Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature
August 7, 2017
If you've got a dress that you dearly love, but you're wondering if you're going to be able to wear it when the weather cools down (in the Northern Hemisphere), let me suggest that you look at an earlier post of mine, where I show a navy dress with a whole BUNCH of very muted, autumn-ish accessories....
The power of a simple dress is easy to under-estimate, until you get one in your closet and really put it to work!
love, Janice ... View the Post
August 4, 2017
This time of year it's easy to begin to be tired of our current wardrobe, and this weariness is just compounded by the fact that stores are beginning to be filled with clothes for the upcoming season. What's an intelligent woman to do?
I'm suggesting, for those of us who wear dresses, that we get a new dress. Something timeless and simple, in a color that we don't always wear. Think about your existing "Accessory Families" and choose a dress that can be worn with things that you already love...
I've done a LOT of posts in the past about dresses - today I'm specifically thinking about this post about a navy dress with pastel accessories. A navy dress - or any dark neutral colored dress - can be worn to pieces ... View the Post
July 6 2017
Of course not! But let's look at an example: Just a Quick Weekend at the beach... She'll catch the bus Friday afternoon, and arrive in time for a late dinner. This part is easy - she can wear what she wore to work, with a light jacket to compensate for the Arctic air-conditioning on the bus.
She bought a new swimsuit, and she loves it - so much that she's building her entire (tiny, six-piece) travel wardrobe around the colors in it!
Yes, she's a serious swimmer!
This is what she sees as her color scheme, but she's really... hesitant... about the lime green!
Her travel outfit is navy and other shades of blue, which really echo the ocean and water colors of the swimsuit...
As she assembled her ... View the Post
June 29, 2017
It's my birthday! I'm such a child when it comes to celebrating birthdays...
Today, I'm taking you back 2 years, to a travel wardrobe for which our heroine had essentially no clue what awaited her. In order to make sure that she was ready for (almost) anything, I somewhat loaded up her suitcase - 13 pieces total for a trip that might be only 3 days...
And there's a shout-out to one of the funniest TV shows I've ever watched. Much of it is silly, but if you've ever worked in a big corporation, there will be moments that will make you laugh until you're in pain. How bad can that be?
There are still times when I wish that I was traveling for business...
love, Janice
... View the Post
June 21, 2017
I'm thinking that these kinds of posts could be known as "Wildly-Extravagant Wednesday..." A Ridiculous Business Trip She loved the ring from the moment she saw it, and now she wears it every day...
So when they told her that she had to fly to headquarters on Friday JUST TO DELIVER A FOLDER... she decided that she was going to stay through the weekend and go all-out. See an opera, do some serious dining, and people-watch...
She's got to go straight to the office when she lands, so she's going to fly in "grown-up" clothes. The flight's not all that long, so this will be fine - not a lot different from sitting at her desk for the morning. (except she doesn't have to do anything any more taxing than ... View the Post
June 14, 2017
I thought that this would be the easiest color scheme imaginable; that the clothes would virtually jump off of the screen at me... WRONG!
I thought I would start as I have been for a while, with the navy and beige neutrals. I swapped out the watch for silver, thinking that it would be better with the grey pieces to come...
And I found a pair of sandals that weren't quite as "warm" in hue, so that they might bridge the gap better also.
Then... I tried to find dark grey. And, after an honest 2 hours of looking for a lovely, rich charcoal grey linen, or a lustrous lead-grey raw silk, I threw in the towel. Some colors just don't exist in large numbers during some seasons, and at a point that only you ... View the Post
July 12, 2017
It surprises me that this painting is from Renoir - I always think of him with pastels or clear and cool bright colors. But this is perfect for our current "neutral experiment": it's got navy and beige, and some great rust and green accents! It's easy to think of these as autumn colors, but if you've ever traveled to (or lived in) a hot and arid summer climate, you know that things start to get rusty and deeply green by mid-summer:
So They Bought a Camper... She never, in her life, would have imagined this. But when they sat down together and made a list of where the wanted to travel, now that they were retired, it looked like:
Fly to X, rent car, drive to Y Fly to Z, rent car, drive to A...
OVER AND ... View the Post
My computer is grumpy, and my sore throat is grumpy... it's just grumpy world here!
So I'm going to suggest that you go back and visit a post from about a year ago, that's one of my favorites...
I really love the consistent moon and stars feeling, as well as the variety of pieces available in navy and white. And her story of insomnia...
Some days, I'm positively proud of what I create!
love, Janice ... View the Post
July 7, 2017 It's a Very... Weird... Beach House... (based on a real beach house I've seen...)
It has a dead-end hallway, with a big window... All of the 10, 11 and 12 year old's sleep there, in their sleeping bags. Well, "sleep..."
And there's 1 room that really must have been meant to be a walk-in closet. It's that small... It's been her room, for years.
She has a twin bed, a rocking chair, and a shelf attached to the wall that serves as a nightstand. There's no closet - just pegs stuck into the shadiest wall...
But her room has its own bathroom! It's tiny, but still... in a house with over 2 dozen people, it's a luxury!
And ... View the Post
June 5, 2017
These colors are classic:
They've Changed ALL of the Rules... She worked from home for years... She had to go into the office once a quarter, just to prove that she was the same person that they thought they had originally hired!
But NOW, she's got to go in once a week. Generally for meetings. And she's determined that she's going to assemble a small, tight, well edited work wardrobe that is both relaxed and sufficiently "show-offish" for those guys from Boston...
The sweaters are simple cotton, but the accessories are quite nice quality, and a bit bold, too!
She is absolutely to wear her favorite bright colors; if she has to be in the office, she's going to be seen...
And sometimes, a ... View the Post
June 2, 2017
I hope that this was worth the extra day's wait!
First off, all of the scarves are sold out at Hermes. If you're really madly eager to have one of them, let me know and I'll see if I can help you to find it in the secondary market.
In this month's wardrobe building, everybody's shopping for a dress (not necessarily something really "dressy") and the necessary accessories...
First up, I'm mad tempted by this simple black dress! I can see myself wandering around downtown in this... sigh...
And kindly notice the linear quality of the sandals, echoed by the striped tote! My days are made when such discoveries fall into place...
Halfway through the year, this is our heroine's wardrobe:
And just to ... View the Post
June 1, 2017
Big important notice - the "Six Scarves, Six Wardrobes, over 12 Months" post for June will be here tomorrow! I hope! The Internet in my building (yes my entire building!) has been off and on, as they work on it... Don't they know that we have important blogging to do? Knuckleheads...
In case you haven't seen the earlier versions of the navy and beige summer wardrobes, you can find the one accented with dark camel and moss green here, and the first one with accents of mint and lavender here.
Today's colors just jump off of the screen:
Just for the benefit of those among us who are joining this adventure in progress, this is the neutral starting point - a half-dozen core pieces around which I will try to build a ... View the Post
