Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature
August 14, 2017
This wardrobe was constructed over 5 years ago, but you could still pack every piece of this and wear it today... that's my primary goal. Timeless. Elegant. Classic.
When you know that you can wear something for years, you can feel quite a bit better about buying the very best items you can... It's only logical to make sure that your beautiful things will last, right?
love, Janice ... View the Post
August 11, 2017
While I'm still hanging out in Ireland, I'm sharing with you some of my favorite blog posts from the past. Today I think it's worth making certain that, before the season changes, you have in hand a really good, high-quality pair of shoes for the months to come. If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, this might certainly be a pair of sandals, but for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, I strongly suggest a beautiful pair of loafers. Look for beautiful quality, and exquisite construction...
This was Step 2 back in the original Starting From Scratch Wardrobe Building Exercise, 3 years ago, and I still believe it to be a great idea...
These are the sort of purchase that will last you forever - choose ... View the Post
As mentally we move toward a new season - warm or cool, depending on your location - it's appropriate and practical to make certain that we're not just shopping willy-nilly for pretty things without building a solid wardrobe base.
So I was reminded of my series from 3 years ago - How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch! We started with trousers... a step that I still consider the most helpful for making certain that you're prepared for upcoming weather and events.
Maybe adding nothing more than a really GOOD pair of pants to your existing wardrobe will be enough, for the upcoming season...
love, Janice ... View the Post
August 7, 2017
If you've got a dress that you dearly love, but you're wondering if you're going to be able to wear it when the weather cools down (in the Northern Hemisphere), let me suggest that you look at an earlier post of mine, where I show a navy dress with a whole BUNCH of very muted, autumn-ish accessories....
The power of a simple dress is easy to under-estimate, until you get one in your closet and really put it to work!
love, Janice ... View the Post
August 4, 2017
This time of year it's easy to begin to be tired of our current wardrobe, and this weariness is just compounded by the fact that stores are beginning to be filled with clothes for the upcoming season. What's an intelligent woman to do?
I'm suggesting, for those of us who wear dresses, that we get a new dress. Something timeless and simple, in a color that we don't always wear. Think about your existing "Accessory Families" and choose a dress that can be worn with things that you already love...
I've done a LOT of posts in the past about dresses - today I'm specifically thinking about this post about a navy dress with pastel accessories. A navy dress - or any dark neutral colored dress - can be worn to pieces ... View the Post
August 2, 2017
I leave tomorrow! My original plan was to go to Italy, but my friend had to postpone, so Belovedest and I decided that I would just get off the plane in Dublin (through which I was originally connecting) and spend the 12 days there. I'll be in an Air BNB for 6 days, and then B arrives and we'll move into a hotel. I'm mad excited...
This is a really uncharacteristic pack for me - it's a TON more stuff than I often take. But I'm going to get up in the mornings and do an alternate sprint/walk down the river toward the docks. (The wander back will probably require coffee shops...) That means that I need running skorts, shoes, tee shirts, socks, and probably some 2nd layer; Ireland is a lot cooler than Chicago, this time of ... View the Post
July 31, 2017
Although most of us in the Northern Hemisphere still have at least 8 weeks of hot weather in front of us, you can't tell it by what's in the stores. Cashmere, leather goods, lots of winter coats... Sigh...
But the August outfit last year, and again this year, is oriented to the season ahead:
As always, I like to see how the newest additions look when arrayed with the earlier pieces in each wardrobe:
It's always wise to make certain that you can wear any new garment in at least 3 different ways, so I like to check on this too!
I went a bit mad dressy here... sigh...
Such lovely colors...
I went a bit overboard here too, I suspect...
The brooch ... View the Post
July 28, 2017
This sounds like a silly question - we've all known our favorite colors since we were children, haven't we?
Well, in a nutshell, no. I get emails every day from people who still struggle to choose their neutrals, or to find a signature accent color, or some other variation on these themes that boils down to the issue of knowing what we most like.
Recently, one of you commented that you found peridot green as an accent when you kept seeing that color when you meditated! I personally found this to be utterly brilliant, and about as fail-safe a way to choose a signature as humanly possible. But what if you don't meditate?
I'm suggesting that you start looking for opportunities to make choices - all KINDS of choices - ... View the Post
July 26, 2017
You have asked me this question a lot - how can you handle traveling to a hot destination, where you need to be appropriately dressed when occasions or locations require modest attire?
Modesty almost always means 1 or more of 3 "things" need to be covered: 1. your shoulders 2. your knees, or 3. your head
So we've got to make certain that we have available to us at all times (in the backpack!) a shirt with sleeves, a skirt (or the zippy-on pieces of zip-off pants...) and a scarf... If you're one of those clever people who can wrap and tie a scarf in such a way that it works as a skirt, you're in luck...
Let's start with a lovely abstraction of a wonderful beach destination:
These are lovely ... View the Post
July 24, 2017
THIS is a tough color - it's really difficult to find any sort of accessories in this lime-y shade of green. But I think that it's a unique accent color that's well worth considering. If you're not comfortable wearing it close to your face, don't discount the beauty and the impact of a ring and/or bracelet...
As the weather remains really warm here in Chicago, I continued to build these little vignettes around dresses, although a couple of the dresses are decidedly more autumnal in feel - some for now, some for later!
I mentioned on Friday that I feel like the best balance for a wardrobe to lean much toward accessories, in a ratio to garments. On Friday when I got dressed to go out, I put on ONE dress (more than one ... View the Post
July 21, 2017
I tried. Yesterday I went into the Nordstrom store on Michigan Avenue here in Chicago. The store is 4 floors, so I have to believe that it's not one of their smaller stores...
And I struggled. First up, so MANY of the things that they have online are NOT in stores. That's a bit maddening when you walk in looking for something specific, only to find that it's not there...
Of course the store is arranged in a way to make your browsing as inefficient as possible; it's in their best interest to have you wander as much as possible, for as long as possible. I'm okay with that, if I can figure out a way to still make certain that I've seen everything in a certain category. In fashion jewelry, for example, I'm not at all sure ... View the Post
July 19, 2017
I could use paintings from this artist for WEEKS! She had an amazing career, and her body of work is beautiful - graceful, colorful, yet true to nature. Genius...
Please be aware, when looking at paintings online, that a LOT of work has been "touched-up" by people gone mad with Photoshop. If something seems wildly out of the normal style for an artist, look for multiple versions of the image. Especially once something gets to Pinterest, it is widely circulated, even though it might NOT be authentic. This is also true if you see a photograph of a bird that seems unlike anything found in nature - some of those pictures have been really altered... sigh... Same Lake House, Different Weekend... "You know that there are ... View the Post
