brights Archives

“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

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 the plane in exchange for such a ... View the Post

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

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 last week...

I'm starting ... View the Post

One Navy Dress in a Capsule Wardrobe: 14 Ways to Wear it With Brights

I always intended to do 3 posts with this dress, yesterday's pastels, today's bright colors, and on Friday I'm going to look at some muted shades... (tomorrow is the first of the month - time to revisit those "1 Outfit per Month" wardrobes!) So today, I changed the shoes, but kept to the same general theme of working through a range of colors.

(These seven images look really great together on my computer; I don't often notice this, but I've got this lovely rainbow running down the side of my desktop right now...)

The color spectrum isn't quite the same as yesterday, but I still worked my way around the color wheel. Doing this ensures that I don't miss any possibilities; it's something to consider when you're looking for just the right ... View the Post

A Capsule Wardrobe in Beige, Bright Blue and Orange: Expanding Your Accessories

Oh, how I love accessories.... As a reminder, this is where we left the capsule wardrobe when we finished the 4 additions to it yesterday:

I was really appreciating the summery-ness of this wardrobe, so I thought I'd add some warmer-weather accessories (before they disappear entirely from the stores...) Sandals are essential!

And sunglasses. If I convince you to change only ONE thing in your entire life, I want it to be that you buy and wear GOOD sunglasses regularly. You might think that it's just a question of squinting, and getting wrinkles, but your eye health is dependent on shielding them from bright sunlight. Please, not a cheap pair of sunglasses - get something worthy of you and your health.

As I've said before, I'm ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Cobalt, Black and Grey: 1 Piece at a Time

I knew that I had more black and grey wardrobe requests, so I thought I'd jump on another one right away and see how much difference a change of accent colors would make. First up, the hypothetical starter outfit:

It's a pretty somber outfit, but when you drape the scarf over the shoulders of the cardigan, or loop it insouciantly under the collar of the shirt, everything changes!

Although this outfit includes an Hermes scarf, I imagined that this was being put together for a woman who really needed some more casual clothes. First up is to consolidate a solid column of black, as well as build a sort of fake twin-set in black.

Here's where we start getting much more casual - a nice sweatshirt! So long as you don't look like ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Cheval Surprise Remix Version 2

You wanted to see some purple? I found purple, and hot pink!

You could certainly do worse than to use all five bright colors, plus black and white, as the basis of your wardrobe...

How many horses have you found in the scarf? I think I can see seven...

This is SUCH a great dress - you could literally wear it all 12 months, with a range of accessories that would keep it fresh. If I needed a dress, this one could easily vault to the top of the list!

Many have mentioned their preference for white shorts, so I honor your preference. And while the paisley top isn't exactly "cleaning out the basement" casual, I thought it was too irresistible to leave out... Maybe your casual activities will be more spectator than wide ... View the Post

Choosing an Accent Color for Olive Green

Oooh, olive is a difficult color to find, and when something turns up that's called olive, it could be anything from a nasty yellowish green pond-scum color, to this lovely deep and dusty green:

You will, I'm sure, note that these colors don't match absolutely exactly perfectly. I don't have too much trouble with that, so long as they're lighter and darker versions of the same shade of green. It's a difficult color to find and to match, but well worth the effort. By virtue of being so uncommon, you will never blend into a crowd when you wear it! And it can be madly flattering...

First up, what neutrals look good with olive? I'm quickly learning that marsala/wine/burgundy goes with EVERYTHING - a change of accessories for a bit of ... View the Post

Choosing an Accent Color for Brown

As I mentioned yesterday, I want to look at the possibility of different accent colors for a few neutrals - today let's think about dark chocolate brown!

First up, the core four garments upon which we will build these outfits. Having these 4 pieces can make your life so much easier....

I took the same approach, starting with two neutral colors that could serve as accents in a mainly brown wardrobe. If you were building a wardrobe with more than 1 neutral, you would have lots of options like this:

I loves these bright colors - you would certainly stand out in a sea of black winter coats if you wore one of these vests! And for many people, these are much more flattering colors...

I was so happy to see that the ... View the Post

Choosing an Accent Color for Black

Something that I struggle with a lot, personally, is my accent color, or colors. I'm always thinking that something other than red should be my "color", but who am I kidding? I keep coming back, over and over, to red...

So I was playing around with a variety of accent colors, using simple black garments as a core, and building around quilted vests, just for the heck of it...

When you're looking for these vests, make sure you look for "quilted," rather than "down," unless you specifically want down. Some of the vests with synthetic insulation are just as warm, and quite lovely; you'll miss them if you don't include everything quilted...

Yes, these would make nifty little templates for buying gifts, too. But if you go shopping on ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Brooch: Boucheron Lotus Brooch

Oh. My. Goodness....

If this somehow became mine, I would wonder WHAT in the world was going on, and then I would indeed build my entire wardrobe (and that of my bodyguards!) around it. What a beautiful piece of jewelry...

But even if one is not destined to own this, it can still certainly be used as a style focal point, or inspiration. The colors are straightforward enough:

Yes, I included the black of the background; I think it serves well as a foil for the diamonds, sapphires and emeralds.

So she's heading home for a long winter holiday weekend. She doesn't wear lavish, or amazing clothes - mostly things that are readily available. But in her mind, she remembers the brooch, and it changes everything about how she carries ... View the Post