warm weather Archives - Page 27 of 37

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: The Sea Seen from the Heights of Dieppe by Eugene Delacroix

February 26, 2016 What a gorgeous image, especially in late February, in Chicago!

As much as this painting suggests a wardrobe with a LOT of gold and yellow, I'm going to have to work around that, because those clothes are NOT easy to find! So I'm going to take advantage of the boat in the foreground, the beige clouds and distant sea, and the glimpses of blue sky. Some mother-of-pearl jewelry would be logical, no?

They Met on The Internet Not that it's unusual to date someone you met online - much the contrary. Many of her nieces and nephews dated people they met on the internet, and she even knew of a couple of very successful marriages that started there. It's just not something she ever ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Fumee d’Ambre Gris by Sargent

February 6, 2016 I spotted this painting ages ago...

The exotic nature of the painting suggests a travel wardrobe, but I didn't want to go too far overboard into a desert vacation, so I went back to our "range of events" trips that so many of us are taking this spring and summer.

And I decided to break a few rules, too! Iconoclast Generally, she's described as the eccentric aunt, but she prefers to think of herself as an iconoclast. An original. A truly self-defined woman...

And she doesn't wear high heels! Nor stockings...

But she can get dressed up as well as anyone, even if it's going to be one of those long weekends with everything from formal dinners to weddings to a picnic. She can pull ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting with Art – The Third Buddhist Kesa

January 26, 2016

Despite the beautiful delicacy of the fabric, the colors felt like a warm-weather travel adventure to me!

Astonishing Everyone... "Are you sure you want to go there? It's not very dressy..."

Yes, I understand that, she thinks.

"You're going to have to carry your own luggage..."

Yes, I've been working out on the treadmill for months, carrying hand weights.

"I mean, you'll be able to get laundry done, and the water's usually safe to drink, but this just isn't your style. There are no Michelin starred restaurants, or 5 star hotels..."

Does everyone really believe that I'm that high maintenance?

"Your ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: The Common Shelduck

January 14, 2016 When I say there's inspiration everywhere, I'm really NOT exaggerating! My recent trip to Florida is a good example - I saw these lovely guys all over the place (although they are not, in fact, indigenous to the area I was visiting - someone imported them! Someone with good taste....)

The color scheme was so easy!

Come Sit on the Veranda... Well, the invitation was a little bit more fleshed-out than that! It went more like "we have great internet down here, so you can work during the day, and then in the evenings, we'll sit on the veranda with a bottle or two of wine, and watch the birds on the lake until it gets dark. Then after dinner, we can come back out and look at ... View the Post

How to Pack Light for the Beach

December 12, 2015 Another question that seems to come up frequently is about how to pack for a beach vacation. I love thinking about this "problem", and I've got a few older posts that you can review that might help you with your very "sad" dilemma. love, Janice

Start with Art: The Boating Party, by Mary Cassatt - a traditional navy and white summer wardrobe, with accents of turquoise and yellow. No swimsuits - I've been told that many of you have no need of swimwear.

Warm Weather Travel in Brown and Pink - Step by Step - how to decide how much to pack, including options for both a long weekend and a week-long vacation. Dressing modestly in a hot climate: travel in blue and tan - some ... View the Post

How to Plan a Warm-Weather Capsule Wardrobe

It's the most popular question I am asked right now - what to plan for warm weather? It seems that a fair number of people are moving south, either for the winter, or for good!

I've thought about this a lot, and have written about it in the past. Maybe these posts will be helpful?

love, Janice

A Summer Common Wardrobe - a fairly casual warm-weather wardrobe in black and white

Start with a Bird: Northern Flicker - a Four by Four Wardrobe in black, beige, orange and green, including shorts and sleeveless tops.

Start with Art: "A Mysterious Hand Leads to Another Path" by Jan Toorop - a collection of warm-weather outfits in soft, powdery colors, that make a great-looking wardrobe when assembled together.

