travel capsule wardrobe Archives

Start with Art: A Travel Capsule Wardrobe based on Two Geese in the Snow by Komori Soseki

January 25, 2023

Plenty of Firewood... She agreed to go up to the cabin for the weekend, with the understanding that (1) they would stop at the deli on the way out of town and get enough food, (2) there is enough firewood up there for at least 5 days, and (3) there are NO chores for her to handle!

Oh yes, and there are birds about...

In all fairness, she has 2 books she really NEEDS to finish in the next few days (for work!), so it's not all just hanging about reading gossip magazines...

She will, of course, walk outdoors from time to time, to catch some sun (if it's out!), visit with any animals that are about, and take a break from her work.

In addition to using a favorite painting as her inspiration, ... View the Post

Start with a Bracelet: Winter’s Dawn by Fierce Lynx Designs

January 16, 2023 It was a beautiful sunrise...

The colors that they saw were subtle but stunning...

They turned to each other and agreed that if they saw ONE MORE sunrise over snow, they were going to lose their minds.

They don't want to go to the beach, just someplace where it's warm enough not to wear boots and a parka!

It's a romantic long weekend - a bit early for Valentine's Day, but they are NOT people to be bound by that kind of thing!

Museums, some shopping, some nice but not posh dining. Maybe a movie...

Mostly, just time together. A chance to see their ankles on a regular basis. No hats!

Are you ready for a break from winter?

I - personally - would LOVE to see some real ... View the Post

Analyzing the Six-Pack – Start with a Scarf: Royal Tulips by Katchmagic London

January 13, 2023

She's going to be really methodical about this...

And we are going to listen in to her brain, to see what we can learn...

First, she chooses her current favorite scarf as her inspiration, and then isolates what her accent colors will be:

Hmm... packing six garments and wearing 3 on the train/plane/bus means that she will have a total of 9 garments with her on her trip. She pictures it like this:

Her first outfit is straightforward - dark pants to avoid the mini-drama of spills. A warm cardigan that's pretty bulky to pack, so she chooses to wear it. And a bright tee shirt to bring color and life to her face...

She will almost certainly wear her inspiration scarf too!

Next, she chooses the ... View the Post

Start with a Photograph: Infinite by Mikko Lagerstedt

January 9, 2023

Yes, it's been a lot of green this last few days, but I couldn't resist this photograph!

Perfect for this time of year:

Our heroine saw her color palette for an upcoming trip:

Bringing Light to the Darkness... Well, the darkness of a room full of navy suits!

She is tasked with being the presentation coordinator for the entire 2nd day of the conference. Which means introducing each presenter, sitting on the stage during each presentation, and then coordinating the questions that follow.

She doesn't mind - she's got zero stage fright, and she would watch all of the presentations anyway!

But she's quite well-enough established in her career that she does NOT need to wear all navy, or all ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Gabriella by Elizabetta

December 30, 2022

Happy Birthday, you down in Georgia!!!

You Have to Choose...

She's a judge. She has to pick. Every time.

Now that she's packing for a few winter days away, she will NOT choose between warm and cool colors. She doesn't want to, and she doesn't feel that she needs to either!

She's heard it all - "it's not right to wear gold with grey," "Olive is only for women with a certain coloring," "shades of green can't really be worn together - especially cool greens and warm greens."

Humbug, she says.

It might not always be easy to find the right things.

It might not always look like what others are wearing.

It might draw a 2nd look.

She loves the subtlety and nuance of these colors ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Leshy by Ilona Tambor

December 14, 2022

There are six different "Leshy" scarves...

It Happens Every Year, at This Time... Everybody who celebrates one of the "Winter Solstice" traditional holidays starts complaining that we should celebrate on the 21st... or that we should only decorate our trees with things that birds can eat...

And every year, at this time, there's a major academic conference somewhere that is centered around all of the forest deities and Druid-like ceremonies that are in season...

She's one of the world's authorities on Leshy, the legendary forest creature. Sometimes cruel, sometimes kind - he's pretty complicated! And he's NOT a brown bear; she's still going to wear the scarf.

