Six Pack Archives

Stress Dressing Mini-Wardrobes for Changing Spring Weather

March 10, 2021

The weather is impossible right now - in the best way! After literally weeks of single-digit temperatures and mounds of snow, we're now experiencing lovely afternoons, with sun and noticeable warmth!

But what to wear? Especially if you've got your hands full and don't want to think too hard...

I'm sure you will notice that I changed a few things, but left some from our earlier adventures in Stress Dressing for cold weather. There's nothing like the stress of having to find ALL NEW THINGS for your emergency wardrobe, eh?

I gave some thought to what my general guidelines might be for choosing these pieces, although I'm pretty confident that you could sort this for yourself pretty easily:

These wardrobes ... View the Post

February 2021 Start with a Bracelet: The Confident Lynx

February 22, 2021 You Could Go By Yourself... She looked at her favorite bracelet - the Confident Lynx...

She's going to do this - she's been anticipating this Cathedral Tour weekend for ages, and she's not going to miss it just because nobody she knows wants to go too!

So she starts to plan...

It won't be bitter cold by the time of the tour, but she knows that she wants to dress rather warmly, because old stone buildings are never toasty...

Since she's going to be alone (well, there will of course be other people on the tour!), she wants to make sure that she can lift her own luggage and manage it without having to resort to the kindness of strangers! So she arranges a tidy black core of clothes, and ... View the Post

Start with Art: Untitled 2019 by Jeremy Stenger

February 5, 2021 The Lake is Frozen... Better get ready... She stops to focus for just a couple of heartbeats on her current favorite painting and color palette:

She knows that she needs to pack, and she knows that she doesn't want to spend much time dwelling on that, so she remember her current color palette...

What she's wearing will be fine for the drive - she just needs to get on her shoes...

She's agreed to fix dinner TONIGHT - this gets her off the hook for meals the rest of the weekend! So before she even walks NEAR her closet, she pulls out a big grocery bag from her stash, and starts assembling the ingredients for a big pot of soup...

And then she cuts the dry ingredients for biscuits together ... View the Post

January 2021 Start with a Bracelet: The Sophisticated Lynx

January 15, 2021

Not sophisticated like swishing around a boudoir in a silk negligee and fluffy maribou-trimmed mules! (is that really sophisticated?)

Sophisticated as in appreciating subtle things. Quiet good taste. Details that set the excellent apart from the everyday...

Stones with soft color gradients, and subtle beaded trim:

The nuances of color are deeply hidden in the stones, revealing themselves only to the attentive observer:

In cold weather, a gentle touch of rose pink is so flattering... The right earrings and mask bring a feminine touch to a classic outfit:

I almost never show vintage pieces here, because only one of you can buy it, but I could NOT resist this most perfect of ... View the Post

Start with Art: Man in a Café by Juan Gris

January 13, 2021

She was looking for a foolproof color palette; one day, she ran into this gentleman:

She is thrilled - she can see black, white, shades of grey, camel, khaki, brown, and denim blue. These colors ALL go together...

She starts small, with packing for a long weekend. She knows that her denim shirt is perfect under a black sweater and cords...

Now, how can this be foolproof?

v-neck sweaters are perfect over button-front shirts, OR on their own; button front shirts are easy 1st layers or they can be worn without something over them. Now that she has found Petite sizes that have short enough sleeves, and ample enough torsos, she's all set! and black bottoms and shoes...

So this is what she ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Summer Palms Silk Square by Echo

January 11 2021 Feeling Summery in the Winter

Yes, the weather is cool, but she can still think about palm trees and warm breezes...

So she starts with a palm-printed scarf, and isolated the colors she loves:

Let's pause for a moment to think about the math behind a really efficient Six-Pack travel capsule wardrobe:

Well, enough of THAT technical stuff!

Her long weekend away is pretty casual - mostly family activities. But she still likes to look nice, and feel like she's made an effort!

Spills are possible. (both the liquid kind and the bodily tumbling onto the ground kind!)

