Start With a Scarf Archives - Page 3 of 10

How to Pack for a Quick, Dressy Trip? Start with a Scarf…

Her Favorite Artist Everybody probably has one that they like the most, but this is the one about whom she wrote EVERY English language essay she had to write, all through high school and college.

She has framed posters in her home. She's read the biographies. She even listens to music that was supposed to be the artist's favorite.

And now there's an exhibition.... IN MADRID.

She has no vacation time to take. Okay, maybe 2 days...

But she has some airline miles to spend...

And enough money for a few hotel nights...

And enough money for a couple of AMAZING dinners...

Yes, she's going alone. Nobody else is going to want to spend 2 solid days in 1 museum...

Well okay, she might make it to the other museum, too.

And yes, ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – June 2017

I hope that this was worth the extra day's wait!

First off, all of the scarves are sold out at Hermes. If you're really madly eager to have one of them, let me know and I'll see if I can help you to find it in the secondary market.

In this month's wardrobe building, everybody's shopping for a dress (not necessarily something really "dressy") and the necessary accessories...

First up, I'm mad tempted by this simple black dress! I can see myself wandering around downtown in this... sigh...

And kindly notice the linear quality of the sandals, echoed by the striped tote! My days are made when such discoveries fall into place...

Halfway through the year, this is our heroine's wardrobe:

And just to demonstrate how versatile these pieces ... View the Post

What Accesories Do You Want for Warm Weather? Start with an Echo “Paris in the Spring” scarf

When we left our happy heroine yesterday, she was packing for a trip to visit friends on the Gulf Coast of Florida. She was using this scarf as her leitmotif - the inspiration around which she was building her travel capsule wardrobe:

This was what she knew that she would pack - plenty of things for the beach and boat, and enough dressy pieces that she would be fine if dinner turned out to be more formal than she expected:

Just for reference, let's remember that she'd planned this wardrobe pretty carefully!

But she knows that she wants to include more accessories - especially more shoes! So she's going to work through a handful of outfits, making certain to include each of her "bottoms" so that her shoe choices will be ... View the Post

What to Pack for the Florida Gulf Coast? Start with a Scarf: Paris in the Spring by Echo

The scarf says Paris, but your luggage is all tagged TPA - you're going to Tampa to visit friends with a home on the Florida Gulf coast!

They've mentioned the beach, and the boat... (repeatedly...) There's a bit of sightseeing, some serious lounging to be done, and you might take in a baseball game. You'll be dining out at least a few times, too!

Well, you know that it's going to be hot and sunny. You know that it's a relatively casual part of the country, and you know that you don't want to carry a whole ton of stuff with you.... What to do?

Let's start with a color scheme, based on this most lovely scarf:

You know that no matter how warm the weather is, the airport will be freezing cold, and the plane is seldom warm. So you've got ... View the Post

How Can You Pack a Foolproof Travel Wardrobe? Use the Whatever’s Clean System!

I can always tell when a lot of you are planning travel because I start to see more and more emails with packing questions. Many people want a wardrobe that they don't really have to think about once they've arrived at their destination; that's why I cooked up the idea of a "Whatever's Clean" Wardrobe.

If all goes according to plan, you should be able to pull any available garments from these wardrobes and assemble a reasonably presentable outfit. Certainly, some combinations are going to be better than others, and you're going to like some outfits more than others, but overall, you've got mountains of flexibility, after doing a bit of strategic thinking...

First off, let's start with a great color inspiration - a scarf from Kathkath! ... View the Post

Part 2 of How to Gradually Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Start with a Scarf – Ted Baker Enchantment

After you've had a bit of time to process the outfits for the first 4 months of the year, which I shared here yesterday, it's time to dive back in and finish the year, and the capsule wardrobe!

First, let's refresh our memories about what our "inspiration scarf" is, and the color palette that I drew from the scarf:

She Loves Flowers And she has no better explanation for it than that - she loves them. Yes, she grew up helping her parents in their flower beds - that certainly played some role in her affections...

So when she didn't have to go to the office any longer, she decided to remake her wardrobe in the image of her dreams and desires - flowers, and flowery colors!

