Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature
July 7, 2015 To the seaside!!! Everyone told you that you couldn't have purple as your favorite color for your entire life - but YOU know better...
Did you have a favorite color as a child? I never really did, but I always wore my older sister's clothes, so it's maybe just as well that I didn't have strong feelings about it! love, Janice ... View the Post
July 27, 2015 Someone particularly special sent me this painting, with a request for a Start With Art - what a wonderful idea! These were the colors that I chose. While there's a ton more orange in this painting than anything else, only the rarest among us will be able to pull together any kind of a wardrobe, no matter how small, with mostly orange. So I gave the warm brown prominence...
I was really thinking about texture and flow here - draping was important!
Just enough to be able to get away for a long weekend - lots of emphasis on dining-out attire! And the budget was unlimited madness for this wardrobe - suede pants and a bank-breaking dress and sweater. But very reasonably ... View the Post
May 21, 2015
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 ... View the Post
May 13, 2015 It's never too late to pull out a scarf that you've owned for years and recommit yourself to building around it, and wearing it more! One of you has been living with, and loving, this scarf (a cashmere and silk blend wrap) for quite a while, but feel like there's more to be done with this lovely thing.
My first move with any scarf is to take a good look at it, from a distance, with my eyes squinting, and see what neutral colors seem prominent to me. I then look for colors that "jump out" - those are accents. This is the color scheme that I saw in this scarf. Bear in mind that I could easily find more colors - there's no one "correct" color scheme here!
I'm thinking of this scarf for ... View the Post
April 3, 2015
For this 2nd step in my pondering about proportion, I want to introduce some shoes into the equation, as well as a solid-color scarf. I didn't find that I felt the scarf was "necessary" as often as I had expected - sometimes a pair of shoes made enough difference in the proportion of the outfit that the scarf, while fun, might be superfluous.
For these first two outfits, shoes that matched the cardigan lent enough "gravity" to the outfit that I didn't really reach for a scarf. Out fit 3 is more problematic - in screaming hot weather, white sandals might work, but white shoes made this look really "uniform", in the medical profession sense. Maybe the beige scarf and loafers would be better?
These outfits felt a lot ... View the Post
February 24, 2015 Someone sent me a photograph of this delectable item - a shawl, no longer available, from Hermes - and asked if it would be possible to build a little something beautiful around it. Ooooh, yes, this is DEFINITELY possible...
First up, a color scheme, as always. Using camel as the neutral, there's a whole range of maroon, dark red, bright red, and hints of yellow here - lots of possibilities!
My imagination called this transition season dressing - either spring or fall. Maybe for business, or for pleasure. One dress, for a splashy night out, and otherwise dressy but not fussy separates for business or elegant sightseeing. (Note that the accessories are either angular, or have a ... View the Post
February 2, 2015 Today, our heroine needs a Four-Pack for a quick business trip. These few garments give her a couple of options for work days, as well as including a dressy dress for the inevitable cocktail party that seems to be included in these outings...
love, Janice ... View the Post
July 27, 2015
The reader who requested this was particularly interested in the black, olive and camel parts of the painting, so I've taken the liberty of cropping the top third in order to focus on the colors in question. I'm sure Moreau will forgive me, since I'm such a big fan!
Any Moreau painting cries out for an exotic and Byzantine wardrobe, but I wanted to keep things in the realms of the wearable, so I've opted for velvet, silk and cashmere in order to express the more exotic and sensuous aspects of the painting.
Accessories are where you can really express the ornate impulses that seem to spring from this painting (and what that character in the painting is wearing!) - ... View the Post
December 20, 2014 One last look at this idea - substituting green for the burgundy with which this travel capsule wardrobe was originally presented. Other colors that would work well with camel would include rust, coral, peach, other shades of green, pretty much a whole bunch of shades of blue... lots of choices!
I think by now we've all figured out that these four garments would get you through 3 or 4 days pretty easily...
love,
Janice Looking back:2013: From Desk to Dinner Party: Incorporating a Gem Tone into Neutrals 2012: Two sides of the whole "color" system question ... View the Post
December 18, 2014 Many of us are preparing for holiday trips of varying lengths, so today I felt like putting together something that just oozed luxury and subtlety. These rich, beautiful colors, fabrics and textures make a quietly elegant statement, without gaudy logos or overdone ornamentation.
love, Janice ... View the Post
November 18, 2014 It could happen to anyone of us - you're minding your own business, and then... you see it. The garment that makes your heart sing. Something that you admire aesthetically, that looks perfect on you, that is beautifully made, from gorgeous materials, and that will last the rest of your life... But OWWWW... it's expensive. The biggest question to answer: can I wear this wondrous garment frequently enough to make it worth the purchase price? I'm NOT going to say it's an investment, because only in a few cases will you be able to sell something for more than the purchase price, which is the technical definition of an investment. But in a way, if you get more joy from something, and it enhances your image, ... View the Post
November 15, 2014 If you're looking for a scarf investment that can rival Hermes, don't overlook the beauty that comes from Etro. I bought an Etro scarf for my honeymoon (in pink and black chiffon...) and I will treasure it forever. Etro pretty much OWNS the idea of paisley, and they make them in as many color combinations as you can imagine... So how do you choose? Maybe take a look at the sweaters or shirts with which you would hope to wear your scarf, and work backward from there.
This scarf is particularly well suited for autumn, and for the winter holidays. You can wear the muted green (or brown, or tan, or black), or you could bust out with a bright red. The earrings just sort of felt like they wanted to be ... View the Post
