Susan in Paris
At the recommendation of Charity Grace, I went to JCPenney to hit up their clearance racks today. The only thing I found was inspiration. (Inspiration - YAY!) I walked in, took one look around, and thought, “these colors would be perfect for Susan’s trip to Paris.” I grabbed a cinnabon for lunch and scampered home to scour the affiliate pictures.
Minus the heels, this picture from Bodenusa.com is a good start. While the dress has a nice classic style, and the white pants and sweater also form an appropriate ensemble, what I’m really recommending is the color scheme:
warm browns, from cream to khaki to chocolate
in combination with
warm blues, from robin’s egg blue to aqua to teal, and maybe even a cyan navy
You see, while black is possibly good advice for most, on that topic Susan and I agree: it’s not for everybody. And it’s not much for us.
The pieces:
- a classic style dress would be nice, like the one pictured or a shirtdress or whatever you like, print or solid.
- I would probably take two pairs of what Angie calls 8 hour shoes, at least one of them a full shoe as opposed to a sandal, not athletic shoes.
- although it doesn’t rain much at all in September in Paris, the trench seems a sensible coat option. Scarves and umbrellas are a personal thing (I would take neither).
In addition to the above, choose casual separates for mix and match and you can get away with packing just a few things.
The classic casual uniform template:
- skirt or trousers or dressy bermudas or nice-fitting, dark-wash jeans
- knit tops
- layering pieces, including some that can be doubled up (like a sweater worn under a blazer)
Everything pictured here is from Boden, a UK company, and also on sale.
Penneys is the only clothing store we have at all in my town, or any town within an hours drives for that matter. (It’s the teeniest, tiny Penneys you’ve ever seen in a storefront building. It’s literally about 1/50th the size of the Penneys I’ve seen at malls.) So I go in there a lot, since I have so many options and all… ha Anyway, I was admiring the chocolate browns a few weeks back. I tried some on, and they are so flattering. I ended up with a chocolate, teal, and cream striped wrap-around blouse that is adorable. I have to agree that the colors are beautiful together!
I had wondered what kind of shopping you have available. It could be worse.
Imagine my delight when I logged on this morning… here I sit in my milk chocolate A line skirt, with teal paisley sleeveless wrap top. I love shades of brown with blues, lavender, and pink.
Since we are in a record heat wave, my dark colors are pretty much retired for the month of July. Which will make me appreciate them even more next month!
Beth, that outfit sounds beautiful!
Hi Rebecca,
Imagine my delight when what you suggested is very close to what I have for the trip. I don’t know if I mentioned it, or not, but I will be in Prague for one week also and will be at Leslie Caron’s (Gigi, Father Goose) B & B in Burgandy for a weekend (www.lesliecaron-auberge.com). The weather will likely be in the low to mid-60’s. In Prague I will wear mainly dark-washed jeans with a taupe/brown tweed blazer (longish, about 30 inches long) and lightweight sweaters underneath. I won’t take athletic shoes and will take just one long dress for the ballet as they “dress” for opera/ballet. I find dresses and skirts not terribly practical when travelling since I don’t do dresses without stockings and I can never find a comfortable shoe that looks really good with a skirt (imho). We have a day or two inbetween the trip to Paris and the trip to Prague and I will actually take two kinda separate wardrobes (I am allowed two bags on the plane, after all!) so I won’t have to worry about laundry, etc. For Paris I have straight-legged pants in Bamboo (mid-brownish/khaki color), Thyme, Deep Brown (chocolate), and brown. I have one suit which is is a taupe with a tiny white pinstripe. I have twin sweater sets in mango (3/4 sleeves, which is my favorite as I am always too hot) and aqua and an “empire” sweater in wheat. I have lightweight 3/4 sleeve “nice” t-shirts in meadow green, lemonade, mango, aqua, and tangerine. I have short sleeved “nice” t-shirts in white, aqua, lavender, and pale yellow. I wanted more aqua/turquoise but most were sold out in my size. I got most of my things from Talbot’s online, on sale. I do need a coat and I think the trench is perfect. I will take an umbrella and toilet seat covers! smile I ordered four pairs of shoes from Zappos and had to send them all back. I got ideas from www.most-comfortable-shoes.com but the European size 39 is too small for my left foot and the size 40 is far too wide! I am going to go to Macy’s and Nordstrom’s tomorrow looking for scarves (many European women wear these daily and I think I will try it) and shoes. Thanks so much for your help; what can I bring you from Paris?
Love,
Susan
magenta and chocolate brown look particular delicious together too
have fun on your trip Susan!
The scarf/pashmina is a must. Great as a wrap for colder days and great on the plane as a blanket or even a neck support.
Speaking of places to shop, I finally made it to GoodWill — check out my post about it on my blog!