blue Archives

Love the Primary Colors? Start with a Scarf – the Rufai Zakari Silk Scarf by Echo

June 24, 2024

Okay, I think this is spectacular:

And I know the woman who wears this scarf - she embraces the primary colors, with black and white, and lives with a wardrobe that's truly foolproof. This is her palette:

Packing is simple for her, as is getting dressed every day - reach into closet (in dark, with eyes closed - why not?) and get dressed...

But she does want to be sure that she doesn't pack four dresses (well, maybe...) or four pairs of shorts! So she start with complete outfits. More and more I'm thinking that packing outfits that are part of the same family is a great way to assemble a travel capsule wardrobe - do you agree?

An outfit that can span moderate to warm temps is sensible:

Something ... View the Post

Want a Simple Blue & White Summer Wardrobe? Start with Art – Mirage by Max Ernst

June 14, 2024

She loves the painting. She REALLY loves the colors - she believes that the top section is brown, and who are we to disagree?

This is an important thing for us all to remember - just because our painting of inspiration and motivation includes (in this case) four colors doesn't mean that every wardrobe we assemble MUST include all four colors...

So while our heroine has a "shades of pink" and brown wardrobe in her dreams for the upcoming cool weather, right now, she's liking blue and white...

She's found a dress she loves, as well as a handbag that's gorgeous...

She already had lots of white clothes, so this year, she found new sneakers with blue trim, as well as a bracelet, and a new band for her ... View the Post

Part 1 – Do You Need Accents? Or Neutrals? 6 Paintings, 12 Months April 2024

April 3, 2024

Back again with one of my favorite posts of each month! Our heroines diverge this month on what they want/need in their wardrobes, which is to be expected. Many of us can share the same core of classic garments, but we're still going to assemble our very personal wardrobes in a specific order...

Our first heroine feels like she needs to add some navy and white to her wardrobe. As we enter April, with 16 garments, only 37.5% of her clothes are her accent color - that might not be a troubling ration for many of us. But she's ready for more neutrals!

Let's pause for just a second to enjoy her favorite painting:

This is her wardrobe at the end of March; yes, there's certainly quite a lot of bright blue ... View the Post

Like Green and Blue Together? Start with Art – Portrait of Woman in Green Hat by Picasso

March 6, 2024

She's been thinking about this painting a lot...

Lots of possibilities - from the most basic black and white, with tan accessories, to immersion in green and blue...

If you're only going to be away for a few days, and you're not going to see the same people twice, you can put together a wardrobe that might not be ideal for a longer trip...

And she would really like to see what it feels like to wear blue and green for 3 or 4 days in a row! She wears a LOT of black and white, so something colorful is a change of pace for her.

She won't be doing anything really dressy - a simple shirtdress is as dressed up as she will want to be... Mostly relaxed, casual tourist activities!

If it turns cool, she ... View the Post

Do You Love Blue? Adding Accessories to a Start with Art Wardrobe – Blue on White, White on Blue by Paolo Quaresima

January 24, 2024

You thought that I forgot! Yes, I can get pretty immersed in those Echo 100 scarves, but there's no way I was going to miss revisiting this painting:

This heroine is going to look at each of her "wardrobe clusters" one at a time, and make certain that she has the accessories that she wants for each cluster...

She's already got her shoes chosen - that's a lot of the thinking out of the way already!

First up, her warmest cluster. There are at least four outfits possible here, if she layers her navy shirt under her navy sweater... If you're summering in a place where evenings can turn cool, this could happen!

And for what it's worth, we have cool summer days in Chicago! The sellers of souvenir ... View the Post

Need a Wardrobe Plan for Summer? Start with Art – Blue on White, White on Blue by Paolo Quaresima

January 17, 2024

Since the temperature here is a whopping THREE DEGREES Fahrenheit, let's help a heroine who is planning her summer wardrobe!

We're going to try something kind of new - assembling a 4 by 4 Wardrobe by choosing four 4-piece clusters! Each cluster will give her at least 2 outfits, and all of the clusters will be able to work together. This is a good approach if she wants to shop (or closet-shop!) gradually, and if she's finding that clothes in her favorite colors are proving hard to find...

