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The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 3: An Accent Top

Time for some fun!

This wardrobe addition could be in ANY color of the rainbow, and a whole bunch of colors that aren't in any rainbow...

I'm going to show you a handful of ways to incorporate an accent color into an outfit, and then next Monday I will show you essentially the same outfits, with different accents! For most people, 2 accent colors is a good number. Some of us manage just fine with 1, and others among us will want 3 or even 4. Don't beat yourself up if you find that limiting the colors in your wardrobe is initially difficult; everybody is different, and has different comfort levels! What matters is that you're moving toward having a wardrobe plan, and toward getting better use from the clothes that you ... View the Post

Start with Art: Red Pears by Helen Lundberg

It Finally Dawned on Her...

If she just carried her tote bag onto the plane, she could take the really cheap airline to visit her family. And since she visits them every few weeks, her savings could start to add up quickly! So she asked her mother if she could leave some clothes in the guest bedroom...

(no prizes for guessing the answer...)

So now, she can wear whatever appeals to her during her flight, and keep a stash of hot-weather clothes down there!

Her color palette is very muted, so she can wear the same things frequently and not be madly conspicuous. Not as if anybody in her family would ever notice, or comment!

For her current trip, this is what she will have at her disposal. Another trip might change ... View the Post

Revisiting Art: Ornamental Composition for Social Spaces #14 by Kamrooz Aram

Last August, she pulled together a 4 by 4 Wardrobe based on her favorite wardrobe; she liked it so much, she thought that it would make a good base for a travel wardrobe too! Since the weather is warm, she's going to look for the lighter shades of her accent colors.

She's only going for a long weekend, so she knows that she doesn't want to pack a lot! And she recently bought herself a jacket and pants in her favorite green, so she knows that she wants to wear that while she's traveling...

She decides to be organized, and deliberate, in her packing. She thought about what 6 items she would want to pack...

She knows that the smartest thing to do, when packing very few items, is to stick to a core of her black neutral, ... View the Post

National Stripes Day? 10 Ways to Wear a Striped Skirt

I honestly don't know if National Stripes Day is anything more than a made-up thing by J.Crew to sell more striped things, but the idea amuses me...

So I saw this skirt and saw both the potential and the challenges:

These colors are lovely, but they're certainly not easy to find in the world of clothing...

Just to make things interesting - and tough - I'm sticking with the general structure that I used for the last skirt for which I conjured 10 Ways to Wear...

In warm weather, a denim jacket might seem odd, but in the world of excessive air conditioning and unpredictable weather, it might make sense. Right now, in Chicago, it's plenty cool enough to wear it!

A simple tee shirt is always such an easy way to pull ... View the Post

Start with Art: Farm near Duivendrecht by Piet Mondrian

Her farmhouse doesn't look quite like this...

Gradually... Since she inherited the farm, she's been trying to decide what to do... She rents the fields - she's NOT going to start farming when she retires!

But she is going to live there. Starting just before the end of the year - she will be there by Christmas! There's so much hiking, bird-watching, and just general relaxing there...

She has committed to work through the middle of December, but she wants to start moving NOW, and she has a fairly excellent idea. Why not take things up to the house every time she visits? Some winter clothes, some bedding, some books... If she takes a car-load every visit - say maybe 9 times before the final move - she will save some moving ... View the Post

Spring Travel: Pilgrim of the Absolute by Brian Fahlstrom

She's Very Excited... Her company is organizing a pilgrimage from Paris to Mont-Saint-Michel! She's never been there... She's arranged for pilgrimages from Paris to Chartres, but this is new! (in an ancient kind of way!)

She's going to drive up from Paris, along the route the pilgrims will walk. She will stop to walk small segments of the route, to make sure that there aren't unexpected construction issues, or other blockages that will be a problem... And she needs to pack with a plan; her rental car is tiny!

Our heroine starts with her inspiration painting and color palette:

The weather will be warm when she lands in Paris, but she knows that she would be insane to fly without a cardigan or other warm layer; airplanes can ... View the Post

Start with a Bracelet – The May green and beige bracelet from Fierce Lynx Designs!

