bags Archives

An Accessory Packing Miscalculation…

Remember this mostly neutral wardrobe? I'm going to revisit this with different accent colors on Friday, but today this wardrobe still needs to be accessorized! This is the scarf upon which I based this wardrobe:

And these were the garments:

So, to experiment a little bit, and to change up our normal system, let's just choose a bunch of great accessories, and see how it all works out...

(I'm going to fill in a 6 by 4 Accessory Grid, just for the heck of it...)

First up, earrings! Some neutrals, and a couple of pair that pick up 2 of our accent colors:

A watch and some bracelets, with the same balance of neutral and accent colors:

Necklaces, and (why the heck not?) a brooch! Brooches on denim jackets look ... View the Post

Choosing Accessories to go with a Blue and Grey Travel Wardrobe (for Ireland!)

It's all well and good to have your clothes sorted for a trip, but you really MUST pack accessories. Not necessarily all that much stuff, but some shoes are critical, as well as a few more odds and ends...

As a reminder, this is the photograph that was inspiring us, and the color scheme that we were using:

You've got to have shoes - there aren't terribly many places you can go and NOT need shoes... Even though the dress shoes aren't as important as hiking shoes, let's start here anyway!

If you're not going to do hard-core hiking, you might adjust your choice of hiking shoes to be something a little bit less rugged, but it always makes sense to have something very comfortable for lots of walking...

Being outdoors a ... View the Post

Daisies! The Birth Flower for April

If there was ever going to be a birth flower that we could all steal, it would be daisies! A few designers seem to have really embraced the entire daisy motif: Olivia Burton made all kinds of jewelry and watches with daisies, and Marc Jacobs went a bit nuts for them, too...

I think that daisies are popular for lots of reasons - in real life, they're a great cut flower to buy because they're generally very inexpensive, last a REALLY long time, and the buds will actually open after you buy them...

For ornamental purposes, they're simple in design, familiar to almost all of us, and for many people have associations that make us smile...

So if you want to add a daisy or five to your wardrobe, you have options:

If you don't want the ... View the Post

How to Pack Just Enough Accessories

So, while Friday's travel capsule wardrobe looked pretty good, it's really not complete! Without at least shoes (and maybe a bag) you're not probably going very far... (and yes, some people don't ever wear shoes; there are ALWAYS exceptions...)

Let's do some planning, before we add accessories to that wardrobe - first, by remembering and building on our color palette.

It's worth considering if these colors will give you sufficient guidance for your choice of accessories. I like to - at a minimum - add a metal color, so that I don't just willy nilly toss all of my jewelry into my bag! You might want to also be certain that you've got a dark neutral that's going to work for things like shoes and bags. With navy, many of us might want to ... View the Post

Adding Just Enough Accessories

Yesterday she managed to wrestle her wardrobe into shape, so today she want to be certain that she has enough accessories. She's not mad about having tons of stuff, but it is pretty important to have at least some appropriate shoes!

Her color palette looked like this when she was finished:

She thought for a bit, and chose gold as the metal color for her jewelry (maybe just for this season - who knows?)

And she's going to rely a bit on navy as a "cooling" influence on her wardrobe, as she moves away from those warm olive-ish greens that made her feel drab. So she drafted a 2nd color palette, like this:

Now that her colors are all settled, she things for a minute about what she's going to look for in her closet, and then buy ... View the Post

What If I Don’t Really DO Accessories?

Some people just don't wear a lot of jewelry; they don't want to collect handbags, nor shoes, and they find one scarf suits them quite well...

(okay, they're nuts...)

Actually, that's their right. Of course it is! But it does suggest that they're going to want to plan a bit to make certain that they have what they want and need when they get dressed.

Let's start where we were yesterday, with this nicely tidied leisure wardrobe:

When we finished this wardrobe yesterday, we had a lovely color palette for our heroine's clothing. Working from that, we can easily devise a corresponding palette for her accessories - add a choice of metal (if you're not going to have a lot of jewelry, what you do have can easily be either all-gold or ... View the Post

How do I Know That I Have Enough Accessories?

