packing Archives - Page 21 of 21

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing for spring break, in aqua and ocean blue

A young reader asked me to suggest what to pack for spring break, based on her preferred water colors, and on two bikinis she owns. These are my ideas...

Tee – J. Crew, Jeans – Place des Tendances, cardigan – J. Crew, tote – Modcloth, earrings – Jamie Joseph, bracelet – Chan Luu, flats – Nine West, carry-on bag - Heys Note that I ALWAYS recommend long pants, closed-toe shoes, and a cardigan or jacket for travel. When you embark on a voyage, you truly have no idea how long you'll be traveling, or under what conditions. But you know that (a) planes are cold, (b) airports are big, and (c) it's nicer to take off too much clothing than it is to wrap oneself in an airplane ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing in camel, blue & rose, between seasons

earrings – Swarovski, cardigan – J. Crew, chambray shirt – A. P. C., trench – Burberry, pants - Maxmara, bags – Filson, desert boots – Opening Ceremony, necklace – Elizabeth Showers, scarf - Hermes

Striped cardigan – FTC, Pink sweater – Acne, Pink tank – Christopher Kane, Blue tee shirt – Aubin & Wills, light blue cardigan & long sleeved tee shirt – J. Crew, cotton turtleneck – Splendid, tank & skirt – Donna Karan, silk pants – Marc by Marc Jacobs, flaired jeans – J Brand, blue jeans – 7 for All Mankind

Pearl earrings – Ice.com, Crossbody bag – Dorothy Perkins, sunglasses – prism, Paisley scarves – Etro, gold hoop earrings – Argento Vivo, gold chain necklace ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing for uncertain weather in navy, grey & purple

Stud earrings – Vince Camuto, cardigan – Ralph Lauren, striped tee shirt – Old Navy, trench – Burberry, pants – Calvin Klein, bags – Tumi, penny loafers - Naturalizer, bracelet – Miss Selfridge, scarf - Hermes

Plaid shirt – Closed, purple turtleneck – John Lewis, grey tee - Devoted, purple tee – Mtwtfss, navy cardigan – Eastex, grey silk sweater – Barneys CO-OP, cotton turtleneck – Vanessa Bruno, paneled cardigan – Paul Smith, gray pants – Carolina Herrara, tweed skirt – J. Crew, grey jeans – Helmut Lang, dress - Oasis

Amethyst hoop earrings – Swarovski, Beret – Hat Attack, Amethyst necklace – Debenhams, handbag – Gucci, amethyst drop earrings – Debenhams, silver chain necklace – Aurora Lopez ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing in Navy with neutrals

I haven't exhausted the possibilities of packing a "navy-based" suitcase - I could still do butter yellow (but not gold, unless you're a cheerleader), any shade of pink (but not red, unless you're running for political office), all shades of purple, and probably a few more shades of green. But I think you get the general ideal of how versatile a core of five garments in your neutral, solid color can be.If you have interest in seeing suitcases for other colors, or particular trips, just let me know!

Scarf – Hermès, earrings – Ziba (similar here), necklace – Kenneth Jay Lane (similar here), sweater – Jil Sander, jacket – John Lewis, gloves – black.co.uk, Handbag – Gucci, suitcase– Rimowa, skirt – Stella Mc Cartney, navy tights ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing in Navy with classic accent colors

January 5, 2012

Scarf – Hermès, gold earrings – Lord & Taylor, necklace – Isharya, turtleneck – Bally, jacket – John Lewis, gloves – Portolano, handbag – Reed Krakoff, suitcase– Victorinox, skirt – Stella McCartney, navy tights – Nordstrom, loafers – Robert Zur

Navy blouse - Stella McCartney; gold hoop earrings – DeLatori; navy cardigan – Maison Martin Margiela; plaid shirt – J. Crew; green cardigan – Woolrich; trousers – Stella McCartney; belt – John Lewis; necklace – Kenneth Jay Lane; suede ballet flats - Chloe; jeans - J. Brand; bracelet – Seasonal Whispers; plaid scarf – Amicale ; striped tee – Mango; suede desert boots – Grenson

Scarf – Hermès, gold earrings – Links of London, necklace – ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing more navy, with two other “warm” colors

December 30, 2011

As soon as I posted yesterday's illustrations, I received some questions about using other colors with navy. So here are two additional ways to work with the core of navy garments and brown accessories...

