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Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #11 – neutral lightweight 2nd layer

May 24, 2021

This is timely - this morning when I put on my long linen tank top, and linen cropped pants, I realized that I was going to need a cardigan if I was going to go out for lunch, or to the grocery store, or almost anyplace indoors! Air conditioning around Chicago woke up yesterday, with a VENGANCE...

If the heroine wearing this lovely linen dress hangs around the garden party 'til after the sun sets, she may want her beige cardigan too!

This isn't a category where you have to stock up, so you can go ahead and buy a couple of really NICE cardigans... I have 2 - a black and a white - and they serve me well!

What if you're still occasionally required to look like an adult - at least from the waist up?

Your ... View the Post

Start with a Cardigan: Birdcage Print Cardigan from Talbots

Ma7 21, 2021

Just in the last few days, 3 people have contacted me about cardigans from Talbots! These kinds of "confluences of interest" happen often - I find them fascinating...

But the cardigans are pretty amazing too! Some lovely prints...

excuse the image quality - I had to do some scary digital magic to get this together!

I love this sweater - some of us were debating the merits of using bright colors for accents, and this cardigan sets us up for a summer of black, white and brights:

Let's assume for working purposes that our heroine already has her black and white Common Wardrobe all sorted out...

Now, she decides that she's going to base her accent colors for this year on her new cardigan!

First up, ... View the Post

Start with Swimwear: Paradise Aqua Space Dye Tankini from Lands’ End

April 7, 2021 This Year, She's Going to Swim...

She read last year on her favorite blog that these swimsuits were so flattering that any self-consciousness about being seen in public in swimwear will change forever! So true, and after a missed year at the beach house with her extended family, she's not going to skip anything...

This is her planned palette:

Most relatives will drive to their MASSIVE shared beach house, but she's going to take the train... Experience has taught her that she really needs a cardigan; those trains can be FREEZING in warmer weather!

She's thrilled to see a long-sleeved swim tee! And a swim skirt - now she has 4 swimwear pieces, which gives her 4 combinations... She could even be tempted by ... View the Post

Start with Art: Untitled 20191210 by Takayuki Yoshida

January 25, 2021

She's dreaming of warmer weather, and she's determined to at least FEEL like spring is coming...

She starts here:

And this is her color palette - her base is going to be navy and white, but she's really interested in these accent colors!

Before she tears off into this project with blinding enthusiasm, she pauses to consider if it's realistic:

their home is always warm in the winter, she's not going to be going out much at all - wearing white pants won't be a problem because she can skip them if she needs to go out into the slush, and she can layer her chosen garments if she needs to warm up.

She starts by choosing her navy and white Common Wardrobe - the base upon which she will ... View the Post

Start with Art: A Garde-Robe du Mois based on Moonlight, Winter by Rockwell Kent

January 20, 2021

She's decided to plan a Garde-Robe du Mois, based on the clever and very useful suggestion made by Fiona Ferris in her recent book, The Chic Closet. (Fiona is VERY chic...)

She knew she wanted navy and white - they're her favorites! But beyond that, she was stumped! Something warm? Something with a bit of an organic feel, and a sense of radiance, to combat the darkness of deep mid-winter?

She scrolled through all sorts of museum websites, and art websites, and WHAP! - there it was:

The colors were obvious, if not something that was usual for her:

This is going to be a process that takes a few iterations, so she starts slowly - a small, 9-piece Common Wardrobe that includes all of her favorites - a ... View the Post

Start with Art: Man in a Café by Juan Gris

January 13, 2021

She was looking for a foolproof color palette; one day, she ran into this gentleman:

She is thrilled - she can see black, white, shades of grey, camel, khaki, brown, and denim blue. These colors ALL go together...

She starts small, with packing for a long weekend. She knows that her denim shirt is perfect under a black sweater and cords...

Now, how can this be foolproof?

v-neck sweaters are perfect over button-front shirts, OR on their own; button front shirts are easy 1st layers or they can be worn without something over them. Now that she has found Petite sizes that have short enough sleeves, and ample enough torsos, she's all set! and black bottoms and shoes...