Our heroine ended yesterday's adventure with a color scheme that felt right, and a spring capsule wardrobe that she found really comfortable; it gave her great pleasure, every time she opened her closet door...

But she still needs to wear shoes! And carry a bag. And maybe wear some earrings, or a bracelet, from time to time. How to plan THAT?

Well, I pondered this for a while, and I think that she should think about what outfits she's going to wear, from her wardrobe, and then make certain that she has the accessories that are right for each of those outfits. What else would she want, if she knew that she had a dozen outfits ready to go?

To keep choices balanced, I'm going to see if I can fill in this template with her accessories... ... View the Post

Can You Plan Your Accessory Wardrobe? Madame Paul Escudier by John Singer Sargeant

Our heroine from yesterday has a tidy and very well-planned wardrobe, after her few additions to what she used for business travel. But she's in pretty serious need of some accessories, I'd say!

First off, let's remember what her inspiration is for her wardrobe:

Our heroine finally got her well-deserved (and long overdue!) promotion, and picked up a few more garments to finish up her wardrobe. She's going to be traveling a LOT...

But she didn't buy anything BUT garments - no more shoes, scarves, nor jewelry. That's just not fun!

Although she's made her reputation at work for her empathy and her ability to provide coaching and correction in a warm and constructive manner, she is at heart also a really organized woman! After a bit of ... View the Post

Accessories Can Make ALL the Difference! Monet Water Lilies…

Our heroine has this lovely wardrobe...

But she's really going to need some accessories! She already has 1 scarf, but because so MUCH of this wardrobe is solid navy, more than 1 scarf can come in handy...

Please understand that any (or ALL) of the accessory suggestions that I make would be great with this wardrobe - this isn't some sort of "guess the "best" accessory" game... I personally could easily make a case for this heroine to own at least a handful of scarves!

I wanted a pretty, floral pendant for her now - something that echoed both the floral motifs of her original painting, and also had a "water-ish" feeling. (no, that's not really a word, but you know what I mean...)

And a bracelet - I think that bracelets are an ... View the Post

Essential Accessories for a Pretty but Casual Wardrobe: Start with a Scarf – Vintage Rose by KathKath

Update - I did NOT go to Paris - a very last-minute fibromyalgia "interlude" suggested that the wiser course was to stay home and try to reschedule. Happily, I have a bunch of blog posts ready for you, so I can still rest for a few days! hugs - Janice

When I left this wardrobe last week, the clothing portion was pretty well-organized, with lots of possible combinations, so let's choose some accessories for this heroine!

It seems that the first outfit is always a very simple one that kind of cries out for a necklace or something at the neck...

As far as a woman can get with a good briefcase, at some stage she's going to want a handbag instead...

I'm not even going to try to resist adding floral boots to this wardrobe - if they ... View the Post

Do Accessories Really Make a Difference?

I think you already know my answer to this one! But let's revisit the Van Gogh seascape, and the 4 by 4 Wardrobe for cooler weather that we based upon the colors and overall style of that painting:

I didn't actually try to figure out how many outfits are possible from these 16 garments, but I'm pretty comfortable asserting that there are at least a couple dozen... Some will have a "balance" that you like more than others, but it would in theory be really tough to put together an outfit that was completely unacceptable to the general public!

To show how much accessories can add to this wardrobe, I've put together 10 outfits - 2 for each of the "bottoms." I've made the clothes somewhat small, and the accessories some what large, and I've ... View the Post

I Need Accessories For Client Meetings and Dressy Evenings! Start with a Scarf: Vintage Rose by KathKath

Yesterday, we left our heroine with a really lovely 16-piece wardrobe, but pretty much in need of more shoes, and at least a couple of pieces of jewelry. (okay, this is not NEED in the biological survival sense, but more need in the "being appropriately dressed for business" sense...)

So, as I love to do, let's work through one accessory at a time and assess the possibilities.

This very simple outfit cries out for a necklace, at least to me:

The same necklace can of course be worn here, but I'd like to see my heroine with a softer, more rounded handbag. A briefcase is essential, but not every day...

Okay, I'm the first to admit that floral boots aren't likely the next thing that this heroine needs! But they are very popular right ... View the Post