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Build a Capsule Wardrobe in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – December 2017

December 1, 2017

The last month of these wardrobes! Although these outfits might not be exactly what our assorted heroines most need, we're going dressy - just because we can...

There's a world of lovely velvet around this year - take advantage of this chance to stock up! I'm particularly taken with the idea of a black velvet skirt - Lands' End has one that's lovely...

This wardrobe has a unique character - just those few pieces of that rusty color make so much difference!

As always, the new pieces we've added work well with what was already in the closet:

Oh, these pants are SO lovely.... sigh....

This woman has such a distinctive style; is she blonde, you imagine?

The sleeves on this sweater ... View the Post

December’s Birthstone is either Turquoise or Tanzanite – They Go with EVERYTHING…

November 30, 2017

This is the last month of birthstones... I'm already thinking that next year I'm going to look at the flower associated with each month, just for fun!

Turquoise is pretty easy to wear, since it comes in such a range of colors. Tanzanite only seems to be available in shades of that vivid violet/purple - not that there's anything wrong with this color!

First up, greenish-blue looks absolutely perfect with warm orangish brown.. And that touch of hot pink in the scarf is really unexpected, but lovely...

Some tanzanite jewelry is madly expensive, but oh so lovely...

Maybe wearing all of these accessories at the same time would be overdoing it, and maybe it wouldn't! Would you ... View the Post

Can I Wear Grey for Dressy Events? Heavens YES!

November 28, 2017

I was asked to show some options for cool colors - especially including grey - for dressy events in cooler weather. Grey can be so elegant...

First I went "shopping" for cool clothes - mostly in silver grey, but I could NOT resist that luscious aqua sweater! It also comes in grey, as well as a really light beige heather, and a glorious bright but heathery blue... The aqua and the blue are such uncommon colors to see this time of year - you won't see yourself coming and going on the streets...

To provide us with a basis upon which we can build some outfits, I'm referring back to A Common Wardrobe in grey that I used a few weeks ago. Realistically, you could easily wear both the grey sweater and the gorgeous ... View the Post

Grey or Wine? What do I Need to Wear for the Holidays?

November 17, 2017

These are so much fun...

Grey is tough! It's really difficult to find things in shades that look good together... But you can easily imagine these tops with jeans, and a pair of nice grey pants will go anywhere short of a barn or a beach...

Little touches like snowflakes on your ears, or a sparkly clutch bag, can elevate the dressiness quotient of a classic outfit:

Of course, if you have genuine grey pearl jewelry, the pearls on your cardigan will not look as nice, but that's not something worth worrying about - it's the holidays!

One of the very best things about choosing a signature color for holidays (or anything else!) is that you can then collect really nice, high-quality things from year to ... View the Post

Is it Possible to Pack a Foolproof Suitcase? What if the Weather is Uncertain?

November 13, 2017

A very dear reader is going on an exciting trip soon - with friends! - for 12 days. The weather could be cold, or it could be moderate and pleasant. What to do?

Plan, plan, plan...

Let's start with something that might be her travel outfit, and build from there:

I know that her jacket is purple, and that she wants to wear navy and grey. From that, I developed these guidelines. Your choice of motif could be floral, or paisley, or plaid, or whatever strikes your fancy (I'd probably try something with stars, knowing me...)

Washable fabrics are logical for travel, and the idea of being able to layer is sort of inherent in our whole project, but still important to remember as we work our way through this. ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: The Topographic Scarf from KathKath

We might as well take advantage of the 30% discount that the lovely women at KathKath have offered us, right? The code is vivkath30... their site is kathkath.com.

If you browse about at all on their site, you will find this gorgeous scarf, which is available in both square and rectangle, AND in both silk and modal/cashmere:

There are so many colors available here, but I settled on these, for now. What a rich wealth of beauty...

It was specifically requested that I work with this scarf and a grey base, so I'm going to use these pieces. Just to amp up the dressiness a bit, I've included a pretty blouse and a tweed skirt...

