Six Pack Archives

Start with Art: Building a Travel Capsule Wardrobe based on The Swan No. 21 by Hilma af Klint

Yes, this should be the "Six Scarves, 12 Outfits" post, but I forgot that I was working on a post for the first day of April! Frankly, I'm thrilled to see the end of March - aren't you?

I will get that post for you tomorrow, I promise...

Our heroine had hoped to see the Hilma af Klint exhibit in Malmö, but she might not make it...

But she's still a massive fan of the artist!

Now that she's free to travel, she's going to Stockholm for a long weekend to the Moderna Museet, to see some art! This is going to be her color palette for her travel capsule wardrobe:

She has decided that she's beautiful. After spending so much time alone, it's finally dawned on her that her body has done wonderful things for her, ... View the Post

Start with Art: Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe based on Arara Azul by Victoria Ragna

This is a LOT like yesterday's post, I admit. Not because I'm inherently lazy (although I could be, given the right circumstances...) but more because someone asked yesterday about wearing accents of teal, aqua and soft blue with navy. I HAD to show how well many of these garments work just as well with a slightly different neutral.

(yes, grey would be lovely...)

This is very much the same color palette as yesterday, except the shift away from black...

After a LONG summer... They're free to travel again! She's been planning for months for this trip...

What kept her sane through the summer was the ability to go outdoors and watch the birds. It had never been a hobby before; they had had a bird feeder for a long time, ... View the Post

Start with Art: Building a Travel Capsule Wardrobe based on Sea Change by Helen Frankenthaler

Such calming colors....

It's not a complicated color palette, but it's certainly beautiful!

She's Ready to Dress Up... Now that she's free to travel again, she does NOT want to pack jeans, nor sweatpants, nor a sweatshirt. Frankly, if she doesn't see her casual clothes for a LONG time, she won't mind!

They're going to take the train into the city, and stay in a hotel near the harbor. She wants to be able to see the sea from their room; it's been too long.

They've had months to plan this trip, and dream about it. Leisurely walks, holding hands. Lovely, lingering dinners. Sitting in a cafe by the sea, watching the waves and sipping a cocktail.

Nothing strenuous - they don't have a check-list of things that ... View the Post

Start with Art: Building a Travel Capsule Wardrobe based on Mountains and Sea by Helen Frankenthaler

I think we're going to have an art week; art transcends all things...

It's Truly Summer... Now that she's free to travel again, she's going to get on the train and go someplace she's never been. She randomly chose a train stop, and now she's spending a long weekend in a small city she's never visited!

She's decided that she wants to feel summery, and light, and free...

Her pants come in TEN colors...

Everything won't go together perfectly. Things will get dirty. She doesn't really mind; laundry can be done, outfits can be repeated, and she's okay with this. She knows what's important...

She packs her favorite things, and she's going to be perfectly delighted with her travel wardrobe:

Once she checks her ... View the Post

How to Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet – March 2020

Calm, subtle, with just a touch of vivid red!

She's Been Brave for Months... And now that she's free to travel again, she's just going to sit... She's going to go to her favorite city, go to an outdoor table at a cafe, order coffee, and watch the world go back to work...

I'm not usually a fan of logo scarves, but this one is so subtle that I'm including it...

She's going to travel during the week so that she can see the city come back to life; she's going to dine out, and pour her modest travel budget back into the economy!

She doesn't want to be terribly conspicuous, and she's not concerned about getting wildly dressed up...

Oh bother, I forgot to include 1 of the scarves!

She's been a heroine for months; ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Tribute to Franz Marc – Foxes by Becky Kelley

I thought we could all use something bright and cheerful today...

I love this color palette - using navy rather than black as the neutral here makes it feel very... different?

We've met this heroine before, last summer...

Another Art Fair... Oh, this is not her usual style AT ALL! She represents emerging artists, and is normally dressed... eccentrically, I think might be the best way to describe it. But she has to travel, from time to time, in order to meet new artists and see what's going on the art world. And she feels that she can be more effective if she's not quite as conspicuous as usual...

