beige Archives - Page 24 of 35

How to Choose an Hermes Scarf: Post-Valentine’s Day Gift Edition

February 18, 2015

One lucky reader was given an Hermes scarf for Valentine's Day! But the scarf is just a place-holder; she gets to choose the REAL scarf herself. I think we can all agree that the giver of this scarf is a beloved well worth holding onto, eh?

I was delighted that she contacted me for help with her enviable dilemma; my first advice was that she immerse herself in the Hermes site and narrow her choices down to six scarves. I then promised that I would give some thought to helping her with making the final choice.

This time, my approach is to treat the scarf very much like the "silk jewelry" that I've always believed them to be. For each of the six scarves in the "finalists" group, I've assembled a handful of other ... View the Post

Maximize Your ROI: Estellon Striped Handbag

February 14, 2015

It's so easy to do - you see a bag you adore, and the next thing you know, you're struggling to use it...

Bag - Estellon

love, Janice

PS - For more in the Maximize Your ROI series, check out the following articles:

Maximize Your ROI: Orange Boots Maximize Your ROI: Black and White Houndstooth Check Flats Maximize Your ROI: Leopard Flats Maximize Your ROI: Estellon Striped Handbag Maximize Your ROI: St. John Collection scarf ... View the Post

Start With Art: Wildlife near the Gosse Range – Albert Namatjira

January 29, 2015 There's really no question that I'm going to be looking at warm weather clothing!

Although the overall look of this painting is very light and bright, I always feel more comfortable anchoring a wardrobe with a few pieces of dark neutral, so I took advantage of the birds to work a dark brown into the scheme. The rosy beige of the sky is my 2nd neutral, and after that, the sky's the limit - pastels taken from the grass, the trees, and the distant mountains are all possibilities. What lovely colors...

I would start collecting pastel, bone, earthy accessories...

love, Janice ... View the Post

Start With Art: The Apparition by Gustave Moreau

July 27, 2015

The reader who requested this was particularly interested in the black, olive and camel parts of the painting, so I've taken the liberty of cropping the top third in order to focus on the colors in question. I'm sure Moreau will forgive me, since I'm such a big fan!

Any Moreau painting cries out for an exotic and Byzantine wardrobe, but I wanted to keep things in the realms of the wearable, so I've opted for velvet, silk and cashmere in order to express the more exotic and sensuous aspects of the painting.

Accessories are where you can really express the ornate impulses that seem to spring from this painting (and what that character in the painting is wearing!) - ... View the Post

Beige Capsule Wardrobe with Accessories in Celadon Green, Brown and Light Blue

January 19, 2015 To show how very versatile these "accessory families" can be, I chose six beige garments for today. From these six pieces I put together six outfits. Then I picked three of the families from last week, and show each of those against the beige outfits.

Some of the families that had a really strong silver or "cool" cast to them didn't dance terribly nicely with the beige, but these warmer accessories just look wonderful with the simplicity of the classic garments.

So many possibilities...

love,

Janice ... View the Post

How to Wear Black and Brown Together, or How to Incorporate an Expensive Garment into A Common Capsule Wardrobe

November 18, 2014 It could happen to anyone of us - you're minding your own business, and then... you see it. The garment that makes your heart sing. Something that you admire aesthetically, that looks perfect on you, that is beautifully made, from gorgeous materials, and that will last the rest of your life... But OWWWW... it's expensive. The biggest question to answer: can I wear this wondrous garment frequently enough to make it worth the purchase price? I'm NOT going to say it's an investment, because only in a few cases will you be able to sell something for more than the purchase price, which is the technical definition of an investment. But in a way, if you get more joy from something, and it enhances your image, ... View the Post

How to Choose an Etro Paisley Scarf

November 15, 2014 If you're looking for a scarf investment that can rival Hermes, don't overlook the beauty that comes from Etro. I bought an Etro scarf for my honeymoon (in pink and black chiffon...) and I will treasure it forever. Etro pretty much OWNS the idea of paisley, and they make them in as many color combinations as you can imagine... So how do you choose? Maybe take a look at the sweaters or shirts with which you would hope to wear your scarf, and work backward from there.

This scarf is particularly well suited for autumn, and for the winter holidays. You can wear the muted green (or brown, or tan, or black), or you could bust out with a bright red. The earrings just sort of felt like they wanted to be ... View the Post

How to Choose an Hermes Scarf: Le Songe a la Licorne

November 11, 2014

This isn't a question I get every day: a reader has decided that she wants to buy this particular design of Hermes scarf - Le Songe a la Licorne. (it means the dream of the unicorn - I have no idea why...) She stated that she wears a lot of camel/tan/beige, and was leaning toward a winter coat in either blue or rose. Whew...

But this is really an interesting question - how DO you choose from among a variety of colors (for anything, not just an Hermes scarf), when there's a wide variety available? My suggestion is that you think about what the other items AROUND the potential purchase might look like. Do you already own the jewelry, or shoes, or whatever, that will make the outfit ... View the Post

Start With Nature: Bird’s Eggs photograph from Kevin Fleming Photography

November 3, 2014

Someone sent me this gorgeous photograph... I've flipped it sideways so that I could put up a bigger image...

This was my chosen color scheme:

It's hard to introduce "egg-like" elements into a wardrobe, but I did stick with rounded earrings, and I aimed for a sort of softness and subtlety that would honor the gorgeousness of the photograph.

I introduced the most subtle greenish color to blend with the warm beige, tan and brown already here. It's an amazingly effective combination, I think.

To me, these combinations are warm, gentle, and comfortable.

love, Janice ... View the Post

Travel Capsule Wardrobe Packing with Scarves: Missoni

October 31, 2014 One of my most loyal readers recently purchased this scarf and wanted to know what I would do with it - the answer is, of course, a LOT. One of the many joys of a scarf from Missoni is that they contain a wealth of colors that you wouldn't otherwise put together. I don't know why I saw bright pink here - when you get your nose right up against the scarf, it's not really there. There's teal, as well as a softer sage green, quite a bit of light blue, some slate greyish blue, navy... Lots of things to consider... Missoni scarves are available in a lot of places, and often on sale. Different vendors get different designs, so if you have your heart set on one particular color scheme, don't forget to check ... View the Post

Start With Nature: Panicum Shenendoah, aka switchgrass… a Four Pack

October 28, 2014

So what do you do if your favorite color scheme includes colors that are just plain difficult to wear together? This beautiful grass (growing in the Lurie Garden, about a 10 minute walk from chez nous) includes some striking colors, but it isn't at all simple to find ANYTHING, clothes or accessories, that include the two colors...

But these are really pretty...

So you just have to accept that you might wear them separately most of the time, until and unless you find things that bring the colors together. As long as you stick with your neutral core, these kinds of "color conundrums" aren't really limiting!

love, Janice ... View the Post

Start With Art: The Church at Coggeshall, Essex by John Armstrong

September 11, 2014

What a cool painting! It shows the World War 2 damage to the church, and the "reveal" of the interior structure of the church is fascinating. So sad that such a lovely piece of art is the result of destruction...

From this, I selected two relatively minor colors in the painting as the neutrals, and then used the gorgeous pastels as the accent colors. The black is clearly visible, but I grabbed the sage green from the shrubbery that's relatively obscured on the left side of the painting.

I think what I'm trying to show here is that, although the painting itself is very light with muted pastels, it's still possible to pull together a wardrobe from these colors without enriching your dry cleaner. Capturing ... View the Post