accessories Archives

Three Capsule Wardrobes: First Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – September 2023

September 1, 2023

It seems as if ALL of the children in the Northern Hemisphere are back to school! This time of year always makes me want to pull on a sweater and corduroy pants, some short boots and a lovely wool scarf...

Soon enough for cool weather!

Let's get started...

This heroine found herself last month with a 26-piece wardrobe; most of us could manage for quite a long time with that many clothes, if they were for the right weather...

Our heroine clearly understands that she should grab yellow things when she sees something just right. She loves her navy cotton skirt so much that she would like to find another navy skirt to start to dress up for longer evenings ahead... She could certainly get a narrow skirt, ... View the Post

A Cool Weather Wardrobe Accent – 10 Sweaters, with Accessories

August 28, 2023

Let's assume, for the sake of fun, that we know what our core neutral wardrobe color will be for upcoming cool weather (in the Northern Hemisphere, of course!).

But most of us are going to want to add something to accent our wardrobes for the upcoming 6+ months of sweater weather...

I've already found mine - I bought the Lands' End Velvet Plum Heather cashmere cardigan THE MINUTE it was available. I didn't wait for it to go on sale, because it had real, serious whappage, and that means grab it now!

I could have purchased the crewneck, but I already have a purple crewneck sweater - in a different purple! - so this filled a wardrobe gap, and also sang sweet songs of cashmere to my heart...

But there are ... View the Post

3 Capsule Wardrobes: Second Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – August 2023

August 4, 2023

Let's see what our other 3 heroines have going on in their wardrobes...

Our first heroine's wardrobe from last month was 23 pieces that gave her a good range of options...

This heroine was thinking of another skirt; as much as she loves her navy one, she would like one in olive! And while she's at it, she just wants to fill in some more olive in her wardrobe.

And she knows that if she wants olive tall boots, she'd better get on it!

I know that it seems really early to look at tall boots, but if you need a pair, don't delay! You'd be amazed at how many pairs of boots I almost added to these wardrobes, only to find that they're already sold out in a lot of sizes... sheesh!

This is what our heroine ... View the Post

Accenting Olive Green with Other Neutrals

July 31, 2023

Olive! Oh, do I have advice...

If you really want to build a core wardrobe in olive green, be prepared to work with colors that blend, rather than match perfectly. Couple the difficulty of even FINDING olive clothes, with the way that different companies call all sorts of different colors "olive," and you've got a project on your hands!

My approach would be to buy a couple of rolls of packing tape, and then mail order a BUNCH of olive garments, and then return anything that didn't work.

And get some paint swatches, or lengths of embroidery floss, and keep them with you at all times! You never know when the unexpected craft show will offer up the perfect scarf, or necklace...

But I finally managed to get some ... View the Post

Accenting Black with Your Favorite Color

July 27, 2023

So after we determined on Wednesday that it's possible to accent black with just about any other neutral, I want to see if it's possible to accent black with your favorite color...

There are, of course, lots of colors that I'm not including here! All colors are not easily found in this current "in between" season of clothing - not enough summer clothes, and not enough fall clothes... sigh...

But I always feel confident that a pretty shade of blue will look great!

Burgundy isn't a color that one expects with black, but the scarf makes ALL the difference... And adding a 2nd accent color with turquoise earrings... why not?

Hot pink? This scarf is irresistible! You don't have to have the earrings AND the ... View the Post

How to Wear a Blue Dress – 10 Ideas

July 24, 2023

I heard from quite a few of you, asking if this dress could be worn with... well... navy, black, green and pink, so far!

So I decided to give this dress the attention it deserves, and see what the possibilities might be...

My gut instinct tells me that this dress will be great with any neutral, and with just about any other color that is of a similar intensity. Let's see!

Navy - of course! This would be a great dress to wear to a stuffy office environment, and then out for dinner:

I think this is a lovely combination - the green is soft, but equally saturated, so that it stands up to the blue:

If the weather is hot...

