brights Archives

Accessories – Neutrals and Brights! Start with Art: Stargazing by Helen Frankenthaler

August 27, 2021

I don't image that you've forgotten this lovely and inspiring painting:

When we looked at a wardrobe inspired by this painting, I started with a simple Weekly Timeless Wardrobe in navy and white; I thought it was important that this heroine have a good neutral base for her clothes...

And then we of course moved into bright colored clothes to spark up things...

So I was thinking - what if we started with a handful of essential neutral accessories, and then added bright things to go with the bright clothes?

In this approach, we start with this handful of classic things to wear with navy and white:

Then let's take each accent color and find some accessories that will also serve as ... View the Post

Start with Art: Stargazing by Helen Frankenthaler

August 13, 2021

Happy Friday, the 13th!

We often ponder the merits of having a LOT of accent colors in a wardrobe... I think this post might offer an idea of how to manage them all!

This heroine understands that she needs quite a bit of navy to establish a base for her wardrobe. After that - watch out!

She starts with this - yes, it looks familiar:

Of course, I would be perfectly happy with this - I'm content with neutrals. But our heroine has other ideas, starting with bright blue!

Just out of curiosity, this is what her wardrobe would now look like with these additions. Yes, it gets her to a "4 by 4" Wardrobe plus 1 garment:

But she's just getting started - let's toss in 4 pieces in bright ... View the Post

Start with a Cardigan: Birdcage Print Cardigan from Talbots

Ma7 21, 2021

Just in the last few days, 3 people have contacted me about cardigans from Talbots! These kinds of "confluences of interest" happen often - I find them fascinating...

But the cardigans are pretty amazing too! Some lovely prints...

excuse the image quality - I had to do some scary digital magic to get this together!

I love this sweater - some of us were debating the merits of using bright colors for accents, and this cardigan sets us up for a summer of black, white and brights:

Let's assume for working purposes that our heroine already has her black and white Common Wardrobe all sorted out...

Now, she decides that she's going to base her accent colors for this year on her new cardigan!

First up, ... View the Post

Start with Art: Adding Accessories – Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film by Leopold Survage

I'll be back off and on for a week or two until things settle... Your kind messages and support help keep me sane right now. much love, Janice

November 25, 2020

She's quite happy with how her wardrobe is progressing; she's basing her choices on this painting she just discovered, and the color palette she developed from it:

She has her clothes all ready:

This is already a pretty fun wardrobe, but she's eager to see what accessories will add. The perfect scarf is all this outfit needs - a pair of earrings and some loafers finish this outfit in a classic way!

A sweater with texture and a pendant with a real eye-catching pattern are perfect for a work day:

The turtleneck print is subtle but its just ... View the Post

Start with Art: Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film by Leopold Survage

November 18, 2020

a question first - does anybody else have ankles that get cold? I was out today, and saw many people appropriately bundled for winter, except they were wearing cropped pants with nothing covering their ankles... Shaking Up the Routine She still has to go to her office - she's often the only person there. But she sits by a window onto the street, and people often stop to read the real estate ads posted very near where she sits. So she feels that she has to dress nicely, even if she's alone!

In the normal world, she wears black and white, with accessories. She likes to mix patterns, and the austere discipline of her wardrobe pleases her.

But THIS year? It's time for some fun!

And this is what inspired her! ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Foxes by Becky Kelley

October 7, 2020 The Sculpture Bienniale is OUTDOORS... And it's expected to rain the entire week. So guess who gets to go?

Yep, the heroine that we've seen before, visiting a small museum before a client's show, and then at a multi-artist show, looking for new clients...

She's a fan of a bright, bright color palette!

She knows, without doubt, that someone is going to be wading through the mud in 7 inch heels (probably in some animal print!) and will SNAP them off, about 15 seconds after they arrive. And they will make a BIG spectacle of the whole process...

Not for her; she understands that you can stand out in a crowd, be your own person etc etc without dressing inappropriately for the weather and the resulting ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Revisiting the Beach Roadtrip Scarf by Kate Spade New York

August 24, 2020

You wanted more of this scarf, and who could blame us? It's just THAT pretty...

