Weekly Timeless Wardrobe Archives - Page 9 of 12

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 35: short-sleeved print or patterned top

March 2, 2020

Ah, sitting here in Florida with the sun streaming into my mom's kitchen is the PERFECT time to think about a pretty new top...

Stripes, flowers, tiny little sailboats or lady bugs... They're all cheerful and bring some fun to a disciplined and well-planned wardrobe!

To get started, let's look back at our 6 silk scarves around which we are building wardrobes, and see what tops might be lovely with each of them:

The following six outfits are a gradual evolution from week to week... this week I'm adding sweatshirts to each outfit. I find that I will wear a sweatshirt a LOT if it's clean and close at hand. If you live in a warm climate, keeping 1 in the back seat of the car for shopping or dining might ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 34: short-sleeved neutral shirt

February 24, 2020

I thought that shirts like this would be EVERYWHERE by now... Silly me!

But after I thought for a minute about the overall plan, I realized that any lightweight shirt in which one can roll their sleeves is what we really want. This shirt covers the back of your neck when it gets too sunny, protects you from vicious air conditioning, and covers anything that you'd like to keep under wraps! (these shirt can make great swimsuit coverups...)

First up, remember our 6 scarves? There are, of course, nice summery shirts that are perfect with these scarves:

A shirt like this is perfect is you work in 1 of those "no shirts above the elbow" environments (I promise you, they exist!), but you want to go ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 33: dark neutral lightweight cardigan

February 17, 2020

I always find it a real milestone into warmer weather when I swap out wool or cashmere sweaters for something in silk, cotton or linen! It's the baby steps that add up to a change of season...

As usual, I want to share with you what I have in mind when I'm choosing these sweaters. I know that some of you really DON'T like sweaters that are just open in the front, so you can of course substitute a buttoned sweater in your wardrobe!

Before I show you some outfits, I thought I'd visit the 6 scarves that are part of our growing "One Outfit per Month" series, along with the cardigan that seems to be best suited for that scarf. (wait 'til we get to accent colors!!!!!)

First up - my favorite black and ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 32: dark neutral lightweight pants

February 7, 2020

They're regular long pants, but they're NOT denim, nor corduroy, nor velvet - they're a lovely seasonless (and often no-iron!) cotton pants. The perfect thing to wear on all but the most steamy, or shivery, days...

It's good to remember how versatile these can be; having more than 1 pair wouldn't be a silly extravagance if you wore them a lot!

I kept some of the accessories from last week, and the cardigan... Imagine if you had last week's and this week's clothes (and probably the week before) in black and white, or any of the evolving "color stories" in this series. Options make getting dressed (and thus life) easier...

Of COURSE you can wear hot pink espadrilles with a flower on them! ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 31: Cropped Pants or Capris

February 3, 2020

Oh, this really feels like preparing for warm weather! That said, with boots and tights, these pants could be worn most of the year...

I like these pants because I feel a LOT more modest in them than I do in shorts. I also feel that I'm appropriate for a wider range of places and activities than I might be in something above my knees; you might feel differently! As with all garments, you have to know what you find most comfortable (both physically and mentally/emotionally) and fully honor your preferences.

The example outfits that follow are gradually changed from last week's outfits, which in turn evolved from the outfits of the week before that. My goal is to show how gradually adding carefully-chosen ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 30: An Accent or Print Short-sleeved Tee

January 27, 2020

I don't know how your winter is going, but I suspect that many of us are ready for a wardrobe accent!

I love me a good floral print, and I'm not a particularly "girly" kind of woman. But I think that flowers are always pretty, and always a welcome sight. For a woman with a wardrobe with a grey core, who's looking for warm accent colors, this first tee shirt is spot on!

This hardest, but most important, thing to remember when looking at print tee shirts is to hold fast to your core wardrobe colors. So many tee shirts are pretty and appealing, but won't go with anything you own. Unless you plan to frame your new tee shirt and hang it on the wall, avoid incompatible colors...

