boots Archives

Adding Just Enough Accessories

Yesterday she managed to wrestle her wardrobe into shape, so today she want to be certain that she has enough accessories. She's not mad about having tons of stuff, but it is pretty important to have at least some appropriate shoes!

Her color palette looked like this when she was finished:

She thought for a bit, and chose gold as the metal color for her jewelry (maybe just for this season - who knows?)

And she's going to rely a bit on navy as a "cooling" influence on her wardrobe, as she moves away from those warm olive-ish greens that made her feel drab. So she drafted a 2nd color palette, like this:

Now that her colors are all settled, she things for a minute about what she's going to look for in her closet, and then buy ... View the Post

What Accessories do I Want for a Trip to Bermuda?

Not just a trip to Bermuda, but a trip in March, when the weather is still cool, and the crowds aren't pressing...

We're working with this color palette:

And these are the accessories that our heroine has already chosen to pack for her romantic get-away...

And this is her wardrobe that she's planning to have with her - 3 pieces to wear and a lucky 13 to pack:

Here's the accessories that she has included with her two core outfits... With the exception of shoes, she could of course travel with just these pieces and manage just fine. But in the interests of fun, let's expand her options...

Please note that I'm not suggesting that this is going to be all of the accessories that one owns - unless you really wanted a structured, ... View the Post

Do Accessories Really Make a Difference?

I think you already know my answer to this one! But let's revisit the Van Gogh seascape, and the 4 by 4 Wardrobe for cooler weather that we based upon the colors and overall style of that painting:

I didn't actually try to figure out how many outfits are possible from these 16 garments, but I'm pretty comfortable asserting that there are at least a couple dozen... Some will have a "balance" that you like more than others, but it would in theory be really tough to put together an outfit that was completely unacceptable to the general public!

To show how much accessories can add to this wardrobe, I've put together 10 outfits - 2 for each of the "bottoms." I've made the clothes somewhat small, and the accessories some what large, and I've ... View the Post

How to Accessorize a Navy-Based Fall Capsule Wardrobe – Start with Nature Central Cygnus Cloudscape

When we left our heroine on Wednesday, she had a tidy 16-piece wardrobe, but no accessories!

Of course, she probably still had lots of accessories that can work really well with her new clothes; let's go piece by piece, step by step, to choose some essential additions for her...

Shoes seems really important, I'd say!

And I'm going to be really practical and get her a bag pronto!

Now a bit of fun - some stars!

Scarves! Always remember that you might find the perfect scarf in an unexpected place - someplace you don't usually visit...

Don't discount the impact of a great watch... (yes, that last watch doesn't go with everything in this wardrobe, but if you were the kind of woman who didn't mind owning 2 watches...)

I'm going to ... View the Post

How to Expand Your Accessory Wardrobe: Winter Scene in Moonlight by Henry Farrer

On Friday, I expanded the original travel capsule wardrobe into a more complete "Four x Four" capsule wardrobe, but the real fun comes with adding more accessories!

When our heroine originally packed for her winter weekend on the farm, these were her accessories - lots of scarves!

Just for reference purposes, and to enjoy this painting one last time, this is her style inspiration:

For normal life, constantly wearing boots won't work, so we probably should start by getting her a comfy pair of loafers...

And just because I'm bracelet mad these days, another star bracelet could be a fun addition. It's a good thing that I'm in a shopping moratorium this year, because these ALL are very appealing...

And of course, most ... View the Post

Build an Accessory Wardrobe 1 Piece at a Time: Soir d’Octobre by Maurice Denis

Yesterday's capsule wardrobe based on Soir d'Octobre was pretty great, but we can't just leave our imaginary heroine like this:

Let's remember our inspiration:

So let's work step by step - just as we did yesterday - and add all of the essential accessories (and a few fun ones) to this wardrobe.

First, one must have shoes! This time of year, a pair of short boots is a nice warm choice:

I know that many women would want a handbag immediately, but for me, I don't feel dressed unless I'm wearing earrings!

