Six-Packs Archives

Packing a Small Backpack for a Week…

If you're making a trip with some specific advantages, you can travel very VERY lightly! I was in Florida last week for a quick visit with my mother, and I had ALL of the factors in my favor:

traveling to a warm-weather destination, with no dressy nor business activities planned, where I can easily purchase or borrow things that I forgot, and where I can do laundry!

Knowing that all of this was working in my favor, and that I had very little time to pack, AND that I had one of those airfares that requires you to pack only what will fit under the seat in front of you, I managed just fine, thank you!

This is what I wore to fly; it was a bit more than I needed when I arrived in Florida, and frankly LESS than I might have ... View the Post

Traveling from Cold to Warm?

She has no explanation, nor does she feel that she needs one. She loves her denim culottes, and she wants to wear them as much as possible...

Thus, she is wearing this when she leaves, from her snowy home:

But she realized that she didn't want to pack very much - she's really only going to be there for 5 days! But how to take her travel outfit and translate it into a travel wardrobe?

How about breaking out the colors, and working around that? She's not really sure about how the final wardrobe proportions will be, so she just assigns each of the 3 colors an equal share of the palette...

First up, what does she do when she lands, and the temperature is in the 70s rather than the 20s? Duck into the restroom, peel off boots and socks, ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Appaloosa des Steppes by Hermes

You ask, you get! Tomorrow I'm going to expand this into a wardrobe for a longer trip...

please note that this scarf is a pocket square. it's MUCH smaller than a normal Hermes scarf, so don't order it thinking that you're getting an amazing deal, and then be crushed...

You Won't BELIEVE What Corporate Did...

her heart always sinks when her sweetheart start a conversation like this...

"They're having the Holiday Party in NEW YORK!!!"

"So does this mean we don't have to go?" fingers crossed...

"Quite the contrary - that's what's SO amazing! They're flying us all out - you included! - putting us up in a hotel AND giving us spending money!"

can we just have them give us cash instead? whoops, wrong thing to say...

"That's wonderful - ... View the Post

Can You Really Travel with Only SIX Pieces of Clothing? I’m Going to Find Out…

Yes, I am going back to Paris on Tuesday...

It's a combination of a free plane ticket, a really inexpensive hotel (I'll tell you all about that when I'm back!) and a bone-deep yearning to see holiday decorations in another country.

But more than anything, I'm really eager to see how completely... unfettered? light? I can feel while traveling. Normally, there's the suitcase and the carry-on, and maybe a handbag, and while I know that this is necessary, I don't feel relaxed when I have these things to corral and transport. I want to be focused on external things - other people, mostly, and be able to put my own "stuff" out of my mind.

This isn't impossible - one could, in theory, go almost any place that has similar weather with just the ... View the Post

Build a Foolproof Travel Wardrobe by Starting with Science: The Heart Nebula by Peter Jenkins

Just doesn't get much prettier than this, I'd say!

She's Always Hated Shopping... From the time she was a child - so she and her mother devised a wardrobe plan for her...

They picked the colors they would use, and they decided how many of each piece she would need... She's really never deviated meaningfully from the original scheme!

When she began to buy her own clothes, she realized that if she bought the really good stuff, she wouldn't have to shop nearly as often - the time saved was precious, and the ability to wear beautiful clothes was just a bonus...

(She is a bit tempted to get another piece of tiger's eye jewelry... maybe a ring?)

One of the beauties of having had a plan for years and YEARS is that she can spot ... View the Post

How to Pack a Foolproof Business Travel Capsule Wardrobe? Start with a Ted Baker Mirrored Minerals Scarf!

There are so many beautiful new scarves this fall; I'm enjoying sharing them with you and using them to start travel wardrobes...

If you love this fabric and print, but aren't crazy about a square scarf, this is also available in a cape scarf, a dress with a grey bodice and print skirt, a small skinny scarf, a larger rectangular scarf, AND a full-length skirt. Which could be absolutely amazing for formal-wear... Never let it be said that you don't have a few options!

Yes, I know that the background on this scarf isn't really a single true shade of grey, but there's realistically no way that you're going to be able to match the subtle variations of color here. Best choose something that blends perfectly and build from there...

