Black Archives - Page 24 of 87

Start with a Scarf: Louis C. Tiffany Peonies Neckerchief

February 4, 2022

After I showed you this neckerchief last Monday, the 31st, more than a few of you asked me to expand upon it's lovely colors...

I have just the heroine for this color palette! Mature Plant Salvage Nobody really understands what her landscaping company does, until they really need her help!

Like the University that added a number of classroom/research buildings to their campus ALL AT ONCE, and now have a bare eyesore of land, interspersed with lovely structures...

"It will be beautiful in 100 years, when everything grows up around it and softens the edges..."

Well, that's NOT what she sees! She sees places to put trees that she saved from a condo development site on the north side. Corners of ... View the Post

21 Garments for 21 Days – Starting with 2 Scarves!

January 28, 2022

I don't know where the specific number - 21 - came from; if someone can point me in the right direction, I will be thrilled to credit the inventer!

But I also want to pause for a moment to consider the real intent behind all of the various "# Garments for # Days" wardrobes that are in circulation.

To me, the whole point of these is to provide a clear structure in which - for a specific period of time - you can test-drive what it feels like to have a clearly delimited, reasonably small wardrobe.

It started - in a big way - with Project 333. 33 items total (with a handful of caveats) for 3 months. Lots of people who have tried this have come to realize that they don't need to have a huge wardrobe, and that a ... View the Post

January 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

January 5, 2022

Let's GO!!!

First up is black...

Last week we started with 5 essential garments (well, essential for most of us!):

As soon as I saw this "rust red" - I know that this was where I wanted to start! To me, this color is very close to the color of warmly brown leather... maybe brown earrings would have made sense here but I didn't see any that impressed me, so I opted for these timeless black ones!

These 6 additions to the original 5 garments give you something that can legitimately be called a wardrobe! It's not huge, but for a long weekend, this would serve you well:

You've now got at least a few outfits...

Next is our soft, warmly-colored wardrobe:

Since I couldn't find 5 beige ... View the Post

Start with a Sweater: An L.L.Bean Fair Isle Sweater, and a 1 Piece at a Time travel wardrobe

December 10, 2021

I am asked 2 questions pretty often - how do you build a wardrobe around a specific garment, and how do you decide WHAT to pack?

This post is going to try to answer both questions!

First up, let's start with this classic sweater, perfect for this time of year in much of the Northern Hemisphere:

For me, the 1st step is to look, really look CAREFULLY, at the colors in our focus garment. You're looking for the easily seen, visible at a moderate distance colors.

Like these:

By now, you know full well that I'm going to go a bit nuts emphasizing how important your travel outfit is - you could easily have to wear it for 36 hours, so you need to love every stitch of it!

It's an obvious ... View the Post

November 2021 Start with a Bracelet: The Fierce Optimism Bracelets

Robyn! Coordinated Granny Woodstock! Send me your mailing information, because YOU have won the Mumbai Paisley scarf!

November 26, 2021 She Has Complete Confidence...

The weekend is going to be pretty much ALL parties. Well, after almost 2 years, everybody wants to get together. They won't all be full-on "parties" with decorations and centerpieces and such, but they will still be festive gatherings...

There once was a time when this kind of trip would fill her with dread; she would pack 2 big suitcases, and bring a huge chunk of her wardrobe with her. Even then, she never felt that she was dressed appropriately.

It weighed on her mind, on her confidence, and on her self-esteem.

But after ... View the Post

Start with Art: Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

November 19, 2021

Remember our old friend, the expert in Gothic Architecture iconography?

She's worked from home;

with a wardrobe to which we added lots of accessories!

She also visited a college campus to lecture;

and she took students to The Cloisters in New York;

and she's been working with Paris officials on Notre Dame.

You can tell that she's a favorite heroine of mine!

This is her inspiration:

She Could Work from the Photographs that the church in Dublin sent to her, but she decided to go actually see the carvings in their location within the building. The church members had taken advantage of the pandemic to build scaffolding and climb up to clean decades of candle smoke and incense ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Mumbai Paisley silk scarf – Echo

November 17, 2021

Yes - ANOTHER SCARF GIVE-AWAY!

