black Archives

Start with a Scarf: Butterfly Wings from Echo

September 7 2020 Pollinators! Yes, people who study pollinators have conferences - EVERYBODY who studies almost anything has a conference most years! And she's going to this one...

Her travel capsule wardrobe is going to be based on this beauty:

Most of her colleagues study bees - and rightly so - but her specialty is butterflies! And so she's going to wear her scarf often, building a wardrobe around these colors:

For no good reason she can think of, she's going to wear her white jeans to get there. She's not worried... She's more thrilled with her new blazer, and matching earrings:

Weather reports for her destination are all OVER the place, so she's going to take her black shirt with her, so she can wear it under ... View the Post

Chic Sightings: Black Tops!

September 4, 2020

Just in the last few days, I've been out a bit, and it seemed that ALL of the beautifully-dressed women I saw were wearing black shirts or tops of some sort!

I'm going to notice these things, of course. And this is such a great way to get dressed - especially for those of us who are top-heavy, or who prefer to downplay the top half of our bodies. Everybody can picture wearing a ton of different things with a simple pair of black pants, or black skirt. I need to remember that the opposite is equally possible!

Of course, my favorite winter outfit in a black cashmere turtleneck and faded jeans...

Let's look!

A black top doesn't have to be a simple tee shirt - this top has a subtle Swiss dot pattern woven ... View the Post

Start with a Bracelet – Voyage to Amsterdam by Fierce Lynx Designs

August 28, 2020

I think that I might be posting on my old "Monday, Wednesday, Friday" schedule for a bit; it's all going to depend on my energy levels!

But let's talk about pretty things, eh? One of you requested a wardrobe based on this most wonderful bracelet...

I would LOVE to be able to capture that soft, misty blue in garments, but it's not exactly common! So we're going to enjoy the cheer and beauty of what we CAN find, right?

Yes, We Will Take the Ferry... And drive the rest of the way to Amsterdam. He has so much stuff to move out of his dorm room that we will want our car as well as his...

It feels like they JUST moved him INTO the dorm... but things change, especially this year!

It's not going to take ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Arlequin et Femme au Collier by Picasso

August 13, 2020 I Need to do WHAT??? Yes, she's missed 6 months in the office (although she has worked EVERY DAY...) and now she has to sit for a re-certification...

It takes 3 days. Away from home. In a hotel.

After being locked up with her entire family for half a year, she's really excited! The whole test thing isn't fun, but being able to eat room service and lounge around alone in the evenings has a certain appeal...

She starts with her favorite "travel inspiration" painting:

She knows that she could just wear sweatpants the entire time, but she actually feels more awake and more businesslike if she dresses a bit nicer than that. And she doesn't want to have to do much thinking about what she will wear! This is her ... View the Post

Strategically Expanding a Capsule Wardrobe: Start with Art – Blue Major Elle by Marijah Bac Cam

July 22, 2020

Well THAT went well... Yesterday, our heroine was caught off guard when she realized that she needed to pack and leave for the weekend in 5 minutes!

She managed, using this painting as her color inspiration; she felt that the swirling and diffusion in this painting accurately represented the state of her brain:

The photographer and crew from the famous food magazine LOVED her sister-in-law's B&B. They loved it SO MUCH that they're going to come back in a few days, and film a half-hour video about them for their You Tube channel.

Panic ensues. And our heroine and her partner and enlisted to come stay at the B&B for... well, for the foreseeable future!

They're both leaving everything that they packed ... View the Post

Start with Art: Blue Major Elle by Marijah Bac Cam

July 20, 2020

She's been confused for a few weeks; nothing medical, or really an issue, but the inside of her head often feels like this:

Although it feels like chaos, at least it has a nice tidy color palette, which could easily be all neutrals!

Are You Ready to Go? "What???? Go where???" She just got off of a conference call with the rest of her department, when her sweetheart came by their guest bedroom to check on her...

"You forgot? We're going to my sister's B&B for the weekend." They're going to be photographing for a magazine spread all day Saturday, and they were invited to help, and to eat all of the food...

