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What I Packed for Florida

May 30, 2014 I completely missed the backpacking around Europe experience - I never took a year off of school, and I never even WENT to Europe until I was 35... But I'm still fascinated by the whole experience of being THAT light on your feet - that self-contained. So when a really nice Patagonia backpack made it into our home, I decided that I was going to give it a try. At least once, just to know what it's like, I'm going to be a backpacker...

I loved it. The incredible lightness of putting all of your luggage under the seat in front of you, and being able to walk for miles without wheels, was memorable. I don't know that I'll ever do it again, but it was wonderful.

There were a few factors that made this ... View the Post

My Version of Une Annee de Style – A Common Capsule Wardrobe

May 20, 2014

After thinking a while about last week's book (Une Annee de Style), I realized that this book was basically just a variation of my old standard Common Capsule Wardrobe - a small collection of neutral, simple garments upon which one can build all kinds of personalized styles and outfits.Let's say that you get a wild inclination to buy a fantastic tee shirt... You find some pretty outrageous sandals that go with your tee shirt, and also a beautiful, solid scarf...

If you start with that simple core of garments that we all should own (in some variation or another)...

You have all of these ways to wear the fabulous new tee shirt, as well as the cool green sandals and the beautiful ... View the Post

Neutral Accessories: Shoes Part 1

May 15, 2014

One of the keys to putting together a truly effortless wardrobe is to assemble the minimum necessary clothes and accessories, so that getting dressed is a nearly foolproof exercise.Once you've made it through the most difficult step - deciding what your basic neutral is going to be - you just gradually stock up on basics and move forward...

The most important accessory?

Neutral Shoes

You've got to have shoes. Not a ton of them, and not with insane stupid heels, but a few good timeless styles that can take you almost anywhere.

For my world, I narrowed down all of the world's available footwear to six pairs: a pair of flats, a pair of pumps, some loafers, a pair of sandals, some ... View the Post

How to get “stress dressed”…

May 14 2014 I am asked this question often - is there anything I can do to be prepared when I have one of those mornings and I just can't get dressed? Today's a particularly appropriate day for me to write this, because I'm wearing my version of this today - head to toe black with accessories... For me, the best way to be prepared for this is to have ten items - six garments and four accessories - specifically assigned (in my mind, at least) for these days when everything feels like it's falling apart. You can work this in any color scheme, and the garments in question are an excellent base for both a travel wardrobe or a new simpler closet. You have to accept that you're going to wear a very simple ... View the Post

Start With Art: The Girl with A Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

May 13, 2014

The most beautiful color scheme, combining warm tobacco brown, black, and brilliant blue and golden yellow highlights... That Vermeer guy was good!

One nice warm outfit, for in transit, or for a sudden cold snap, and some beautiful silky solids...

A simple outfit, and a nice basic dress:

A much less basic dress, and a warm-weather outfit with an over-shirt for air conditioning.

And a few extra pieces, for versatility!

love,

Janice

Looking Back:

2012 - one of my readers had a piece of jewelry that she wanted to wear more, and so I suggested What to wear with a ... View the Post

Chic Sightings: Black Cardigans – Great Dresses

May 9, 2014 Now that summer has arrived with crashing suddenness in Chicago, the quality of Chic Sightings has changed completely. At lunch time today, it seemed that half the women walked out of their cubicles wearing a black cardigan... As soon as they got into the sunlight, the sweaters came off, and beautiful dresses, lovely shoes, and perfectly-chosen jewelry took center stage.

love, Janice

Looking back:

2012: One of my readers asked me about how to use a monochromatic scarf, in What to Wear With an Hermes Scarf: Peinture Fraiche.

2013: Balancing concerns about coverage and climate can be a challenge, and I tried to address this concern about Dressing modestly in a hot ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Dark Pool version 2

May 8, 2014 Maybe, when you first saw this painting (or scarf) you saw the end of it with the black and red accents, and not the pastels...

The way you fold a scarf can make a huge difference in what's shown or concealed - the beautiful Mai Tai is a master at showing you how this works (and just, in general, how to wear a scarf to brilliant effect.) So if you're more drawn to the high-contrast interpretation, here are some very different ways to approach the same neutral garments that I used yesterday. (I know, I'm lazy...) Using black or white instead of a pastel immediately changes the whole feel of the capsule.

Scarf – Elizabeth Blackadder’s Dark Pond, sweater – Uniqlo, ... View the Post

A Winter Capsule Wardrobe, and the Full-Year Assortment, from Ma To-Do List: Dressing

May 2, 2014 Let's see if we can jointly make sense out of all of this, shall we? First off, working from the list of garments in Ma To-Do List: Dressing, I chose these garments as the Winter Capsule:

Yes, they suggested sleeveless tops for layering. The authors are in France, not Chicago... In order to anchor all of this in some neutrals, I'm going to pull in seven simple, neutral garments to act as the core of all of these lists.

So I pulled out the outerwear and the swim suit, and this is the ensemble wardrobe that you have if you take their four "capsule wardrobe" suggestions together:

Frankly, I think this isn't a bad wardrobe at all. There are enough ... View the Post

An Autumn Capsule Wardrobe, from “Ma To-Do List: Dressing”

May 1, 2014 It's become apparent that many of us aren't clear on what exactly this book intends for us to actually DO with these lists... My approach, with the choices that I've been making, has been to assume that someone has a very basic, simple "whatever's clean" wardrobe, and that these are the additional garments, season by season, that are added to that wardrobe in order to fill it in and make it sing and dance. Tomorrow, when I show the winter wardrobe, I'll also show all of the clothes together, and I think it might become a bit clearer what the authors have in mind. I think. Maybe its just what I have in mind...

love,

Janice ... View the Post

18=216, in a really big, perfect wardrobe slot machine…

April 28, 2014

I said on Saturday that the idea of a wardrobe slot machine could be expanded, and one of my dearest friends was eager to see how this would play out. For some of us, the idea of getting dressed for work every day is just plain annoying - nobody is going to pay much attention to what we're wearing, as long as we're appropriately dressed.

So I promised her that I would show an example that would give her more than a week's worth of shirts or blouses (i.e. six), and then show how it could be expanded. Six top layers x six shirts or blouses x six pants or skirts =216 combinations.

She could literally shop once a year and then forget about work clothing for a long time... In the hottest ... View the Post

The Perfect Clothing/Slot Machine /Backpack

April 26, 2014

I've been in the live-in caretaker role for quite a while now - since we got back from Paris, I've only been home a handful of days... In order to uncomplicate my life, I just put some clothes into a backpack and hopped on the train, hoping for the best. Turns out that my instincts were great - I was wearing three garments, I packed six, and there was literally NO combination that wasn't wearable. I felt like my clothes were a perfectly weighed slot machine upon which I couldn't lose...

These were the clothes that I had with me: (okay, these aren't exactly the same garments. My cardigans are from Lands' End, and are years old. My denim shirt is from J. Jill and is no longer available. Everything else is Eileen ... View the Post

Can Chanel Guide Us to a Workable Casual Wardrobe?

April 16, 2014 One of the most popular posts I've ever written was asking if Coco Chanel was right when she told us that a woman only needs two suits to be well dressed. (find it here) I'm often asked how this idea translates for those among us who wear mostly casual clothing, and who don't really have any use for a suit. So these are my thoughts: First off - the equivalent of the black suit - a cardigan, capris, pants, and a dress:

and then a similar approach in beige - another cardigan, linen pants, a pair of shorts and another:

First add-on is a couple of "twin-sets" in accent colors. But only one cardigan, and a linen shirt to take the place of the ... View the Post