black Archives - Page 16 of 54

Start with Art: Portrait of the Countess de Martel de Janville by Giovanni Boldini

August 14, 2019

I've been wanting to work on a capsule wardrobe - maybe an occasional series - in which I could completely ignore things like prices, and go whole hog for lovely dressy things... Just a pretty fantasy to share... The Settlement It made the news; it was the largest settlement in the history of the industry...

Her very expensive accountant handled all of the donations and endowments, and now she's catching the train to buy that apartment... A pied a terre in her favorite neighborhood...

She's going to channel the confident look of her favorite portrait... She's been told that she strongly resembles the Countess, which is no mean compliment!

She will only be there a few days - the lawyers have handled all ... View the Post

A Wardrobe with Multiple “Moods” or Accent Colors? Start with an Artist: Romaine Brooks

August 9, 2019

Wednesday, our heroine chose accessories and was quite well-prepared for a lengthy trip...

But now, she's really going to travel!

Just to recap, she built her initial travel wardrobe around this stark but captivating painting:

Her initial travel capsule wardrobe is quite complete...

She's made a very tidy start to a quite large travel (or seasonal?) wardrobe:

And her accessories are similarly well planned:

But now, she's going away for 13 weeks! A guest teaching post? A short course at a foreign school? Who could guess...

She knows that there are plenty of women who could travel forever wearing nothing but black and grey, but she's thinking that she wants to introduce some accent ... View the Post

Start with Art: Ida Rubenstein by Romaine Brooks, or the Power of 5-Garment Clusters

July 31, 2019

She loves to travel alone....

She carries her own luggage, thank you! And she can lift her bag into the overhead bin, too. It's a point of personal satisfaction that she's strong enough to be self-sufficient... (it's an accomplishment to hold onto as long as possible, isn't it?)

In the course of planning what to pack, she grew to see that working in clusters of 5 garments would be easy to sort out in her head, and also gives her plenty of outfit possibilities! The right 5 garments can translate into 8 outfits...

It's not that she plans to travel forever, and must never EVER repeat an outfit; that's kind of silly...

But what if something is stranded at the laundry? What if the weather gets ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 5: Jeans or a Denim Bottom

July 29, 2019

I think it's about time we found something to wear below the waist, don't you think? For most of us, jeans or something similar seems the most logical place to start. When I was young, jeans were mostly for the young, and even up until about 5 years ago, when I traveled to Paris I seldom saw anybody over the age of 30 wearing jeans. But now? Jeans, in good condition - no holes, clean but not crispy pressed (no creases!) are seen on almost anybody...

As always, I have some thoughts about what to look for.... And as always, these are GUIDELINES, not hard-and fast rules. Nobody is entitled to tell you what to wear unless you're somewhere that requires a uniform. Otherwise, we're all on our own! (which makes building a ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 2: A Dark Neutral Top

July 9, 2019

Ready for another week? This week, we're going to the darkest logical version of last week's top...

As always, (I don't think I can emphasize this enough!) this is a guideline, not a carved in stone life rule. If you don't wear dark colors, or you don't wear tee shirts, or you don't wear long sleeves, this will NOT apply to you exactly like this. You can choose a substitute, or skip this week entirely.

And this does NOT mean that you have to go buy something! This could be as easy as checking your closet for the appropriate garment and making sure that it's clean and in good repair before the cooler weather arrives. (right now, it seems as if it will never come again...)

If both of your neutrals are ... View the Post

Start with Art: Wall of Light White by Sean Scully

July 5, 2019

I love this artist... And this painting is a perfect ensemble of neutral colors!

We're Going WHERE? To her sweetheart's college Chess Club reunion, that's where!

She decides to pack on an outfit-by-outfit basis; she knows that the weather is going to be hot, so she's focusing on linen, and shorts, and a couple of tops that will cover her up if she wants to walk along the shore...

Since this reunion is going to be near the beach, she's bringing "water shoes"...

Even though she's not going to lie out on the beach, she knows that a couple of pairs of shorts will be handy!