She wants navy, she wants white, and she wants accents of bright blue - maybe this painting is a good starting place:

One thing I've been assured - our heroine doesn't like white leather goods! I can understand that; ... View the Post

Six Paintings, Twelve Months: October – Arrival of the Normandy Train by Claude Monet

October 13, 2023

Happy Friday the 13th! Of course, we're all FAR too intelligent to be superstitious, right?

Today's wardrobe and heroine are tempting to me - I love the softness of the blue and green, and the range of possibilities in infinite shades of grey. These are the colors that might really flatter someone with greying hair and green or blue eyes...

Our heroine's current wardrobe is built with the assumption that she doesn't AT ALL mind blending shades of colors, be it light grey to charcoal, or the palest blue worn with a deep shade...

But this heroine is feeling like she would like some green to wear in cooler weather... She can't find green pants in a shade that fits in well, but she was able to find lovely, ... View the Post

A “Two-Neutral” Capsule Wardrobe? Start With Art – Five Women by Max Beckmann

September 25, 2023

I don't generally think of Max Beckmann for wardrobe inspiration - his paintings always feel very cluttered and busy. But this one has a special charm:

Our heroine really wants some variety in how she can dress this fall - as much as she loves black, she wants to be able to wear quite a bit of "beige/tan/oatmeal" too...

She wasn't sure that this was something that one is allowed to do (what folly!) until she saw this painting, and realized that she would LOVE these colors:

She's very organized - the first thing she wants to be certain of is that her black wardrobe core is perfect:

Next, she very carefully selects her oatmeal/camel/buttercream/twig grouping - four garments, four color names! But ... View the Post

A Cool Weather Capsule Wardrobe – Start with a Fair Isle Cardigan

September 15, 2023 RETIREMENT!!!

One of her first projects is to get EVERY SUIT out of her closet. And all but 1 pair of pumps... And donate them to Dress for Success.

She will, of course, save a nice dress and cardigan/jacket for somber events...

But now, she's buying SWEATERS!!! She could never wear sweaters to work... And a patterned sweater just piles on - she couldn't wear any patterns except the most conservative, menswear-inspired prints. If she never sees a pinstripe again, it will be too soon!

Dangly earrings... swoon...

She fell in love with the cardigan, and determined that her first 13 garments would be based on the colors in it...

If you like this shade of "Green Dune", please note that Nordstrom ... View the Post

Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Black, Beige and Blue: Start with Art – Miyajima in the Rain by Tsuchiya Koitsu

June 30, 2023

She's got to stop at the home office for a few hours, but then she's spending the weekend in the city!

Unsure of what she wanted to pack/wear, she browsed through her saved collection of paintings on her phone, and found this:

Suddenly, she's inspired!

She can wear black and blue to the office (she often feels like she's been beaten by the time she gets out of there, so black and blue is appropriate!), and then pack a few things to wear for sightseeing and dining...

She expects that it will be pretty warm, but also that she will run into some brutal air conditioning - especially in museums!

Her wardrobe covers her for business (just in case she has to go BACK TO THE OFFICE on Saturday - ... View the Post

Expanding a Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Start with Art – Woman with Folded Arms by Picasso

June 12, 2023

Oh, let's look at this some more!

When we left our heroine on Friday, she had a lovely 9-piece travel capsule wardrobe all sorted out for long weekends this summer:

Wise people learn from their successes, and when your deeply-held preferences work out well, why not continue on that path?

Since the weather is warm, our heroine realized immediately that a few white garments might be useful:

And while she wasn't wild about the idea of adding denim to her wardrobe during the warmest weather, chambray is a good option!

Prints? Maybe? I admit that our heroine was strongly drawn to a couple of striped shirtdresses, as well as a plaid camp shirt and matching skirt in shades of blue.... Frankly, she ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Shades of Blue: Start with Art – Woman with Crossed Arms by Picasso

June 9, 2023

I had to try this...

Our heroine is quite a bit cheerier than Picasso's subject!

She committed to wearing blue. It feels right to her, and that's what is most important, right?

She knows that a painting that inspires you doesn't have to be copied identically - so long as you are true to whatever initially inspired you, you may interpret that inspiration any way you want!

A long weekend seems like a perfect chance to try-out the idea of wearing all blue... She won't be around a lot of people who know her, so she doesn't expect anybody to actually notice that she's always in blue...

The night before she leaves for her wee adventure, she takes a good look at her planned travel capsule ... View the Post