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Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Part 1 November 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

November 2, 2022

What do you do when you've got a real longing for some new clothes?

What about when you're in a store, and you decide you're going to shop?

That's what I'm thinking about this month... Our first heroine wanders into Boden, and wander out with some interesting things!

Remember, her inspiration is this scarf:

Our heroine was pretty disciplined - she stayed with green and pink accents for her purchases... The sweater, though...

When she brings her new things home (or when they are delivered, more likely!), she can see that the pants blend in perfectly, her green silk top goes with a lot of things, and the paisley sweater... is lovely.

Maybe this is the time for her to remember that her entire ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Vintage Blooms scarf by Lost Pattern NYC

October 17, 2022

 

Sometimes, It's Hard to Decide...  

It's a trip that they make a few times a year - pick a city, pick a concert, or an art exhibit, or something interesting, and take a long weekend vacation!

But she's struggling to pack - she knows that black is the neutral, but what is her accent color?

A close look at her current favorite scarf suggests to her that maybe she could pack more than 1 accent color. Maybe more than 2. Maybe MORE THAN THREE?

Honestly, why not? Once she has her core of black items, adding just 1 gold sweater isn't a crime - so long as she has a plan for how to accessorize...

Her dream is always that some event will force them to stay for longer than 5 ... View the Post

Part 3 October 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

October 7, 2022

I've been thinking... This year's wardrobes are lovely, but I'm finding that a lot of them share the same accent colors - green and various shades of orchid or pink...

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

But what if we base next year's 6 wardrobes on SIX PAINTINGS that we've visited before. JUST the paintings and the color palettes - not the original story lines...

That way, before we start getting too far into the wardrobes, we will know what our best accent colors are going to be! I will propose six that I particularly like in the next few days, so we can get an idea of how this might work.

But for now - let's look at the Chrysanthemum scarf!

At this point, the orchid color in this wardrobe has ... View the Post

Part 2 October 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

October 5, 2022

What do you do if your planned color scheme needs to be edited in some way?

EDIT. Move on!

You'll notice that Ruskin's Meadow color scheme has received a necessary update...

Mauve was the request; mauve is the addition! It's interesting to see how 3 tops and a pair of earrings bring a very different look to this wardrobe:

It's all much brighter now, which means that our heroine has new options for getting dressed:

Her accessories are still mostly green, but she's now got those lovely pink earrings...

How might this heroine wear her new mauve tops?

Now on to what might be my favorite scarf, and is growing to be my favorite wardrobe!

I wore this scarf last week; it's ... View the Post

Part 1 October 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

October 3, 2022

Time to augment these wardrobes in some intelligent way!

If you build a wardrobe outfit by outfit, you'll eventually reach a point where you have plenty of "bottoms" but not really enough tops. Since tops are more memorable, usually need to be laundered more often, and provide more of the visual interest of your outfits, it's normal for most of us to have 2 tops (at least) for each bottom. Additionally, I like to have almost as many 2nd layers as I have bottoms.

Your feeling about this can certainly be different! But for our heroines, this is a month to stock up on things for above the waist:

I debated with myself about including the Fair Isle sweater here. It doesn't really perfectly match the brown of our ... View the Post

Part 3 September 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

September 9, 2022

Let's get back to these last 2 scarves - I'm quite chuffed about the pretty things that I've found...

This heroine has a LOT of navy in her wardrobe; maybe we should look for something lighter to serve as a neutral for her...

yes, one of these scarves is so expensive it might give you chest pains... but it's lovely, and even a cat may look at a king!

These new clothes blend into her wardrobe perfectly, but the overall feeling of things is (of course) a bit lighter and softer:

Her accessories are lovely; her scarf drawer is enviable!

All of her new purchases bring options to her each morning - she has a wonderful new way to get dressed up with her ivory skirt and pumps!

