tee shirts Archives

Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Bōshu, Grain in Ear

June 8, 2022

Time flies when the weather is lovely!

These Are NOT Gardening Clothes... These are sitting on the back porch admiring your garden clothes...

These are clothes for walking around your neighborhood, admiring other gardens...

These are clothes to wear while sitting on the porch swing, discussing how many raised garden beds you can fit on your lot...

These are clothes to wear when you're watching your friends and family play sports...

These are clothes for the backyard barbecue, picnic, fire pit, marshmallow toasting...

These are clothes for sitting under the trees, snipping the ends off of green beans...

These are clothes to wear when taking baskets of fresh vegetables to your ... View the Post

You Don’t Have to Spend a Fortune – 10 Scarves under $40

March 30, 2022

I've mentioned them before - the pants that I wear EVERY week, that are always in my laundry, are from redthreadcollection.com. (I have both the Essential Ankle Pants and the Essential Straight Leg Pants...)

The process is really simple and sort of fun - you take a couple of photographs of yourself dressed in something tight (like leggings or tights) and THEY figure out how to make pants to fit you. They eschew all discussion of sizes, which I can definitely support...

And right now, you can get 20% off of your purchase from them by using the code Vivienne20!

Nice people, great pants, and now a discount - how good can life get?

Someone recently commented that they really loved a scarf but that ... View the Post

Adding a New Accent Colors to Your Wardrobe? Pantone Colors Autumn/Winter 2022/23

March 16, 2022

"New" colors! Well, we've had this conversation at least a dozen times...

But for those of us who have a pretty good idea of what we're going to wear when the weather warms up (in the Northern Hemisphere, of course!), it's always fun to consider adding a fresh accent color to go with our signature neutrals...

Please note that I (obviously!) can't guarantee that these items will all go well together if you get them into your home. Between the variations in the colors of the items themselves, coupled with the variations in the rendition of color inherent in computers, all sorts of issues are possible! But we do the best we can...

First up - I would wear this color more in the autumn or winter than in summer, ... View the Post

March 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

March 2, 2022

It's pretending to be spring here in Chicago! Not quite tee shirt weather, but close...

I looked at the 10-piece wardrobes that we had on hand at the end of February, and concluded that what was most needed right now are tops - specifically, a cardigan and 2 tee shirts...

I think I will be adding neutral tee shirts to all of these wardrobes... and maybe a fun accent tee shirt. And I know that we've seen this cardigan before, but it's a tough one to resist!

This wardrobe now has a lot more options...

If you're a fan of the Queen of England, take a close look at this scarf; it's a tribute to her 70th anniversary. (no political observations, please!)

Some of this heroine's new ... View the Post

February 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

February 2, 2022

Back to our favorite scarves!

I'm changing up the order of these scarves each month, just to get a fresh look at things...

When we left this heroine back at the first of the year, she had a tidy 7-piece capsule wardrobe that would be great for a short trip, or for having to go into the office once a week:

So what does a heroine need in February? For me, a bit of an accent color would be handy, and something to wear during that 2-day "faux spring" that we always see, when the weather is up above 15, and the sidewalks are dry!

While I might still want a sweater, my ankles want me to wear cropped pants!

And I am always a firm believer that most of us can get a lot of wear from a good, comfortable pair ... View the Post

Accessories “Families” based on Pantone’s Spring 2022 colors

January 12, 2022

It's time to look at some "new" colors. (Yes, I never cease to be amazed by the hubris of calling a color "new"...)

But the announcement of these colors does give us a chance to think about what accent colors we prefer, and what we might want to consider. During these VERY short days (in the Northern Hemisphere!), which are very VERY cold, something to brighten up your wardrobe routine isn't crazy...

Please note, when you're shopping for socks, make absolutely sure that you're ordering what you have in mind - some socks are NOT meant to be worn with shoes! They're for lounging, or sleeping, or maybe worn under heavy boots. Trying to get a pair of those into a trim little loafer is going to be disappointing... ... View the Post

January 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

January 5, 2022

Let's GO!!!