If someone were to really commit to this palette, jewelry in sea glass and mother of pearl would ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – November 2017

November 1, 2017

Maybe it's because the temperature plummeted this last week in Chicago... I decided that I'd find some winter coats for all of our heroines! Nary a black coat in the bunch...

Black would have been obvious here, so I went with grey instead! Yes, this might need to be cleaned more often - that's the biggest drawback to a light winter coat. If you get splashed with slush/muck/salty water, your coat could be ruined if it isn't cleaned promptly!

Everything new fits in very well...

Adding a new coat doesn't really add new outfits to your wardrobe, but the scarf does give you some options:

This is a coat that you would NEVER wear walking on city streets, but if your don't have that problem you could wear ... View the Post

November’s Birthstone is Topaz, or Citrine… Some Ideas!

October 30, 2017

I always love these months when we have a choice of stones - although November is a little bit strange because the average observer won't know the different between topaz and citrine... Which is a good thing; gold topaz aren't all that common, while citrine is pretty easy to find!

As usual, I'm starting with 6 really basic outfits in 6 neutral colors - 3 cool and 3 warm. Sweaters and corduroy pants are a good uniform this time of year in Chicago!

This first bracelet makes me swoon, just a little bit...

If you want to wear a "warm" stone with "cool" clothes, don't forget to look for stones set in silver, rather than gold - that balances the impression of the stones quite a bit.

And while we're remembering ... View the Post

Can I Wear Warm Accent Colors with my Cool Favorites? Start with a Scarf! Berlin Graffiti 2 from ImageDiary

October 27, 2017

The questions around color combinations can go in all sorts of directions... She Fell in Love with the Scarf...

She loved the story, the print, the colors... but her core wardrobe was grey and white! Is this going to work? She's going to honor her impulses and make it work...

She's starting here - comfortable and very versatile, but very grey, too... Not to worry, she has an idea!

The scarf will of course tie outfits together, but so will warm stones or faux stones like tortoise or amber, set in silver. And then she found another scarf that mixed some warm and cool...(yes, "5-Piece" is an approximation, not a law!)

The blue sweater is simple - blue and grey are both ... View the Post

Can a Corporate Wardrobe have Personality? Start With Nature! An Ocean Photograph by LBToma

October 16, 2017

I've received some requests for wardrobes that address the desire to return to the workforce without completely sacrificing personal expression. Of course, this is going to depend entirely on the nature of the office in which you find yourself - some are still pretty strict, while other will let you wear pretty much anything that gets you into the office without getting arrested!

But let's assume that you need to start out pretty cautiously; all of the internet "chat" about the office talks about their very old-school image, in the eyes of the public. Once you're in, and find your niche, you can branch out a bit.

This photograph was on that amazingly fun site Design Seeds - I thought that these colors would be a ... View the Post

Warm Grey and Cool Grey – Spotting the Difference

Last week when I told you that I saw lots of women in Paris stocking up on varying shades of grey, it brought up the question of different greys - warm and cool.

Of course, in its purest sense, grey is just black mixed with white, and thus should be neither cool nor warm. But when you start talking about textiles - many of which have a natural, underlying warmth to them (think unbleached cotton, or raw wool), things get more complicated.

Rather than try to come up with a theory about all of this, I'm just going to share with you a whole bunch of various items, arranged as best I can from the warmer toned to the cool. And yes, I completely cheated by putting a gradient background under these, so you can more easily see the yellow or ... View the Post

Planning Your Complete Wardrobe – Maybe I Should Start with the Real World?

October 12, 2017

I have absolutely NOT forgotten about my desire to figure out a way to have an overall wardrobe plan - something that I think we first discussed back in July?

Theories were posited that one could choose a specific number of each category of each garment, and a certain number of pieces for each season, etc. etc. But it all felt.... forced.

So I'm going back to reality - what is currently in my closet? What have I worn in the last month or so? Maybe I should start with what I actually OWN AND WEAR, and then see if I can make sense of that...

For now, I'm sticking with a target number of 52 - i.e. one piece per week, or 13 per quarter. So right now, I isolated in my closet the last 26 pieces of "non-gym" clothing ... View the Post