cool weather Archives - Page 30 of 35

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe STRUGGLE in Brown, Navy, Leaf Green and Bright Pink

August 19, 2014

I know from my emails that some of you who are working on Four by Four capsule wardrobes are running into some challenges, and so today I'm sharing with you the hardest wardrobe (so far) that I've done. As we get to each step of the process, I'll tell you what (hair pulling) issues I encountered, and what my adjustments and accommodations to the normal process were.First up, let's console ourselves with the final product:

The more I look at these four, the more I like them...

And these are quite nice too - although the blouse is silk, it's a quite casual style. Thus far, eight really good, classic, timeless items.

But let's be serious - I had NO IDEA that finding ... View the Post

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe in Brown, Grey, Green and Gold

August 16, 2014

One last visit to these four grey garments - this time, a entirely different color scheme! Making grey work with otherwise warm colors isn't difficult if you keep a few simple things in mind. In order to make everything hang together here, I made sure that the accessories mixed cool and warm. For example, the brown linen bracelet has silver beads, the smoky quartz earrings are set in sterling, rather than the most obvious gold, the brown leather band is on a stainless steel watch - even the grey boots have brown heels! These little touches make a lot of difference to the way things look to me...Today, let's start with the colors:

Starting with the brown ... View the Post

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe in Denim, Grey, Pink and Rose

August 15, 2014

The same grey clothes are going to get a bit more mileage - this time, combined with denim, and softest shades of pink and a kind of lavender-ish rose. When I built this color scheme, my thinking was that when the accent colors are so closet together and have so much the similar feeling and mood, that it sort of gives you the freedom to use any color within that entire family.First up, the finished capsule wardrobe:

This is the color scheme, with that absolutely annoying grey that will NOT show up well once it's transferred into a PDF. Sheesh....

When using denim as one of your neutrals, it's can be helpful if some of the denim has some texture or pattern, so that ... View the Post

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe in Black, Grey, Camel and Cream

August 14, 2014

Yesterday, someone asked if it was possible to change the colors in the Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe. Well, yes, I plan to show a whole BUNCH of these so that we can see some of the color schemes from The Vivienne Files Color Planner in action. (that's why I asked which combinations are your favorites; so I can work specifically with them)

All of yesterday's grey garments are still here, but the other three colors have been switched. If I were building this wardrobe for myself, I would ABSOLUTELY buy the scarf first and then very gradually build around it. This is a scarf that would be an ideal long-term focal object for all purchases; the colors and the design are just that perfect!

This is ... View the Post

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe in Navy, Grey, Teal and Burgundy

August 13, 2014

The Four by Four capsule wardrobe - in which you focus on four garments at a time - is a great way to move toward a complete wardrobe when you can't face a ton of shopping at one time. The fours can easily be pulled from your Step by Step Capsule Wardrobe; this is sort of Step by Step with lots of resting in between steps!

One of the great beauties of Four by Four is that sixteen garments, plus accessories, is a great quantity of clothes for travel...

While these sixteen items could be purchased in any order or combination, I've got to admit that I would be VERY tempted to get all of the solid navy pieces at the same time, and maybe even from the same place. Navy is not a color that can just be ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch Step 12: A Winter Coat, Boots and Scarf

July 8, 2015 For many of us, a really SERIOUS winter coat is a necessity in the capsule wardrobe. Realistically, I couldn't get through the winter without my parka that sort of resembles a cross between a sleeping bag and a wee portable padded room... But let's focus on getting a more attractive, more widely useful winter coat. I've chosen a mixture of accent colors and neutrals, and tossed in yet another scarf because it's difficult to have too many scarves! My friend in black and brights wants a statement coat to stand out in the crowd of black - and this blue should do the trick, eh?

My lady in navy is looking for a dark neutral coat, but some pretty flowers for an ... View the Post

A Winter Capsule Wardrobe, and the Full-Year Assortment, from Ma To-Do List: Dressing

May 2, 2014 Let's see if we can jointly make sense out of all of this, shall we? First off, working from the list of garments in Ma To-Do List: Dressing, I chose these garments as the Winter Capsule:

Yes, they suggested sleeveless tops for layering. The authors are in France, not Chicago... In order to anchor all of this in some neutrals, I'm going to pull in seven simple, neutral garments to act as the core of all of these lists.

So I pulled out the outerwear and the swim suit, and this is the ensemble wardrobe that you have if you take their four "capsule wardrobe" suggestions together:

Frankly, I think this isn't a bad wardrobe at all. There are enough ... View the Post

An Autumn Capsule Wardrobe, from “Ma To-Do List: Dressing”

May 1, 2014 It's become apparent that many of us aren't clear on what exactly this book intends for us to actually DO with these lists... My approach, with the choices that I've been making, has been to assume that someone has a very basic, simple "whatever's clean" wardrobe, and that these are the additional garments, season by season, that are added to that wardrobe in order to fill it in and make it sing and dance. Tomorrow, when I show the winter wardrobe, I'll also show all of the clothes together, and I think it might become a bit clearer what the authors have in mind. I think. Maybe its just what I have in mind...

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Three Garments – Four Seasons

April 1, 2014 The clothes I bought in Paris are going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting, so I've been giving some thought to how many different ways I can wear them. Here are my ideas, so far... First up, the dress that I bought at French Trotters. It's not available, but it's rather similar to this dress (mine has a bit more clearly defined pattern). I know that I can wear this with a turtleneck layered underneath, warm tights, boots and a scarf - I did that in Paris! But I can also scale it back to just leggings and flats, or sandals and bare legs...

Next, I want to make sure that I get maximum utilization from my new striped tee shirt. ... View the Post

Chic Sightings: Variations on a Sweater Theme

February 26, 2014 Yesterday's double posting was, in fact, a mistake on my part - the pattern mixing post was supposed to be this morning's post. But I'm having well-documented issues with Blogger, and they chose to give you the gift of two posts yesterday; who am I to argue? So today I thought I'd share a small post with a few quick observations I made in New York. First, most women in New York are NOT amazingly beautiful and well-dressed. They might be slimmer than the national average, but that might just be because one walks a lot in New York. (and if you take the subway, you climb a LOT of stairs...) Secondly, pretty much the entire city wears black coats. Maybe grey. ... View the Post

How to Pack for Slushy Streets

February 14, 2014 Lucky me - I'm going to New York for a few days next week! Belovedest has to go to a series of meetings there, and we had a free plane ticket, and so... But this is a particularly dicey time of year to travel - there's no telling what I'm going to find for weather. So the first thing we have to always plan is what the "drop dead" plan is for cancellations, i.e., at what point do we go back home after a number of delays. But once that's settled, I also have to face that fact that I'm not going to be happy slopping around Manhattan unless I have serious footwear - specifically, my Bogs. And they're... bulky... really, really bulky... I could wear them on the plane, but I'm going ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Packing Outfit by Outfit: Pink, Maroon and Black, for Business Travel

January 21, 2014

The weather's cold, and you've got to go on a business trip. A SERIOUS trip...Start with a comfort garment - the favorite cardigan will make you happy, and will suggest your color scheme too! Choose a couple of outfits that ensure that you bring all of the pieces of your black suit, add a couple of jazzy red garments, and you're all set for business events. One simple dress, and everything will fit in a carry-on bag.

A black winter coat, and some gloves, will be needed here, of course:

First day in the home office - better look serious!

And you know they're going to take you out to dinner...

Second day in the office is a lot more mellow, ... View the Post