April 5, 2019
Remember our friend the flooding expert? She’s very busy…
This is her art inspiration, and her wardrobe color palette:
She’s traveling to the Midwest United States, to help determine where bulldozing or other changes in the immediate terrain might help clear standing water from some flood areas. She’s studied the maps, and thinks that she knows what her suggestions will be. If her map analysis is correct, she only expects to be on-site for a day or two…
Cardigan – Caslon; tank – Lands’ End; earrings – Sarote Lochotinunt; scarf – Treasure & Bond; jeans – Lands’ End; waterproof backpack – Rains; navy sneakers – Ecco; suitcase – Tumi
Still, she’s not sure if she’s going to have to actually go out and SEE any of the locations in question. (there’s one that spot she really feels that she should visit in order to be exact about her plan for drainage…)
So she’s going to have shorts, and water shoes, and cropped pants. And yes, a dress! Because they’re all going out to dinner – she’s taking the people who have been at the flood locations for the last 2 weeks. They deserve something nice!
I love looking for garments and accessories that reflect a feeling of fluidity…
earrings – Marie June; chicory blue tee – Lands’ End; necklace – Alexis Bittar; white tee – Lands’ End; bracelet – Robert Lee Morris; striped cardigan – Lou & Grey; scarf – Nordstrom; shorts – Lands’ End; navy dress – Société Anonyme; navy cropped pants – J.Crew; rain shoes – Lands’ End; ballet flats – Taryn Rose; chicory blue sandals – Lands’ End; bag – Jill Haber
If she has to wear the same clothes for 2 days, she’s not going to care all that much; there are far more important things at hand than a huge wardrobe! And if she’s asked to be on the local news – a definite possibility – she has a couple of cardigans that she can pull on over whatever else she’s wearing, to give an air of authority to what she says…
Of course, the television people might want to go out into the flooded areas with her! She might be on TV in her shorts… oh my…
Just for fun, I combined her first wardrobe with this one, to see how her closet at home might look:
Wouldn’t it be interesting to have a job that always took you to the site of weather disasters? Maybe… maybe not!
love,
Janice
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These blues and grays are so nice together.
Going to a disaster zone is so touchy. Underdress and you risk being seen as disrespectful. Overdress and you risk being seen as out of touch.
It’s a beautiful capsule, but highly impractical. The flood workers here are wearing hazmat-style gear because of all the contamination. Because ice that caused this is still thawing and temps are still in the 40s-50s, long pants are necessary. Folks here, especially the hardworking flood relief people, wouldn’t wear a dress for dinner unless it was a special event. Jeans with a light, casual jacket, impervious rubber boots, and a nice pair of chinos would be more practical. Love the travel outfit, though.
Ahhh, reality! You’re certainly right about what would be more practical – thanks for bringing us back to the reality of what’s happening in so many places right now.
hugs,
Janice
Thank you for sharing. Wishing you and your neighbors the best. Glad you can get some escapism, too.
Lovely blues Janice! I love that Treasure and Bond scarf, but it just looks too big! Or maybe I am too short to pull it off. I have a big red white and blue, stripe scarf that is big like that and it just seems too “fluffy”.
I have one of those chicory blue/periwinkle tops and LOVE it. It has been my second favorite LE color next to the new Hedge green. Since I am a navy neutrals person I really am loving the summery green and periwinkle blues!
LE just added some nice Linen Blend items in Hedge green,,,, had to order those to try. The have a sleeveless dress and some crops and pants in wide leg. which just says summer to me.
May be impractical for a flood site, but perfect for almost anything else this spring!
Another voice of reason… Give her a hard hat, safety toe boots, and a clip board with logbook or iPad for her field notes. She’ll travel to the Governor’s office to brief his or her team late that afternoon to help write the disaster declaration. Then, she can wear that chicory raincoat to dinner!
I remember seeing what the mayor of San Juan wore after the Hurricane Maria. She was well dressed but practical. She wore a baseball hat, a jacket, a long sleeve shirt, chinos, and sneakers or boots.
Love everything about this. Especially the colors!!!
Love the wardrobe and the art and would wear most of these items in a heartbeat! Love that our heroine is going to the flood zone to lend her expertise!
As a sustainability pro and natural area restorationist (near a river that floods), I agree with previous comments re the practicality of the clothing. Also, and don’t don’t mean to sound critical, the flooded terrain is so flat that mostly a bulldozer wouldn’t help. To my eyes, it seems it will be more a matter of waiting for the land to thaw out and the water to figure out where it wants to go.
Suggestions for long term solutions are many, varied, and contentious owing to the many viewpoints represented. And that’s where our heroine’s expertise could really come in useful. :)
What a pretty and varied wardrobe! With all those soft shades of blue, I’d wear every piece with great pleasure!
We are fortunate in that, while we do get some annual spring flooding where I live, it doesn’t cause any serious problems. Water shoes are very handy when doing chores around the lake!
She’s probably coming to the place I live, where June rains bring 200-year floods on a regular basis. Remediation from the last big one is ongoing, years later. Bulldozers are busy creating dry dams right now for upstream water diversion. All this takes time, and involves all levels of government. She’ll need somewhat dressier clothes for meeting with bureaucrats, civic politicians and engineers. The task is complex with a major project like this, and the work could on for nearly a decade. There will be site visits. The frost is coming out of the ground, so she’ll need rubber boots for the gumbo mud.There will be dining at her choice of fine restaurants. It’s a city, after all, so appropriate attire is needed. I would advise that she bring a warm coat, hat and gloves, as the temperatures are frosty in the morning. Spring winds are frigid. There’s no.need for shorts in April, but sunglasses and sunblock for her face are a great idea.
The wardrobe is lovely however, as a civil engineer in Las Vegas I would never wear shorts to an onsite visit or meeting; even in the middle of summer here. I would probably not plan to wear a dress either due to wind. No shorts, no capris, no sleeveless tops.
Agree that the scenario is impractical, but I love the capsule. It’s really nice to see flat practical shoes included. Minus the shorts I could easily wear this as a biz-cas late shifter. Professional enough that if the boss or local dignitaries pop in after hours I’m ok, but casual enough I don’t feel weird wearing it during the morning errands and chores.