Capsule Wardrobe Plans Archives

Another Five New Pantone Colors (Red and Brown!), and Five “French Five-Piece” Wardrobes”

April 11, 2025

Why yes, all five of these are some sort of red or brown. I don't know what Pantone's got in mind here, but I think anybody with some red or brown in their wardrobe is going to be very "on trend." As if we ever cared about trends - those are for people who don't know their own style!

Some of these colors are lovely; I'm eager to know which of these you like:

I'm quite smitten with brown these days - is this just finally embracing having brown eyes?

Chili Oil seems to be like a color that will look good any time of year...

And I clearly see this color more suiting autumn rather than summer, but what do you think?

This color is wonderful....

What's your favorite, if any? I think I'm ... View the Post

Five New Pantone Colors, and Five “French Five-Piece” Wardrobes”

April 9, 2025

Pantone has graciously shared with us their color choices for the upcoming Autumn and Winter, taken from what they saw at the London Fashion Week. There are also colors from the New York week - I will look at them all...

There are a couple of reasons that I always like to visit these colors:

We all want to at least consider new accent colors from time to time, and this gives us a good opportunity to visualize what a new color might look like in a range of items - shoes, bag, earrings etc. For all of us who know our accent colors, there's often a color in these lists that very close to what we've already chosen. These posts give us a chance to see some new items in our favorite colors!

So I'm showing you five ... View the Post

Want A Different Way to Pack? Start With Sandals – Ellen Backstrap Sandals by Keen

March 14, 2025

Sometimes, you're inspired by something that might not speak to many people. That's fine - you're one of a kind, and your inspiration will be unique!

How about these?

I didn't find all of these colors readily available right now in summer clothing, but it's always good to know colors to keep in mind...

Our heroine's dashing off for a quick weekend somewhere casual - and the weather promises to be unusually warm for March! It can happen - yesterday was shirtsleeves weather in Chicago...

So she's driving off like this:

It's very likely that they will go out for dinner - somewhere nice, but not stuffy or prim... Otherwise, she expects to walk and look out over the water, or to sit, and look out over ... View the Post

Adding Accessories – Start With Art – Cow’s Skull: Red, White and Blue by Georgia O’Keeffe

February 26, 2025

Of course, our heroine from Monday is going to need some accessories for her work wardrobe - shoes, at a bare minimum! And it's certain that she's going to be carrying a pretty big bag, since she has to carry her laptop, her mouse & mousepad, her power cords, and anything else she needs at her desk each day.

Here's the art which inspires her:

Here's the wardrobe with which we left our friend:

As much as our heroine would have loved to fill this part of her wardrobe with small sharp things, she (for the most part!) has stuck to normal, acceptable choices. If anybody asks about the skull earrings and necklace, she plans to launch into a lengthy Stoic philosophy speech about Memento Mori...

Her ... View the Post

Need a “Back in the Office” Wardrobe? Start With Art – Cow’s Skull by Georgia O’Keeffe

February 24, 2025

It's the most common question I've received since the first of the year - you've got to be back in the office FIVE DAYS A WEEK. And you don't have a clue what to wear, this time...

A specific question was from someone going back into a relatively dressy office, except for the "every two weeks Casual Friday." Our heroine doesn't want a big wardrobe for cool weather, since she only expects another 10 to 12 weeks during which she will need such things, so we're targeting a 4x4 Wardrobe.

She also has all kinds of plans to quit her current job, in favor of a place where she can continue to work from home. Much up in the air for this heroine; let's make her wardrobe simple and foolproof!

This was the color palette ... View the Post

Ready to Pretend That It’s Spring? The Marion Bartoli scarf by Echo

February 21, 2025

If you find any errors send me a note or leave a comment; I was on the phone with the Internal Revenue Service today for 90 minutes, and I'm not fully recovered!

With weather like we've been having recently - at least in my neighborhood - it's not a bad idea to pretend that it's already spring. Just don't go outdoors in a sundress, and you should be fine...

The colors in this scarf help get me in that frame of mind:

I didn't put a neutral color in our color wheel, because I suspect that almost any neutral would be lovely with these:

Our heroine and her sweetheart are going somewhere warm for a long weekend. Well, it should be warm. Unless it's not. But they're going to go, no matter what!