So for travel she's wearing a pretty traditional outfit, with some pretty UN-traditional accessories:

She expects to ... View the Post

How to Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet – February

THIS is just perfect; what a great way to bring some cheer into your day, and some Mardi Gras spirit to your outfit throughout the year:

I was sorely tempted to dress our heroine in creamy silk with bright accents, but alas, creamy silk is not yet available from anybody I could see...

But there are ALWAYS options, if we think long and hard enough!

She Thought She Was Going to Mardi Gras for her vacation. But just a few days before she was to leave, the head of the Engineering Department told the Sales Manager that SHE should go to their biggest client for the launch of a number of system modifications. After all, she designed all of the carbon-neutral adaptations for the client operations - who better to explain it ... View the Post

How to Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet – January

Time for another great bracelet! This is a special thought for all of you who love brown and all warm colors...

That little touch of the rust in the beads is lovely...

Just a Small Change of Habit... She quit buying coffee during the day at work. There was never any good reason to go downstairs and wait for coffee, when there's a perfectly decent coffee maker just down the hall. But SO many people used coffee as an excuse to be out of their office for 20 minutes, and it never occurred to her that it wasn't a good idea...

'Til she looked at her monthly expenditures! A couple of months of "office coffee" and she could take a long weekend someplace... warmer. Not necessarily beachy, but somewhere that was sandal-friendly during ... View the Post

Start with Art: A Holiday Rebel Six-Pack with Azalea Garden by Patrick Heron

Their Calendar...

They both work on computers, so when they have something to schedule, they put the event onto a computer calendar that they share...

One of them decided to glance ahead to December, just to see what was planned... And realized that, between them, they had committed to attend FIVE different events in a 3-day period. All of them downtown.

The obvious answer? A hotel room, some late mornings with room service, and a tidy holiday travel capsule wardrobe with NO black velvet (this woman is a heretic, in my world!), nothing red, and nothing green.

Red and green really aren't her colors, and standing out in a crowd of friends makes her happy...

I personally can't fathom living through ... View the Post

Start with Art: Landline Blue by Sean Scully

Can You Get Out of Work on Monday? Because Friday is the anniversary of our first date...

"And I would like to take you into the city for a long weekend... We could dine out, and go to a concert, and just have a lovely time together..."

"There's an exhibit at the museum of paintings by one of our favorite artists - we could go there too!"

Of COURSE she'll get out of work on Monday. She had no idea when their first date was, until she was reminded. And her true love was indeed exactly right!

Who's going to turn down a long weekend with a sweetheart so thoughtful, and with that kind of sentimental heart?

love,

Janice

p.s.

2 years ago we looked at another teal wardrobe, with an ... View the Post

Start with Art: Heron in Snow by Ohara Koson

Oh dear... I may never look at another artist... (except of course I'm going to the Art Institute of Chicago tomorrow, and I'll see something else that catches my fancy...)

But this artist is pretty amazing! His style lends itself perfectly to inspiring a minimal palette, and if you're using tan/beige as a neutral, the color of his backgrounds is meant for you...

Ornithologists Have Conferences too... She's studied waterfowl since she could see. She loves herons, swans, pelicans... there's really no bird that she doesn't admire.

Her favorite Saturday activity is to get to the lake early, and set up her camera and tripod. Then she sits, quietly, sipping coffee from her thermos, and waiting for that moment! Her patience ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Tom Baker’s Doctor Who Scarf!

When one of my favorite people in the whole world wants me to try something, I'm there for him! EVERY TIME!!! She's An Event Coordinator... And she's being sent to another property to supervise a Doctor Who convention. Her kids bought this for her; they thought it was hysterically funny....

She looked at the scarf for a few minutes, and then had an epiphany! She loves camel and olive, and she realized that this could work...

She bought a couple of sweaters to pick up her "new" accent colors, and found that it was indeed possible to pull together a travel capsule wardrobe using a VERY unlikely color palette...

She forced her kids to come into her room before she packed, just so they could see what she had ... View the Post