My next plan is to show THE SAME navy garments, only with accent clothing and accessories in cool colors. A core (a "Not so Crazy Eights") of a neutral color has a lot of potential for serving as a base for any favorite color you might want to wear!

love, Janice ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing in Navy, with brown accessories & warm colors

I've been receiving LOTS of questions about wearing navy clothing with brown shoes, and "warm" colors. This seems like it could be tricky, since navy is pretty much a cool color, but men have been making this combination of cool and warm work for decades, and it always looks great! My suggestions:

make sure your "navies" go together - navy can vary widely. Either buy all pieces at one time (ambitious, to be sure!), buy them from the same designer (equally ambitious), or plan to carry or wear a couple of navy items when you shop, so that you can be certain that your current garments will work with new purchases. feel free to experiment with any warm color as an accent. Green, gold, every shade of rust, persimmon, and ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing the Last-Minute Suitcase

Someday, the call will come:

Your Aunt Trudi is in the hospital, and nobody else can get there to be with her! or The data servers are all down in Edinburgh - get there NOW and fix them, or The Excel trainer broke her leg - you've got to go to New York tonight to teach the seminar, or Honey! We're going to Paris TONIGHT for a long weekend! (this is a dream we share, eh?)

So somewhere in the back of my mind, every three or four months, I consider what I would do if I got this call. The best defense, of course, is to have a carefully curated and deliberately distilled wardrobe, so that you just just stick your hand in the closet and grab a handful of things and you'll probably be okay. And if ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing for two weeks in Europe

One of the stranger joys of keeping a laptop for a REALLY long time is that you stumble across files that you completely forgot existed. To wit, I found my old travel planning file from 2003/2004! And thus I can tell you with a great deal of certainty what I wore on a combination business and leisure trip I took to Copenhagen and Berlin in late August and early September 2004. What a blast from my wardrobe past it was to find this.

As with all business trips I take, I grew to roundly detest all of these clothes by the time I got home. But this trip required only a carry-on bag, and I always consider that a success!

... View the Post

Back to the roots of the Vivienne Files – part 8: Vivienne’s Valise, continued

I've been asked how I managed for almost 6 weeks with the very limited amount of clothing that I took with me on that trip that will live in infamy. I had a plan, believe me!

Just for reference, remember that these are the clothes that I had with me.

For flying, I pretty much always wore jeans, with the black v-neck sweater. Usually I would put either the white tee shirt or the striped tee shirt under the sweater, depending on how warm it was where I was leaving, what the weather would be where I was arriving, and what was clean!

First thing I did in the door of every new hotel in every new city/country was to give some clothing to the in-house laundry. This is always risky, because you never know when someone's going to ... View the Post

What my French friend wears to work: The roots of the Vivienne Files

Vivienne and I first got to be friends because of packing - she works in a hotel in Paris and was helping me pull together a training session I was running - and after the first or second day, she said something like "you got dressed in my closet this morning" and then we wound up having drinks, and THEN she came up to my room to eat room service (Gratis, since she works for the hotel) and hanging out with me while I did my ironing.

Bottom line, I know the girl's packing philosophy cold, since she and I have the same approach.

Start with a base of 5 garments, no matter how long or how short the trip:

Jacket or cardigan Pants that match Skirt that matches Top that goes with the above Another top that ... View the Post

Back to the roots of the Vivienne Files – part 4

the following is a direct quote from the original Je Ne Sais Quoi discussion group postings I made regarding my friend Vivienne:

Someone asked me what Vivienne thinks of my wardrobe - to put it mildly she thinks I'm crazy! Admittedly, she has never actually been in my apartment and seen the beautiful arrangement (by color) of my bounty, and I HAVE seen her apartment (but not her closet) but she assures me that she has about 4 linear feet of hanging space. (Well okay, slightly more than a meter) But she thinks that I'm a genius packer - the last 2 trips I've made to Paris on business, she has come over to my hotel with me and hung out while I unpacked, pressed and otherwise got my act together. She ... View the Post