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Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette – A Dab of Mustard, with 6 Neutral Colors

September 13, 2016

I'm still looking for nice pieces in rust (russet? warm red?), so I decided to skip that color for now and head directly into deep gold!What to call this color? When you're searching for things like this online, try gold, yellow, mustard, and saffron, for a start; I'm sure that there are lots of outlandish color names that I missed. Why do companies believe that calling something "burnished autumn" is going to help potential buyers find their stuff?

This isn't an easy color to wear, but it's present in so many school colors that you see it fairly often in the US in the autumn. (if you're from outside the US, please note that many people here take high school and college football - American football - very ... View the Post

The Four T’s, in Brown, and in Pine Green

October 23, 2015

After I reported to you about how women were dressing in London (see here), I kept mulling over that idea of the four garments in the same color... There's certainly no reason that they have to be black! I think we can agree than many of us don't wear black, and that there's a lot of other options available.So I replicated the same idea in brown:

Something I saw only a few times in London,but that I wanted to share, is women wearing their matching turtleneck and tights with a dress over it. While this will only work with the rarest of dresses it's worth remembering. A dress that's too bare for cooler weather, too dressy for day, or just well-suited to layering will work here. And a denim shirtdress ... View the Post

Color and Proportion – Step 2: Adding Shoes, and the Occasional Solid Scarf

April 3, 2015

For this 2nd step in my pondering about proportion, I want to introduce some shoes into the equation, as well as a solid-color scarf. I didn't find that I felt the scarf was "necessary" as often as I had expected - sometimes a pair of shoes made enough difference in the proportion of the outfit that the scarf, while fun, might be superfluous.

For these first two outfits, shoes that matched the cardigan lent enough "gravity" to the outfit that I didn't really reach for a scarf. Out fit 3 is more problematic - in screaming hot weather, white sandals might work, but white shoes made this look really "uniform", in the medical profession sense. Maybe the beige scarf and loafers would be better?

These outfits felt a lot ... View the Post

Color and Proportion – How Color Affects the Balance of an Outfit

April 2, 2015

Recently, someone wrote to me with an excellent question: she had narrowed down her wardrobe colors to black, white and beige, but wasn't sure how to combine these colors. Specifically, she was concerned about what percentage of each color could be in an outfit and still be balanced.

A question for the ages, really. There are limitless possibilities for combining simple colors. So I decided to put together the most simple outfits in those three colors, and see how the proportions felt.

For starters, I picked a plain tee shirt, jeans, and a classic cardigan in the three colors my friend mentioned. From these 9 garments, there are 27 possible 3-piece outfits, as well as an additional 9 2-piece outfits. Imagine the ... View the Post

When a White Shirt is PERFECT

Sometimes, a white shirt (tee shirt, tank top) is the ideal choice for an outfit... First and foremost, if you love the way you're dressed, then you're wearing the perfect clothes, no matter what ANYBODY else says. In hot weather, when you're wearing other light-colored garments, or when you need the brightening effects of white near your face.And you do understand that "your" white might be ecru, or cream, or ivory, or some other variations of white? Choose what's best for you. Always. Every day. Without exception. Your happiness is really the only standard by which your garments should be evaluated.

The lighter-background tee shirt is much more in keeping with the feeling of the white jeans. ... View the Post

When White Shirts Fail

June 28, 2013 White shirts are an absolute classic, right? Everybody should own one. Everybody should pull it out and wear it whenever they're in doubt about what to wear. Uhhhh - I don't quite agree. Yes, there are times and places where a white shirt is the most appropriate choice - a conservative job interview, for example. But many of us, on a day to day basis, might be better flattered to wear tops that are closer in color to our pants or skirts - if not a solid color, then a darker background. See what you think... Belovedest and I saw this woman a couple of days ago, and he asked me why she seemed so out of proportion - the woman in question is actually tall and thin. Her white ... View the Post

A Column for All Seasons: Brown

Sunglasses – Cutler & Gross, bracelet – LK Designs, sandals – Michael Antonio, tee – Awear,

brown pants – Maxmara, earrings – Simply Soles, canvas bag – Awear, espadrilles - Soludos

Brown tee – Awear, brown pants – Maxmara, pink cotton cardigan – J. Crew, pink scarf – Marc Jacobs,

ballet flats – Bloch, cardigan – Weekend by Maxmara, striped scarf – Paul Smith, penny loafers – Church’s

denim jacket – Isabel Marant, scarf – House of Fraser, boots – Nina Ricci, Brown tee – Awear,

brown pants – Maxmara, blazer – Gucci, scarf – Hermès, suede pumps – Donald J. Pliner

Jacket – Barbour, Scarf – Futabaya, loafers – Robert Zur, Brown tee – ... View the Post