"We need to leave in about 5 minutes if we're going to beat the traffic...."

Dear oh dear... ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting the Countess de Martel de Janville by Boldini

June 30, 2020

She really only planned to be in Paris for a couple of days....

yes, she's seeing more blue in this painting than is there, perhaps... but this kind of thing isn't regulated, and certainly isn't anybody's business but hers, and ours...

She was going to stock the kitchen of her pied a terre with the basics - vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, wine, wine, wine...

So she packed a good market bag, to leave there, and a couple of warm weather outfits. An extra cardigan is never wrong - she might leave it in Paris too...

She's happy with the clothes that she has with her, but....

Now she's found that she really doesn't want to go home! Paris is starting to gradually open up, and back home everything still ... View the Post

Start with Art: Pink and Black by Ed Clark

June 19, 2020

It really stuck with her, and so she decided to make it part of her life!

"It Might Not Even Happen...." They're talking about her spouse's annual corporate meeting. Always a weird few days for her, because she travels along just to attend cocktail parties and dinners... It's scheduled for late October this year, but of course that's subject to change or cancellation...

But she's going to go ahead and plan her travel capsule wardrobe because... um... why not? At least this way, she can have a good capsule wardrobe for staying home in the autumn, at a minimum!

She had planned to just pack black, white and grey, because she could NOT find any nice garments in her new favorite shade of pink, from her favorite ... View the Post

Start with Nature: Revisiting the Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

June 5, 2020

In the dead of winter, four years ago, we visited with this heroine when her friends invited her south for a long weekend to get out of the cold... I'm SO smitten with the color palette; if I were to start over, I admit that brown leather goods would tempt me!

Drive Down! Her friends have invited her back...

"We've on this kick where we have full-blown dinner parties every night. It's been the same gang of us for the last few months; we could use a new guest!"

"Since you've been quarantined for a couple of months, and so have we, can we assume that we're safe for each other?"

"My brother and sister-in-law are staying in the guest house, so you can take the upstairs suite; with the kids ... View the Post

Rescuing a Forgotten Garment: Print Sleeveless Tunic

June 4, 2020

Today's interesting warning - if you're wearing a mask frequently, be ABSOLUTELY sure that you're washing both the mask(s) and your face every 5 minutes or so. I currently have a really painful broken-out face from mask irritation. It's both ugly and sore...

But let's look at helping one of our friends get some good use from a beautiful garment, eh?

This isn't the exact tunic, of course, but it's sleeveless, and includes the colors royal blue, black and white, just like our friend's tunic. So I'm hopeful that any advice I can think of will be useful!

With a little bit of thought, this top could be worn for most of the year - I know it's odd to think of wearing sleeveless things in cooler weather, but stick with ... View the Post

Raiding my French Books: 8 “Must-Have” Items in Black from “Dress Like a Parisian” by Aloïs Guinut

May 29, 2020

Another book! I actually have a handful of them - some really fun and interesting, some... not so much...

This one is in English, and the author is witty and self-deprecation; she swears that one of the reasons that French women have such relaxed and unstructured hair styles is because they're inherently too lazy to style their hair! Hmm...

This is one of the few books that I would recommend, if only for her sense of humor!

She starts this book with the same general advice almost every wardrobe or style books gives - start with THIS list of garments. Everybody, even if they've never met you, knows what you need...

This, of course, isn't at all true, and is really nonsense, and will ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

May 20, 2020

Oh, we haven't heard from this heroine for a while... Remember her when she first visited a college campus for some lectures (and brought the house down!), then she took some students to The Cloisters, outside of New York.

She's been working off and on in Paris, since the fire at Notre Dame. Now, of course, she's working from home. But her intricately braided white hair remains flawless (how DOES she get it cut?) and her nail polish and lipstick are still works of art that defy normal wear and tear...

This is her inspiration:

Her color palette is firmly in mind any time she shops - this is not a woman often given to wardrobe impulse! Someone once remarked that red and green seemed "Christmassy" to them - she ... View the Post