Black Archives - Page 23 of 87

Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Shōman, Grain Full

May 23, 2022 2-Lane Roads, Top Down

After the main crops are planted, a lot of farms open to the public on weekends for visits, tours, and even a bit of shopping!

Our heroine is a particular fan of old barn architecture, of driving in the country, and of buying fresh produce!

And she takes this as a chance to dress nicely - she already knows that she's going to need a scarf in her hair, so wearing a dress isn't overdoing it. It's not like SHE'S the farmer, right?

I like to think that all of these heroines have a pair of driving shoes in their car (these come in about 20 colors!) - they kick them off when they park, and slip on their sandals... Better for driving, better for their sandals, and safer too!

Yes, people who ... View the Post

Preparing for Warm Weather – Stress Dressing Clusters!

May 9, 2022

Years and years ago, I shared with the world my secret for how I get dressed on those mornings, when everything goes wrong and I don't even want to THINK about clothing...

Right now, our weather is madly uncertain - it's been a cold and wet spring, but I think that in the next few days, summer is going to arrive with a vengeance.

How to prepare? I can't just open my closet door and hope to make sense of a complete change of seasons...

So I've sorted out a wee wardrobe cluster, all pressed, hanging in 1 place, and ready to go!

You can choose any 6 garments that work well for you, but I would always suggest that you include a 2nd layer, like a cardigan, and a pair of long pants. This is the perfect ... View the Post

May 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

May 2, 2022

Let's visit our gradually growing wardrobes, based on beautiful scarves from PJ Studio Accessories!

This month, it was SO easy to shop for this wardrobe! I can't imagine how I personally would get through the summer without a shirtdress in a light fabric...

Each of these wardrobes now includes 19 garments - pretty much enough to get through the summer! If you're inclined to participate in the "21 Garments, 21 Days" challenges, any of these wardrobe plus a couple of tops would get you through the next 21 days pretty easily. Yes, some of these garments are skewed a bit toward cooler weather; some substitutions might be needed...

All the shoes you might need - from boots to sandals!

How might ... View the Post

Start with Art: The Water, Monaco by William John Leech

April 18, 2022

Making Compromises, When Your Palette is Difficult

She's really committed to these colors, even though she knows that it's not going to be easy... There's no real way she can envision getting dressed for an entire season without wearing black - even if it's hot!

And the rest of the colors? She has accepted that "her" beige, that green-ish, rain-soaked and slightly lichen-colored quay, isn't going to be anywhere to be found; she's prepared to compromise with the much more common beige...

The accent colors could be tricky; she can't actually see herself wearing soft lime OR light periwinkle with black!

But she gives it all a go - it's just clothing, after all.

Starting with the simple stuff - it's never difficult to ... View the Post

Version 4 Start with a Scarf: Peonies Silk Scarf by Arlo Goods

April 13, 2022

She's An Actress...

She's been a star of a daytime drama for years, playing the good twin and the evil twin...

Part of the fun of being friends with her is that her expressions and emotions can run the gamut from intellectually serious to hysterically funny in a matter of moments...

So nobody is surprised that she has included ALL of the accent colors in their "scarf-centric" wardrobe, nor are they amazed to see that SHE bought the kimono, and not the scarf!

It's still a pretty versatile wardrobe:

Rumor has it that the writers on her show are about to introduce a long-lost triplet...

love,

Janice

p.s. Approximately seven years ago, I shared with you my shortcut to calculating ... View the Post

Version 3 Start with a Scarf: Peonies Silk Scarf by Arlo Goods

April 11, 2022

They all seem to have chosen the same scarf...

Executive Coordinator of something or other... She came directly from a training visit to one of their branch offices...

Her company's name is just a long list of letters, with an ampersand in there somewhere; her friends can NEVER remember...

And they could not BEGIN to explain what it is that she does. What they do know is that she's important, travels a ton, and has the bold confidence of a pride of lionesses!

She has been packing for 2 or 3 day work trips for years, so going from meetings to friends and then BACK to meetings doesn't faze her in the least...