She knew immediately that it was just what she needed for her warm-weather wardrobe...

It suits her current color palette perfectly!

Why Don't You Come up For the Whole Week? She's GOT to finish the edits on her book. This week. By Friday. No jokes, no exceptions...

She had hoped to make it to her friends' home for the weekend...

It all seemed doubtful, until she picked up the call...

"Come up this evening and stay for the week; we've got electricity in the gazebo! You can sit out there all day, work, drink iced tea (until cocktail hour), and still be here to have dinner with us and spend the evening. The Wifi out there is better than in the house!"

Hmm... out of the sun, eating her friends' excellent ... View the Post

April Showers Bring May Flowers…

And sometimes, flowers are what inspire you to update your warm-weather wardrobe...

Many of us have a pretty decent core wardrobe to carry us into the warm weather...

Many people could get through quite a bit of the summer with just these 9 garments - especially if you have to dress for work every day, and this is your leisure wardrobe.

But maybe you want to brighten up your core wardrobe with some pretty colors?

Even just one "French 5-Piece Wardrobe" in an accent color can give you quite a few new outfit options:

Maybe you're in the mood for orange?

Lace is fun for summer - not insanely dressy, just a pretty way to update a tee shirt...

The nice thing about getting a sweater in an ... View the Post

April Travel: Start with Art – Briqueterie a Tortosa by Picasso

Remember our friend who designs installations for solar panels? Happy for her, she's now traveling in warm weather! No more the "leave the snow, get off the plane in sweltering heat!"

So she's packing light - just enough to visit her clients, and the construction sites...

This painting is her inspiration:

She's driving to her next clients, so she's wearing sandals on her trip! Normally, she doesn't fly in sandals...

Many of her clients can be hard to read, at first. Some of them want her to put on a hard-hat and steel-toed boots and climb ladders (she doesn't go quite that far...) and other just want to sit over a cocktail at the country club and review the plans. So she tries to pack with those various potential ... View the Post

Start with Art: Undergrowth by Vincent van Gogh

I love van Gogh... These colors are so perfect for spring and summer:

She Hasn't A Clue... Well, that's strictly not true - she knows that she has to wear clothing to the wedding, and that it won't be ballgowns, nor jeans. Other than that, the invitation was maddeningly vague...

So... she's taking a couple of dresses - there's a chance that she's going to the rehearsal dinner (more of that vagueness that makes this such a headache), so she will wear 1 for the dinner, and 1 to the wedding. Maybe.

At least she knows exactly what she's wearing for the drive to the hotel - her favorite new green!

She's not, in fact, all that worried about what she's going to wear. She's got plenty of options, from a nice blouse or top with ... View the Post

March 2019 – 12 Months, 12 Outfits – Based on 6 Hermes Scarves

Possibly my favorite blog post every month!

You can see the January post here, and the February post here...

First up is this quite abstract scarf, in my favorite black and white with 2 shades of blue:

Normally I would look for a solid skirt for this outfit, but I couldn't resist the stripes here! And the juxtaposition of more stripes appeals to my fondness for pattern mixing:

Next is this lovely scarf with all of those shades of purple, lavender and pink. I'm not sure how it's all going to look when this is finished, but I love the colors together!

I'm on a one-woman mission to convince everyone that skirts don't have to be dressy...

The balance here between warm and cool colors is going to be tricky, but ... View the Post

Sage and Blush! A French 5-Piece Wardrobe, with Camel

I don't think I've ever pointed this out specifically - your French 5-Piece Wardrobe doesn't have to be all one color! It probably should all go together, if only to make wearing it easier, but 2 colors that are beautiful together could be a great idea...

Imagine that you've already pulled together your camel and ivory Common Wardrobe for spring...

Yes, this is the same wardrobe from Monday the 5th - and the shirt is NOT (at this very moment) sold out...

You would already have a good many ways to get dressed in the morning without really even thinking - that's handy when you're in a rush, and distracted!

When you add just the 5 new items you purchased for spring, your options expand a LOT, and you still don't have to do a ... View the Post