Black Archives - Page 29 of 87

Start with Art: Building a Travel Capsule Wardrobe based on Sea Change by Helen Frankenthaler

May 20, 2020

Such calming colors....

It's not a complicated color palette, but it's certainly beautiful!

She's Ready to Dress Up... Now that she's free to travel again, she does NOT want to pack jeans, nor sweatpants, nor a sweatshirt. Frankly, if she doesn't see her casual clothes for a LONG time, she won't mind!

They're going to take the train into the city, and stay in a hotel near the harbor. She wants to be able to see the sea from their room; it's been too long.

They've had months to plan this trip, and dream about it. Leisurely walks, holding hands. Lovely, lingering dinners. Sitting in a café by the sea, watching the waves and sipping a cocktail.

Nothing strenuous - they don't have a ... View the Post

Revisiting A Start with Art: Winter Scene in Moonlight by Henry Farrer

February 14, 2020

A couple of my friends have asked me to revisit this color palette for spring and early summer - that transition time of year! It's not quite right for this snowy day in Chicago, but it's a beautiful daydream...

We first saw this heroine when she went on vacation at the farmhouse, in the dead of winter! Her wardrobe was then expanded into a true 16-piece "Four by Four" wardrobe. And THEN, our heroine added on some essential accessories to make this a more complete winter wardrobe...

Now, the weather is warming up at the farm - the tenant farming the land told her that she was seeing crocus and some daffodil sprouts! She's got to go up and investigate.

This is the painting that inspires her color ... View the Post

Paris Part 1: The Most Simple Travel Capsule Wardrobe Possible, and Lots of Good Food…

January 29, 2020

I'm back! And it was glorious... Any time I get to spend that much uninterrupted time with Belovedest is going to be great, but this trip was truly special. Today and Friday I'm going to try to share some of it with you. If you're planning to go to Paris any time soon, I've got some suggestions, and if you can't make the trip, travel along in your imagination!

We left mid-day Saturday, with stunningly cheap tickets on Aer Lingus, the Irish airline. This of course meant that we connected through Dublin, which was quite simple. The most difficult part for me was wanting to just stay in Ireland! But Paris beckoned...

What did I wear for this epic 2 day trip? Why, my argyle cardigan of course! (This isn't ... View the Post

Start with Art: Flowers and Flames by Kay Nielsen

January 22, 2020

You'll notice that this heroine is packing many of the same garments as the heroine from last Wednesday! It's amazing how much difference changing up some accent colors - and the accessories that bring everything together - can make a wardrobe look completely different... It Calls to Her...

She's been working for years on a species of eucalyptus that won't catch fire quite as easily as the existing plants. It's suddenly a timely subject... And she's been invited to a conference about post-wildfire reclamation, at which her new plants will be a subject of conversation.

Since she's only going for a couple of days, she's packing according to the Perfect 10 Packing template:

Normally, this heroine is pretty ... View the Post

Start with Art: The Black Duck by Marsden Hartley

January 15, 2020

As I start sorting out my brain to pack for Paris, I'm looking a lot at the Perfect 10 Packing Template... Bird Watching

Nothing rigorous - no cameras, no sitting in a blind somewhere waiting for hours for the sighting of the rare crested whompalicious swamp duck... Just lounging by the lake, on the deck, sipping a warm beverage and watching the birds come and go...

Her plan is to keep it simple:

She loves the unexpectedness of using brown with black. Why don't more people wear them together? Lots of birds pair the 2 colors in the plumage...

She will be going out at night with friends, so she plans for a couple of slightly dressy evenings...

She reviews her template carefully...

And ... View the Post

Start with Art for Cold, Wet Weather Travel: Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

December 27, 2019

Remember our art/architecture Gothic specialist? She was a guest lecturer back in 2016, took a group of students to visit the Cloisters, and then was invited to lecture in Paris...

Nobody has the first clue how old she is; her white hair is braided into an intricate crown (how DOES she do that by herself?), her fingernails are always a practical length, but red and flawless... I still suspect that denim has never touched her body, except in passing!