First up is black...

Last week we started with 5 essential garments (well, essential for most of us!):

As soon as I saw this "rust red" - I know that this was where I wanted to start! To me, this color is very close to the color of warmly brown leather... maybe brown earrings would have made sense here but I didn't see any that impressed me, so I opted for these timeless black ones!

These 6 additions to the original 5 garments give you something that can legitimately be called a wardrobe! It's not huge, but for a long weekend, this would serve you well:

You've now got at least a few outfits...

Next is our soft, warmly-colored wardrobe:

Since I couldn't find 5 beige ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #30 – A Print Long-Sleeved Tee Shirt

October 11, 2021

Ah, some prints! Even those of us who normally introduce prints into our outfits with a scarf will need a printed garment from time to time...

A pretty tee shirt can be a great excuse to buy a cardigan, sweater, sweatshirt or jacket in a color that you love... (why yes, this purple corduroy shirt-jacket cries out to me, although I don't need it!)

And you never have to tuck these shirts in - this one is actually a tunic:

(and this one isn't long-sleeved - these rules are pretty flexible!)

The various colors that appear in a print can make it easy to assemble your outfit - match a color with your pants or skirt, match another color with your 2nd layer, and you're done!

So what might a ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #29 – An Accent Color Long-Sleeved Tee Shirt

September 27, 2021 Happy Birthday Belovedest!!! I had to get that out of my system... he's such a wonderful man...

Ahem... back to accent colors, and simple tee shirts to bring some brightness and interest into your wardrobe:

This is a color to keep in mind if you're ever tasked with choosing the team tee shirt color, or smocks for the volunteers, or anything where a group of women are going to be dressed alike. This is a color that doesn't look truly horrible on anyone, in my humble opinion. And it goes with all neutrals, so nobody should be unable to pull together an outfit... (of course, some people do not really WANT to be part of a group, but that's a whole different issue for you to diplomatically smooth ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #28 – A Dark Neutral Long-Sleeved Tee Shirt

September 20, 2021

I'm a big fan of long-sleeved black tee shirts, as I learned just today as we were moving... There's nothing like having a couple of young men pile ALL OF YOUR CLOTHING in front of you to make you swear off of shopping for at least a week or two!

But these come in handy in all kinds of ways - warmth, a dark background for jewelry or a scarf, a sobering touch with a lively sweater...

If you're not a fan of black, maybe charcoal heather is more your speed!

This is very much the same outfit as last week, with a different tee shirt, earrings that match, and boots that do pretty much ALL of the work... holy handbags of Buddha, those are some boots!

Here I kept the same pants, switched the sweater to ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #27 – A Long-Sleeved Tee Shirt

September 13, 2021

The weather here isn't entirely on board, but I'm READY for cooler weather! We are changing apartments this week (yes, we probably will stretch the project out to last multiple days!) and I'm going to take advantage of this to re-organize my closet for autumn...

This first outfit is nice and cozy, but our heroine kept her summer earrings... We do what we must to survive the winter!

This week's garment is the simplest thing imaginable - something in your lightest neutral color (which doesn't HAVE to be light at all...) and long-sleeved. Maybe you live in an area where long sleeves just never get worn? Substitute the longest sleeve you wear; these are just guidelines; I NEVER tell you what to wear! ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #4 – Accent Color or Print Tee Shirt

April 5, 2021

Ah, if I were assembling a wardrobe from scratch, this would be when I start grabbing striped tee shirts - you don't even want to THINK about how often I wear a black and white shirt...

But I couldn't find a print that really blew my hair back, so I went with a favorite color of many of us, just to see how well it would work in a range of outfits. For starters, it looks pretty cool with olive green:

Note that I tried to keep quite a few items from last week, just to see how versatile our accent color might be. Generally it worked pretty well!

This color is called Beach Glass - something that makes me think of ghastly gashes in the sole of one's foot, and copious bleeding! This is much prettier, isn't ... View the Post