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Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Imaginary shopping: extravagantly red

I'm not shopping these days, but I do LOOK at lots of things (as you well know!).  So I decided to do some imaginary shopping; sort of walking through the process of what I would do IF I were in a shopping phase of my life.     First up:  What basics do I already have in my wardrobe that I wear a lot, and want to use as a basis for leveraging my purchases?  

Now, what do I want?  I've chosen to splurge on red this shopping spree.  It's an on-trend bright color, but it's dead classic, and never goes out of style.  It's a color I wear well, I already have a couple of beautiful scarves with a lot of red in them, and it mixes brilliantly with black.  

So... a cardigan and a tee shirt (sort ... View the Post

The shopping fast: Month 7

It's amazing how much wearing a uniform for work can change the way you look at getting dressed in the morning!  Most days, by biggest concern is getting my tie tied correctly, or seeing if I can finagle being allowed to wear a hairnet rather than a visor or ball cap.  Oddly enough, the hairnet is cooler, and doesn't interfere with my peripheral vision as much.  Plus, I sell more because I get that little old lady sympathy purchase...  

But I did dress up a few times - working the pink and grey combo a lot this month...

 

On St. Patrick's Day, in honor of the last day of the 6 Nations Rugby tournament, I wore my completely out of character "This is NOT Soccer" tee shirt...

 

  And late in ... View the Post

My Wardrobe: season-less essentials

These next eight garments are things that I wear almost the entire year - maybe not the dog days of August, or the teeth of a bitter blizzard (not that I really remember what that's like), but month in, month out, these clothes never go into storage.And the accessories - same thing.  They are my standby goodies, over and over again.

Both striped tops - L.L.Bean bot tee shirts - Lands' End both dresses - Lands' End both pair of pants - Eddie Bauer

Scarves - Hermes Flacons, and Jardins des Metamorphoses earrings - Cartier Stone necklace - J. Jill pearls - Etsy gold penny loafers - Cole Haan cross-body bag - Osgoode Marley Tote bag - Tumi

If I were to pack the eight solid black garments I chose for my last wardrobe ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing for 1 night in New York with no suitcase

Yes, I'll be in New York for about 24 hours - I'm flying in, having dinner, sleeping (I hope), and then running literally TWO errands the next morning, and flying back.  Because I'm going to be racing about with very little "down time", I've determined that I don't want to pack more than I'm prepared to carry with me at all times...To the rescue - the Tumi bag that I've been carrying for almost 10 years as a brief case.  It was originally a diaper bag, but it's logged more miles as an all-purpose bag than I can remember.  I've determined that I'm NOT going to wear my usual argyle cardigan - switching from black & white stripes to grey with Hermes will give me at least a different feeling on the 2nd day. Clothing, pajamas, ... View the Post

The shopping fast: Month 6

This month saw a couple of dinners out with friends, and a couple of job interviews which weren't overwhelmingly dressy - the bakery job didn't really require full-on suiting, thank heavens.  So I found that for another month, I had everything that I needed or wanted, and was comfortable, appropriate, and (I hope) attractive for all activities.

I visit catalogchoice.org every week to continue to pare down my temptations which arrive in the mail.  Fewer catalogs = fewer dead trees, less recycling, and less time thumbing through them looking at things I don't need.

 

 

 

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DIY: What’s Hot, What’s Not

Every season, you can find lists upon lists of "what's hot, and what's not", which basically means "what you should go out and purchase, and what you should throw away".  I refuse to let someone else tell me what I need, like, or prefer, so I decided to put together my own personal "What's Hot" list.  The results follow....Sometime soon, when I catch up on sleep, I'll do a "What's NOT" list too.

 

  ... View the Post

My Wardrobe: the curating begins!

So I've decided that I'm going to curate my wardrobe in groupings of eight, in keeping with the plan that seems to be working so well for other wardrobes that I build!  And first up, the highly utilitarian work wardrobe for the winter holidays.  Cotton turtlenecks from Lands' End, sweatshirts from Lands' End and Adidas, and jeans from NYDJ (stretch jeans are ESSENTIAL if climbing is in your job description).  I didn't need a lot of clothes, because I'd have to come home most evenings and immediately launder whatever I'd been wearing...   To me, this wardrobe, while not particularly dressy or innovative, is elegant, if you define elegance as simple, timeless, and appropriate to the situation at ... View the Post

Wardrobe: Warm Colors, Casual Styles

Lots of people really liked my post about a "Chanel-inspired" wardrobe based on 2 suits, but expressed concern because they found it too dressy.  So I've tried here to work from the same general idea - four garment groupings in 2 neutral shades, and then build around them for a 24-piece wardrobe.  This is primarily a very casual wardrobe, with only one skirt, and one dressy blouse.  There are some flowers, and some lace, and the obligatory Spring 2012 pair of "fashion color" pants...  Enjoy!

Sweater – Topshop, pants – Rabens Saloner, tee shirt – Shakuhachi, denim pants – A.L.C., olive sweater – Cacharel, olive pants – Closed,  blouse – Bruuns Bazaar, shorts – Denim & Supply  

Beige Cardigan – ... View the Post

The shopping fast: Month 5

This month's activities included some of my heavy-lifting job (jeans, cotton turtlenecks, sweatshirts), a few lunches and dinners out with friends, and one cocktail party.  I already owned everything I needed for all of these activities, so I never felt that "need" to buy new clothes.  And I stay out of the way of temptation in stores, I've cut out all catalogs; overall, I felt only the occasional twinge of admiration for something.  Admiration does not HAVE to equal desire; more on that idea tomorrow.

 

 

 

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Wardrobe: Navy, Gray, BRIGHTS!!! and lots of outfits

Probably the final iteration of this wardrobe, unless I get another suggestion - leave a comment if you've got another variation you'd like to see!

Cardigan – Patagonia, tee shirt – Velvet, gray sweater – Isabel Marant, shirt- Joseph Peter, pants – Patagonia, wool pants – Michael Kors, gray jeans – Levi’s Made & Crafted, suede skirt – Vanessa Bruno  

Blazer – Joseph, cardigan – L.K. Bennett, blouse – The Row, v-neck sweater – Closed, tee shirt – Michael Stars, pants, skirt and dress – Joseph  

Cardigan  – Marni,  flowered blouse – John Lewis, shirt – Hugo, sweater – Very Eickhoff, seersucker pants – Stella McCartney, blue tee - Oasis,  green sweater - Chloe, purple blouse – True ... View the Post

Wardrobe: navy, gray, pastels, and lots of outfits!

Someone commented that when they looked at the camel and navy wardrobe here, they just imagined that the camel garments were gray... From your lips to my ears: here's the same wardrobe, generally, but more casual, and substituting gray for camel.  I think my next adventure might be to switch out the accent colors, eh?

Cardigan – Patagonia, tee shirt – Velvet, gray sweater – Isabel Marant, shirt- Joseph Peter, pants – Patagonia, wool pants – Michael Kors, gray jeans – Levi’s Made & Crafted, suede skirt – Vanessa Bruno  

Blazer – Joseph, cardigan – L.K. Bennett, blouse – The Row, v-neck sweater – Closed, tee shirt – Michael Stars, pants, skirt and dress – Joseph  

Cardigan  – ... View the Post