9 garments is plenty for her - options for operas and dinners with friends, ... View the Post

Version 2 Start with a Scarf: Peonies Silk Scarf by Arlo Goods

April 8, 2022

The Soccer Coach...

Green eyes, and an auburn pixie hairstyle... But a serious Division A college soccer coach. Her friends from childhood never doubted...

They often joke that she chose the University at which she works because their colors are green and white! When she got the gig, they all chipped in to get her a pair of emerald earrings, which she wears almost constantly...

What might be most surprising about her is that she manages to get dressed up for some of their get-togethers without sacrificing a smidgen of her personal style!

She knows that her friends love to see her wear green, because they so admire how it flatters her - so she packs to oblige! In all fairness, she does have ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Peonies Silk Scarf by Arlo Goods

April 4, 2022

She's Always Rather Dressy... She always has been - they've all known each other since school, and she was always the most dressed-up of them all at any event! Not that she was ever inappropriate - just a notch or 2 fancier than them..

So when they make plans to get together for a long weekend in the city, they look forward to seeing her, (of course!) and seeing how she is dressed!

For what it's worth, she's hysterically funny, very generous, and an all-around great friend...

This weekend should be particularly interesting; they've got tickets to Orchestra Hall, and dinner reservations another night at one of the new, "fancy" restaurants that has recently opened...

They haven't all been together ... View the Post

April 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

April 1, 2022

I SO wanted to put dresses into these wardrobes, but (1) we've looked at lots of dresses recently, and (2) I sort of feel like skirts are more versatile. I should think about that, huh?

Let's start with golden leaves against a bright blue sky! (since it's snowing in Chicago as I write this - talk about April fools...)

After much searching, I found the perfect silk skirt! This could be worn a ton of different ways...

Each wardrobe now has 16 garments - I suspect we could pull together a pretty tidy "4 by 4" wardrobe from these...

And each wardrobe now has 12 accessories - this is SO INCREDIBLY WRONG in my world... I suspect that lots of accessories will be showing up in the next few months!

As ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #51: A Skirt

March 7, 2022

It's getting to be that time of year when many of us are going to be invited to something dressy - weddings, baptisms, graduations etc etc.

These things can be much more fun if you have your outfit sorted!

Please note - a lot of the garments that look like plain old ordinary tee shirts are, in fact, cashmere tee shirts! They aren't as warm to wear as you think they might be, and they give you a simple silhouette that's still dressy, because of the fabric...

For this first outfit - if you buy this bag, you'd not be crazy AT ALL to buy at least a couple of garments in this shade of blue; J.Crew has quite an assortment...

If you're one of us "anything, so long as it's black!" people, a snazzy blouse and some ... View the Post

One Way to Choose and Assemble Your Uniform

February 11, 2022

I've probably mentioned this before (20 times!), but since we've all moved into 1 apartment together, my ONLY real issue is that my closet isn't conveniently placed, nor organized.

And I, of course, really don't have buckets of time to work on it!

My plan is to get rid of things that are no longer appropriate for what I do every day, and to have a good plan for what I purchase.

I'm also moving more and more toward Urban Organic as a style mantra, so I'm trying to buy clothes with better fabric, with less synthetic content, and that are made somewhere humane...

Big goals!

Initially, what would be the most help to me is to have a solid Cluster of 9 garments (either 3 outfits, or 27, depending on how ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #47: A Flannel Shirt

February 7, 2022

Ah, this garment is right on schedule, since I'm sitting here in a black tee shirt, black velvet jeans, and a black and white plaid flannel shirt. I only own 2, and they're both black and white plaid - sort of perfect for my wardrobe. But there are all KINDS of possibilities...

Like COLOR-BLOCKED? Who would have thought of this? (apparently, it was Lands' End...)

Another thing that I wanted to show today is the merits of owning a solid-colored scarf or 2. It might seem that they would be sort of blah, but they can be just the right touch sometimes!

If you're going to wear you flannel shirt over another shirt, and leave it untucked, why not just cut to the chase and get a flannel tunic?

If your ... View the Post