Sometimes, when the weather turned cold, it was hard to bear in ... View the Post

How to Gradually Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Start with a Scarf – Ted Baker Enchantment

A normal blogger would wait until this was finished to share it with you, but nobody's ever accused me of being normal!

I freely admit that I think Ted Baker London makes some of the most beautiful scarves, and that they are an excellent starting point for a well-chosen capsule wardrobe. This just screams spring to me... and if you're a pansy person (or you love someone who is) this would be a beautiful "no reason at all" gift:

This beautiful floral is available in such wide-ranging lovelies as ballet flats, bags, 2 swimsuits, a cover-up, cropped trousers and a matching sleeveless top, a blouse, a tee shirt, a couple of skirts, a couple of dresses and of course other shapes and sizes of scarves. I have to admit that a tee shirt in this ... View the Post

Building an All-Neutral Wardrobe, based on a Scarf: Navy, Grey, Camel and White

People often ask me where I get ideas for blog posts - they should see my inbox! I get the most wonderful emails, with the most interesting questions... (if it takes me days and DAYS to respond, please don't be offended or insulted - I love to hear from you!)

Many of us start to feel like we need to migrate away from black, and toward grey or navy. One among you found a lovely scarf - vintage! - to help focus this wardrobe shift, and asked me for a few ideas. What fun!

First off - buying "luxury" scarves second-hand is just plain smart. You can find them on Ebay (which can be dicey, because they don't do anything to police against fakes), Tradesy, 1st Dibs, Etsy, The RealReal, Malleries, and its-all-goode.com. among others. If you have ... View the Post

Should I Buy This Scarf? How to decide if you really ought to buy an accessory…

I saw this, and was immediately captivated. I am, of course, two months into a year without shopping, so the question of buying the scarf isn't really relevant to me personally, but it is something that we all confront: "Should I Buy This?"

It's an intriguing scarf - it's not really a traditional floral design, and the color scheme is subtle and quite pretty. I imagine that this would be very flattering on a lot of women! (and it comes with an ivory background - rather than the black - if that appeals....)

My thinking? Imagine a spectrum of outfits - from very casual to somewhat dressy - that would be perfect with this scarf. And then think seriously - are these outfits that I already own, or that I would be willing to eventually ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in a Grey Capsule Wardrobe: An Evaluation

Back on the first of November (which seems like it was YEARS ago...) we left this capsule wardrobe looking this way:

If you need to track back and catch up on how we got to this point, the earlier posts can be found here: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November.

I had a hunch that this wardrobe was in pretty good shape, and this is borne out by the way that the Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe fell into place so easily:

I noticed something sort of interesting when I graphed the garments on the basis of season and dressiness - the cooler weather clothes were more casual, and the warmer weather items skewed a bit more dressy.

This makes sense, when you think that a lot ... View the Post

Timeless: Some of My Favorite Posts from the Past, Based on Scarves

You've long since known that I love scarves, and I believe that they're an excellent basis upon which to build a beautiful wardrobe. Here are some of my favorites!

This scarf is so lovely - crisp, but soft colors, gently blended:

If you have a fondness for flowers, you MUST get to know Ted Baker London. You don't have to buy; you can just admire, and glean ideas... This scarf generated 2 color combinations and two wardrobes:

Don't forget to check museum shops in your quest for the perfect accessory; museums get things that you'll never see in any other place... And this shawl is still available here!

Kathkath makes some of the most beautiful scarves, and this is a perfect example. You could build a wardrobe around these ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Starts with Art: Still Life with Bouquet of Flowers and Plums by Rachel Ruysch

Dear Elizabeth, who's favorite designer is Vionnet - send me an email at theviviennefiles@gmail.com with your mailing address. You won the Mainbocher exhibit book!

So what do you do if you WANT something new, but you really don't need anything? You feel the need for brightening up, for some new ideas and inspiration, for some updated options in your wardrobe... I think it's important to take these feeling seriously, and to act on them deliberately, with a clear plan and established goal. If you just start buying things willy nilly, you risk wasting money, and feeling guilty, and still not satisfying that urge that stems from something vital within you. How about first find something beautiful to help focus that sort of "all over ... View the Post