bracelets Archives

Four Accent Colors with Charcoal Grey, and 1 with Navy Blue

September 26, 2022

Let's take a look at the second five "London Fashion Week" colors, as shared with us by Pantone...

You probably remember from last week that I showed the first 5 colors as accents to navy blue; I'm going to hold onto that navy for this bright green. It just seems to be the right thing to do!

This is the minimal, core navy wardrobe that I was using:

At least in my eyes, these colors are made for each other. While these outfits feel a lot like spring, let's bear in mind that we dress to flatter ourselves, NOT to match the calendar!

For the last 4 accent colors, I decided to see how they look with charcoal grey. This wee core wardrobe is more casual than the first; what you choose will depend on ... View the Post

Let’s Look at Some Pretty Things…

July 18, 2022

For those of us who really already have enough clothes, this can be a weirdly sad time of year. Lots of people are throwing themselves willy-nilly into pre-season sales (and buying some things that aren't really all that nice...), and we just can't justify buying yet another black skirt, or pair of navy pants...

But we can buy accents and accessories!

Like this deeply, profoundly beautiful scarf:

I think this scarf is so beautiful that I gave it it's own page!

But that's just the start - I think that this lace collar is so pretty; I can see it over a crew-neck sweater or dress is any number of colors...

For those of us who really love purple, there are so beautiful scarves available. ... View the Post

Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Geshi, Summer Solstice

June 20, 2022

I'm finding it hard to believe (okay, maybe hard to ACCEPT) that tomorrow will be the longest day of the year. It feels like the weather here in Chicago just "hotted up" in the last 2 weeks...

But let's think of the Solstice as a chance for celebrating our extreme daylight (or darkness, if that's your hemisphere!). And that means a chance to treat ourselves!

I think many of us worry about our clothes quite a bit, at the expense of paying good attention to our accessories. Maybe, for balance, we should celebrate the Solstice with a self-gift of something beautiful? For those among us who wear a lot of earth tones, this might be a palette to consider:

I'm not sure what neutrals are best ... View the Post

Adding Accent Accessories – Start with Art: Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber by Paul Klee

April 22, 2022

You know that it's "klee an in clay"? There once was a book by that title that helped us pronounce all sorts of art and music names properly; well worth grabbing if you see it used...

Well, when I started this post, I wasn't at all sure WHEN you would get to see it; they're working on the internet and cable in my building - fifty-some floors of rewiring! Outages and glitches are built into this process; if I am going to miss a date I will post a note from my phone so you know I'm okay!

SO!!! Let's get Wednesday's heroines some accessories!!!

For reference, and for pleasure, let's remember that this is the art from which we started:

Let's go back to our core of 10 pieces of clothing. There's no reason in the ... View the Post

You Don’t Have to Spend a Fortune – 10 Scarves under $40

March 30, 2022

I've mentioned them before - the pants that I wear EVERY week, that are always in my laundry, are from redthreadcollection.com. (I have both the Essential Ankle Pants and the Essential Straight Leg Pants...)

The process is really simple and sort of fun - you take a couple of photographs of yourself dressed in something tight (like leggings or tights) and THEY figure out how to make pants to fit you. They eschew all discussion of sizes, which I can definitely support...

And right now, you can get 20% off of your purchase from them by using the code Vivienne20!

Nice people, great pants, and now a discount - how good can life get?

Someone recently commented that they really loved a scarf but that ... View the Post

Dresses – Accessorizing Them A Little Bit Differently…

March 25, 2022

Are you getting ready to wear dresses again? Now that the weather teases us with hints of spring, I begin to ponder what dresses are lurking in my stored warm-weather clothes, and how I will wear them...

I know some women prefer to wear dresses in colder weather, because they can wear tights! Fair enough, but don't discount the comfort and versatility of a "below the knee" dress in a light fabric and a roomy cut!

Today, for no good reason, I wanted to accessorize dresses in a way that's NOT the first thing one would expect; if you can find more than 1 way to wear a dress, you'll have a good reason to wear it even MORE often. That's always smart!

