Black Archives - Page 35 of 87

Bringing New Accent Colors into a Wardrobe

February 11, 2019

Back on Friday, I showed you a small travel capsule wardrobe based on a beautiful scarf - black and white with yellow and turquoise accents. The final wardrobe looked like this:

You don't have to be all that alert to see that the majority of this wardrobe is black, with white touches in stripes, dots and prints. The only accent color items are these 5:

So what do you do if you're just simply not in the mood to wear yellow and turquoise? Maybe you'd like some pretty pastels? Change the scarf, change 2 sweaters and 2 pieces of jewelry...

We make the minimal changes necessary to the original travel outfit, and it now looks like this:

2 adjustment to her travel capsule wardrobe that she's ... View the Post

What if You Want LOTS of Accent Colors in Your Wardrobe?

February 8, 2019

Maybe you don't want to limit your wardrobe to just a few accent colors... It could be that you've received scarves as gifts that you want to keep, and wear. Maybe you just like a range of colors - you really don't have to explain yourself to anyone!

But you also don't have to buy tons of things...

Stick with me here!

Let's start with this most lovely scarf, and the color palette that it suggests. It's not an outrageously odd color scheme, and it lends itself beautifully to a travel capsule wardrobe.

This heroine seems to love the juxtaposition between a skirt and a somewhat rugged jacket...

She's only going for a few days - mostly dressy-ish activities, but she will also want a pair of pants at ... View the Post

February 2019 -12 Months, 12 Outfits – based on 6 Hermes Scarves

February 1, 2019

First things first: after much consideration, I'm going to continue to use the Appaloosa des Steppes scarf, even though the design elements in the scarf are indeed from Kyrgyz rugs. I contacted the Kyrgyzstan embassy to ask if they were concerned or offended by this, and never received a response. After I read the Hermes website description of the design, I felt that they were using the images respectfully. I can't swear to this, but unless I get better information, I'm going to carry on. (to catch up on this conversation, check the comments on last month's installment of this series)

But don't ever hesitate to contact me about things like this; I will always take your concerns very seriously, and try to respond ... View the Post

Living Without Shopping – 1 Month Completed!

January 30, 2019

On New Year's Eve, I made the brave commitment to not purchase any clothing during 2019! My plan for managing this is to have 4 5-piece clusters each month from which I will get dressed. Because I spent so much of January in Florida, my normal wardrobe didn't really apply (when I'm there, I wear a lot of gym clothes, and just the occasional "normal" outfit...) and so I only put together 2 clusters for January.

But now, moving into February, I'm going with the original plan. Four clusters, 20 pieces of clothing. From this, I'm going to pack for 10 days in Ireland!

Two of these clusters should look pretty familiar:

This last cluster is for getting dressed up - we won't be in Chicago ... View the Post

Winter Travel: Verre et Paquet de Tabac by Juan Gris

January 29, 2019

She teaches creative people to work with data. It's not easy...

What it all comes down to is not bothering to look outside the box - as they love to say in business circles. She's convinced that the box is far from empty, and you just need to keep looking. There are possibilities that nobody has imagined!

She thinks that her affection for cubist art is somehow related to this; those artists looked at their subjects in a new way, and saw things nobody else saw... "Keep rearranging what you have, and eventually a new picture will emerge!"

This is her kind of painting:

She knew that she would struggle to find clothes in that "yellowed newsprint" color, so she substitutes her favorite gold! She's not obliged ... View the Post

Packing for a Car Trip, with a Gradual Change of Temperatures

January 25, 2019

What if your trip is by car? And what if you're going to take your time, and drive from the single-digit temperature fun of Chicago to the balmy deserts of the Southwestern United States? And what if you're going to take your time - every day in a slightly warmer place?

I'm thinking.... Pack separate, but closely related, outfits for 4 different kinds of weather. That way you're prepared for each warmer day, and at the same time the "relatedness" of the outfits gives you options for interchanging your garments to adapt to unexpected conditions.