If autumn is approaching, and you feel like a darker color is the right ... View the Post

Does a Different Neutral Color Make a Difference? Pantone London Autumn/Winter 2023-24

May 31, 2023

When we left these five accent colors, from the Pantone London Autumn/Winter 2023-24 colors, I think we had determined that many of us like all sorts of different combinations! But the question was posed that different neutrals might make a difference in how we felt about the various accent colors.

Good question!

The London neutrals were the following five colors:

I made the executive decision that I am NOT going to try to find Forest Night at this time of year! I don't know if I could tell it from Lava Smoke, unless the description of the item specifically mentioned that it was green and not grey...

When you look at the colors - especially when you look at the digital description of each of them - ... View the Post

Part 2: Pantone London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2023-24

May 24, 2023

Finally, I'm getting around to sharing the 2nd 5 of the London Fashion Week colors!

I've been thinking a lot about how one chooses their core neutral color - what if you chose it based on your favorite accent colors? Maybe you're really drawn to black, but your favorite accent color looks... wrong with black, to you.

Would it be wrong to put the accent colors cart(s) before the neutral color horse(s)?

Let's look at each of these 5 colors with black:

and with navy - almost identical garments, and I'm going to show them in the same positions etc....

Yellow and black? One either really likes it, or hates it!

And yellow and navy will forever feel like high school to me!

I couldn't find ... View the Post

New Colors! Pantone London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2023-24

May 15, 2023

It's sort of hard to conceive of this coming winter, since summer has just started, but the people at Pantone are always way ahead of the rest of us...

Today, I'm only showing you 5 of the 10 colors, because many of these colors are proving to be... elusive... If I'm successful in finding the other 5, I will share!

Let's start!

This persimmon is a pretty compromise between orange and red...

In order to see if these colors will work well for some of us, I want to add each color to a simple navy or beige outfit, and see what happens!

You could of course wear your new sweater with either pair of these pants, but I thought that the best look was bringing Persimmon accessories into simple, neutral ... View the Post

Accessory Families – Adding a Fresh Color for Warm and Cool Weather

April 28, 2023

It's fascinating to me that one can buy a cashmere sweater any month of the year, but it offers us an interesting wardrobe-planning option.

Think of this: you choose a color that you'd like to add to your wardrobe - maybe a bright or pastel accent, maybe a new neutral.

Over the next 6 months, you gradually add things to your wardrobe, and by the time autumn comes (or spring, depending on what hemisphere you call home!) you will have an accessory family in your new color!

Maybe you already own a piece or two in your color; I'm thinking of doing some deliberate shopping to get more mileage out of my purple cashmere crewneck sweater!

One really excellent item per month is a much easier way to ... View the Post

Adding Accessories! Start with Art: Spring Blossom by Valerius de Saedeleer

April 12, 2023

The last of the "beige-based" wardrobes - and probably my favorite! (of course, this is the only wardrobe with any black in it...)

This is the wardrobe for our last heroine; she has a lot of beige, but her accent colors are unusual, and make quite a statement!

I suspect that this heroine will also find herself with a few pairs of colorful sandals!

Even though our heroine only has 2 black garments, I think that black sandals make sense for her; they bring a real balance to a simple outfit like this:

If you love lime green, indulge in some peridot jewelry too! You'll have it forever...

Floral earrings with a floral top seems nice to me; keep the rest of the outfit nicely muted...

Of ... View the Post

Adding Accessories! Start with Art: Drei Häuser By Paul Klee

April 10, 2023

I really love this painting - it seems so simple, but the more you look at it, the more the colors make themselves clear and distinct...

You may remember that this heroine assembled this wardrobe for the eventual arrival of warmer weather:

I haven't yet thought of a better way to add accessories than to go through a wardrobe and put together a bunch of outfits, and then make sure that each outfit can be dressed up (or down, I suppose?) appropriately. I don't think that there's a rigid checklist of accessories that everyone should own - some women don't wear jewelry, some don't wear scarves, some don't carry a handbag... You get the idea!

I enjoyed this - these colors are beautiful and ... View the Post