green Archives - Page 15 of 28

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

January 21, 2016 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 ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Toasting Friends

January 15, 2016 So many of us have these events coming up this spring or summer - a wedding, graduation, bar mitzvah, baptism, or other celebratory event. What a nice excuse to travel!

But it does require a bit of planning, because in just a few days, you might well span the full gamut of activities from a very dressy event or two, to things like cleaning out a dorm room, or playing frisbee with nieces and nephews. Barbecues, picnics, and more relaxed family activities require a completely different wardrobe from what you'll wear to the actual event itself.What to do? Just plan to take more! A normal long weekend is a great time for a 6-Pack or an 8-Pack, but for these very special weekends, I think 13 pieces is perfectly ... View the Post

Wearing Unflattering Colors: Pastel Blue and Green

December 31, 2015 Oh, I could tell you stories about wearing mint green...

I decided to combine these two posts, because it wasn't tremendously easy to find nice things in these colors - especially nail polish. That surprised me; I would have assumed that all pastel colors would be pretty readily available...

A LOT of these items appealed to me, and I thought that the combinations turned out well. And what I wouldn't give for a pair of lace trainers...

I love this look - it reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice cream! And that can ONLY be a good feeling...

I also thought that this was lovely - soft and feminine...

The ring just makes the all come together! I don't suggest that you wear ... View the Post

Wearing Unflattering Colors: Olive

Wow, I had no idea that olive was such a debatable color! But I guess since there are different colored olives, there are going to be different search results when you start looking for olive green...This is sort of what I expected to find when I started searching. The boots that have the black elastic inset in the side sort of subtly hold all of this together pretty well.

(if someone gave you this ring for the holidays, kiss them repeatedly...)

Bag – Michael Kors; Chelsea Boots – Topshop; tee shirt – Uniqlo; crop knit pants – Helmut Lang; Mash nail polish – NARS; bracelet – Tai Rittichai; ring – Todd Reed

This was the other sort of shade that I expected to find, while hunting down all ... View the Post

Wearing Unflattering Colors: Green

December 23, 2015

It's a frequent question: "I really love ______, but it looks terrible on me!"

Well, first, let's answer 2 questions:

Does it REALLY look terrible on you, or were you told that once, about 40 years ago, and it's stuck with you since then? Are you sure that you want to wear this color, or is there some other way to solace your longing? Towels, thrown cushions, table wear, a cell phone cover - there are lots of ways to inject a color into your life without putting in on your person.

Okay, you really DO want to wear this color, and it really DOES make you look ghastly. Maybe it's one of those "local high school" things, or college homecoming, or.... YOU JUST LOVE THE COLOR. You don't have to ... View the Post

Choosing an Accent Color for Teal or Petrol Blue

December 8, 2015

First up, I have to confess that the whole question about what, exactly, this color is called is a mystery to me. I found all sort of shades and tones of these color under both Teal and Petrol blue. It seemed, in a general sense, that it was more likely to be called Teal in North America, and Petrol blue in Europe. Further, the things that claimed to be Petrol were generally more expensive than those that were called Teal. You may find different examples...But whatever it's called, it's very pretty!

In the time that I've been looking into the idea of accent colors, I've approached finding ideas a few different ways. Some color I just knew would work well, and some were combinations that I have wanted to ... View the Post

Choosing an Accent Color for Brown

As I mentioned yesterday, I want to look at the possibility of different accent colors for a few neutrals - today let's think about dark chocolate brown!

First up, the core four garments upon which we will build these outfits. Having these 4 pieces can make your life so much easier....

Ryder pants – J.Crew; cashmere turtleneck – J. Crew; jeans – Austin Reed; ribbed crewneck - Michael Kors Collection

I took the same approach, starting with two neutral colors that could serve as accents in a mainly brown wardrobe. If you were building a wardrobe with more than 1 neutral, you would have lots of options like this:

Olive vest – L.L.Bean; green earrings – GFG Jewellery; scarf – L.L.Bean; ... View the Post

Choosing an Accent Color for Black

Something that I struggle with a lot, personally, is my accent color, or colors. I'm always thinking that something other than red should be my "color", but who am I kidding? I keep coming back, over and over, to red...So I was playing around with a variety of accent colors, using simple black garments as a core, and building around quilted vests, just for the heck of it...

When you're looking for these vests, make sure you look for "quilted," rather than "down," unless you specifically want down. Some of the vests with synthetic insulation are just as warm, and quite lovely; you'll miss them if you don't include everything quilted...

Yes, these would make nifty little templates for buying gifts, too. But if you go shopping on ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Brooch: Boucheron Lotus Brooch

November 20, 2015

Oh. My. Goodness....If this somehow became mine, I would wonder WHAT in the world was going on, and then I would indeed build my entire wardrobe (and that of my bodyguards!) around it. What a beautiful piece of jewelry...

But even if one is not destined to own this, it can still certainly be used as a style focal point, or inspiration. The colors are straightforward enough:

Yes, I included the black of the background; I think it serves well as a foil for the diamonds, sapphires and emeralds.

So she's heading home for a long winter holiday weekend. She doesn't wear lavish, or amazing clothes - mostly things that are readily available. But in her mind, she remembers the brooch, and ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Echo and Narcissus by Waterhouse Version 2

This is a painting that easily provides a second color scheme! Remember last week, when I used more pastel colors as the accents?)

Today we will see how a change of accent colors alters to whole mood of the "Whatever's Clean 13."

Start out - the same outfit as before - I'm still deeply smitten with this sweater....

Jacket – Damir Doma; jeans – Austin Reed; turtleneck – L.L.Bean

I changed a couple of pieces here, just to show you a little bit of variety:

Jacket – L.L.Bean; ribbed sweater – The Row; twill pants – L.L.Bean

And at this point, I still feel that some accessories are handy - at least you're going to want some shoes or boots! A scarf that pulls the colors ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Echo and Narcissus by John William Waterhouse

November 11, 2015

If I ever catch any of you pining away like this, I'll give you a very stern talking-to, and then a hug...

But it's so beautiful, in that lush, opulently colored way that the Pre-Raphaelites made so appealing. I have, in fact, another color scheme in mind for this same painting, so don't wander away in the next week or two...

Recently, I've been asked about the nuts and bolts of putting together a Whatever's Clean Wardrobe - where to start, and how to choose what to include. I'll try to explain my thought process through this one, in the hope that I can clarify how you can easily do this yourself when you're packing, or just when you want to build a small collection of clothes that will see you through your ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Arrival of the Normandy Train by Claude Monet Version 2

November 10, 2015

We're back to visit our friend who made the long train trip!

This was her inspiration - the soft colors, and the strong sense of the grid patterns in the ceiling of the train station. Very beautiful!

She DID have to do some shopping when she was on the road! It was bound to rain, but it wasn't bound to stop her...

And these were the clothes that she took with her on her trip. It was a wonderful trip - well planned, and thoroughly enjoyed. If only her return to "real life" had been so pleasant...

Utter Chaos Reigns... She returned to a madhouse. Drinking at lunch, crying in the bathrooms, shouting in the halls - it had all of the elements of a bad soap opera, without the ... View the Post