signatures Archives - Page 2 of 3

My Year Without Shopping – January 2017. The Reasons, The Method, and The Rules

January 3, 2017

Yes, it's true, and it's long overdue; I'm taking a year off from shopping! I've begun to feel just a bit too much like this:

Untitled (I Shop Therefore I Am) by Barbara Kruger

(By shopping, I'm including clothes, jewelry, and all accessories.) It's become apparent that I have a lot more clothes than I need, especially when considering my current life. It's not uncommon for me to spend at least 2 days a week in gym clothes - I'll wake up and put them on immediately, but then won't actually GET to the gym until mid- to late-afternoon. By the time I've finished working out and cooling down, (at least in the winter) it's time for me to shower and put on my pajamas! I could get ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: July

July 1, 2016

In the world of "fashion," summer is pretty much over! It's a good time to grab a couple of tee shirts (which you will of course continue to wear well into the colder weather), as well as another pair of shorts for your capsule wardrobes. A pair of sandals purchased now will definitely be a starter pair for NEXT summer, and a pretty pendant will be useful for years to come...Remember, these are our starting points for the 6 capsule wardrobes we're building:

Navy– Hermes Voyage en Etoffes; brown – Hermes Tyger Tyger; beige – Hermes Le Voyage de Pytheas; olive – Hermes Cheval Mirage; grey – Hermes Cheval Surprise Remix; black – Hermes Au Pays des Oiseaux Fleurs

I just NOW noticed that I chose TWO ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes – a Half-Way Through Bonus

June 11, 2016 I've been thinking about how these capsule wardrobes would work for additional outfits, now that we're up to a dozen pieces of clothing in each wardrobe. So I played around and came up with another six outfits for each grouping. Enjoy!

love, Janice

... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Hermes Geologie, for 12 Months

May 6, 2016

This was difficult.... It's hard enough to find wintery clothes this time of year, even though the weather is still decidedly cool. But when you try to find clothing in warm colors, with decent photographs, that don't cost the absolute EARTH to buy... well, it explains a lot of the weirdness that I exhibit from time to time...But I persisted, and I'm pleased with these results. And I realized a couple of very important things, for those who wish to wear these VERY difficult to find colors:

Work with the idea of colors that blend rather than those that match identically. Cousins, rather than identical twins, of the clothing family. This will save you a lot of headaches, while at the same time giving you the ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories: Navy, Beige, Turquoise and Yellow, 1 at a Time

March 14, 2016 Maybe it's the unseasonably warm weather here in Chicago, but this wardrobe felt very summery to me...

We always have to start out with a couple of basic, essential accessories...

I thought that I'd introduce some pearls here - to pick up on the pearl/off-white color of the cardigan. I like to tie outfits together through these small, but powerful, little color "echoes."

Theoretically, this particular outfit would be better balanced with dark shoes, but I'm assuming that you're going to carry a dark bag, which will serve the same purpose. Let's not go completely nuts trying to do everything perfectly!

If you're an avowed "watch avoider," you can always just ... View the Post

DIY Tee Shirts

Sometimes, the Internet behaves badly....

Well, let's be more specific - my connection to the Internet can often be disrupted by things that happen in Chicago, or that happen in my (VERY large) building, or that take place in the phases of the moon which govern our connectivity to the rest of the universe. (this last issue might explain why I personally am often stymied about how to get things working again!)

At any rate, sometimes I have NO ability to comb through the world of online merchandise, searching for the perfect tee shirt or scarf. It is during these times that I play with PowerPoint...

PowerPoint is ideally suited for making fun graphic images, especially those that use standard shapes that are arranged in essentially ... View the Post

How Are Designers and Consumers Alike? or How SHOULD They be Alike?

When I go to Paris, I always try to find a new book or two that discusses some aspect of personal style, fashion, clothing history - just anything that interests me, and that might in turn interest you!

Right now, I'm reading this:

The second of the 101 "little secrets" tells us that "designers create collections, not simply isolated garments..."

Isolated garments - that's a pretty thought-provoking phrase! But I think that's the results from how a lot of us shop - we see something fabulous, we buy it, and we don't necessarily stop to think about the degree to which said gorgeous object will work with the rest of our wardrobe.

That's why I'm always hammering home the idea of having a plan; if you shop with a color scheme and an ... View the Post

How to Create Your Capsule Wardrobe – a Vivienne Files Bookshelf Excerpt

September 5, 2015 Taken from one of my very favorite reference books for The Vivienne Files: Ma To-Do List by Jeanne-Aurore Colleuille and Laure Gontier. I'm going to quote directly from their book...

The 3 Secrets for Creating your “Capsule Wardrobe”

“My style is the result of distillation. I have accepted my grey hair. I only wear black and white. Each year, I buy three or four dresses which I wear in rotation. I own a pair of jeans.” – Jamie Lee Curtis

"This barbaric Anglo-Saxon concept, adored by fashion magazines and women of style across the Atlantic, doesn’t have a real French equivalent.The word that they use to describe this concept is barbarisme... is doesn't translate with quite the ... View the Post

A Black Wardrobe, with Silver, Aluminum and Grit

January 5, 2015 This is certainly not a style for just everyone, but I know a couple of women who wear this very urban, industrial style, and who carry it off with great panache! (Imagine a woman with silver grey hair, cut in a very short, angular style. Chiseled cheekbones, a slash of red lipstick...) One of the things that we have to remember about a unique personal style is that it is, by definition, not for everybody. Realistically, it shouldn't be for ANYBODY other than you. It's hard to chart your own path, style-wise, but feeling quintessentially like yourself can be an amazing sensation...

love,

Janice ... View the Post

12 Months, 1 Scarf: A Navy and Green Capsule Wardrobe

December 17, 2014 I know I seem to talk about this same idea a lot, but I can't sufficiently emphasize the benefits of building your wardrobe around a unifying theme of some sort. Your theme could be a particular color scheme, a painting, a photograph, or a scarf - there are really no limits to what you might choose. This theme doesn't have to last throughout your entire life, nor does it have to define absolutely EVERY purchase that you make. However, it should be an overarching guideline that helps you make the hard decisions when you see something appealing - does it fit? does it clash? does it harmonize? does it make NO SENSE WHATSOEVER in the context of your chosen style theme? So, when someone asked ... View the Post

Choosing a Scarf to Wear with Navy

December 16, 2014

I happen to know for a fact that one of you will buy this design scarf for yourself for the holidays, and that you are struggling to decide which color you want. I further know that your wardrobe is basically navy, so I thought I'd play around a little bit with some ensembles to show what kinds of other preferences you have that might help make the choice clearer. First up, the most lovely Hermes Ors Bleus d'Afrique - the Blue Gold of Africa. That refers to indigo, which was commonly used in textiles of this type.

And I picked a couple of outfits - very simple - in order to create a base for my ideas.

First up, this scarf cries out to have the rich browns emphasized and ... View the Post

What IS my signature accent color? Capsule Wardrobe Project 333

Despite the fact that I don't report in regularly on my progress, I do keep track of what I wear, and what's getting appropriate usage, and what's wasting closet space. As much as I always get compliments when I wear blue, I never really feel quite myself when I'm wearing it... except denim... And, as I always have, I'm drawn to red. Always... So when I did my readjustments for Project 333 starting Monday, I added in both a red tee shirt and a red sweater. They're from L.L.Bean (those people NEVER give me any credit for promoting their clothes, the silly louts), they're festive, and I love them. Also, I'm replacing the non-existent blue jeans with my beloved black velvet skirt! My paisley pants are too cropped, and too ... View the Post