This first outfit is pretty ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 29: A Light Neutral Tee shirt

January 20, 2020

If black tee shirts are the backbone of my winter wardrobe, then white ones are the warm-weather backbone!

Seriously, for those days when you just need clarity, simplicity, and a feeling of freshness, nothing's better than starting with a white shirt of your desired style, coupled with your dark neutral pants or jeans, and a snazzy cardigan to brighten up the world...

These tee shirts can be real life-savers when you travel; after I'm through packing, I will often tuck another tee or 2 into my bag...

There's frankly not a lot of variety in the world of light neutrals - grey, white, ivory, and pale pink are the colors that come to my mind. Maybe camel, if your lightest neutral isn't exactly ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 28: A Dark Neutral Tee shirt

January 13, 2020

Ah, now we're going to look at a garment that I consider to be the unsung hero of about half of my outfits...

This is that shirt for the days when you want to wear the snazzy sweater or jacket!

If you're working around a scarf as your unifying theme, her are some suggestions of what this color might be...

The following outfits are going to look VERY familiar - they all include the same pants as the outfits from last Monday, as well as at least some of the accessories. But for these outfits, I've shifted to location of the accent color from the tee shirt to the cardigan. It's a sort of "theme and variations" way to get dressed...

Never discount the fun of having an accent-color ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 27: An Accent Tee shirt

January 6, 2020

It's time for some brightness!

Especially if you have a scarf that you want to wear more often, this is a good time of year to start looking for tee shirts in a variety of colors; they seem to have arrived in a lot of places the first week of the year!

For example...

A fast way to inject some new possibilities into your core wardrobe of neutrals in an accent tee shirt along with 1 or 2 other accessories in that same color. Earrings are obvious, scarves are my favorite, and don't forget the possibilities of accent socks!

Speaking of socks - be alert when you're buying them; there are all SORTS of weird things out there right now:

mesh socks, which in my day would have been considered "knee-high ... View the Post

What Does a Winter Capsule Wardrobe Look Like? 3 Ideas, Starting with Art!

December 30, 2019

Ah, before we dive in, I have a few observations that I want to share:

Winter clothes are flying out of store - it wasn't at all easy to find these garments for these wardrobes! If you need something, start looking now. L.L.Bean still has a full assortment of sweaters and warm pants, but most other places are running out of sizes/colors even as I type. NOW I remember why I started this project before the season had even really started! By the same token, if you need specific things for warmer weather, be prepared to start looking by the end of January. It's weird, but it's the way the retail world seems to want us to shop... Lots of garments are currently sporting a "puffy sleeve" thing - especially at the ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 26: A Warm Dress

December 23, 2019

The last garment for winter! I know that I plan these wardrobes to be forward-thinking; the best clothes are always in the stores long before a normal person could wear them (unless they're traveling). But this seems early, even to me!

Next Monday I'm going to show a couple of "what a Weekly Timeless Wardrobe might look like" options, and then in January we will plunge back in and start getting our wardrobes ready for the advent of Spring...

Scarf update - my Aspinal of London scarf arrived, and I'm VERY pleased with the quality. These scarves cost literally 36% of what an Hermes scarf costs! Yes, there are differences. Yes, they're a bit thinner, and then hems aren't hand-stitched. BUT STILL... It's a beautiful ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 25: A Warm Mid-Calf Skirt

December 16, 2019

Yes, it was just about zero degrees Fahrenheit, and I had a job interview. Back in the day when YOU WORE A SKIRT - preferably a suit - to an interview.

Mid-calf wool for the win! The skirt was lined, the tights were wool, the socks were silk, the boots were too dressy to be really warm, but they worked...

So now, for me, it's a staple. On normal winter days, this can be a fun way to be dressy without being "dressy." If you can follow that bit of linguistic gymnastics!

Everybody is going to go about this in their own way, as should always be the case when assembling your wardrobe! But patience is the biggest thing that I can counsel; these skirts aren't easy to find. Unless, of course, you can work with a ... View the Post