Four ... View the Post

Whatever’s Clean 13 FOR MEN – cool colors, warm weather

I particularly love working with menswear - their garments are so beautifully designed and well made that it's gratifying to put things together into outfits...For a warm weather trip, I'm still including a blazer, cardigan and sweatshirt. Maybe it's from living in Chicago, but I find that there's no destination that doesn't, from time to time, require something warm. At a minimum, the blazer or cardigan comes in handy when you want to be more "dressed" for some activities. And if you never actually need your sweatshirt, that's good!

This starts out like any other menswear wardrobe, but the blazer is cotton, and unstructured (i.e. unlined, but still meticulously finished inside.) The trousers are linen, and the tie is a lighter-weight ... View the Post

A Warm Summer Common Capsule Wardrobe + Water and Pearls

August 17, 2015

Yes, I promised a capsule wardrobe with turquoise and purple. I should have taken a look at what's still available for summer before I spoke so precipitously! It's kind of an unwritten policy when I'm working on The Vivienne Files that, if I show a piece of clothing, it should be available in the full range of sizes in which it was originally sold. It's no fun for anybody to go look at something that really appeals, and see that it's only available in one really peculiar size. (my favorite being 00...) So, plan B. Stick with blue, but go softer, and to a more seasonless offering of denim and chambray. That gives us another nice "seaside" feeling, and is beautiful when paired with the mother-of-pearl jewelry that ... View the Post

A Warm Summer Common Capsule Wardrobe + Seaglass

August 15, 2015

We have looked at soft and warm accents, and strong warm accents, so now it's time to look at some really beautiful soft, cool touches in a capsule wardrobe. Someone mentioned sea glass as an inspiration, and so I chose a bracelet to anchor my color wanderings, and then went looking!

(I have the very BEST job....)

When I was looking about, I kept in mind that I wanted organic, soft items, that held onto the warmth of the summer sand (I mean the beige neutral clothes...)

As with all accent color purchases, the colors don't have to be perfect matches. If you keep wandering around the same general color(s), you will find that things either match or blend pretty well without a lot of effort. This is supposed to be ... View the Post

Twin Posts: What to Pack to Visit Chicago, Labor Day Weekend

This is really exciting for me; as a blogger who seems to be under most radars, to have been asked by Susan of Une Femme d'un Certain Age to partner up for a pair of posts was unexpected, and pretty thrilling.

Susan's blog was one of the very first I ever followed, and her style and élan are qualities that I try to emulate in my own way. I can't encourage you enough to get to know her and appreciate the charm and elegance that she brings to her life, and in turn, to ours!

So today, Susan's going to give us some guidance about what to pack if we're off on a voyage to her neighborhood, in Los Angeles. I'm really eager to see what she has to say, since that's an area to which I've only traveled ONCE, and I'm sure I have a few things I ... View the Post

Olive, Wine and Gold join A Common Capsule Wardrobe, warm tones for summer

August 13, 2015

In honor of the season (in the Northern Hemisphere) of the ripening of all delicious things, I give you the "Tuscan inspired" capsule wardrobe of wine, olives, and gold that was sent to me a few days ago.This reader really goes all out - she finds photographs and paintings that illustrate the colors that she likes, and builds me a little collage that is my reference material. I need to find out if she'd mind if I showed the illustrations here - they're really beautifully chosen and constructed, and serve as a glorious inspiration to my already hyper-drive imagination!

And yes, I did choose that bracelet because it reminded me of olive trees and grape vines...

For easy reference, here are the original ... View the Post

A Warm Summer Common Capsule Wardrobe, with Seashell Accents

August 12, 2015

Yesterday's comments were wonderful - thanks so much for sharing all of your ideas!

Someone suggested soft pink and peach in a capsule wardrobe, and described it as feeling like being inside a seashell... HOW was I going to resist that idea?

Let's add these accents, shall we?

As a reminder, this was the original Common Wardrobe:

And these were the original accessories. These are still going to be used, and be important!

I think I've paired each new top with each of the bottoms from the original neutral wardrobe. I confess that I was getting a little bit muddled, but you get the general idea - there's everything here from very casual to "nice evening out" dressy. The long cardigan will really ... View the Post