Once she got everything arranged and ready to pack, she gave it a last look:

She plans out enough outfits, in her ... View the Post

Revisiting Art: Ornamental Composition for Social Spaces #14 by Kamrooz Aram

June 28, 2019

Last August, she pulled together a 4 by 4 Wardrobe based on her favorite wardrobe; she liked it so much, she thought that it would make a good base for a travel wardrobe too! Since the weather is warm, she's going to look for the lighter shades of her accent colors.

She's only going for a long weekend, so she knows that she doesn't want to pack a lot! And she recently bought herself a jacket and pants in her favorite green, so she knows that she wants to wear that while she's traveling...

She decides to be organized, and deliberate, in her packing. She thought about what 6 items she would want to pack...

She knows that the smartest thing to do, when packing very few items, is to stick to a core of ... View the Post

Start with Art: Moscow Suburb by Georgy Grigorievich Nissky

June 19, 2019

She's Taking The Train... She's not sure how long she will be gone - maybe 2 weeks, probably longer...

She's going north. She doesn't now how far, or exactly to where, or for how long. She really will NOT be pinned down on this!

She's going to that city first, but from there... She's not moving on until she feels like she's ready to. I personally wouldn't be surprised to learn that she spends at least 2 weeks JUST in 1 city...

She's been saving money since... forever?Just for this summer...

If she doesn't see everything she wants to on this trip (and she knows that she can't possibly see everything!), she can go again next year...

Would you like to pack up and head out, without a clear ... View the Post

An Introduction: 52 Weeks, 52 Garments, or (as I’m calling it) the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe

June 17, 2019

After some mulling about, making lists, thinking and thinking some MORE, I think I'm ready to give this a go!

Starting the first Monday in July, I will, every Monday for a year, propose a garment which for most of us would qualify as a core wardrobe item. A staple. A classic...

Not all of these are going to apply to you; I suspect that many of us aren't going to want or need more than... 40? of these. But you might like all 52 - it will be an interesting process!

My system was to divide the year into 4 quarters of 13 weeks. Each quarter will include 13 garments that echo a 13-week "system" of pieces that looks like this...

These aren't going to be snazzy, eye-catching statement garments - this project is ... View the Post

Start with a Jacket: Travel Six-Pack

June 5, 2019

I saw her in O'Hare last week, wearing a deeply amazing and eye-catching jacket...

I've chosen NOT to use that jacket as the core of this wardrobe, because of both the price and limited availability. But it wasn't difficult to find another beautiful jacket in a bright and joyous mix of prints!

Destination: To Be Determined! She's going to Europe, but beyond that, nothing is definite. Maybe cool, maybe warm...

So she's dressing for the unexpected...

Since she's not sure where she's going to go (probably where the train tickets are least expensive!) she's packing small, and very versatile:

She's erring a bit on the dressy side, because she plans to sleep quite a bit, and do some very lovely ... View the Post

Do You Have Enough Clothes?

May 10, 2019

Unless you're reading this naked, the answer is probably yes...

So then why do we keep buying clothes? Boredom? A need for variety? Dissatisfaction with what we currently own?

It's a question that we could think about for a long time...

But let's hypothesize, eh?

Start with a painting; a... difficult painting...

So when do you struggle to get dressed? For work?

Maybe it makes sense to pull together a tiny cluster - 5 garments and 7 accessories? - that will give you lots of possibilities. You have to be really disciplined about buying simple, classic pieces that are versatile, but they don't have to be utterly boring:

It might take you a few months to get all of this purchased (or found in your ... View the Post

Adding to a Starter Wardrobe in Black, Grey, Brown and Pink

May 6, 2019

When we left our heroine on Friday, she had assembled a small, but quite versatile, core wardrobe with 11 garments:

From here, our heroine's choices will depend on what she most needs for her day-to-day life, as well as making certain that she's prepared for those dressy occasions that catch one off guard. It is for the latter that I always suggest that ALL of us have a "nice" outfit in reserve. While you certainly can substitute pants for this skirt, if you're absolutely NEVER going to wear a skirt, for most of us this next outfit will come in handy more often than we might expect...

And we are kind of long overdue for getting this heroine a good jacket! The nice thing with this length of trench coat is that it ... View the Post