navy Archives - Page 27 of 46

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch – Stage Four

October 13, 2016

This capsule wardrobe is starting to look pretty coherent! (Step 1 is here, Step 2 is here, and Step 3 is here)

After one has lived with the above wardrobe for a while, it might be time to buy an entire outfit, all at one time! Or it would also make sense to buy 3 pieces that aren't necessarily intended to worn together, but all of which are useful and integrated additions to the existing wardrobe.

Sticking with the idea that our heroine lead a pretty casual life, I thought that a pair of shorts would be handy for her. Another really pretty cabled sweater in one of her accent colors is an obvious choice, and a simple white shirt is never a bad idea...

Almost any color scheme that I use for a ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch – Stage Three

At this point in our starting from scratch capsule wardrobe series, you're in a pretty good position for travel; it wouldn't be impossible to be away for a week with this collection. Toss in a white shirt and white tee shirt, and you would only need to do minimal laundry!

Our next step is to start filling in shirts and sweaters, so it's time to take a quick look at what we currently have. This would be an obvious place to pull in a beige shirt, sweater, or blouse if that holds any appeal. But I'm thinking that my imaginary protagonist is more interested in pretty accent colors, so I've chosen these:

Sweater – Lands’ End; necklace – Karine Sultan; shirt – L.L.Bean

Yes, the necklace is in a very similar vein to her ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch – Stage Two

Yesterday we left this capsule wardrobe with five (very carefully chosen) garments, and eight possible ways to wear them. It's about time for some accessories!

This is the stage at which your personality and preference can really begin to show. For this imaginary wardrobe builder, I've decided that she has two really strong "themes" that she likes: Cables (like those on sweaters, or in twisted and rope-like jewelry textures), and Flowers. These preferences will be more and more apparent as we move forward, but it's good to starting establishing these personal style signatures as soon as possible.

Everything is very simple, with a gorgeous scarf to accent all of the navy and pink that she's going to own!

At this point, ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch – First Steps

October 10, 2016

Ever since I did the first Starting From Scratch Capsule Wardrobe series, I've received questions about why I chose the steps that I did, how did I figure out color schemes - well, anything that could be questioned, was questioned!

Which is good. You should always make sure that anyone giving you advice can explain themselves, and that what they're telling you makes sense. In the US right now, this is being brought home to us every day...

So let's walk through another capsule wardrobe, a couple of steps a day, and see if I can answer some of your questions!

First up, color scheme. If you don't really worry about any other step of the process, THIS is the one that deserves your thought. There's no rule ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette – A Pinch of Plum, with Six Neutrals

September 16, 2016 Depending upon whom you consult, this is NOT plum. However, I like it, and so for now we're going to roll with it... There are going to be more colors in this series, so some other interpretations of plum in a capsule wardrobe are entirely possible!

Purple is an interesting color in shops; a great deal of what's available looks very... goth? Sort of like you're living on the fringes of normal society? Just plain strange? It's such a pity, because purple is a lovely color, and goes so well with all of our neutrals.

(I've had a deep fondness for the "stitchworks" L.L.Bean cardigan for years. I'm really happy that I've finally found a good place to show it to you!)

I was ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette – A Touch of Teal, with Six Neutral Colors

September 15, 2016

Sigh... there are NO teal foods. If a food is teal, it's a genetic mutation, or a scary misuse of food coloring!

So we've abandoned my very fun food theme for post titles, but the general concept of accenting neutral outfits holds true. And teal is SO pretty in the capsule wardrobe...

The teal tee shirt has a slightly different neckline than usual, and it's tunic-length. We like to keep some options available!

I wasn't at all sure how olive and teal would be together, but I could cheerfully wear either of these outfits (and olive isn't a good color for me...) Remember, when looking for scarves, to check out the men's departments. Why some scarves are only for men is a mystery to me...

I don't ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette – A Dash of Cinnamon, with 6 Neutral Colors

September 14, 2016 I found some lovely things in that russet color that was so elusive... And it occurred to me, again, that garments that aren't in the same fabrics don't have to be the precise same color! This tee shirt and cardigan would look gorgeous together in a capsule wardrobe:

This is a great combination:

I wasn't at ALL sure how this would work, but keeping silver metal in the jewelry made all the difference...

These colors worked wonderfully together; I particularly like this scarf. It's more of a blend of close colors than any exact matching.

Here's a case of 2 colors that are opposites on the color wheel, and which are therefore MADE for ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette – A Dab of Mustard, with 6 Neutral Colors

September 13, 2016

I'm still looking for nice pieces in rust (russet? warm red?), so I decided to skip that color for now and head directly into deep gold!

What to call this color? When you're searching for things like this online, try gold, yellow, mustard, and saffron, for a start; I'm sure that there are lots of outlandish color names that I missed. Why do companies believe that calling something "burnished autumn" is going to help potential buyers find their stuff?

This isn't an easy color to wear, but it's present in so many school colors that you see it fairly often in the US in the autumn. (if you're from outside the US, please note that many people here take high school and college football - American football - ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette – A Drop of Wine, with 6 Neutral Colors

September 12, 2016

Many of you have asked me how to integrate an accent color into a neutral wardrobe; this is my attempt to give you some suggestions, and a gentle bit of guidance.Let's assume, for the sake of conversation, that you have your core ensemble for cooler weather, in your favorite neutral:

Some of these are easier to assemble than others; if olive green is your favorite neutral, you're not going to see yourself coming and going on the streets...

I've put together a few ensembles in more "business-y" looks, and others that are more casual. You can alter your personal neutral outfit to suit your preferences and your lifestyle!

All colors don't have to be absolutely ... View the Post

One Navy Dress in a Capsule Wardrobe: 14 Ways to Wear it With Brights

August 31, 2016

I always intended to do 3 posts with this dress, yesterday's pastels, today's bright colors, and on Friday I'm going to look at some muted shades... (tomorrow is the first of the month - time to revisit those "1 Outfit per Month" wardrobes!) So today, I changed the shoes, but kept to the same general theme of working through a range of colors.

(These seven images look really great together on my computer; I don't often notice this, but I've got this lovely rainbow running down the side of my desktop right now...)

The color spectrum isn't quite the same as yesterday, but I still worked my way around the color wheel. Doing this ensures that I don't miss any possibilities; it's something to consider when you're looking ... View the Post

One Navy Dress in a Capsule Wardrobe: 14 Ways to Wear it With Pastels

August 30, 2016

This is a great dress - it appears to be fairly trimly cut until it reaches the hips, and then swish!

I took a little bit different approach to this dress - I found simple, classic navy shoes that I've included with all of the pastel colors. And there's a pretty straightforward formula for these - I looked for scarves, bracelets, earrings, necklaces and bags in the accent color, and then chose the pieces that I liked the most! My criteria were pretty much that the accessories should be as close in color to the cardigan as reasonably possible, and that they share a feeling or aesthetic. (that last part is hard to define, but I know what I like when I see it!)

This is an obvious color scheme, if you ... View the Post

One Red Dress in a Capsule Wardrobe: Fourteen Ways to Wear It

August 22, 2016 I love doing these... and this dress just calls my name. How can I NOT own this in black? This dress also comes in yellow (remember last week's post about a yellow dress?), black, and raspberry, which is a gorgeous rich hot pink... sigh...

It probably doesn't amaze you to learn that when I do similar blog posts, I reuse the original template, and just make the appropriate changes. So after I went into this template and changed the dividers in the middle from red to yellow, I removed the yellow dress from every page, and just plunked the red dress in...And didn't have to change ONE THING, for these two options! How many different colors could work here? Certainly the black dress would be perfect ... View the Post