beige Archives - Page 3 of 34

June 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #2 – Sun, Water Maine by Georgia O’Keeffe

June 3, 2025

Every month, I look at this painting and think that this would be how I would dress if I was starting from scratch (well, the wardrobe based on this painting or on the Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay!)

Navy appeals more and more, beige is timeless, and blue/green accents call my name. But at this point in life, I'm NOT re-doing my wardrobe! Sometimes you just have to admire the painting and the clothes, and stick with what's worked for you for the past 40 years...

So let's admire the lovely colors and fluid, relaxed lines of this masterpiece:

This heroine is also going to try to stick to her Weekly Timeless Wardrobe for a while, when shopping. At the end of May, her garments fitted into the template like ... View the Post

May 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #6 – Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay

May 5, 2025

Finally, we get to the final painting in our series of six! I particularly love this painting, and this wardrobe. Three neutrals with one accent color is an unusual balance, but it's classic, and uncomplicated.

This heroine's wardrobe is pretty classic, but she has some really wonderful accessories that make a LOT of difference. Here again is a wardrobe that would see you through a world-wide travel extravaganza:

Our heroine was thinking, as she started her shopping, that she could use something kind of dressy - not strapless sequins, but something that would work for meetings, and that included a skirt that might be handy for outdoor weddings or garden parties...

Her 24-piece wardrobe, with the addition ... View the Post

May 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #3 – Sun, Water Maine by Georgia O’Keeffe

April 25, 2025

If all goes as planned, I will be in Ireland when you read this!

Let's look for a moment at this quintessential summery painting:

When we last visited this heroine, her 20-piece wardrobe looked pretty great - this is another one of those collections with which one could travel for a really long time!

This heroine is SO ready to be outdoors, but she's also smart enough to realize that it's not all that warm, yet. A sweatshirt is always handy, and a long-sleeved shirt is almost 12 month clothing. Sleeves can be rolled!

And is the bracelet perfect for her?

Her 24-piece wardrobe feel exactly the same. More garments, more functional, but the same personal style!

And her accessories are - as is ... View the Post

April 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #5 – Pines by the Sea by Bertha Lum

April 7, 2025

I think I say the same thing with every painting - if I were starting from scratch, THIS color palette would really tempt me...

One of the things that always attracts me are the 16-piece wardrobes. This is a level at which you're looking at an appropriate number of garments for travel - wear 3, pack 13. This wardrobe would cover you - literally - from cold weather (a down jacket stuffed into the outside pocket of your suitcase?) to quite warm days - a tee shirt and shorts, with sandals.

I'm just itching to travel... Which is good, since we're leaving for Ireland (Fingers crossed!) at the end of the month!!!

Our heroine's current wardrobe has three teal sweaters, which is a lot! But this happens sometimes ... View the Post

April 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #4 – Sun, Water Maine by Georgia O’Keeffe

April 4, 2025

This is such a great painting to look at when it's still SO COLD here in Chicago; it feels like water, and growing green things, and sand, and sun...

I always picture this wardrobe as something for someone who lives all year at a place that's a big summer vacation destination. She is always in touch with sand, sky and water, but wearing some warmer fabrics! This was her wardrobe at the end of March:

She was quite smitten with the navy dress post here from the end of March, so a navy shirt and pants seems like an easy way for a "non-dress" person to replicate that idea. As I said before - a navy column is a navy column!

Are the striped shoes too much? She was smitten, and sometimes you're going to buy ... View the Post

The Fifth of Six Paintings-Twelve Months, March 2025

March 7, 2025

My favorite sunny, warm, watery painting...

At the end of February, our heroine had this wardrobe; it has a couple of warm sweaters, to get her through her (short?) winter. I'm assuming that this heroine does NOT live in Maine, no matter where her favorite painting was painted!

This heroine is moving 100% into a warm-weather state of mind; she even has the good sense to grab a hat that she really likes early in the season. Heck, it gets sunny in March!

And if you like boat shoes, they're back "in style." As if they ever went OUT of style... Sheesh...