For example, this most excellent black dress would be an obvious base ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #52: A Dress

March 14, 2022

The LAST WEEK of the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe! I trust by now that none of us own all 52 garments, but that we've at least considered them and made intelligent decisions about what will and won't work for us...

I was - in theory - going to look at winter dresses today, but there aren't really a ton of nice ones still in the stores or online; fashion favors the advance shopper! So I just picked out a half-dozen dresses that I like, and thought about how I might wear them.

First up - for something very dressy:

I considered a necklace for this dress but I felt like the floral print was such a statement that leaving the area around your face mostly bare would bring attention to you - which is the point of ... View the Post

Accessories “Families” based on Pantone’s Spring 2022 colors

January 12, 2022

It's time to look at some "new" colors. (Yes, I never cease to be amazed by the hubris of calling a color "new"...)

But the announcement of these colors does give us a chance to think about what accent colors we prefer, and what we might want to consider. During these VERY short days (in the Northern Hemisphere!), which are very VERY cold, something to brighten up your wardrobe routine isn't crazy...

Please note, when you're shopping for socks, make absolutely sure that you're ordering what you have in mind - some socks are NOT meant to be worn with shoes! They're for lounging, or sleeping, or maybe worn under heavy boots. Trying to get a pair of those into a trim little loafer is going to be disappointing... ... View the Post

Accessorizing a Swim Suit-Centered Wardrobe

April 9, 2021 She's Going to Swim, This Year On Wednesday, we started with this:

Our very happy heroine's travel capsule wardrobe is this:

But she can't travel - and she certainly can't go to the beach - with only 1 pair of shoes, no sandals, no hat, and no sunglasses!

So let's work our way through getting her travel wardrobe completed!

This is 2 of the most important things to pack; surely by now we all understand the need for covering up from too much sun, right?

If she's outdoors a lot, she may not need a mask constantly, but we're all going to want to have masks with us for the foreseeable future. Of course she wants a towel, and good sandals... I couldn't resist a cover-up too!

Simple earrings, the ... View the Post

How to Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet – June 2020

July 2, 2020

Yes, it's July, but we never got around to the beautiful June bracelet!

In all fairness, our beautiful jewelry designer is having to deal with getting stones and beads delivered, which isn't uncomplicated under our current circumstances. We can easily forgive things, these days...

The Moon Will be Full... And that's all she really needs to be motivated to go to the cabin for the weekend!

She's going to be dressed and in the car anyway because she has a doctor's appointment. Some things do NOT wait for the lockdown to end...

Nobody else much wants to come with her - even at the cabin, they have to be careful about not socializing closely with the other people who live around the lake. THAT means that ... View the Post

Choosing a Scarf: The PJ Studio Accessories Edition

June 11, 2020

After I looked for a while at the "Choosing a Scarf" post that I mentioned at the end of yesterday's post, I was determined that I wanted to try this idea again!

To me, a scarf is the quintessence of your style. It's a distillation of the colors that you like, as well as the overall kind of patterns or prints or images that delight you...

When I was scarf hunting, I bumped into this designer, and this assortment of lovely things:

As I did before, I'm choosing to show a handful of things that could be worn with each scarf in question. I'm not necessarily suggesting that you need to own all of these things, or that you would wear them all together (that might be overdoing things a bit...).

But what I do think ... View the Post

How to Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet – February

February 7, 2020

THIS is just perfect; what a great way to bring some cheer into your day, and some Mardi Gras spirit to your outfit throughout the year:

I was sorely tempted to dress our heroine in creamy silk with bright accents, but alas, creamy silk is not yet available from anybody I could see...

But there are ALWAYS options, if we think long and hard enough!

She Thought She Was Going to Mardi Gras for her vacation. But just a few days before she was to leave, the head of the Engineering Department told the Sales Manager that SHE should go to their biggest client for the launch of a number of system modifications. After all, she designed all of the carbon-neutral adaptations for the client operations - who better to ... View the Post