navy Archives - Page 20 of 41

What Accent Colors go with Navy and Beige? I Have a Dozen Ideas!

May 29, 2017

Today's a holiday, but you get a blog post because I write these in advance - this was completely last Friday! So what I'm saying is that TOMORROW, you're just going to get something short and sweet about my holiday weekend...

It's probably the most common question I get in my email: How can I pick accent colors?

Couple that with lots of questions about the most versatile neutral colors, and I've got a lot to think about!

But I've got to admit that more and more, I'm beginning to suspect that starting with navy and beige in a wardrobe might be the very easiest choice. Only if you have the luxury of starting from scratch, of course, or if you're in a position to build a capsule wardrobe of over a ... View the Post

What Were They Wearing in New York? Chic Sightings of Accent Colors

May 11, 2017

They were wearing black! Of course they were wearing black.... Or navy blue...So what I really noticed were the accent colors - the bright pops of cheer that stood out in the crowd.

Please note that I did NOT ever go up to someone and ask them what brand of whatever they were wearing; I took careful notes, and have attempted to recreate their overall look as well as I can with the tool at hand. I suspect that if you were to see the same women, in the same outfits, you would recognize them immediately!

This first woman was business lunching; she was able to stride down the street with her male companions without any problems, thanks to her flat shoes. (I'm going to share with you tomorrow my observations about ... View the Post

What to Pack for Paris? How About Beige and Navy, with Teal and Brown Accents?

May 8, 2017

Remember our heroine who was taking photographs in Paris for a long weekend? Well, she's realized (we're shocked) that she needs to go back for a much longer trip!

She's staying with her original color scheme and her original travel outfit. She's maybe going to see the same people when she checks into her hotel, but it's possible that wearing the same outfit might help them recognize her; that would be good!

After a few days of consideration, she's decided to take everything with her that she took for her first trip. She really wants to dress up a bit more on this trip (because her sweetie is going with her!), but most of these pieces are going to work just as well for that!

Since Sweetie is coming ... View the Post

How to Pack for a Long Weekend (in Paris?)? Start with Art: Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay

April 28, 2017

This painting just makes me sigh...

This color scheme has so many possibilities:

More and more I find that brown leather is a great way to incorporate brown into almost any outfit!

I know that it's possible to just go to Paris for a long weekend (I've done it - it was insane...) if you live much closer than those of us in North America. Imagine that our heroine is going there, to spend some time outdoors - maybe photographing sculptures in the many parks?

I'm assuming that for this trip, she's going to neither climb nor crawl, so she doesn't have to wear absolutely hard-core work clothes. Just a handful (+1) of nice things that will look attractive during the day and not leave her ... View the Post

How to Choose Accessories for Travel: a Navy and Grey Travel Capsule Wardrobe

April 19, 2017

While I continue to wrestle with a brown Neutral Building Blocks capsule wardrobe, I'm still playing around with the navy and grey wardrobe from earlier this week. I realized that (a) we should take a look at some accessories, and (b) these neutral pieces translate into a WONDERFUL travel wardrobe!Imagine this outfit for almost any kind of travel - in a car, on a train, or flying. Sleeves that can be rolled, a cardigan than can be cuddled, a watch for punctuality, sunglasses for the coolness factor, and a small touch of jewelry to bring focus to your face. Some comfortable shoes and a good tote bag, and you're all set!

The first outfits that I was going to address for accessories were those that used the ... View the Post

How to Choose Navy and Grey Neutral Building Blocks for a Capsule Wardrobe

April 17, 2017

This all comes together so well - navy and grey is a really seasonless, timeless color combination! I love a good classic capsule wardrobe...

Let's start with a reminder of where we're headed, more or less. Last week we covered choosing neutral building blocks using this template:

First up is building from the "bottoms" up! This might feel counter-intuitive, but I still think that it's the most logical approach; these are the pieces that for many are hardest to find/fit, and they're the pieces that get worn most often. These really need to be great!

And I'm going to put it on record again - if you find something (pants, tee shirts, whatever) that you really love and know that you will wear a lot, buy ... View the Post

Nine MUST HAVE Items for Spring and Summer 2017!!!