You ... View the Post

Love Classic Prettiness? Start With a Scarf – The Wendy Hollender scarf

February 17, 2025

So if you didn't get all of the pretty things you wanted for Valentine's Day, take a look at this beauty:

I chose pink and green as accent colors, but you wouldn't want to miss the plum, or the orange...

Our heroine is off for a long weekend with someone she loves. They have some dressy things planned, as well as a day or two of just wandering and being together. No big, complicated, stressful agenda for our heroine!

So her dressiness level is all over the place, from classic chinos to a lace-trimmed top! Pretty jewelry and a lovely bag are coming along too!

The green top feels a bit like an outlier, as does the striped tee shirt, but our heroine really wants to avoid overdoing the ... View the Post

Accessories for a Summer Wardrobe – Floral Strawberry Watercolor Swimsuit by L.L.Bean x Summersalt

February 12, 2025

Remember this lovely swimsuit from two weeks ago? I left us hanging, with lots of lovely clothes but NO accessories!

Our heroine's very pretty, feminine and summery wardrobe was this:

I'm going to take a handful of outfits and accessorize them - I think that should get us everything we need!

For warm weather, don't ever forget sunglasses and a good hat - you don't want to be one of us who have to have wee chunks chopped out of our scalp in our mature years...

Just for fun, I've been thinking that this heroine might be heading out for a Valentine's Day vacation; this might inspire a few of her choices!

When she gathers up all of her accessories, this is the absolutely lovely ... View the Post

Pink, Orange and White for Summer? Start With a Swimsuit – Floral Strawberry Watercolor Suit by L.L.Bean x Summersalt

January 31, 2025

I don't believe I've ever before been SO happy to see January end...

You asked for another swimsuit, and I hasten to satisfy. This was a specific request, and I can see why!

Honestly, isn't "Summersalt" the best brand name for swimwear?

My first instinct - I think it would be so for a lot of us - was bright colors. But then when I really spent some time with the image of the swimsuit, I found myself more and more drawn to the soft pink, and the lighter shades of orange..

But let's start with white - always right for hot weather and being near the water:

Next I knew we had to find some soft pink. While the cardigan might seem sort of dressy, I thought that (1) it was worth showing to you, because ... View the Post

Looking for Summer Accessories? Start With a 4×4 Summer Wardrobe

January 29, 2025

Of course you remember our swimming heroine from Monday - a new swimsuit spawned a full 4x4 summer wardrobe plan!

This is her new suit:

And this is the 16-piece capsule wardrobe she chose to go with her swimsuit - you have to start somewhere!

So that our heroine can be sure to get all of the accessories that she needs, she's going to take a handful of normal outfits from her wardrobe, and accessorize each of them. The most important thing might be to include all of your "bottoms" when you do this, so that you don't show up somewhere with a lovely outfit and the wrong shoes. Worse things happen every day, but if you can avoid this...

Let's start with the essentials - a hat and sunglasses!

For ... View the Post

Need a Summer Overhaul? Start with Swimwear – Ditsy Lilies by Lands’ End

January 27, 2025

She swims EVERY DAY. Everybody who lives in her very large building has seen her in the elevators, in her swimsuit and robe. She's long past the point of feeling self-conscious!

But she's realizing that she needs new swimwear. And new summer clothes. The whole exercising, eating right, avoiding junk food project seems to have worked!

In the summer, she swims every day, outdoors. Hours by the pool. Swim wear is what she's wearing most often, so she realizes that she might want to start there to re-build a summer wardrobe:

She's pretty methodical about this - her first choice is a dress that will certainly be considered a "cover-up" in her life! A navy tank and shorts seem logical, with a striped shirt to wear ... View the Post

Love Black and White with Pink and Purple? Lucinda by Sofia Bonati

January 22, 2025

She's a specialist in flowers. As they appear in medieval manuscripts, as decorations for big fancy capital letters, or inserted as a border, or a section break. Many people don't realize that the choice of flower in each location is important, and has meaning!

She's a rare person...

She's recently written a guide to flowers found in documents from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. It's not really a technical book - more of a guide for the layman who finds these sorts of things fascinating! Her publisher has invited her to New York for a couple of days for some final proofing of the cover design and the "blurbs" that will be on the back cover. Dinner will be an event, every night she's ... View the Post