navy Archives - Page 30 of 46

Start with a Tote Bag – Navy Floral

January 27, 2016 It started with a request from a long-time reader... but the bag she loved is no longer available. So I started working with this one. It's not EXACTLY what she had in mind, but she's such a lovely woman, I'm sure she'll forgive me!

I'm assuming that this is navy, although it could easily pass for black. The lining is blue, and that's where I took my cue.

Imagine that you've been searching for a "defining" style image for a long time. You'll know it when you see it - that painting, or sculpture, or other objet d'art that really captures your favorite colors, your favorites lines, just that certain something that really resonates in your "style soul."And it's a tote bag!

No ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting with Art – The Second Buddhist Kesa

Such lovely colors:

Perfect for spring travel!

A "Miles" 2nd Honeymoon They agreed that it was the most cost-effective thing to do, so they immediately started using their airline credit cards for EVERYTHING possible...

After a few months, they totaled up their miles, and called the airline.

Long-sleeved tee – Uniqlo; tank – Uniqlo; jersey jacket – Uniqlo;

henley – Uniqlo; dress – Uniqlo; capris – Uniqlo; jeans – L.L.Bean;

wide-leg pants – Uniqlo

The woman on the other end of the phone was lovely. She didn't mind being on a speaker phone, and she just laughed when they talked over each other. Finally, they decided to see what the longest trip possible was ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting With Art: A Porcelain Figurine Version 2

January 12, 2016

Today's capsule wardrobe is a bit more casual, with a bit of influence from the aesthetics of the figurine; these kinds of things have to be approached carefully, because I don't want to do any egregious cultural appropriation!

It's sort of like when people would visit Ireland (when I lived there) and dress all in green, and walk around saying "top of the mornin' to ya...."

So I took notes from the fluidity of the figure for some more draped and/or wrapped garments, shamelessly grabbed some pearls, tossed in a really amazing brooch, and included a very origami tote bag.

This would be a great addition to the earlier wardrobe - most of these pieces would blend seamlessly with the other garments. ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting With Art: A Porcelain Figurine

January 9, 2016

Part of this request was rather standard - someone returning to the workforce, and wanting a 4 by 4 capsule wardrobe based on a navy suit, with grey accents. Very sensible, and something that many of us can find useful, or at least fun to admire.But the real zinger: She drew her inspiration for the colors from a figurine in her bedroom! This clearly means something very special to her, eh?

I stuck with the color scheme she suggested - a lot of navy, accents of the deep red/burgundy, and gray, shading to soft blue:

While many jobs no longer require a suit, it's worth remember that there are still places that REQUIRE them. In order to get the most mileage possible from purchases, I found (after quite a bit ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting With Art: Kveikur by Justyna Polar

January 8, 2016

Someone sent this to me ages ago, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to get to this gorgeous piece...

This suggests the most lovely color scheme, which is both timeless and seasonless:

I've also received lots of requests for travel suggestions for longer trips - that 3 to 6 week trip that includes a few meetings, maybe some teaching, maybe some sightseeing, maybe some time in an office, and almost certainly some casual outdoor activities.

The trips that have been submitted to me for packing advice had a few things in common:

They are all more than 2 weeks, some as long as 6 weeks. This doesn't automatically require more than 12-15 pieces of clothing, but if ... View the Post

A “Whatever’s Clean 13” Capsule Wardrobe for All Occasions

It's a question that comes up all the time - I don't know what we're going to be doing when I get to: the conference, the reunion, the spa, the resort, that city I've never visited etc etc.

I thought about this while I was out of town... And I really wanted to stick with something versatile, like the "Whatever's Clean 13." But it needed a new look, or way of approaching, so I finally came up with this:

My thinking here was starting with a really "dressy-neutral" outfit, like a cardigan and pants. How could that be made more formal? One step up would be to swap the cardigan for a blazer. If I wanted to really get "gussied up," a sparkly cardigan would do it. And if I wanted to take things down a notch, swap the cardigan for a pull-over ... View the Post

Choosing an Accent Color for Navy

November 28, 2015 Navy is always so elegant... These four pieces have so much potential!

The olive accent keeps re-appearing! I really like using it as a secondary neutral with navy - it warms it up and gives it a rich glow. And of course, grey and navy were born to go together...

And I must share something sort of inexplicable that I keep running into: there are MEN'S scarves, and WOMEN'S scarves. Why, in all the worlds, would this be? But please be advised - if you're looking for a scarf in a plaid, paisley, or timeless menswear pattern, look in the men's department. They are usually less expensive too, which REALLY hacks me off.... sigh...

You knew there would, eventually, be a red vest in here ... 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

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Dantis Amor by Rossetti – Step 3

October 30, 2015

Now the fun starts! The clothes from yesterday are certainly very nice, if not mind-bending, but in order to give things just a touch of zest, and a sense of finish, some well-chosen accessories are imperative! (well, shoes are imperative, even if you never wear a scarf or a piece of jewelry; when pressed to offer up what piece of clothing every woman, without exception, should own, the only thing I can honestly think of is shoes...)Reminders of our basic style source, and the clothes with which we're working:

As I said, shoes first! I always look for something comfortable - that's completely NOT negotiable. When men start wearing uncomfortable shoes, I will too. In the meantime, my ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Dantis Amor by Rossetti – Step 2

October 29, 2015 Okay, now that we have our color scheme, we'll need to start picking clothes!

As always, I'm going to start with the neutrals, since they're the really essential foundation garments for your 4 by 4 wardrobe. First up, the elusive camel, or vicuna, or caramel, or walnut (although I think of walnut as darker), or amber, or whatever else this color might be called. This is one of the essential qualities that you have to bring to the clothing search - a real flexibility in how you describe what you want! And look outside your normal comfort zone - Google images and see what comes up.

This turned out to be a tremendously tough color to find, unless you were interested in spending four ... View the Post

My Favorite Posts: Packing with Navy

A color I don't ever wear, but posts that I really enjoyed preparing. The images still make me smile...

Packing: Navy with classic accent colors

Warm Weather Travel in Navy and Coral - Step by Step

Four Pack: Burgundy and Navy

Breaking All the Usual Packing Rules: Navy and Green love, Janice ... View the Post

NAVY: with Eight Color Accent ideas

September 26, 2015

Last week, I did a post (see it here) in which I took eight very brightly colored garments and incorporated them into outfits, using black as the neutral to offset the color.So I was thinking (I'm ALWAYS thinking) that the range of garments was a pretty interesting list - it included pretty much all of the major garment "categories", with one exception. So I took the original list of items (taken from my favorite French fashion book: Ma To-Do List: Dressing, by Laure Gontier and Jeanne-Aurore Colleuille) and made one change:

I stuck pretty faithfully to their colors, except for the pine green, which is more neutral to me. I substituted purple, because.... well.... PURPLE!

I ... View the Post