White Archives - Page 27 of 38

Color and Proportion – Step 2: Adding Shoes, and the Occasional Solid Scarf

April 3, 2015

For this 2nd step in my pondering about proportion, I want to introduce some shoes into the equation, as well as a solid-color scarf. I didn't find that I felt the scarf was "necessary" as often as I had expected - sometimes a pair of shoes made enough difference in the proportion of the outfit that the scarf, while fun, might be superfluous.

For these first two outfits, shoes that matched the cardigan lent enough "gravity" to the outfit that I didn't really reach for a scarf. Out fit 3 is more problematic - in screaming hot weather, white sandals might work, but white shoes made this look really "uniform", in the medical profession sense. Maybe the beige scarf and loafers would be better?

These outfits felt a lot ... View the Post

Color and Proportion – How Color Affects the Balance of an Outfit

April 2, 2015

Recently, someone wrote to me with an excellent question: she had narrowed down her wardrobe colors to black, white and beige, but wasn't sure how to combine these colors. Specifically, she was concerned about what percentage of each color could be in an outfit and still be balanced.

A question for the ages, really. There are limitless possibilities for combining simple colors. So I decided to put together the most simple outfits in those three colors, and see how the proportions felt.

For starters, I picked a plain tee shirt, jeans, and a classic cardigan in the three colors my friend mentioned. From these 9 garments, there are 27 possible 3-piece outfits, as well as an additional 9 2-piece outfits. Imagine the ... View the Post

An Update on Choosing a Valentine’s Day Scarf

March 18, 2015

Remember when someone asked about which Hermes scarf to choose for their Valentine's Day present?

In fact, when she got to the store, she found a scarf that's perfect for her, and that is NOT one of the six that we looked at last month!

Just for fun, I pulled a color scheme from this scarf...

I'm quite certain that our fortunate friend has a lot of ideas about how to wear her new scarf, but I'm tossing out a handful of accessory ideas, just in case!

What do you think?

love, Janice ... View the Post

Maximize Your ROI: Black and White Houndstooth Check Flats

February 11, 2015

As I mentioned before, I've received a couple of questions about what to wear with a special pair of shoes. When I saw these, I KNEW I was going to have fun, given my abiding love of all things black and white:

A little fearless mixing of stripes is the perfect foil for these simple flats. And a classic black dress with just a hint of white would be madly useful through the summer.

Putting dots with the houndstooth of the shoes seemed like a fun idea, and the pleated shorts are a lot more forgiving than the super-short shorts that seem to be everywhere! The red dress is easy with the black and white shoes - and a bag in a MUCH larger houndstooth pattern keeps things amusing.

Any bright color works ... View the Post

Start With Art: Winter at the Convent by Margaret Loxton

February 3, 2015

I love this painting... if this doesn't make you smile, I can't help you.

While I strongly suspect that these nuns are wearing black habits, the habits look very navy on my computer, and so my imagination was strongly drawn to working with navy, white and cool pastels.

I've talked before about the usefulness of having six garments that are the same color, that give you a basis for getting dressed on Monday morning without opening your eyes. That idea has really stuck in my head, so I've decided that I want to build on it a few times. Let's start here:

Even if you get dressed out of here every Monday, you still have LOTS of clothes unworn, so let's toss in a few extra goodies ... View the Post

White Capsule Wardrobe with Grey, Turquoise, or Celadon Green Accessories

January 24, 2015 For now, I'm finishing up this idea of monochromatic outfits and "accessory families" with some summery white linen items. (yes, they look sort of beige or ivory on the page, because white on white would be an incomprehensible blizzard...) Since the available linen white shoes are limited in January, I decided to grab some shoes that match or tone with the accessories - always a fun option! And for the elusive celadon, I chose some gold sandals; metallic are always worth remembering when you're struggling with a shoe color choices.

