leisure travel Archives - Page 3 of 8

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

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: The Common Shelduck

January 14, 2016

When I say there's inspiration everywhere, I'm really NOT exaggerating! My recent trip to Florida is a good example - I saw these lovely guys all over the place (although they are not, in fact, indigenous to the area I was visiting - someone imported them! Someone with good taste....)

The color scheme was so easy!

Come Sit on the Veranda... Well, the invitation was a little bit more fleshed-out than that! It went more like "we have great internet down here, so you can work during the day, and then in the evenings, we'll sit on the veranda with a bottle or two of wine, and watch the birds on the lake until it gets dark. Then after dinner, we can come back out and look at the stars..."

Her toes ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Dantis Amor by Rossetti – THE FINALE

November 2, 2015

I think this is going to be my last post about Dantis Amor; as much as I love the painting... Today, we're dressier, we're completely out of control shopping, and we're going to travel along with one of our friends....Just a few reminders of our Style Reference Point:

Thanksgiving is Canceled... Yes, her grandchildren have 2 sets of grandparents. Somehow, this year, they're ALL going to the "other side" for Thanksgiving. And she is going to be home alone....

Or not...

She always wanted to see the Thanksgiving Parade in New York. She always wanted to eat at that restaurant. She always wanted.... lots of things. This is the year!

She got onto her computer, and cashed out every flyer mile and ... View the Post

A Summer Common Capsule Wardrobe, In Warm Tones

August 11, 2015

What fun this was - the same general idea as my personal mostly black Common Capsule Wardrobe for warm weather, but in warm tones!

There aren't quite as many accessories here as there were in my wardrobe - but for anyone who is going to wear this wardrobe, you certainly already own LOTS of pieces that will work beautifully here.

So very many different ways to put this together:

And just for reference, the template for Your Common Wardrobe.

What accent colors would you put with this? Peach is the first and most obvious, to me. What else? I'd like to revisit these pieces with some accent colors, if you're interested.

love, Janice ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Rose Garden by Ute Laum

July 29, 2015

I am really glad that I asked you all to send me painting suggestions - otherwise, I would never have seen this gorgeous thing!

The Rose Garden by Ute Laum is an example of a painting in which the camel/cognac plays a very small, but absolutely essential, role. None of the other colors would have nearly the same impact if the golden touches were missing.

Today, I'm sorry there's no story, but I've received so many requests for travel wardrobes that I feel like I should address the overall logic or philosophy of putting together a travel capsule wardrobe. There's probably no way that I'm ever going to be able to answer all of the travel questions I receive, so I think an overview of how I think about travel ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Coast Road by Fanny Brennan

July 21, 2015 Thanks a ton to the reader who sent this suggestion to me - I wasn't familiar with Fanny Brennan. It's particularly interesting that these paintings are tiny - the size of postcards. Her sense of humor is very appealing!

The colors in this painting are wonderfully striking and clear. I'm going to use black as the base here, but a summer wardrobe using white, with these bright colors would be lovely. And the hills in the distance are colors that suggest shades of denim.... lots of possibilities here.

Going Alone You have planned this trip for a long time. You bought athletic shoes and started walking every evening, after work. Longer and longer, faster and faster. You understand that being in ... View the Post

“Whatever’s Clean 13” Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Green, Navy and Beige

June 13, 2015

Soft green - not bright, not acid, not kelly. It's a hard color to describe but you know it when you see it! And remember, because your accessories are made of all sorts of different materials, they don't have to be "dye-lot" matched.

I like the looks of this - the change of cardigan really shifts the feel of these capsules, doesn't it?

The green brings a fresh, but gentle, feeling to this grouping.

Have a lovely weekend, love, Janice ... View the Post

Start with Art: Version 2 Steamboat leaving Boulogne by Edouard Manet

April 1, 2015 I really love the combination of blue and grey! (I often consider including blue as an accent color in my wardrobe...) So I decided to look again at this painting, with an eye to warm weather. I brightened up the blue a little bit - Manet gives you a whole range of blue possibilities - and I equalized the proportions of the four colors:

I haven't built a Four by Four wardrobe for a while, so I thought this would be an interesting project. First up, the core dark neutral charcoal, in linen:

One of the reasons I wanted to do a summer leisure wardrobe - I found this gorgeous blue at L.L.Bean. A perfect secondary color!

The Expansion Four is usually four tops of some sort, since tops ... View the Post

What I’m Packing in a Travel Capsule Wardrobe for New York

March 14, 2015 Belovedest and I are leaving Wednesday for New York for what is either a very long weekend, or a rather short vacation - six days. B lived in New York a few different times (he had one of those jobs that required frequent transfers), and so we know the city very well. Our anniversary is next Friday, so we have an excuse for some festivities. Overall, it will be a nice opportunity to spend some time together and reacquaint ourselves with a favorite city. My biggest packing constraint for this trip is the desire to take gym clothes with me. Normally, for European vacations, I just throw my workout routine into the shredder and assume that my walking will stand in for exercise. (uh, it really doesn't work that ... View the Post

Start With Art: Peripheral Vision 2 by Elis Cooke, or How to Pack for a Casual Vacation in France

February 23, 2015

A recent request prompted this capsule: lightning up burgundy/grey/forest green into brighter cranberry, light mossy green and grey - specifically for a 3-week trip to France this spring. A lovely trip, and beautiful colors with which to work! Just for fun, I searched (and searched) until I found a painting to complement this idea:

For our purposes, I isolated these colors, but there's also clearly an opportunity for white, cream, and a gentle blue, as well as a touch a deeper charcoal. This painting could generate a palette with which one could live forever.

As always, our travel outfit includes closed-toe shoes, a cardigan, and a scarf. But this ... View the Post

Denim Blue Capsule Wardrobe with Floral, Bright and Silver/White Accessories

January 22, 2015 Denim blue is a great, versatile and flattering color, even when the fabric isn't denim! Imagine these six garments, along with a pair of real jeans, a white shirt, and a couple of tee shirts - the perfect simple travel capsule wardrobe. I'm ready to go on vacation ANY TIME NOW...

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Four Pack Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Green and Camel

December 20, 2014 One last look at this idea - substituting green for the burgundy with which this travel capsule wardrobe was originally presented. Other colors that would work well with camel would include rust, coral, peach, other shades of green, pretty much a whole bunch of shades of blue... lots of choices!

I think by now we've all figured out that these four garments would get you through 3 or 4 days pretty easily...

love,

Janice Looking back:2013: From Desk to Dinner Party: Incorporating a Gem Tone into Neutrals 2012: Two sides of the whole "color" system question ... View the Post