For some reason, these conferences ... View the Post

Start with a Bracelet: Subtle Lynx Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

November 21, 2022

The Easiest Job Ever...

She arrives at the café as soon as they open - there's always a table by the windows available...

After she orders breakfast, she takes out her fresh new notebook and her favorite pen:

She eats her breakfast, stopping every now and then to note down something that she sees...

Some days, she orders a second cup of coffee, because she's going to be sitting there until about 10 a.m. Second cups of coffee aren't always "the thing" with breakfast, but she doesn't mind being different!

Around 10 or so, she pays for her breakfast, tips generously, and walks back to her hotel room...

She brushes her teeth, refreshes her sunscreen, and gets ready to go out for ... View the Post

Start with a Bracelet – Ethereal Lynx Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

October 28, 2022

She's Hard to Describe... For one thing, she's the only woman a lot of them know who can wear a ruana and look like a heroine from a romance novel...

She thinks that she's very low-key and inconspicuous - after all, she wears a lot of grey!

Her accent colors aren't bright, or gaudy...

But still, there's something about her that catches your eye, and doesn't readily let go...

If someone is truly beautiful, the world will see it...

Even if their beauty is entirely inside. Or maybe, ESPECIALLY if their beauty is internal...

love,

Janice

p.s. Nine years ago, I sorted out the "Triple Top Secret." It was something that I'd been doing for years without really seeing the ... View the Post

Start with Art: #96 by Marcel Rozek

October 26, 2022

Eloping...

Everyone assumes that they're already married - and that they've been married for years!

On Tuesday, they decided to make it legal, for so many reasons...

They dashed over to the Justice of the Peace in the middle of the afternoon, when they got a phone call that they could sneak in during a gap in the schedule. They went dressed in their "work at home" clothes!

And now, they're going to sneak off for a long weekend together!

They're going to their favorite city, for a few days of museums, concerts and dinners. Nothing over the top, but lovely and romantic!

She's never packed for a last-minute honeymoon before - but she things this will work just fine!

How can she ... View the Post

Start with Art: Version 2 Man in a Café by Juan Gris

October 21, 2022

Our heroine from Wednesday is back on the road, with a rather different color palette!

This trip is going to be both more casual AND more dressy - so our heroine is including both jeans and sequins!

note that she's packing exactly the same number of everything...

There's that one dinner (concert, opera?) that gives her permission to break out the really dressy top...

She loves the way this looks - it's just like her last travel capsule wardrobe, but it's NOTHING like it, at the same time. It's kind of magic...

She has lots of ways to wear these pieces too - it's built into her system:

Imagine what she could do if she packed BOTH of these for a trip!

do you think that this is a ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Vintage Blooms scarf by Lost Pattern NYC

October 17, 2022

Sometimes, It's Hard to Decide...

It's a trip that they make a few times a year - pick a city, pick a concert, or an art exhibit, or something interesting, and take a long weekend vacation!

But she's struggling to pack - she knows that black is the neutral, but what is her accent color?

A close look at her current favorite scarf suggests to her that maybe she could pack more than 1 accent color. Maybe more than 2. Maybe MORE THAN THREE?

Honestly, why not? Once she has her core of black items, adding just 1 gold sweater isn't a crime - so long as she has a plan for how to accessorize...

Her dream is always that some event will force them to stay for longer than 5 ... View the Post

Adding Clothes and Accessories: Start with Nature – The Spinning Pulsar of the Crab Nebula

September 14, 2022

Remember our heroine, the photographer who was going to go hang out at the observatory for a few weeks?

This is what she is using as her inspiration for her travel wardrobe:

When we left this heroine, she had decided to pack this:

She discussed her plans with a number of other science photographers, and realized that she was probably going to be at the observatory longer than she had initially planned! For one thing, a pretty well-known astronomer is going to be visiting for a few days at the end of September, and she would be insane to miss the chance to meet him.

And there are a couple more astronomic events expected, so she just decided to stay two weeks longer. There's going to be a (sort of) ... View the Post