July 3, 2023
I love Rothko – it’s hard to understand unless you’ve seen one in person… Even then, his paintings may not be your thing!
Black, Ochre Red Over Red by Mark Rothko
“Skills Enhancement”
A fancy way to say “we’re sending you to the main office to take a cram course in new software.”
The main office is somewhat dressy… So our heroine is planning…
She’s starting here:
She knows that starting with a suit – even if she wears the blazer separate from the pants – is always smart for business travel:
square scarf – Echo; earrings – Kate Spade New York; black blazer – J.Crew; bracelet – Talbots; striped tee shirt – Bode; weekender bag – Alex Mill; crossbody purse – Hobo; beige pants – Alex Mill; flats – Birdies
She’s pretty sure that she’s okay wearing a cardigan, if she wears a skirt with it…
Onyx & pearl earrings – Vintouch Italy; obsidian and pearl necklace – Farra; scarf – Echo; leather-wrapped earrings – Talbots; ivory sweater – J.Crew; floral blouse – Lands’ End; red cardigan – Lands’ End; black pants – J.Crew; red sweater – Lands’ End; black pleated skirt – J.Crew; black loafers – Trotters; red crystal clutch – Nina; slingbacks – Vaneli
She’s hopeful that tales of the formality of the headquarters have been exaggerated, but she’s not taking any chances! If your company is willing to spend money on training you, the least you can do is dress appropriately…
She’s planning to hang around in the city for an extra day – there’s always something on at one of the art galleries that makes it worthwhile to extend her visit…
Will she have enough clothes, and enough outfit options? She runs through it in her mind:
I have friends who work in very formal environments – do you know of any place that still requires suits and/or skirts?
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, we were inspired by beautiful painting of Weeping Cherry & Bullfinch by Hokusai.
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I completely agree with you comment about Mark Rothko’s art. Art history was one of my favorite subjects in college and am a forever art and museum lover, but more in traditional and classical styles. However, I once had the opportunity to view a private modern art collection (that’s a story where I need an adult beverage or two to reveal) and Rothko’s art up close and personal is breathtaking. Also love your posts. Happy 4th!
I’ve only recently added a couple of navy/red patterned garments to my.wardrobe after years of finding red quite harsh. I used to wear it a lot up to my mid thirties. Then I went off it, preferring the deeper shades of burgundy/wine.
This is stunning. I don’t know of anyplace (here in WA state) where people still wear suits. Maybe in court proceedings….banks….Everything seems so very casual here. Not to complain, I was expecting 6 paintings 12 months this morning? Also, have you ended the WOW postings? I realize they were one more thing on your plate, for thank you for posting them as long as you did. I personally found them very useful. Thanks for sharing your genius with us!
The Six Paintings will be here starting Wednesday – I’m just super-slow working with a brace on my wrist! And I didn’t do a WoW for a bit because they’re very uninteresting – in the summer, I wear black linen, black and white tic-weave linen, black & grey checked linen… you get the vibe! I will get back to it when my wrist is better!
love,
Janice
Awesome. Hope the wrist is better soon. I’ve been crocheting gnomes and color coordinated Christmas trees for gifts and try to pace myself so I don’t end up w/same! Thank you!!!!!
I’m in WA too and agree that suits are seldom seen. My brother works in a bank and wears suits. I’m not sure that the women have to though. I should ask him.
I love the flashback. I think greys and blues will dominate my next winter.
Rothko is phenomenal. Thank you for that.
I’m really excited that you paired the b/w scarf with the striped tee. You’ve often shown us that intentional pattern mixing can look chic and I try it quite often. (Mostly with great results!)
The Vaneli sling backs and Trotters loafers are two of my favorite styles. Timeless!
The Menagerie scarf is absolutely delightful – whimsical! I prefer it in the blue colourway but all three options are great.
I really like Rothko’s paintings. I would love to see one in person.
On my screen the colors in this painting read a warm, almost rusty red, a dark, warm charcoal and what I would call mushroom. I’d love to see this painting revisited with more casual clothing in this warm palette.
My friend who recently passed away was a lawyer and frequently in court. The judges required women lawyers to wear skirts! Wonder if that is still true. Have you watched So Help Me Todd on CBS? The lead female character, a lawyer, wears the most gorgeous clothes!! Oh, the silk suits and blouses are to die for. The show can be interesting and her clothes are heavenly.
I agree. Loved her clothes on that show.
Thank you for showcasing a capsule containing red. I love this grouping!
Love this! The outfits are lovely indeed, I like all of them. I would shift the palette a bit to bone, charcoal gray, and maroon to accommodate my light warm coloring and gray hair.
I think most business environments are much more casual nowadays, this level of formality in most places of business hasn’t been common for about about 15 years. I live in the Atlanta metro area.
I can’t think of anywhere where skirts or suits are required for females. That’s so gender biased and patriarchal I wouldn’t work at such a place, who would? Even female lawyers wear dress trousers as part of a suit. Our parliamentary pages have the option of knee length skirt or pants but most opt for pants. Private female schools no longer insist on skirt only uniforms providing walking shorts or slacks as an option. Interestingly the managers in my workplace who got their knickers in a not about ‘appropriate’ were older women who inadvertently allowed the whole ‘boys wear pants girls wear skirts/dresses’ trop to perpetuate.
In this era of fighting for acceptance of gender neutrality the whole idea of ‘a woman can only be appropriate by wearing a skirt’ is silly and sadly outdated. Most human rights legislature addresses these freedoms. Dress codes now address health & safety in the workplace not ‘appropriateness’.
If the heroine has been TOLD to wear these garments ( huge eye roll) or thinks that a woman can only be appropriately dressed for business in a skirt, poor girl needs to look for a new job and step into the twenty first century.
Yup and males can and do wear skirts, glitter, pink and sequins and females can and do wear tuxedos, jeans, work boots….and skirts!
It’s a choice now, not a rule.
I hope it was just a choice for our heroine.
I work on a government town and no one wears suits anymore except lawyers and even they have updated it and no longer wear ties on a daily basis and wear loud socks and shirts. I have not seen a woman in a skirt suit in YEARS. Having said that, this wardrobe is beautiful.
Late comment, but still needed to say I wouldn’t go anywhere without a pair of sneakers! In Spain this is also true, even more causal I’d say. Most people go to work in sneakers. Suits are not common, but I’ve seen more of them since last winter paired with sneakers, combat boots or chunky loafers.
I think formal suit office wear is definitely dying out. Here in BC 🇨🇦 I don’t see suits on men or women anymore- banks, lawyers or anywhere else. I haven’t been in a courtroom to see but the lawyers discussing a case for the news are in their black silk robes over top what appears to be dressy casual.
Do you ever wear an item in Camel color? I think that it is perfect with many colors? Would a camel sweater or jacket fit into black and white wardrobes. What other colors are compatible? Helene
I’m in London (UK) and my place of work still has a formal front of house dress code that requires a black suit – which is a fashion straightjacket for a lover of colour like myself but it’s the costume I wear to do my job, I don’t allow it to define me. In the same office, until relatively recently, dresses/skirts and heeled shoes were a requirement for women but, thankfully, we have now done away with that.
Tate Modern has a room full of Rothkos for anyone seeking the full immersive experience.