A basic application of this idea would look like this:

When you start out, you're going to need to be warm, so a couple of layered jackets, and a warm scarf, will ... View the Post

Winter Travel: Street, Berlin by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

January 21, 2019

When they retired, they had a list of places that they wanted to visit. So, this first year of freedom, they're going to a new destination EVERY THREE MONTHS! Just for a few days, but they're going to do as much as they can manage, while they're still young enough to enjoy it!

When she started planning for all of these trips, she chose this painting as her inspiration. They're going to visit large cities, somewhat glamorous (to her!). So she's going to dress up and enjoy every minute!

There are quite a few colors in this painting, but she has isolated her wardrobe plan to these:

If you look closely, you can easily find grey, and 2 other shades of blue...

Their destination is warmer than where they ... View the Post

Chic Sighting: Printed Dress and Black Cardigan

January 16, 2019

Yes, they were only going out to breakfast as a family, but she considers that a special occasion! So she put on her favorite black, white and red printed dress, with her dressy black cardigan, black tights, and short boots. (it just cracks me up to see people wearing boots here in Florida on days when I personally would be wearing sandals...)

Other people might not be dressed quite as nicely, but that's okay too...

This outfit idea works for hot weather too!

Lunching at a nice restaurant?

This idea works well for work:

There are a lot of places that you could wear this outfit!

You can even get quite dressed up using this idea! (and note the subtly heart-shaped earrings - ... View the Post

Winter Travel: Rhythmisches by Paul Klee

January 11, 2019

She quilted for years - ever since she was a teenager. So when they offered her the position managing the quilt museum (THE best quilt museum in the country, in many opinions...) she jumped at the chance.

The position involves travel... So she's going to try to be organized about this!

It might not be her favorite painting, but this is what she's chosen as her core inspiration:

She wants to dress in neutrals, but she's really reluctant to be pinned down to just cool (or warm) colors; she's going to mix it up! Her palette is this:

She likes to be comfortable and sort of... low key? when she travels - she's visiting women who've made quilts, or other smaller museums, so she doesn't want to show up ... View the Post

Evaluating a Wardrobe: A Year of “Instruments de Musique: by Pablo Picasso

January 4, 2019

Our final heroine from 2018! The square peg in the round hole, who nevertheless manages to be very effective at her job...

When she saw this painting, she knew that it would be a favorite for a long time:

So when she entered the workforce, she designed her own color palette and style guidelines... She knows that it's important for her to fit in with her co-workers, but she also wants to show her own personal... point of view!

When she traveled in January, she was absolutely delighted with what she packed - unexpected in some ways, but perfectly appropriate, just the same!

That trip went so well that she was... honored... (?) to be asked to visit their most difficult client just a few months later! ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits – based on 6 Hermes Scarves

January 2, 2019

Here they are! It took me a while to choose, but I think I'm going to love these...

First up - black and white with NO red... I'm interested to see how far I can go with just 2 shades of blue as accents. Given the success of the strictly navy and white wardrobe from last year, I'm optimistic!

This year, I thought that I would start with color palettes for each scarf - I think this will make it easier for me to make certain that I'm focused, and that each month's outfit will have a good chance of working nicely into the overall wardrobe.

I'm starting with the most uncomplicated outfits possible - lots of white tee shirts! It's easy to forget how useful these kinds of garments can be...

This next ... View the Post

Can I Last a Year Without Shopping? I’m Going to Try…

December 31, 2018

It becomes too clear this time of year - I don't need anything, and when I see things that I want, about 5 minutes of intelligent self-talk reminds me that the purchase would be... wasteful, at best.

I'd rather travel! And I do travel a lot. When you become accustomed to living for a week or 10 days or longer with just the contents of a suitcase as your wardrobe, you learn that you can manage - happily - with relatively little.

So I've got a plan! (of COURSE I have a plan - you're shocked, right?)

Clusters!

I'm going to be in Florida for part of January, but for the rest of January, I'm going to limit my wardrobe to 10 garments - 2 clusters of five...

This is my first cluster - these aren't exactly my ... View the Post