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April 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Winter Cottonwoods by Georgia O’Keeffe

April 13, 2026

Our heroine the expert in indigenous plants, and the uses thereof in landscaping, has chosen this painting as the leitmotif of her wardrobe:

She has, as a result, this color palette for her wardrobe. Her hope is that she can show in a small, personal way, the beauty of subtle, natural colors.

It does help that her personal coloring is soft and subtle!

At the end of March, her wardrobe of 16 pieces was thus:

Before her April shopping, our heroine studied her existing wardrobe, and her color palette, at some length. She needed to decide if she was serious about including grey in her wardrobe. Her heart said yes, and her painting certainly agreed!

Also, she wanted to expand her wardrobe in a way ... View the Post

December 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #1: Of by Elizabeth Magill

December 1, 2025

The last additions to this wardrobe! I might revisit these wardrobes later in the month to examine them in more detail, to see if there are "essentials" that have been overlooked. What do you think?

This is our painting - focus, inspiration, and some beauty!

Someone suggested that this heroine needed another pair of wine pants; I can't SWEAR that these are a good color, but based on what we see on the GAP website, they look okay...

I also thought that this heroine could really use a good tote bag. I don't know anybody who doesn't carry one at least occasionally!

With enough of the right accessories, this heroine could go a long way with just her grey clothes; I know that some of you would absolutely ... View the Post

November 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #2: Of by Elizabeth Magill

November 4, 2025

I'm still able to find lovely clothes for this VERY limited color palette. Can you imagine wearing only two colors?

Years ago, when I was a bookstore chic(k), I wore only black and white. For years...

Of course, if you wanted to be strict to this painting, there could be much more white, and a denim-ish blue:

Her new tops are all quite festive, but her skirt can be worn for all kinds of things throughout the autumn and winter...

She still has fewer grey garments that in the other colors! Of course, I could move the white things onto the grey page...

I'm very smitten with her jewelry and scarves...

Her new clothes give her a LOT of options for getting dressed-up these next few ... View the Post

November 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #1: The Swan No. 24 by Hilma Af Klint

November 3, 2025

I'm always so excited to start these posts each month! Here's today very thought-provoking, but beautiful, inspiration painting:

So I seem to remember that most of us felt like the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe template wasn't really serving a useful purpose at this point, so I've discarded them! Instead, this month especially I'm going to concentrate on getting all of our heroines dressed for the upcoming bundle of holidays.

Today's heroine is getting a couple of velvet pieces, which can be worn with other fabrics to instantly bring a festive feeling to any day. And I'm also giving this lovely lady a couple of cashmere sweaters - another instant upgrade for anything you wear. Yes, they're expensive. If cared for ... View the Post

October 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #3: Of by Elizabeth Magill

October 3, 2025

This painting has all kinds of potential. Is that background color maybe navy-ish? Is there gold around the edges? (yes) As with pretty much any painting worth it's salt, this one is worth studying at some length...

As with our other heroines - so far - this most disciplined of women is trying to purchase items from her Weekly Timeless Wardrobe list. Happily, she found dresses that are VERY similar, except for very different fabrics! The ponte knit feels dressy to me, while the corduroy is going to be rather relaxed. If you love the cut of a garment, don't hesitate to make it a signature.

Here's another heroine who is making quite neat progress on her Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, but who is moving into the end ... View the Post

September 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #4: Of by Elizabeth Magill

September 4, 2025

Let's continue our adventure with our heroine who is trying to see how far she can take a wardrobe that's essential two colors, with white added in. Her inspiration is this wonderful painting:

It's finally the time of year - and the right year - to find some burgundy clothes! And our heroine very wisely picked up a charcoal cotton turtleneck while it's available. It's amazing how frequently something that you would expect to be available throughout a season just vanishes before the season even properly starts!

