wardrobe clusters Archives

What I Packed for Ireland – 3 Clusters and Some Carefully-Chosen Outerwear

I'm back from Ireland (and 1 night in England...)!

When we stopped at Kells Priory, there was not ONE SINGLE SOLITARY person there. It was an amazing experience! This is one of the best parts of traveling in the off-season - fewer crowds, and some completely deserted delights...

Of course I packed black! The first 24 hours of our vacation, I was wearing my denim shirt, black corduroy pants, and my great marled cardigan from L.L.Bean. I can't stress often enough how your choice of travel outfit is really important; you have no idea, when you're traveling long distances, how long you will have to wear that same outfit! You don't want to be unable to get into your hotel room in some lovely city for 3 or 4 hours, and be wearing pajama ... View the Post

A Wardrobe with Multiple “Moods” or Accent Colors? Start with an Artist: Romaine Brooks

Wednesday, our heroine chose accessories and was quite well-prepared for a lengthy trip...

But now, she's really going to travel!

Just to recap, she built her initial travel wardrobe around this stark but captivating painting:

Her initial travel capsule wardrobe is quite complete...

She's made a very tidy start to a quite large travel (or seasonal?) wardrobe:

And her accessories are similarly well planned:

But now, she's going away for 13 weeks! A guest teaching post? A short course at a foreign school? Who could guess...

She knows that there are plenty of women who could travel forever wearing nothing but black and grey, but she's thinking that she wants to introduce some accent colors... Maybe ... View the Post

Adding Accessories to a Travel Wardrobe; Start with Art – Ida Rubenstein by Romaine Brooks

When we last visited this intrepid heroine, a week ago, she had her clothing well sorted for her trip, but still needed accessories!

Her first wardrobe cluster is black - of course! But it's not completely somber; printed tops make a difference, as does a striped skirt...

Accessories... I personally feel that you need a few more accessories than you need items of clothing! Of course, you may not agree, but this template will give us some guidance as we get this solo traveler packed and ready to go...

Six accessories for each cluster... hmm....

Yes, these shoes can be worn with everything! If she remembers to pack black opaque tights, she will be all set... Of course, you could bring 2 pairs of shoes - 1 for the ... View the Post

Start with Art: Ida Rubenstein by Romaine Brooks, or the Power of 5-Garment Clusters

She loves to travel alone....

She carries her own luggage, thank you! And she can lift her bag into the overhead bin, too. It's a point of personal satisfaction that she's strong enough to be self-sufficient... (it's an accomplishment to hold onto as long as possible, isn't it?)

In the course of planning what to pack, she grew to see that working in clusters of 5 garments would be easy to sort out in her head, and also gives her plenty of outfit possibilities! The right 5 garments can translate into 8 outfits...

It's not that she plans to travel forever, and must never EVER repeat an outfit; that's kind of silly...

But what if something is stranded at the laundry? What if the weather gets warmer (or cooler)? What if ... View the Post

Do You Have Enough Clothes?

Unless you're reading this naked, the answer is probably yes...

So then why do we keep buying clothes? Boredom? A need for variety? Dissatisfaction with what we currently own?

It's a question that we could think about for a long time...

But let's hypothesize, eh?

Start with a painting; a... difficult painting...

So when do you struggle to get dressed? For work?

Maybe it makes sense to pull together a tiny cluster - 5 garments and 7 accessories? - that will give you lots of possibilities. You have to be really disciplined about buying simple, classic pieces that are versatile, but they don't have to be utterly boring:

It might take you a few months to get all of this purchased (or found in your closet) and ... View the Post

Trying to Forecast Weather – Packing for May in Ireland!

Honestly, if I could tell you with any degree of certainty what the weather is going to be in May in Ireland, I would be doing something to make a fortune, like buying penny stocks and selling them for millions of dollars. The weather requires that level of omniscient genius!

But you can be strategic, right? Let's start with a beautiful photograph of an Ireland shore, to help define a color palette:

Okay, time for strategy. First, you can't take ALL of your wardrobe with you, so you have to make some smart choices. If we accept that it's not possible to pack for every possible kind of weather, I submit that it's smarter (in the spring and summer) to carry with you clothes for cooler weather, working with the assumption that if the ... View the Post