Here, I decided to test-drive the theory that I could walk into a store looking for... a pair of gold hoop earrings, maybe, and find enough choices to feel comfortable. In this particular case, and at Talbots, it turned out to work ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: September

It's really starting to sink in with me how big this file is! 31 pages of images, all but 1 of which gets changed each month... But it's such a fun exercise!

As always, let's first look at the scarves around which we are building the 6 capsule wardrobes:

For all six outfits for September, I included a flannel shirt, corduroy pants, shorts boots, gloves, a scarf, and some kind of vest. Within those fairly strict guidelines, I still was able to pull together some wide-ranging looks!

And yes, I would wear a plaid scarf with a plaid shirt. In a heartbeat...

Only 21 pieces of clothing, but it just feels like more, doesn't it?

The new additions are going to integrate nicely into the previously existing wardrobe:

After ... View the Post

The Finishing Steps: Shifting Accessories from Cool Colors to Warm Colors

When we left this project, it was neither fish, nor fowl, nor good red meat, as they say...

But that's okay, because transition REQUIRES a period of "this and that." Unless you're going to throw out absolutely everything and start from scratch (which I don't recommend, and actively discourage!), you're going to find yourself in this kind of spot if you choose to make a major wardrobe shift. Just press on, patiently and intelligently...

Step 6 - Shoes for Skirts, and a Tote

Step 6 of the clothing change gets rid of black skirts and move toward warmer pieces, so your black pumps and boots are pretty obsolete! And you might as well address a new tote bag, since you're in the "leather goods" mood.

Since this wardrobe is overall a ... View the Post

Eight Color Ideas, from Ma To-Do List: Dressing by Colleuille and Gontier

Yes, we're visiting my favorite fashion book yet AGAIN... Frankly, until I've blogged about literally every page of this book, I'm not going to tire of it, nor find it boring - it's really just that good.

If you can read French, or are willing to throw yourself into a translation frenzy, you can find it here. The next time I'm in Europe, I'm going to look for a few copies for us, since it's becoming more and more difficult to find...

Today's inspiration was found on a page about figuring out how to work with color in a wardrobe; to one side, they tucked in this little list of garments with the heading "We love, we dare..."

I love some of them. I might even dare a few of them. What do you think?

When I decided to share this list with ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Sisyphus by Titian

Sometimes you feel like you work and work and don't really make any progress, or go anywhere... Seeing Sisyphus reminds me of business travel that's not really travel!

Your client is Milan is... amused... that there's a blizzard bearing down on Chicago. But not amused enough that they will let you off the hook for having the samples in the hands of the courier by Friday afternoon!

This isn't work that can be phoned in - you have to cut fabric, assemble muslins, put together swatch cards and sample cards of the trimmings - your team has to be IN the office for the duration. What do you do?

You get everybody into a conference room. Even though you all know full well that the blizzard might not materialize, you all ... View the Post

RED Cowboy Boots – Integrating a Wild Splurge into your Wardrobe

We've all done it. Something just CALLS OUT YOUR NAME... and the next thing you know, you get home, and you have a pair of red cowboy boots in your hands. Maybe not cowboy boots, but something that's outside of your normal wardrobe confines...

There's nothing wrong with this, if the item in question has true "whappage" - if it really strikes you, appeals to you, speaks to you on some deep level. Let's just figure out how to incorporate this newly exposed facet of your persona into your existing wardrobe.

These are the culprits in question:

And your normal wardrobe (I know, because you told me...) is grey and camel. Let's grab a couple of simple outfits with which we can work - jeans and sweaters are temperamentally well-suited ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Lake and Red Tree by Tom Thomson

These colors made me want to create outfits for a woman who was strong, confident, and who could stand up to the vividness with appropriate exuberance. This is a woman who considers red boots to be a neutral... oh yes, she likes boots!

The neutral beige can come in handy on a day when one wants to be a bit less confrontational, or at least settle into the background more than usual.

If you're struggling to find a scarf that combines particular colors, check out Valezhki on Etsy. While Etsy is rapidly becoming yet another dumping ground for mass-produced Asian junk (think of ebay...), there are still some talented crafts-persons to be found there.

And while packing tall boots might be really difficult for many ... View the Post