Our heroine managed to stay in her "winter" column when shopping this month! She may never be quite as on time as this again... But we did fudge things a bit - this isn't really a "warm" skirt, ... View the Post

August 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #5: Of by Elizabeth Magill

August 7, 2025

I love this painting, and I'm quite smitten with the colors, but I'm starting to see how hard it can be to have a wardrobe this disciplined:

I really love the way this heroine has such a strong signature look. But her shopping can be difficult... Maybe that's not all bad - if everything you see appeals to you AND would look good with your wardrobe, you're living with a ton of temptation. Hmm...

This month, she found another crewneck sweater in a quite different shade of plum from her other crewneck. The shirt is just cool - smocked cuffs? A plum tee shirt and classic grey pants round out her shopping:

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe template is difficult for this heroine - does she really HAVE an accent ... View the Post

July 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #6: Of by Elizabeth Magill

July 8, 2025

I'm leaving for Dublin today! Cross your fingers that THIS time, things work out... Please note that there will be blog posts while I'm away, but I won't be responding to comments because I'm not taking a computer with me. Sort of like a real vacation!

Now, the last of our paintings for July. This might be, for many of us, the most challenging wardrobe because the color palette is very limited. I like it because it requires me to be creative and resourceful - both good qualities to develop when working with anything that's a limited resource, like clothing...

This heroine is completely immersed in summer! And such beautiful accessories...

This is proof that the difference between Spring and Summer might just ... View the Post

June 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #1 – Of by Elizabeth Magill

June 2, 2025

Remember, there will be a blog post EVERY weekday this week. The first week of the month is when I always push out all six of the "Six Paintings - 12 Months" posts over six weekdays. I feel like these posts benefit from being seen close together - what do you say?

The more I look at this painting, the more I like it! There's really quit a lot going on here to admire:

This month, I'm feeling like I need to be really organized for all SORTS of things, and that's going to show up with these wardrobes! I think we're going to start with each heroine's Weekly Timeless Wardrobe list, and try to very logically fill in four items that are missing.

I'm not at all sure that any of these wardrobes will, in December, have a ... View the Post

Always Wear Green? Start With Art: Helen Frankenthaler – Lush Spring

May 26, 2025

"But I ALWAYS wear green? I look great in green. Can't I wear it when we go to Dublin?"

Well, yes. Of course you can. Nobody there will probably even notice! Just don't say "top o' the mornin'" to anybody...

Our heroine loves this painting - the huge blocks of green, accented with the tiniest touches of blue, red, blush...

For the purposes of her upcoming trip to Dublin, our heroine has isolated these colors for her travel capsule wardrobe:

Her starting point is easy - comfortable shades of green, waterproof shoes, a pretty scarf and some classic earrings!

But NOW what to pack?

"You'd better be prepared - Ireland is cool even in the summer!"

So she packs these things; note that the sweatpants ... View the Post

May 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #2 – Of by Elizabeth Magill

April 23, 2025

I often wonder about having a wardrobe that is essentially just two colors; for literally decades, I wore only black and white. That might be a bit stark now, but shades of grey, and shades of burgundy/pink? Hmm...

This heroine's 20-piece wardrobe from the last installment is the kind of thing that I would pack and run with for months... Sigh...

When our heroine saw that Eileen Fisher was offering graphite linen pieces, she was sold! Although the vest and pants are linen, there's really NO reason (except warmth) that they can't be worn all year. The vest has a lot of potential over shirts, tee shirts, on its own...

And who could resist the French lilac top and the floral scarf?

Her wardrobe doesn't ... View the Post

April 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #3 – Of by Elizabeth Magill

April 3, 2025

I really love this painting - so simple, such lovely colors, such texture...

This heroine's 16-piece "end of March" wardrobe in lovely, and would get one through quite a lot of travel:

This heroine was leaning toward warm weather clothes anyway - when she saw the foxglove dress, she knew for certain that she was on the right track! Neutral shorts and a matching tee shirt, and a pretty merino polo finish off her April shopping:

With her wardrobe augmented for warmer weather, this 20-piece capsule wardrobe could be used for round-the-world travel! (give me a suitcase and a ticket...)

Our heroine is all over the place with her Weekly Timeless Wardrobe plan, which kind of makes sense when ... View the Post