capsule wardrobe Archives - Page 23 of 29

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: French Paisley Striped Shawl from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

August 31, 2015

For all of us who are art lovers, it's important to remember that we can indulge ourselves while supporting our favorite museums. Gift shops make a real point to find the most beautiful items available, and they always have a certain quality that you just don't see in every store...This beauty screams fall, doesn't it?

What really appeals here is the way that the strong camel and brown tones provide a perfect backdrop for the clear red, green and blue:

Under the Radar She wanted to travel. A lot. She has a project, and some goals in mind. So she wants to get out of town, maybe as often as every other weekend, through the autumn and winter...

There are LOTS of cities really close to her - ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting with a Scarf: Silvie Shadow by Ted Baker

August 28, 2015 If you are a fan of floral prints, get yourself to the Ted Baker site... I stopped into his store in Chicago on Saturday, and it was an oasis of beautiful floral fabrics. His items sell out really quickly, so if you see something that really grabs you, it's worth acting quickly. The prints are intricate, beautifully rendered, in lovely fabrics, and very feminine without being at all prissy or twee. Gorgeous...

There are at least a couple more colors that I could have pulled from here - there are touches of apricot, and of course a soft white would be ideal - but this is what I'm working with:

You don't dress like a scientist... She has like flowers for as long as anybody can ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Understanding by Parscha Mirghawameddin

August 25, 2015 What a striking painting - a juxtaposition of colors not often found together. And they work so well... thus, the title is Understanding - these colors have found a way to live together with joy and beauty.

This is a great, uncommon color scheme - and it could easily be flipped to use a lot of the beige from the upper left areas as a neutral too!

Eyes the Color of Pond Scum Well yes, her family had always been a little bit... harsh when they teased her about her coloring. Green eyes and red hair were uncommon in her family - unseen for generations, to tell the truth...

But for decades, she's believed that her eyes held depth of beauty, and that ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Joan of Arc by Jules Bastien-Lepage

August 20, 2015 French Realist painting at it's very finest...

And this suggests for us a color scheme using one of my favorite combination of neutrals: camel and grey!

Our heroine is going on a voyage, so this seems like an appropriate template around which to build her wardrobe:

Clarity, and Commitment She knew she was on the right track. Now she knew that she had to share what she knew.

It would require travel. It would require speaking to anyone who would listen. It would require unflagging confidence in the merits of her cause.

She can do this!

She knew that a pair of jeans would be handy when she was between meetings and speaking engagements; as she started to pack, this ... View the Post

Turquoise and Purple! With a Warm Transitional Common Capsule Wardrobe

August 19, 2015

You all were so eager to see turquoise and purple - I felt terrible that I didn't come through! So when someone suggested that I could start gradually migrating yesterday's Seashell Accents Common Capsule Wardrobe into cooler weather, I was suddenly filled with inspiration and good ideas!

In order to make this a bit more compatible with the choices above, I took out the shorts, changed up the shoes, and replaced the two linen wrap pieces (which are sold out!) with a silk blouse and a classic straight skirt.

The shoes are more closed, and a hair darker than the earlier versions of this wardrobe. The slightly darker flats were more at home with the brown skirt, and the more covered-up tops...

You still, ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Chapter 2 of Still Life with Apples by Henri Matisse

August 18, 2015 The prequel is here. The morning after the board meeting, they called her into the Manager's office for a conversation... An hour later, she was the first, and only, Commercial Relationship Coordinator in the entire company. It is a position with a somewhat nebulous job description, but one which is going to be PERFECT for showing her diplomatic skills to their best advantage! Remember, this was her work wardrobe:

Which was based on this painting and color scheme:

She finally felt that this was the right time to break out a new, and heretofore unseen, facet of her personality. Within her there was a brightness, and a strength, which she had downplayed in the ... View the Post

A Warm Summer Common Capsule Wardrobe + Water and Pearls

August 17, 2015

Yes, I promised a capsule wardrobe with turquoise and purple. I should have taken a look at what's still available for summer before I spoke so precipitously! It's kind of an unwritten policy when I'm working on The Vivienne Files that, if I show a piece of clothing, it should be available in the full range of sizes in which it was originally sold. It's no fun for anybody to go look at something that really appeals, and see that it's only available in one really peculiar size. (my favorite being 00...) So, plan B. Stick with blue, but go softer, and to a more seasonless offering of denim and chambray. That gives us another nice "seaside" feeling, and is beautiful when paired with the mother-of-pearl jewelry that ... View the Post

A Summer Common Capsule Wardrobe

August 8, 2015

It was a great question, and one that I'm sorry I didn't think of sooner - what about A Common Capsule Wardrobe for warmer weather? It's not like the concept doesn't work when the weather's above 20 degrees...

For me, of course the neutral is black. You can't imagine how I DON'T want to wear bright clothes after a day of wrestling with the nuances of color for The Vivienne Files! Also, I go in and out of stores, offices and restaurants that have absolutely frigid air-conditioning, so I include both a cardigan and a jacket. If you spend your time in less wasteful environments, you might not need these...

So I start with my cardigan - sheer, and very light. A jacket in silk... Three sleeveless tops, which can be in ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting With Art: The Boating Party, by Mary Cassatt

August 1, 2015 "Mom wants us all to come down for the Regatta... I know we said that after the kids quit sailing we wouldn't go, but I think it would really mean a lot to my mother." Well, that's a loaded invitation, isn't it? But that's okay, you know she misses her only child, and that she cherishes her memories of Regattas from years past... "Of course we can go. I'm assuming that we'll be there for the entire week?"

yes, you're a saint...

While navy isn't the color that covers the most area of this painting, it's definitely the "anchor" ***cough, cough*** color here.

Same thing with white - especially when you're thinking nautical, ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Edith and the Kingpin by Jack Vettriano

July 28, 2015

"Edith," they told me, "make sure you rest when you're at that beach resort, and get your health back."

"Uh huh..."

I never go swimming within an hour of having a meal, so when the luncheon salon closed, I went over to sit on the window seat in the lounge, to watch the activities outdoors. I hadn't been there more than a minute when he sat down next to me.

He was really quite familiar, especially since we hadn't been introduced! But he knew the names of absolutely everyone staying at the resort, and he told the funniest little stories about each of them...

His conduct was far from gentlemanly; he kept his hat on (Father would have been appalled) and he was wearing those funny two-toned shoes that ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Untitled, 1953 by Mark Rothko (revisiting navy and cognac)

July 27, 2015 Wow! When I ask for help finding art, you all jump right to the rescue! And isn't this a great version of navy and cognac, with a striking pink accent?

I snuck in a touch of white... and if you look really closely, our celadon green from last week is present, just a slight touch, along the bottom of the painting.

I kept the navy garments, but changed out everything else here. In honor of the block-like angularity of the Rothko painting, our accessories are now going to be square, or include a square motif if possible. (even the tote bag here has an embossed texture with a square feeling to it...) I took the cognac accessories down a notch darker, to show the options that are available ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Vase: A Qianlong Vase, and packing for China

July 24, 2015 One of you is taking off soon for a trip to China, and you have asked me for some ideas about what to pack. I did quite a bit of reading about travel to China, and one thing that was stated repeatedly was that it's important not to take too many clothes, because (a) it's extremely easy and inexpensive to get laundry done in China, and (b) there are quite a few non-clothing items that you need to pack, so you want to reserve space for those kinds of items. (OTC medicines etc. - PLEASE do some research before a trip like this, to be certain that you have with you all of the recommended necessities.) Now, for some aesthetic inspiration. Sotheby's assessed this vase at around ... View the Post