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May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

May 15, 2026

Our last painting in our "Six Paintings" series - an enigmatic image, with maybe a message inside? It's certainly one of the most interesting color palettes we've ever seen:

Three timeless neutrals, and two accents that are unexpected, and sometimes difficult to find. The best things can require some patience...

At the end of April, our heroine's 20-piece wardrobe took her to work with ease, as well as lots of other places! Since our heroine works at home a lot, jeans and tops can go a long way...

Even though the weather still isn't delightful and warm, our heroine decided that she was going to dress as if spring had truly arrived:

If our heroine is going to be faithful to her wardrobe template, ... View the Post

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

May 13, 2026

A favorite of so many of us, and such a rich and striking painting:

And a bright, cheerful palette:

Our heroine came into the month of May with this 20-piece wardrobe; I could live with this for months...

This is a DRESSY heroine! And she started her May shopping with the idea that she would find a pretty floral dress...

Only to realize that she can grab the skirt that matches her printed blouse, and have her dress and separates, too! The rest of her purchases are relatively simple and classic - although green shoes and a green handbag aren't on just everybody's shopping list:

Of course, she didn't add a second layer to her wardrobe this month - that might be something she needs to address next ... View the Post

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

May 11, 2026

I wonder how many different birds could inspire how many different wardrobes?

This is such an easy and classic color palette. If you absolutely couldn't live without blue denim (I bet you can, but you do you!) you've always got the water to give you shades of blue...

One of the many things hanging on the GIGANTIC pin board in front of my computer is a photograph of a magpie. Black, white and blue... We don't see magpies in Chicago!

At the end of April, our heroine had this wardrobe. To my mind, the outfits just jump off of the page:

Our heroine was seriously thinking about red when she started browsing, but when she saw this linen jacket and tweedy pants, she changed direction. Slightly - still plenty ... View the Post

April 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

April 10, 2026

Our heroine is pleased with her wardrobe, and MORE pleased with her bank balance! She's trying to give up impulse clothes buying - there are many more important things in the world that she wants - like plane tickets.

Her wardrobe inspiration is this painting - of course it has letters in it! She is an expert in the combination of multiple type faces.

Her color palette includes three neutrals and two lovely, vivid accents:

At the end of March, her very disciplined wardrobe included 16 garments, and dozens of outfit options:

Our heroine gave a lot of thought to her April purchases. She knew that it would be really sensible to add a summer "column" to her wardrobe, thus she immediately chose the ... View the Post

April 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

April 8, 2026

It's a very good thing that our heroine loves all things medieval... Her favorite painting is this beauty:

Her color palette is thus:

At the end of March, our heroine has this 16-piece wardrobe. Versatile, elegant and a touch on the dressy side of life. Maybe still a touch dark...

Early in April, our heroine sat through some VERY long meetings with a group of people dedicated to the renovation of a very famous historic church near Paris. Included in the amusingly eclectic group of attendees was one woman dressed as a medieval nun, and another woman wearing a wimple...

As soon as she got out of there, she was determined to do some very 21st century shopping!

yes, there are people who dress in ... View the Post

April 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

April 6, 2026

I saw one of these in England! I think - it was at a distance, and I might have been dreaming... does it count if one sees something in a dream?

I'm quite sure that our heroine has seen one of these. Although she's not the person actually sitting out in a blind somewhere counting birds, she IS the person who takes all of those essential numbers and compiles and analyzes them. She must get out once in a while to actually LOOK at birds. I hope!

For whatever reason, she has chosen this bird as her style model, and is building her wardrobe around these simple but striking colors:

At the end of March, our heroine had 16 garments in her wardrobe. That's not a lot - all of this would fit in a medium-sized ... View the Post

The Simplest Packing I Can Devise! England March 2026

March 16, 2026

Cross your fingers that I'm in London while you're reading this! We're flying into London, hanging around for a couple of days, then driving around Suffolk for a few days, then returning to London for a last night, and coming home. It's going to be pretty whirlwind - four hotels in 8 days. So I'm not going to be seeing people over and over again, not that this really matters!

One of the towns we're visiting:

Changing subjects: what was your closest friend wearing the last time you saw them? Do you remember? What will you think if they're wearing the same thing the next time you see them?

See? Repeating outfits isn't going to make you a pariah. If you know people for whom this is a "thing," don't cater to their ... View the Post

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

March 13, 2026

If all goes as planned, and I don't take a tumble and break myself, Belovedest and I are on our way to London, and then a couple of small English towns. Cross your fingers that my coordination holds up!

And now, let's visit our sixth painting - modern, angular, unusual colors, and just plain stuck in my mind:

Our heroine - the graphic artist who specialized in mixing fonts - has chosen these colors around which to build her wardrobe:

Let me share a bit about this heroine: she wants to become a reformed impulse shopper, and thus is trying HARD to stay within her chosen palette. She's come to realize that it's time to buy less, buy better, buy things that have a consistent feel and look. She would really ... View the Post

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

March 11, 2026

Let's take a minute away from reality, and think about this exceptional heroine, and her favorite painting:

Someone once mentioned to me that they felt that her wardrobe colors felt too "Christmassy". I suppose if she wore green and red together that might be an issue, but I've never thought of it - what do you think?

At the end of February, our heroine's 12-piece wardrobe was almost perfectly versatile, albeit a little bit more casual than we've come to expect from her. She's trying to not be TOO anachronistic; her work is sufficient to keep her in touch with history. She's worked with women who dressed in full Middle-Ages regalia - not for her!

One thing our heroine definitely wanted for ... View the Post

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

March 9, 2026

Wouldn't it be fun to see one of these "in the feathers"?

I imagine that our heroine has seen one at least once; at least she's sufficiently familiar with them to choose to copy their coloring in her wardrobe:

At the end of February, our heroine had this compact but very practical capsule wardrobe - easy to assemble a lot of different outfits from this small number of pieces:

But suddenly, our heroine is finding that people want to interview her! Yes, she always assumes that a local radio show might want to talk for 15 minutes about the shifting "bird demographics" of their area...

Now she's finding that she might even be on television! At a minimum, she's going to be on some videos online; people ... View the Post

Start With Art – Wall of Light Orange Yellow by Sean Scully

February 27, 2026

True story from my trip to Paris in December: Belovedest and I were walking down a side street near our hotel, and saw art in the distance! The doorway of the gallery was glass, and the entire structure of the building was open so that we could see ALL THE WAY THROUGH to a large room in the back of the building. And facing us, we saw 3 Sean Scully paintings, in shades of blue. We would have had no idea that they were there, had we not been able to see them from the street. A delightful 10 minute detour!

I think my lesson is that looking in all of the doorways is a good idea!

Today's heroine is going to have to visit with us every couple of months for a while, because she has found an intriguing color combination ... View the Post

Looking for Absolute Simplicity? Start With Art – Les Colombes by Maurice Denis

February 23, 2026

More often than I would expect, I hear from someone who's looking for a foolproof travel capsule wardrobe. Some people want dressier, and other want more relaxed, but everybody seems to be looking for a simple way to pack for a whole BUNCH of trips...

So let's start with a tranquil, simple but arresting work of art:

This offers us a palette for our travel capsule wardrobe that's timeless, and SO easy to find:

Freshly Retired! She's got plans - lots of them! For the next 3 months, she has EIGHT trips planned - most of them relatively close to where she lives. Some travel will be driving, and some by train. She's going to catch up with a couple of friends, visit a couple of old favorite towns, and check ... View the Post