This lovely object is 36 inches square, and SO lovely... Leave a comment and it might be yours! Creativity Requires Discipline At least that's what she believes. Years ago, when she committed to designing jewelry, she made the very startling choice to limit her work to silver, gold, black onyx and pearls. Well, she will use mother-of-pearl if it is truly ivory...

Over time, her wardrobe came to reflect the same colors that she cherished in her work...

When it's time to go to the annual One of a Kind show in Chicago, she knows exactly how she will pack!

She deliberately packs a column of charcoal grey, as well as wears her black column. These small choices can make ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Garden Party by Echo

November 10, 2021

Big Important Notice!!! If you leave a comment today, you will be entered into a drawing to WIN THIS SCARF!!! The lovely people at Echo gave me one, and I'm giving it to one of you...

It's a huge silk square - I think 50 inches - and it's soft and fluid, so that it's easy to wear. I don't have any photographs of the full scarf; if the weather clears up here I will try to take one, but just trust me (and Echo) on this!

And OH YEAH, it's sold out...

It's normal where she lives to wear black all of the time, but when she goes to visit her family, she knows they worry about it...

So she's worked out a system! Whenever she is going to visit family, she focuses on black columns, and accent 2nd ... View the Post

August 2021 Start with a Bracelet: The Resolute Lynx Bracelets

August 25, 2021 You Don't Want to Go by Yourself! They keep telling her that. But she's been saving money for a year and a half, just to be able to go out to eat, in her favorite city...

And if nobody else can go with her right now, that's fine; she enjoys her own company!

She's starting here:

She's only going to pack what she can easily carry, so she narrows down her color palette:

It's not a long train ride, but she still wants to look nice; this whole idea of traveling in pajamas leaves her cold, in so many ways!

I'm not telling you that this 39-inch square silk scarf costs only $49...

She frankly isn't going to do a ton of sightseeing; she plans to eat at the second dinner service when the serious diners ... View the Post

13-Piece Spring Wardrobes – Black and White, Olive and Beige

June 11, 2021

I can clearly see that I want to do at least 2 more of these after today! The denim/chambray/soft pink idea MUST be investigated, as well as... what other color?

But today, we look at black, and then at my nemesis, green!

First up - a wardrobe that I could envision buying if I lost every stitch of clothing that I own... the pink skirt would be a real adventure for me, but why the HECK not try it?

This may not qualify as a completely "Whatever's Clean 13" wardrobe - I can see some of us feeling uncomfortable wearing the blue tee shirt with the pink skirt. But if one could find the right scarf, necklace, or bracelet to tie them together, or if one just plain and simply LIKES the 2 colors together, why not? (it's ... View the Post

Are You Ready? Stress Dressing for Warm Weather

June 4, 2021

Emergencies and last-minute changes of plan don't stop just because the weather gets nice, right?

So it behooves most of us to have a plan in mind in case we're called away for a day or 2 of work at a remote location, or a quick trip to a fun destination, or a quick trip to an urgent family situation...

This first wardrobe is the sort of thing you would grab if you had to go babysit for a day or two, or care for an older relative:

Your friends need you to go stay at their summer home for a couple of days while the windows are being repaired? You can be ready in 10 minutes...

Someone from your family needs to show up for an estate issue... You might just need to BE there, but you may have to hang ... View the Post

Start with Art: Winter Solstice by Dame Barbara Hepworth

May 26, 2021

They're having an anniversary party... and this year, she can go!

She will leave after work, spend all day Saturday and Sunday with her relatives, and then go back to work on Monday morning!

Life got much easier once she realized that she could wear the same cardigan and skirt on Monday that she wore on Friday, and that NOBODY would notice...

Since the party is during the weekend of the Solstice (more or less!), she's using this as her inspiration:

The big constraint for her in warm weather? She will NOT expose her arms. Not to anybody, for any reason, unless it's a moment of true intimacy...

Everybody has something that concerns them, right?

But she loves to wear sandals, and she really ... View the Post