Archives for October 2014

October 2014 - Page 2 of 3

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe + A Common Capsule Wardrobe: One Special Outfit

October 17, 2014

This is a plan for someone who has the Common Capsule Wardrobe in grey and off-white, with a camel sweater, because they're moving away from wearing black. (more on this idea another day). This someone has a special occasion coming up, and they want to expend their ENTIRE French 5-Piece Wardrobe on a new dress and some accessories:

These purchases aren't "single-use", of course; the scarf and jewelry could be worn with almost any of the outfits in The Common Wardrobe. The pumps will go nicely with our grey skirt (or with the jeans, if that's a preference). And the dress is simple enough that it can be worn more casually, after the special occasion. Dark tights and flats or ankle ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe + A Common Capsule Wardrobe: Avoiding Boredom

October 16, 2014 Let's say you have A Common Capsule Wardrobe in black and grey, and you're happy with it. But you're concerned that you're going to get bored by wearing so many neutrals all of the time... So one day you're browsing through the internet, and you find a whole LOT of lovely, bright, good-quality blouses, shirts and sweaters at a good price. You might have always wanted to try these brands, but always been reluctant to purchase their items at the full retail price. (the site is The Outnet - lots of pretties at prices that still aren't small, but which are a ton better than the original retail!). After a bit of thought, you choose to, for one season, indulge your affection for every bright ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe + A Common Capsule Wardrobe: Shades of blue, with Black and Grey

October 15, 2014 We looked at using a variety of shades of pink as an accent in a capsule wardrobe (post here), and it was something that everybody either seemed to love or hate. So I'm going to see what response is to shades of blue - that very particular muted blue that you see in blue onyx. A note about this scarf - it's from Hermes, and it's in their usual amazingly lustrous silk twill, but it isn't a square - it's a very long rectangle with mitered ends. Per square inch of silk, these scarves are MUCH less expensive than the squares, and for many people, they're a lot more versatile style. If you've never been interested in a square scarf, then these (called Maxi Twilly), are at least worth ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe + A Common Capsule Wardrobe: blue, green, and grey

October 14, 2014 The French 5-Piece Wardrobe is a great way to experiment with new color palettes, but it can also be used as a way to build upon The Common Capsule Wardrobe in your chosen neutrals. Adding in a neutral item or two can really expand the versatility of your core garments, while a new color or two keeps the boredom at bay. Let's see what these five items do for A Common Capsule Wardrobe:

Remember, this is A Common Wardrobe, in navy and grey, with which we're working:

First off, the beautiful green sweater actually would give you eight new possibilities (I only show four) - it can be worn with any of your pants, jeans, or skirt, and it can be worn with ... View the Post

From the Agnes B. Winter 2014 catalog…

I love these little snippets of wisdom that one finds without trying...

These are two facing pages in their little Winter 2014 booklet. Not only does she make great clothes, but she also understands our drive to personal expression, uniqueness, and an image that's all our own. ... View the Post

How to Be a Parisian (or not…)

October 11, 2014

I grabbed this book when I was in the middle of a mad shopping spree at Athaeneum bookstore in Amsterdam. If you read Dutch, French or English, this is a wonderful place to wile away the time and the Euros. Of course, I'm a little weird about bookstores now that Chicago has very few in the entire city... Frankly, either this book is terrible, or it is so tongue-in-cheek that the authors must have disfigured themselves writing it. It makes Parisian women (and yes, it's ONLY about women) into a caricature of reckless sexual conduct, adolescent romantic sensibilities, and an overall casual disregard for their work, significant others, and family members. That said, there were, as always, some ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe + A Common Capsule Wardrobe: Shades of Pink, Navy and Grey

October 10, 2014 While the French 5-Piece Capsule Wardrobe is great for experimenting with new colors or trendy items, it can also be an opportunity to build your wardrobe around your favorite colors. If you like pink - all shades of pink - then indulge in a combination of beautiful items for the long-term and a few more spontaneously fun things for a season or two.

There are lots of possibilities here, from bright and cheery ensembles to more subtle and low-key ones.

Just a reminder that this is A Common Capsule Wardrobe upon which we are building.

love,

Janice ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe + A Common Capsule Wardrobe: Burgundy, Teal, Navy and Grey

October 9, 2014 Very popular colors - I often get requests for capsule wardrobes in these! And this year, this wine color is quite popular and readily available - if it's a color that you love, this is a good season to pick up a piece or two. This is an long-term sweater, a blouse that should last you a couple of seasons at least, and a cardigan that you can count on for a few years. Most scarves hold up well and can be counted on for the long term. But I think the stand-out item here is the great wool shopping bag - how clever is it to make a wool bag? I can just imagine how nice this feels...

In order to give you a fuller view of just how useful these few items can be, ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Meets A Common Capsule Wardrobe: navy, grey, electric blue, bright purple

October 8, 2014

There's a lot of talk in books and on the internet about the "French 5-Piece Wardrobe", which is a misnomer if there ever was one! The wardrobe isn't really five pieces; the concept is that you have a core of basic, neutral garments, and you then add FIVE pieces per season. I'm sure some people define a season as every 3 months, but it would certainly also make sense to just do this every 6 months. Whatever makes you happy, right?

But when I read descriptions about the "core" of neutral garments, I kept thinking that it sounded a lot like The Common Wardrobe... And that this philosophy might be an option for helping us build our wardrobes of basics, while at the same time introducing accent colors, long-term ... View the Post

Denim Shirts in Paris – 12 Versions

October 7, 2014 As I mentioned Saturday, I saw lots of denim and chambray shirts in Paris - they were worn in an amazing variety of ways... Most simple is wearing these shirts with black. This can be a nice relaxed "out for the afternoon" outfits with pants and flats, or much dressier, with a pretty skirt and clutch bag. Sleeves can be rolled, collar stood up in back - anything that personalizes your shirt and makes you happy!

A collarless chambray shirt can be a nice counterpoint to a dressy skirt. Where something lacy or floral might go WAAAAY over the top, these outfits look like you mean to be dressy, but you're not getting carried away. (and look - NO ... View the Post

A Truism for So Many Things…

love, Janice ... View the Post

What They’re Wearing in Paris – Autumn 2014

October 4, 2014

Well, the weather was so nice in Paris when we were there, at least part of the time the women were still wearing summer clothes! There's absolutely nothing more evocative than a pair of espadrilles that are about to fall apart, on the last warm days of the season... But this is what I saw:

Hosiery. Yes, it's back. Sheer black, sheer nude, opaque black of COURSE, and some interesting black on black stripes and checks. For those of us with less than perfect legs, this is good news. That dark red color that is named for every kind of wine imaginable. I'm NOT going to get into the semantics of what color is which, but I saw a lot of leather goods in shades from a very purple-ish burgundy to a much more ... View the Post