I Think ... View the Post

How to Pack for a Long Autumn Weekend by Starting with a Scarf – Funky Foliage by Treasure & Bond

She really wants to go up to the lake house one more time... in the autumn...

She always feels really sentimental, and just a little bit homesick, in the autumn. Not homesick for home, but for that time when she was in school, and September brought fresh starts - a chance to begin again...

Autumn also brings back all of her favorite sweaters! So when her siblings starting talking about the need to double-check on the house before winter, she offered to go up...

A couple of evenings in front of the fireplace reading won't be the worst thing in the world...

I'm not the little devil that told you that these penny loafers come in TWENTY-SIX different colors...

And a few long walks in the forest will be nourishing to her ... View the Post

How to Pack for a Business Trip by Starting with Art: A Farm by Piet Mondrian

When I think of Mondrian I always think of those black and white grid patterns with little patches of a primary color or two, but in his earlier days he was much more traditional...

Colors are always what catches my eye - I loved the strong blue, the almost acid green, and then the much calmer neutral rust and grey...

"Uses of Color in Distinctive Branding"

Whoever names these conferences needs to get some imagination - how stodgy can you get? This doesn't sound at all appealing.... But she has been writing the book on distinctive color uses for decades; it will be interesting to see what these young people think they can teach her!

Her approach to color has always been to do the "wrong" thing, so the names of some of the upcoming ... View the Post

Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Demoiselle Cranes and Lotus by Jessie Arms Botke

I could use paintings from this artist for WEEKS! She had an amazing career, and her body of work is beautiful - graceful, colorful, yet true to nature. Genius...

Please be aware, when looking at paintings online, that a LOT of work has been "touched-up" by people gone mad with Photoshop. If something seems wildly out of the normal style for an artist, look for multiple versions of the image. Especially once something gets to Pinterest, it is widely circulated, even though it might NOT be authentic. This is also true if you see a photograph of a bird that seems unlike anything found in nature - some of those pictures have been really altered... sigh...

Same Lake House, Different Weekend... "You know that there are frost warnings up there ... View the Post

Can Wallpaper be Your Wardrobe Inspiration? Heck Yes!

One of you sent me some images of William Morris wallpaper and fabric ... oh, what lovely fun!

If you have a few minutes to spare, I can't encourage you enough to take a look at their wallpaper and fabrics. They might not be your style, but they are so lovely, creative and distinctive. The William Morris company is particularly adept at using themes and ideas from nature, and many of their products would make excellent inspirations for a wardrobe.

(and if you have a fondness for that spruce color that we saw from Pantone, get thee to L.L.Bean, where it appears to be a staple of their palette!)

When I saw this, I thought of a lovely heroine who drives, uphill (!) to get to her family's lake house...

The Lake House "Make sure my ... View the Post

Do I Have to Use ALL of My Accent Colors in my Capsule Travel Wardrobe?

Of course not! But let's look at an example:

Just a Quick Weekend at the beach... She'll catch the bus Friday afternoon, and arrive in time for a late dinner. This part is easy - she can wear what she wore to work, with a light jacket to compensate for the Arctic air-conditioning on the bus.

She bought a new swimsuit, and she loves it - so much that she's building her entire (tiny, six-piece) travel wardrobe around the colors in it!

Yes, she's a serious swimmer!

This is what she sees as her color scheme, but she's really... hesitant... about the lime green!

Her travel outfit is navy and other shades of blue, which really echo the ocean and water colors of the swimsuit...

As she assembled her wardrobe, she found the perfect beach ... View the Post

Can You Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe Around a Bracelet?

Of course you can! And our heroine here on "Financially Reckless Friday" is going to do just that. (really, I am going to settle on these posts on Wednesdays, I promise...)

It WAS Illegal... And they owe her a LOT of money. Now she has to fly back to the Federal Court Offices to sign the paperwork and pick up the check!

She decided to spend the weekend there, in order to take in a concert of a favorite violinist, so she felt that a bit of shopping might be in order; she certainly wants to be appropriately dressed for her legal encounter, and her other activities...

So she starts at Alexis Bittar, where she falls under the spell of a bracelet:

She can immediately see the possibilities - serious black so that she looks like a worthy ... View the Post