pink Archives

Start With Art: Winter Solstice by Dame Barbara Hepworth

August 24, 2022

It seems a bit premature to be looking at art entitled Winter Solstice, but our heroine loves pastels!

She doesn't much care what anybody else wears - she's not interested in dark colors! She feels beautiful in pink, and lovely in sky blue...

The core of her wardrobe for cooler weather is gray, with a bit of denim and chambray tossed in for practicality:

please note - everybody's "Common Wardrobe" will be different - what I'm looking for are the core, neutral garments that form the base for the more expressive and statement garments and accessories in our wardrobes.

On those days, our heroine knows that she doesn't have to look any farther than these 9 pieces to get her dressed and out the ... View the Post

Version 4 – Start with a Scarf: The Ghan by Un Poco

August 15, 2022

This is a slightly more extravagant wardrobe than the first 3... and note that if you're looking for accent colors, Benetton always carries plenty! Back to School - Not in THIS Climate!

She has the longest drive - they live a long way south of the University...

Her friends are always eager to see how she's managing a "real" autumn - she struggles with socks, and when they first met, she hadn't brought any sweaters with her!

She's charming, feminine, and great fun!

She confesses that she loves "having" to buy corduroy pants, and a cashmere sweater! If there's a temporary cold spell where she lives, she at least has something to wear for a day or two...

Four VERY different ... View the Post

Start with Art: Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber by Paul Klee, and French 5-Piece Wardrobes

April 20, 2022

We visited this fascinating painting a few years ago, and I've never forgotten about it!

So when someone asked me about having a couple of accent colors for summer, and after we looked at the possibilities of 1 scarf for 4 women, I got to thinking.... (as my mother would say - "we knew you were thinking; we smelled the smoke...")

The last time we looked at this painting, I only isolated 3 accent colors, but today I'm choosing four!

So my plan is this - I'm going to start us out with a core summer wardrobe in light colors - white and beige. Then I'm going to scare up four French 5-Piece Wardrobes - one in each of the accent colors...

Let's start here:

I'm not going to run through how many outfits ... View the Post

Version 4 Start with a Scarf: Peonies Silk Scarf by Arlo Goods

April 13, 2022

She's An Actress...

She's been a star of a daytime drama for years, playing the good twin and the evil twin...

Part of the fun of being friends with her is that her expressions and emotions can run the gamut from intellectually serious to hysterically funny in a matter of moments...

So nobody is surprised that she has included ALL of the accent colors in their "scarf-centric" wardrobe, nor are they amazed to see that SHE bought the kimono, and not the scarf!

It's still a pretty versatile wardrobe:

Rumor has it that the writers on her show are about to introduce a long-lost triplet...

love,

Janice

p.s. Approximately seven years ago, I shared with you my shortcut to calculating ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Peonies Silk Scarf by Arlo Goods

April 4, 2022

She's Always Rather Dressy... She always has been - they've all known each other since school, and she was always the most dressed-up of them all at any event! Not that she was ever inappropriate - just a notch or 2 fancier than them..

So when they make plans to get together for a long weekend in the city, they look forward to seeing her, (of course!) and seeing how she is dressed!

For what it's worth, she's hysterically funny, very generous, and an all-around great friend...

This weekend should be particularly interesting; they've got tickets to Orchestra Hall, and dinner reservations another night at one of the new, "fancy" restaurants that has recently opened...

They haven't all been together ... View the Post

I Love Them, But Will I Wear Them? John Fluevog boots

February 25, 2022

Sometimes, you just give in:

So when our heroine was very politely requested to accompany her partner to a weekend conference in a big city, she thought that these would be her perfect slightly rebellious keynote for her travel capsule wardrobe...

She's not going to go completely nuts; she's just going to assemble a wardrobe that will show off her fabulous new boots to their best advantage!

On her own time, when she's sight-seeing, she WILL wear her new boots. At the various dinners, she may wear them, but she chooses to pack a pair of more conservative pumps too!