This is what our heroine's Weekly Timeless Wardrobe looks like now; I can see the merits of taking out the column for Winter and maybe duplicating the ... View the Post

To Buy, Or Not to Buy? Yoke Detail sweater by Celtic & Co.

February 14, 2025

It's always a dilemma - you see something you admire/love, but you're not quite sure WHAT you'd do with it, if you make the decision to purchase...

What about this sweater? If you look lovely in soft shades - especially in beige, tan or taupe, this might call your name:

For no good reason I can identify, I decided that I would look at this sweater through the lens of the Wardrobe Slot Machine - a system in which one chooses nine garments that are foolproof for assembling outfits. This is the blank template:

Thinking about buying a top suggests that your first question would be about what bottoms you would wear with your new sweater. Jeans? Chinos? Cords? And do you have shoes to wear with your new ... View the Post

The Last of Six Paintings – Twelve Months February 2025

February 10, 2025

This painting to me just cries out to inspire a wardrobe for someone who lives near water, and probably has a pretty long "warm" season and just a short winter. Anybody else feel that?

There's enough navy here to dress her for cold weather, and plenty of shades of sand, lovely sea blues and sea green for warmer weather. I could be so tempted...

At the end of January, our heroine had a wardrobe that was pretty great for weather that might be all over the place! She was really trying to find shades of blue and green, so she veered into that very summery tee shirt; sometimes you grab what's available if it's perfect for you, even if it's not "in season." The seasons will change, what's available in stores ... View the Post

December 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – 6th Painting, by John Nash

December 9, 2024

I'm leaving for Paris on Wednesday unless something happens to hold me back. I haven't been to Paris in five years, which for me feels like half my life... I plan to have posts here for you while I'm away, but bear in mind that I won't be able to fix stupid mistakes - or smart mistakes! Love, J

Our last installment of our last heroine, assembling a wardrobe that holds a strange appeal to me - the soft earthiness of these colors would be such a comfort each morning...

This heroine, as is true with all of them, currently has 48 garments in her wardrobe. For most of the world, that's an embarrassment of riches! And - if well chosen - most of us could probably manage with this:

Of course, I SHOULD have been ... View the Post

December 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – 4th Painting, by Paul Klee

December 5, 2024

If you don't want to wear red for the holidays, our next heroine is right there with you! But she has ivory and green in her palette, so she's still going to feel appropriate...

As with all of our heroines, this one has a lot of clothes already - including a simple green dress that could get a lot of mileage during the holidays...

She also has a really nice green cardigan, that will give a holiday feel to ivory and beige things...

Heck, she could even wear a green hoodie for outdoor things like caroling...

She has amazing jewelry, and some really perfect scarves for her color palette. Maybe she's looking for something with a holiday theme?

Her shoes and bags also feel pretty ... View the Post

November 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Fifth Painting by Paul Klee

November 7, 2024

This painting both delights and confounds me; I think that's good!

This heroine is committed to the beige core of her wardrobe, and her unusual assortment of accent colors - two soft ones, three bright ones.

But there are no rules about this kind of thing, so it makes sense ONLY to choose what delights you.

Coming into November, our heroine has a lovely, wide-ranging assortment of tops:

And she owns three dresses! Maybe sometime, she'll come across a printed dress, or a pastel one, that speaks to her. And I'm sort of tickled that she has the same pants in yellow AND orange. If you love something, there's no reason to avoid a duplicate...

Her scarves and jewelry are pretty delectable:

And ... View the Post

Craving Soft Colors, in a Crowd of Vivid Team Colors? Start With Art – Moon by Ono Chikkyo

October 16, 2024

It's come to my attention that nobody can leave comments! I don't know what's wrong, but I've having the smart people look into it... So sorry for the technical difficulties....

love,

Janice

It's tempting to think that all heroines are strong personalities, with a touch of bright flamboyance around all that they do. But in fact, many of us are quiet, low-key, and don't get noticed right away! And that's splendid...

Today's heroine thinks of herself as a moon, in that she reflects the brighter (but sometimes TOO bright) light of others.

Her painting inspiration for her weekend homecoming trip:

She has soft ashy-colored hair, and light but clear and bright blue eyes; her colors for the weekend will ... View the Post