She's inspired by these 2:

The Saddest of Projects

She's off for a couple of days in Venice. Things are going to have to be moved, and she's going to make some suggestions about what needs to go first... The flooding isn't going to get better with ... View the Post

Analyzing 2 Wardrobes: When Your Color Palette is Challenging

December 20, 2019

The last two wardrobes! These were the most difficult - no question. And I made a couple of early strategic mistakes that I would re-do...

First up, this excellent scarf!

I should NOT have tried to make white one of the neutral colors. White as a neutral really only works well if you live in a hot place and don't mind laundry...

A smarter move would have been to use brown and navy as "co-neutrals" and then white, red, turquoise and orange as accents. This would still have been a big stack of colors with which to work, but it might have been a better balance. It's always easy to look back and say what I might have done differently, isn't it?

I went off the rails in a big way in February - I had designated ... View the Post

Analyzing 2 Wardrobes: When Everything Looks Pretty Good…

December 13, 2019

Let's jump in and see the good, the bad, and the just plain misjudged from this year's wardrobes!

First up - I'm really happy that I chose this scarf. The color palette is delectable, and the clothes were reasonably easy to find. When tied, this scarf would probably look really interesting. All in all, I'm giving myself a pat on the back for this choice!

2 concerns from the first 4 months:

multiple shades of blue aren't the best possible option - for example, the February scarf can't be worn with the January, nor the March sweaters. It's not a huge issue, but if you're really working toward the smallest possible wardrobe, looking for a consistent accent color in the early stages would be helpful. That ... View the Post

December 2019 – 12 Months, 12 Outfits – based on 6 Hermes Scarves

December 4, 2019

I can't believe that this is the last month of these outfits! It seems like yesterday that I was trying to decide if I would continue to use the Appaloosa des Steppes scarf, because of the concerns about cultural appropriation...

Let me say right upfront - not one of these wardrobes is perfect! So for the next 3 Wednesdays, I'm going to take a look at all of them (2 per week) and see what we can learn from my mistakes, over-enthusiasms, and general lack of a good plan. Thus I'm not going to bury you in analysis today...

That said, any of these wardrobes could take you a long way, for a long time. If this was the core of a wardrobe for someone who wears uniforms during the day, she would need never fear having ... View the Post

I Love IT, but Will I Wear IT? Start with a Scarf: Lion & Peacock by Aspinal of London

November 29, 2019

I know, I should be showering you with holiday gift ideas and telling you about all of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. I'm NOT that blogger, though... sigh...

However, I firmly believe that those of us who are holiday shopping should treat ourselves to one really LOVELY thing for the upcoming season, and of course for the years to come. We don't buy something just to wear it once or twice, unless we're getting married or standing up in someone else's wedding!

So maybe a scarf has caught your eye, and kicked you in the heart... (I love the phrase coup de coeur...)

It's all the right colors - warm and cool, neutrals and accents...

But can you wear it? How will you wear it? You don't want ... View the Post

Start with Art: Landline Blue by Sean Scully

November 22, 2019

Can You Get Out of Work on Monday? Because Friday is the anniversary of our first date...

"And I would like to take you into the city for a long weekend... We could dine out, and go to a concert, and just have a lovely time together..."

"There's an exhibit at the museum of paintings by one of our favorite artists - we could go there too!"

Of COURSE she'll get out of work on Monday. She had no idea when their first date was, until she was reminded. And her true love was indeed exactly right!

Who's going to turn down a long weekend with a sweetheart so thoughtful, and with that kind of sentimental heart?

love,

Janice

p.s.

2 years ago we looked at another teal ... View the Post

La Valise de la Garçonne, or How I Packed for Paris

November 13, 2019

By the time you read this, I should be back from a long weekend in Paris. Yes, 4 days... (in fact, literally the moment I was getting ready to walk out the door to the airport, I was SMACKED to the floor with back spasms, and have spent the entire time since then sacked out in bed, or sitting in the jacuzzi in my building, trying to recover... sigh...)

It was somewhat impromptu - friends were going there, and we talked so much about what we might do if I was going to be there too... I'm weak!

This painting sings to me. It feels like black, white and denim, which is my entire wardrobe right now! (I've lost interest in accent colors for myself - I can't explain why!)

My original plan was to pack all dresses, ... View the Post