April 6, 2017

She didn't just write that, did she?

Of course not - there is NO SUCH THING as a must-have item. I know for a fact that there are women in the world who never wear shoes. You could wear nothing but linen dresses all summer. You could wear shorts and tee shirts every day (how ARE things in Georgia?). You could mix it up between capris, skirts, and shorts...

Nobody can tell you that you MUST buy something. As soon as they try to start that kind of talk, you know that they don't have your best interests at heart, and you can take what they say with the appropriate bajillion grains of salt...

But there are useful ways to approach getting dressed for warm weather, and I think one worth considering is to make ... View the Post

Part 2 of How to Gradually Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Start with a Scarf – Ted Baker Enchantment

March 24, 2017

After you've had a bit of time to process the outfits for the first 4 months of the year, which I shared here yesterday, it's time to dive back in and finish the year, and the capsule wardrobe!

First, let's refresh our memories about what our "inspiration scarf" is, and the color palette that I drew from the scarf:

She Loves Flowers And she has no better explanation for it than that - she loves them. Yes, she grew up helping her parents in their flower beds - that certainly played some role in her affections...

So when she didn't have to go to the office any longer, she decided to remake her wardrobe in the image of her dreams and desires - flowers, and flowery colors!

Sometimes, when the weather ... View the Post

How to Gradually Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Start with a Scarf – Ted Baker Enchantment

March 23, 2017

A normal blogger would wait until this was finished to share it with you, but nobody's ever accused me of being normal!

I freely admit that I think Ted Baker London makes some of the most beautiful scarves, and that they are an excellent starting point for a well-chosen capsule wardrobe. This just screams spring to me... and if you're a pansy person (or you love someone who is) this would be a beautiful "no reason at all" gift:

This beautiful floral is available in such wide-ranging lovelies as ballet flats, bags, 2 swimsuits, a cover-up, cropped trousers and a matching sleeveless top, a blouse, a tee shirt, a couple of skirts, a couple of dresses and of course other shapes and sizes of scarves. I have to admit ... View the Post

How to add Accent Colors to a Navy, Grey and Camel capsule wardrobe

March 10, 2017

Monday I added accessories to a very neutral navy, grey, camel and white; many of you requested in the comments that I go back to my reader's original accent colors of wine and forest green to see how they might look with this capsule wardrobe.

Changing up accent colors is one of the easiest ways to take a very classic capsule wardrobe and put your personal spin on things, so I was positively eager to get to this post!

First up, let's update the color palette that we were using, and update the style notes for a bit of guidance:

I didn't want to really disrupt the core of our original Four by Four wardrobe, so I chose the very easiest way to experiment with accent colors - tee shirts!

I just pulled ... View the Post

Accessories for an “All-Neutral” Capsule Wardrobe in Navy, Grey, Camel and White

March 6, 2017

Oh, how I love accessories! As much as it's important, and nice, to have good-quality, classic clothes, it's really the accessories that make outfits distinctively yours...

Let's briefly flash back to look at the scarf from which we're working; note that I've slightly changed the color wheel to reflect the focus that I'm going to put on brown leather accessories! I do these in PowerPoint, which gives you nearly infinite flexibility in the number of colors you include, the proportion of each color, the nuanced shade of each color, as well as the ability to change the borders (both color and width) at will. I don't think that PowerPoint was ever intended for this purpose, but it works really well!

The lace ... View the Post

Building an All-Neutral Wardrobe, based on a Scarf: Navy, Grey, Camel and White

March 3, 2017

People often ask me where I get ideas for blog posts - they should see my inbox! I get the most wonderful emails, with the most interesting questions... (if it takes me days and DAYS to respond, please don't be offended or insulted - I love to hear from you!)

Many of us start to feel like we need to migrate away from black, and toward grey or navy. One among you found a lovely scarf - vintage! - to help focus this wardrobe shift, and asked me for a few ideas. What fun!

First off - buying "luxury" scarves second-hand is just plain smart. You can find them on Ebay (which can be dicey, because they don't do anything to police against fakes), Tradesy, 1st Dibs, Etsy, The RealReal, Malleries, and ... View the Post