Some relatives keep their homes... very warm, shall we say.

She's prepared!

If 1 or even 2 garments are soiled, torn, ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Tiger in the Grass by Echo

December 16, 2020 Channeling her Inner Tiger This is her new favorite scarf:

She loves the colors, and the image of the tiger...

The tiger is going to be VERY important to her during the next couple of days; she's going to have to be quite... tough? Assertive? Imposing?

Suffice to say that she might encounter some acrimony, and she's going to have to stand up for herself!

She's only going to be there 2 days, possibly 3. But during that time, she is going to use all of the tools and resources available to her to represent herself as strong, capable, and decisive!

The night before she leaves, she grabs her tiger scarf and assembles a travel capsule wardrobe that is perfect with it. Sometimes she's more the ... View the Post

Start with Nature: Revisiting the Common Shelduck

October 21, 2020

She's been driving down to visit them at their lake house on a regular basis for a few years now... Her first trip was in the dead of winter; a bit of warmth and sitting outdoor was delightful!

After the pandemic started, she was down earlier in the summer to take advantage of their cooking frenzy...

Now, they're talking about having her come for the entire winter! Why not - it's not like she's having buckets of fun being in her apartment almost all day every day!

And she wouldn't mind seeing some birds...

"Come down for the weekend and we can discuss it; you can have the bedroom and bath that you had back in the summer, and you can work on the desk in your bedroom. We're upgrading the wifi..."

"If ... View the Post

Start with a Bracelet – Shine On by Fierce Lynx Designs

October 14, 2020 We Want to Record Your Acceptance Speech...

Well... it's one thing entirely to win an award in the middle of a pandemic, but quite another to be invited into the city for the weekend...

But they offered a hotel room for Friday, Saturday AND Sunday night, if she could come into the recording studio for an hour or so and record a video that they could use when they announced all of the winners. So into the city they go!

Her original plan was to use 2 accent colors, but she struggled and STRUGGLED to find a good "bridge" garment or scarf, so she finally just threw her hands up in the air and decided on a full-tilt pink and black weekend!

Sometimes you have to know when you aren't going to find the right ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Foxes by Becky Kelley

October 7, 2020 The Sculpture Bienniale is OUTDOORS... And it's expected to rain the entire week. So guess who gets to go?

Yep, the heroine that we've seen before, visiting a small museum before a client's show, and then at a multi-artist show, looking for new clients...

She's a fan of a bright, bright color palette!

She knows, without doubt, that someone is going to be wading through the mud in 7 inch heels (probably in some animal print!) and will SNAP them off, about 15 seconds after they arrive. And they will make a BIG spectacle of the whole process...

Not for her; she understands that you can stand out in a crowd, be your own person etc etc without dressing inappropriately for the weather and the resulting ... View the Post

Revisiting Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay

October 5, 2020

The last time she went to Paris, it all turned out to be... very interesting!

At the end of the 2nd day she was there, she walked up to the woman who had been following her, and asked WHAT was going on?

Well... the woman was looking for another photographer to join the group of official government staff who were documenting all of the most obscure and hidden sculptures and monuments in Paris, and wanted to know if she wanted to be considered...

Uhhh... okay!

She still doesn't know what her new boss saw in her and her photography techniques, that caused her to want to hire her. She frankly doesn't care!

So now, ever other weekend, she takes the train to Paris. She's able to sleep on the train, so she ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting The Visit by Marie Laurencin

September 11, 2020 The Documents MUST Be Signed in Person...

Oh RATS. It's only a couple of hours to drive to their offices, but she's NOT going to make the trip there and back in 1 day!

So she makes her plan - she'll go for a couple of days, and take care of a few other small shopping errands that have been delayed for the last six months!

She finds a LOVELY hotel room, at a screaming discount. The night before her meeting, she drives down...

A quiet dinner near the hotel, unpacking, and reading for a bit fills her evening...

With all of the disruption to her life right now, having a travel capsule wardrobe that's so harmonious gives her a little bit of comfort:

She's on the fence ... View the Post