I'm starting to work on some more "Start With Art" wardrobes - anybody have some ... View the Post

The French 5 Piece Wardrobe, The French 10 Piece Wardrobe, Project 333, My Capsule Wardrobe

December 6, 2014 Everywhere you look, there's a "number" wardrobe that's recommended to make life easier! I am as guilty of that as anyone, because I like nice, tidy, finite wardrobes, and I'm crazy about numbers. But what do all of these number ideas teach us?

The French 10 Piece Wardrobe

To me, this idea translates into a core wardrobe with lots of versatility. It is the canvas upon which you demonstrate your personal preferences, whimsy, and style. Ten pieces of clothing is a pretty excellent number for those of us who are out in public 5 days a week, in that it provides a week of "tops" and a week of "bottoms".

If they're carefully chosen, these ... View the Post

An Embellished Cardigan: How to Dress Up a Starting From Scratch Capsule Wardrobe

November 20, 2014

A frequent concern for many of us this time of year is how to take our normal, everyday clothes, and make them "party-worthy". I don't like to buy a whole new outfit for a party - I'd much rather figure out a way to elevate the things I already own through the purchase of one strategic item.

There are a couple of different ways to do this; today I'm going to explore the possibilities inherent in a cardigan with some sort of beaded, embroidered or metallic detailing.

If you don't want to buy a new sweater, this is a great opportunity to do something crafty - I've seen some amazing sweaters dressed up with ribbon embroidery, or hand beading, done by the sweater owner. In one case, the initial embroidery ... View the Post

Packing: A 5-Pack Would Have Worked…

September 30, 2014

Or, in my world, 8 = 42...You might remember my excellent travel outfit:

I had this outfit on for an eternity of time, and I don't regret a thing! It was ideal, and I will almost certainly wear something very similar for future trips. But my suitcase was TOO MUCH STUFF... I'd have been well-served to have just packed this:

I understand that this seems like amazingly little, but I need to remember something really critical about my trips to Europe - especially my trips to Paris:

I SHOP!!!

I shop a lot. I start shopping the second or third day, and I tend to wear my purchases almost immediately. Thus, I leave things in my suitcase unworn, and I ... View the Post

Starting From Scratch Summer Office Wardrobe in Navy and White

August 12, 2014 Yes, it still exists: the office with the strict dress code. Pants only on Fridays. No visible knees, nor underarms. Absolutely no HINT of cleavage... This is even more challenging in the summer, when it can be sweltering outdoors, but the office will invariable be quite cool. The rules are made, and the thermostats are set, by men in wool suits, long-sleeved shirts, and an undershirt. (why, if they dress like this in the heat of summer, do we let them run the world?) But you can still have a great, fun, spiffy capsule wardrobe!

Remember this color scheme? A few weeks ago, I showed a very casual summer wardrobe using these colors. ... View the Post

Pretty Much The Perfect Pack

August 8, 2014

Although I had relatively little lead-up time for my trip two weeks ago, I feel like I had the perfect assortment with me. This was a relatively easy trip for which to pack, because I knew my activities ahead of time, I knew the weather conditions, and I had access to laundry facilities - sort of the packing trifecta!While I almost always travel in pants, this time I just slid leggings under my favorite linen dress in order to stay warm in flight. This crossbody bag is a fairly new purchase, and I really like it - it's light, lays flat, and holds quite a bit. I admit that I might have been tempted to get the next size larger, so that my tablet would fit in it...

Please note that these are not ... View the Post

How to Build a Summer Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch in Navy and White

July 19, 2014

Someone specifically requested a Starting From Scratch capsule wardrobe in these colors, and many of you have expressed concerns about how to implement this plan if you're dealing with scorching hot summer weather. I really felt like I wanted to go through an entire wardrobe in one post, just to clarify and illustrate one more time how I see this project working. So here you have it! Please note - the white garments here really ARE white - they just show up looking sort of beigy/grungy against the background. I generally don't promote the wearing of mungy clothes...

The first three steps are pretty straightforward: pants and shoes, then a cardigan and tee, then a neutral top and ... View the Post