camel Archives - Page 3 of 10

Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette – A Drop of Wine, with 6 Neutral Colors

Many of you have asked me how to integrate an accent color into a neutral wardrobe; this is my attempt to give you some suggestions, and a gentle bit of guidance. Let's assume, for the sake of conversation, that you have your core ensemble for cooler weather, in your favorite neutral:

Some of these are easier to assemble than others; if olive green is your favorite neutral, you're not going to see yourself coming and going on the streets...

I've put together a few ensembles in more "business-y" looks, and others that are more casual. You can alter your personal neutral outfit to suit your preferences and your lifestyle!

All colors don't have to be absolutely dye-lot matched, but they should look as if they all woke up in the ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Portrait of Marevna by Diego Rivera

This is another of those works that I often see at the Art Institute of Chicago. She's not exactly pretty, but I think she's rather handsome:

Class Reunion/Homecoming

"After looking at the RSVP list, I certainly hope SHE's coming. We're going to need a calm head in this crowd..."

"Yea, she always had the ability to see every angle of a situation, and find some way to calm down the worst arguments..."

"Just a really level-headed, balanced sort of person, as I recall..."

Well yea, she works for the United Nations now... she'll be thrilled that you think she's qualified. love, Janice

... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: Tarantula Nebula by Gendler and Colombari

Insomnia Part 2 - Version 2 see first installment here, and Part 2 Version 1 here) Our sleepless protagonist is browsing in a bookstore - immediately drawn to photo books of space phenomena - when she sees this:

She admires it, registers it somewhere in her brain, and goes on about her day/night.

Later that morning, she's wandering in a department store, and sees the Image Consultant area. The staff seems to be at loose ends, so she plucks up her tired courage and asks if she can meet with the consultant...

An hour later, her universe has been rocked. While she's told that her neutral navy is perfect for her, she's encouraged to add warmer accent colors to her wardrobe! Part of her recommended palette looks sort of like ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Girl on a Sofa by Philip Wilson Steer

Doesn't this look comfortable?

And this painting could single-handed provide someone with plenty of colors to have a wardrobe with great variety, and a lot of options:

I've been thinking a lot about packing (big surprise, eh?) and about the wisdom of packing your favorite outfits and letting the chips fall where they may. So let's explore that idea a bit!

In keeping with the relaxed feeling of the painting, I've tried to keep everything soft, rounded, flowered or flower-like, and just a touch slouchy.

First up, a simple column in a muted navy blue, with a soft white blazer, gold jewelry, and some brown leather accessories. This could be the outfit for the meeting, or the presentation, or the ceremony, or just a nice evening ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Brown, Camel, Cream and Turquoise: 1 Piece at a Time

I decided to pull a scarf into this one, in order to illustrate the color scheme a bit - I think that adding the scarf lends a bit of validity to the possibility that this outfit could be someone's favorite:

I love the possibilities - dark chocolate, caramel, whipped cream, and.... I do NOT have anything except ugly artificially-colored sprinkles to offer in turquoise!

Normally, I try to start building a wardrobe with solid garments, because they feel more versatile. But sometimes, you see something that's just perfect, and you grab it!

Here's a case of "I love it in chocolate, I will probably love it in caramel." That's not at all a bad strategy for expanding your wardrobe with taking huge risks!

These trousers give you a... ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: March

It's that time again! This month, I have chosen outfits that are the most casual way POSSIBLE to wear a skirt. While you might never feel comfortable wearing a skirt with a pair of Keds, it's a normal outfit for me, and it at least gives you a good laugh at my expense! Just a reminder, these are the scarves around which I'm building each capsule wardrobe. Your choice of focal point does NOT have to be an expensive scarf - it can be any beautiful object or image that resonates with you. If your favorite picture in the world is your computer wallpaper, work with it!

But I feel like I should mention that if you really DO love one of these scarves, don't hesitate to get it. Hermes does NOT carry things forever - when they sell out of a ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: Male and Female Cardinals, in Warm AND Cool Colors

So I'm going to start alternating "1 Piece at a Time" Wardrobes with other fun things, so that we don't collectively burn out on the concept before I've addressed ALL of your color scheme requests. I am absolutely going to look at accessories for these wardrobes - those might be some of the "interspersed" posts. As much as I have an endless attention span for a single subject, I understand that a bit of variety keeps things fresh for us all.

Someone suggested that the male cardinal wardrobe (here) and the female cardinal wardrobe (here) might be combined. I'm ALL OVER that idea!

Do these two look like they get along?

I've often thought that it's possible to build a wardrobe with 4 or 5 neutral colors and just 1 accent. In fact, a long ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: A Cardinal, in Warm Colors

So Wednesday I danced with the "cool male" cardinal; today, let's see what the "warm female" cardinal colors have to offer!

I'm going to use exactly the same red garments as I did on Wednesday, just to show how very different they feel when they're used with brown and camel.

To me, it's always an education to see how an accent color can look like it's completely different when I place it into a wardrobe with different neutrals. I never tire of seeing colors working together.

This warm wardrobe demonstrates that you can love red and NOT ever have to pair it with black or navy!

love, Janice ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: February

Although the marketing types will urge us all to dress up in lace and frills and all sorts of dainties for Valentine's Day, I think it more likely that many of us will consider it a big night out if it requires a dress of any sort! So for February, I looked for dresses - simple, classic, versatile, timeless dresses that will be as useful for you in July as they are in February...

As before, I tried to keep the "parts" as consistent as possible across the six color palettes, so that the impact of the changing colors will be shown to better effect.

Remember, these are the six scarves around which I'm building these "month by month" capsule wardrobes. Any beautiful item can serve this function - painting, ceramic, photograph, bag, fabric ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: January

You all have the BEST ideas! And I'm stealing this and running with it...

Starting today, and then on the 1st of each month (yes, the next installment, for February, will be Monday), I'm going to share the "monthly" new outfit for each of 6 different capsule wardrobe color schemes. By the 1st of December, we're going to have a nice tidy capsule wardrobe, built around a unifying color theme and overall "feel."

I chose 6 Hermes scarves to define our color palettes:

These six scarves indicated, to me, six different core neutral colors, and an interesting range of accents. I've included a small image of each scarf on the page with each outfit, to remind us of the colors with which we're working. Of course, you can wear the scarf with ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Blocks and Circles by Paul Klee

I can so easily picture the woman who wears these colors - freckles had better be in the picture!

Just in case nobody else has ever told you this, it's pronounced Klee as in Clay. There was once a book with that title, that taught one how to pronounce all sorts of art names; I wonder if it's still around....

Yep, lots of color possibilities. I chose the beige/camel neutral for our upcoming spring dressy events, but if you wanted to segue this wardrobe into cooler weather, olive and fir green could definitely becomes neutrals, as could a deep rust, or a russet brown...

This is another one of those dresses that has a LOT of potential, for the entire year. And while the culottes were a bit of a venture, I think that they're much ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Toasting Friends Version 2

Many people wanted me to revisit this painting, and many of you are interested in seeing posts with warmer colors, and many of you are looking for lower-contrast wardrobes. I'm tackling a lot of ideas in one lovely painting!

One of the fun things about this painting is the range of lovely colors included. I've madly exaggerated the amount of camel included in the painting, but I'm going to use shades of camel, beige and coppery brown as neutrals...

The most difficult thing about writing The Vivienne Files (well, except for having dozens of ideas, and not enough time!) is choosing a color scheme and then realizing that the colors I love and want to use aren't necessarily available in beautiful clothing! Patience is SO ... View the Post