So this is what she ... View the Post

Start with Art: Honor by Elizaveta Egiazaryan

December 28, 2020

She's quite smitten with this painting:

So when they decided, at their family meeting, that they MUST turn down the thermostat and try to cut back their energy consumption, she wondered if the warmth of her flower painting could be translated into real warmth...

Her normal wardrobe is very strictly black and white, and has been that way for quite a while. She really doesn't need a lot of clothing these days, so she's been managing pretty well with just this:

She went back to her current favorite painting, and studied it carefully. Black and white are certainly here, but what makes the painting feel warm to her is the more cream and beige tones. And the luscious pink helps too!

So she created a color ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Butterfly Wings from Echo

September 7 2020 Pollinators! Yes, people who study pollinators have conferences - EVERYBODY who studies almost anything has a conference most years! And she's going to this one...

Her travel capsule wardrobe is going to be based on this beauty:

Most of her colleagues study bees - and rightly so - but her specialty is butterflies! And so she's going to wear her scarf often, building a wardrobe around these colors:

For no good reason she can think of, she's going to wear her white jeans to get there. She's not worried... She's more thrilled with her new blazer, and matching earrings:

Weather reports for her destination are all OVER the place, so she's going to take her black shirt with her, so she can wear it under ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Revisiting the Beach Roadtrip Scarf by Kate Spade New York

August 24, 2020

You wanted more of this scarf, and who could blame us? It's just THAT pretty...

And it appears to be back in stock at a few places that were sold out last week, when we first looked at this lovely thing...

Specifically, you wanted some brighter colors! So I kept a couple of the white garments that I used before, but I bumped up the accent colors quite a few notches:

As always, when I'm at a loss as to what the best shoe color might be, I choose a metallic accent! Of course, it would be possible to have blue shoes, and rose shoes etc. etc.... I'm not telling you that this is a bad idea!

Coral and white feels perfect for late summer, doesn't it?

And I personally love both of these shades of blue; ... View the Post

I Love It, But Will I Wear It? Beach Roadtrip Silk Scarf by Kate Spade New York

August 19, 2020

One of you has had a moment of serious whappage, and asked for my opinion...

This is the scarf in question - it's SO pretty that I might be tempted to buy it and figure out how to wear it later; THAT'S not the cleverest way to shop!

Oh my HEART - this scarf screams summer in so many different ways....

Our heroine has been invited to go along with her spouse to a fishing cabin that's walking distance to a very charming little town. While she won't be doing any fishing, she WILL be sitting outdoors reading, walking into town to browse about, and probably doing a bit of walking on the trail around the lake. Sounds lovely, doesn't it?

My approach for her is to assemble 3 little clusters, based on the ... View the Post

Strategically Expanding a Capsule Wardrobe: Start with Art – Blue Major Elle by Marijah Bac Cam

July 22, 2020

Well THAT went well... Yesterday, our heroine was caught off guard when she realized that she needed to pack and leave for the weekend in 5 minutes!

She managed, using this painting as her color inspiration; she felt that the swirling and diffusion in this painting accurately represented the state of her brain:

The photographer and crew from the famous food magazine LOVED her sister-in-law's B&B. They loved it SO MUCH that they're going to come back in a few days, and film a half-hour video about them for their You Tube channel.

Panic ensues. And our heroine and her partner and enlisted to come stay at the B&B for... well, for the foreseeable future!

They're both leaving everything that they packed ... View the Post

Start with Art: Blue Major Elle by Marijah Bac Cam

July 20, 2020

She's been confused for a few weeks; nothing medical, or really an issue, but the inside of her head often feels like this:

Although it feels like chaos, at least it has a nice tidy color palette, which could easily be all neutrals!

Are You Ready to Go? "What???? Go where???" She just got off of a conference call with the rest of her department, when her sweetheart came by their guest bedroom to check on her...

"You forgot? We're going to my sister's B&B for the weekend." They're going to be photographing for a magazine spread all day Saturday, and they were invited to help, and to eat all of the food...

"We need to leave in about 5 minutes if we're going to beat the traffic...."

Dear oh dear... ... View the Post