Since soft rose and dark green are already her favorite colors, it wasn't terribly hard to assemble a travel wardrobe to wear ... View the Post

Start with Art: Lucinda by Sofia Bonati

December 31, 2021 An Expert in Medieval Flower Illustrations...

You know, those flowers that appear in the ornamented capital letters at the beginning of a manuscript chapter?

Or in the dividers between sections of a breviary, or other sacred document?

She knows why that particular flower was chosen, and what it means!

It's a niche bit of study, and she is the acknowledged master of it!

From the time she chose her thesis topic (a few years ago, to be honest!), she realized that her wardrobe made a great deal of sense if it was the black of print, the ivory of old paper, and the shades of rose and lavender that are the colors of most of the flowers. If they were colored, of course!

So when she travels to ... View the Post

November 2021 Start with a Bracelet: The Fierce Optimism Bracelets

Robyn! Coordinated Granny Woodstock! Send me your mailing information, because YOU have won the Mumbai Paisley scarf!

November 26, 2021 She Has Complete Confidence...

The weekend is going to be pretty much ALL parties. Well, after almost 2 years, everybody wants to get together. They won't all be full-on "parties" with decorations and centerpieces and such, but they will still be festive gatherings...

There once was a time when this kind of trip would fill her with dread; she would pack 2 big suitcases, and bring a huge chunk of her wardrobe with her. Even then, she never felt that she was dressed appropriately.

It weighed on her mind, on her confidence, and on her self-esteem.

But after ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Understanding by Parscha Mirghawameddin

November 24, 2021

Remember this heroine? Nobody seemed to think that she was beautiful, except her! And possibly someone that she met while traveling....

"Did You HEAR What She Told Her Great-Nieces?!?!"

"You mean the part about moving to the city?"

"NO!!!! The part where that silly frog ring is her engagement ring!"

silly is in the eyes of the beholder - this ring is legitimately very fine jewelry...

"Well, I knew that she met someone while she was there, but I assumed that it was just a platonic thing; what's someone her age doing getting involved romantically?"

What's someone her age doing? Feeling beautiful, feeling loved, having buckets of fun, and treating herself to all sorts of frog ... View the Post

Accessorizing a Navy, Ivory and Pale Pink Capsule Wardrobe

October 27, 2021

As nifty and attractive as this wardrobe is, it's really the accessories that make it work!

You may remember from last week that when I chose 2 pink garments to add to this wardrobe, I also added these accessories:

Lovely as these are, they will NOT be enough for any normal person!

For years, I've been trying to come up with a "Master List of Accessories" that everyone should have; for years, I have not succeeded!

And I think this is okay - accessories are far too personal to be structured in this way. One of my closest friends wear a TON of jewelry - literally at least 10 pieces at any one time. Another of my friends wear earrings - maybe - every now and then. I'm not going to give either of ... View the Post

The Common Wardrobe in Navy and Ivory, accented with Potpourri pink

October 20, 2021

I'm been looking at the Pantone Spring 2021/22 colors; looking may be as far as I get with some of them - there are a couple of truly odd colors on this list!

But we can always start with a neutral wardrobe core, and then use one of the more accessible of the colors for accent, right?

This version of The Common Wardrobe is not a long way from the original, shown below. The jeans are unchanged, the knit pants, long-sleeved tee and cashmere turtleneck are navy rather than black.

For other garments, I tried to stick with the original role that the garment played - 2nd layer, top, bottom - and then looked for a navy or ivory version, in a "long over short" option.

Today's heroine has been wearing her navy ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Homecoming Mum by ImageDiary

September 10, 2021

When ImageDiary released this scarf, it was meant to be a "one of a kind" piece. I bought it immediately, but realized that she really SHOULD make more than just one... it's that beautiful!

So Scottie has agreed to have 5 more produced, if there are orders for them. This scarf is huge, and breathtakingly lovely. Trust me... This Year, She's Going... After her book was on the Times Best Sellers list for most of the winter and spring, she began to get invitations. She expected that.

But when she was asked to be the Grand Marshal at her college's Homecoming Parade, and flip the coin for the big football game, she was... conflicted.

College wasn't the party and socializing fest for her that it can be for so many ... View the Post