for a suit. So these are my thoughts: First off - the equivalent of the black suit - a cardigan, capris, pants, and a dress:

and then a similar approach in beige - another cardigan, linen pants, a pair of shorts and another:

First add-on is a couple of "twin-sets" in accent colors. But only one cardigan, and a linen shirt to take the place of the ... View the Post

Inspired by a Blue and Beige Hotel Room

April 10, 2014 Ah, you wanted to see outfits from the OTHER hotel room? That, I can do...

This isn't entirely different from yesterday's room - it shares a camel/beige sort of feeling, but some beautiful shades of blue give us a different wardrobe.

There are lots of stripe influences in every room I've seen in this hotel, and that's great, from a clothing choice perspective. A striped cardigan is always going to get my vote... And the lace skirt and trimmed blouse are the same as from yesterday, but take on a different look with a blue cardigan.

Soft blue will always make me think of chambray, and I love the striped sweater with the skirt (more than any pair ... View the Post

I Want to Dress Like an Empire-Style Hotel Room

April 9, 2014

This is a typical room in the Hotel des Grands Hommes, in Paris. The colors and the details in this room can inspire a beautiful wardrobe. The colors words that I focused on were taupe, beige, camel, apricot, slate, gold, copper and bronze. I was looking for soft, patterned, draped and refined looks...

The striped colors of the headboard drew my eye to this sweater - it's softness confirmed my choice. And the combination of apricot and charcoal with a detailed scarf were irresistible.

I loved this coat, and the ornate flats appealed.... and the draped tunic dress, with warm tobacco leather leggings and metallic ballet flats are a ... View the Post

How to Pack for Springtime in Paris: Beige with a Touch of Blue

This originally appeared on A Femme d'un Certain Age in April 2012... as will all posts this week, the individual items may no longer be available, but the concept of the organization still holds true.

beige metallic cardigan – Vanessa Bruno, gold stud earrings – Roberto Coin, Trench coat – A.P.C., scarf (Early American) – Hermès, ivory tee – Precis, pants – Ralph Lauren, suede loafers – Tod’s, tote bag - Gucci

Sunglasses – Prism London, Beige tank – MICHAEL Michael Kors, v-neck sweater – Miu Miu, gold hoop earrings – Khleo, cashmere cardigan – Patagonia, printed dress - DVF, capris – Miu Miu, bracelet – Oscar de la Renta, cotton twill ... View the Post

I Love Ornate Details…

March 13, 2014 Maybe your living room looks like this... Okay, maybe your dream living room looks like this!

But like so many of us, you have a simple wardrobe that works for your everyday life:

But if you pay attention to the details, you can incorporate that style that you love into your everyday outfits. A touch of lace, a bit of muted floral, and some silk in the place of where many of us would wear cotton.

So you have quite a few outfits that are still very low-key, appropriate for your life, but still include that touch of luxe that warms your heart.

Keep to the same philosophy for your accessories - ... View the Post

I Want to Dress Like a Chalet…

March 11, 2014 These kinds of rooms are really popular, and many of you wanted to know if this whole feeling or sensibility can be conveyed in a wardrobe.

What can we take from this photo and those of similar rooms that will help us make informed choices about what to add to our neutral wardrobe? Words that I immediately identified included wood, bone, beige, ivory, ethnic and Native America prints, warm textures, tone-on-tone layering. Starting with this base wardrobe:

Three garments that aren't a really wild stretch, but that start expressing your taste:

Lots of easy ways to wear these...

Add in some ... View the Post

I Love Baroque, but I Live Simple and Contemporary

March 8, 2014 Maybe this is the living room of your dreams:

But your core wardrobe is our usual:

So let's try the same exercise we did before - find three garments that reflect the warmth, the rosiness, the ornate and filigreed nature of the room...

You have to keep, somewhere in the back of your mind, the reminder that you need to work with neutrals of black, white and khaki. Otherwise, let your heart go wild... and you will have lots of ways to wear them.

If this feels comfortable for you, you can branch out and add a few accessories that also share you sensibility...

These will work beautifully ... View the Post