navy Archives - Page 30 of 45

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

Building a CONSERVATIVE BUSINESS Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Festival in Montmartre by Gino Severini

September 23, 2015

One last visit with our friend who spent so many years taking care of her family...

A Well-Deserved Move Up... She put her head down, learned everything she could, pitched in wherever she was needed, and became more productive and more indispensable every day. She didn't complain about menial tasks, nor repetitious projects. She was pleasant but not ingratiating, helpful but not servile, and intelligent without making anyone want to whap her in the head. She was, in short, a dream employee.

Of course she was - she was mature enough to know what really matters!

So one day, when the manager wanted to talk to her, she had no concerns that she was in trouble for something.

And in fact, it was ... View the Post

Building a BUSINESS CASUAL Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Festival in Montmartre by Gino Severini

September 22, 2015

Let's come back to this great painting and color scheme, and see what our wonderful care-giver is up to...

A Shift of Focus As time passed, our care giver discovered that her responsibilities gradually diminished. Her parents were in a facility that gave them the kind of attention they deserved, after their life of work and service. Her children were grown and starting their own lives as adults. And her husband - like all of the best life partners - only wanted for her to be happy and fulfilled.

So she decided to get a job...

First thing was to make sure she had something interview-worthy, so she found a navy skirt that she could wear with her navy blazer. While the fabrics are very ... View the Post

Building a CASUAL Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Festival in Montmartre by Gino Severini

September 21, 2015 I love this painting; it lives just down the street from me at the Art Institute of Chicago. Severini isn't well-known, and I think that's a shame - his Cubist works are lovely...

This painting lends itself to a color scheme firmly grounded in versatile neutrals, but sparked with some extraordinary accent colors. In addition to the pink and blue that I've chosen, you've got some beautiful yellow, a hint of true red, and some aqua too!

Care-giving as Art She took care of them all - children, spouse, parents, neighbors, and never missed a beat...

And she always looked lovely while doing so! Never over-done or fussy, and ALWAYS appropriate to the occasion and the activities. But ... View the Post

Whatever’s Clean 13 FOR MEN – cool colors, warm weather

I particularly love working with menswear - their garments are so beautifully designed and well made that it's gratifying to put things together into outfits...For a warm weather trip, I'm still including a blazer, cardigan and sweatshirt. Maybe it's from living in Chicago, but I find that there's no destination that doesn't, from time to time, require something warm. At a minimum, the blazer or cardigan comes in handy when you want to be more "dressed" for some activities. And if you never actually need your sweatshirt, that's good!

This starts out like any other menswear wardrobe, but the blazer is cotton, and unstructured (i.e. unlined, but still meticulously finished inside.) The trousers are linen, and the tie is a lighter-weight ... View the Post

Whatever’s Clean 13 FOR MEN – cool colors, cool weather

September 14, 2015

You asked for it, you get it: a Whatever's Clean 13 for men - the first of at least a couple...

Menswear is SO EASY; pick a color scheme and stick to it like glue! I've sold menswear two different times, as well as selling men's shoes, so I can safely admit that I have some experience in this area...

First up, the finished product, designed to carry you through a vacation that will range from rather nice dinners and other events (a concert or opera?) through to a cool weather morning walk in the park.

I started with a navy blazer, just as I would start with one for almost any man building a wardrobe from scratch. While a lot of men can get through life without a suit, in this day and age, a ... View the Post