Last, this ... View the Post

Part 2 September 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

September 5, 2022

Has anyone else read Ruskin's "Stones of Venice?" I own a gorgeous antique set of the FULL THREE VOLUME painfully thorough books... They're beautifully bound in green leather, with gold tooling, and they're sized to be packed when going on the Grand Tour of Europe.

I confess that I took 1 volume with me a couple of times I traveled to Venice; it was amazing how little has changed there since Ruskin's time...

So, odd as he was, I'm a fan!

This heroine saw her friend's new blue garments, and was inspired to go back to her "source scarf" and take another look. Sure enough, she could easily incorporate more blue into her wardrobe, too!

And she found earrings that included "her" blue and olive green - those ... View the Post

Part 1 September 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

September 2, 2022

I've realized that I really like doing these six wardrobes in 3 separate blog posts; I can spend a lot more time looking for things that strike my fancy!

Let's start with Chrysanthemums!

As our heroine looked at her existing wardrobe, and began to think of what she might want for autumn, she began to feel that the soft, dusty, smoky blue in her wardrobe palette is underrepresented in her wardrobe. 

So she set out to find some pretty things!

She's not fanatic that all of these things match - she will be happy to wear the blue with all of the charcoal grey that she already owns...

I'd say she did pretty well!

Her new clothes blend in well with her existing wardrobe; if someone is really ... View the Post

Version 4 – Start with a Scarf: The Ghan by Un Poco

August 15, 2022

This is a slightly more extravagant wardrobe than the first 3... and note that if you're looking for accent colors, Benetton always carries plenty! Back to School - Not in THIS Climate!

She has the longest drive - they live a long way south of the University...

Her friends are always eager to see how she's managing a "real" autumn - she struggles with socks, and when they first met, she hadn't brought any sweaters with her!

She's charming, feminine, and great fun!

 

She confesses that she loves "having" to buy corduroy pants, and a cashmere sweater! If there's a temporary cold spell where she lives, she at least has something to wear for a day or two...

Four VERY different ... View the Post

Version 3 – Start with a Scarf: The Ghan by Un Poco

August 12, 2022 Back to School - She Wishes!!!

She's the youngest of the 4, both in age and in spirit! When she pulled off her cap, they were delighted to see purple highlights in her hair!

editor's note: if you're considering adding bright highlights to your hair, I STRONGLY recommend Punky Color. I've been using all of the various shades of purple (plum, purple, violet) for years, and it's easy, mess-less, and actually good for your hair! If you're going to have white hair that takes dye well, you might as well take advantage of it...

She's still raising younger children, so she rarely dresses up. She loves this trip each year, because she can pull out her "good" pants, and her floral blouse! 

Of course her ... View the Post

Version 2 – Start with a Scarf: The Ghan by Un Poco

August 10, 2022 Back to School, Indeed!

That morning, when they got up to load the car, it was pouring...

Happily, anybody old enough to go to college is old enough to pack their many worldly good into the car!

But she wore boots, just in case...

She was even able to delegate the driving to her eager (and very competent) child! The boots came in handy when they stopped for coffee...

She's really looking forward to seeing her friends again - meeting up with them and having a lot of fun takes away the sting of leaving a dearly loved child far away...

She heard that a really nice restaurant opened during the summer, so she took the initiative to make reservations for the 4 of them. They always go out for nice ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: The Ghan by Un Poco

August 8, 2022 College-Bound!

Not her! Oh, not anymore... but it's time to move offspring into the dorm - a long-ish drive, and some time sitting by the car while the young people move their stuff!

The best part of this trip is meeting up with the parents of other students; she's become close friends with 3 other women who make the same trip every year!

They've gotten in the habit of staying over in town for a couple of days whenever they make this trip - they are close to their kids if they find that something has been forgotten! (that's their excuse...)

But it also gives the 4 of them time to catch up, do a bit of sightseeing (college towns always have cool museums, fun coffee shops, and lots of interesting ... View the Post