And it appears to be back in stock at a few places that were sold out last week, when we first looked at this lovely thing...

Specifically, you wanted some brighter colors! So I kept a couple of the white garments that I used before, but I bumped up the accent colors quite a few notches:

As always, when I'm at a loss as to what the best shoe color might be, I choose a metallic accent! Of course, it would be possible to have blue shoes, and rose shoes etc. etc.... I'm not telling you that this is a bad idea!

Coral and white feels perfect for late summer, doesn't it?

And I personally love both of these shades of blue; ... View the Post

Finding Inspiration Anywhere! A Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Grey with Bright Accents

October 11, 2019

You won't probably be surprised to hear that I look for color combinations and wardrobe palettes in just about EVERYTHING I see! So when we were in the hotel in Kilkenny, the carpet in the halls caught my attention; on a ground of shades of grey were scattered bright color squares...

I struggled to get any sort of a photograph of the carpet, and failed miserable. Just trust me that these were pretty much what the colors looked like...

After Wednesday's VERY black and white travel wardrobe, I thought that this would be an interesting experiment. I'm going to keep neutral 2nd layers and pants, and use the accents for the tops. And lots of fun accessories, of course!

So let's start by getting our heroine on the ... View the Post

“Fixing” a Wardrobe that Just Doesn’t Feel Right…

She's worn navy forever, and really, legitimately loves it. She also really feels comfortable with bright colors - she doesn't mind the high contrast. But, for some reason she can't quite put her finger on, she's not quite "right" with her wardrobe...

This is what's she's got for spring:

She really doesn't know what to do to feel more comfortable with these pieces, so she just started getting dressed as normal, but changing 2 small things:

She pulls out and wears what she really "feels" like wearing, rather than trying to carefully rotate everything in her wardrobe. If she focuses on what she most likes, it might help her learn something, and She keeps careful track of what she wears.

After three weeks, she sorts things out based on ... View the Post

Do All of Your Accent Colors have to Work Together?

Until the last year or so, this is something that I wouldn't have brought to the blog - it would have just been something that was floating around in my brain, bugging me. But knowing how thoughtful and intelligent you are, I thought I'd share...

Yesterday, I was looking at the jerseys worn by the rugby team Stade Francais (yes, they're from Paris) and the colors in them got me to thinking...

It's important (at least my opinion!) to have a core wardrobe neutral color, and a handful of accent colors - typically including a light color for tee shirts and blouses. Having this palette of 5 (approximately) colors makes shopping and coordinating your wardrobe a ton easier.

But should your accent colors ALSO work together? Do they have ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe that Starts with Art: Saint John by Gerhard Richter

July 17, 2017

This could qualify as Moderately Extravagant Monday!

And here's some art that might not be to everyone's taste, but colors that certainly have energy and make a strong statement:

(I personally love Gerhard Richter, and this work especially...) They Think She's Crazy...

She sleeps like a baby on airplanes. Well, any place she can sit down, she can sleep soundly. And she uses this to her advantage!

Those last-minute plane tickets that are dirt cheap, but only work if you can leave in 2 days, and only stay someplace for 3 days? She's all over them...

Most people eschew such quick trips, because they can never get over the jet lag, and they don't feel like it's worthwhile to spend all that time on ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe with a Backbone – Start with Art: Paris Dreaming by Peter Rumney

February 14, 2017

I'm long overdue to make something clear - your choice of wardrobe inspiration does NOT have to be some work of fine art, nor some fabulous creature from nature. If you're inspired by a work of art that's frankly commercial and designed simply to be pleasant and decorative, you should apologize to NOBODY!

For example, someone brought this artist to my attention:

This painting is very romantic, which is perfect for today, and it brings to us a delightful color scheme:

This is a great scheme if you sometimes want a dash of bright color in your outfit, but if you also want to have the option of wearing shades of grey. Let's see how that actually works when I put real clothes into the backbone template we built ... View the Post