Cruise Wardrobe Capsule

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society."

~ Mark Twain

With only 30-some days till we board the Queen Mary 2, it's time to get serious about packing. At least in my head. I really need to take 3 different wardrobes on this cruise--daytime & excursion wear, smart attire for evenings, and formal for Gala Nights. There are a few themed nights. Here's my flapper costume for the Roaring Twenties evening!

Fortunately, I'm getting a chance to pack a daytime wear wardrobe this week. We're taking a quick camping trip to northern Iowa for my DH's family reunion. I'll also need to take something to wear for my brother-in-law Wayne's interment.

We lost him in May and made a sad trip through the floods on I-29 to South Dakota for his funeral. His ashes are being laid to rest at my DH's home church, in a charming little Lutheran graveyard surrounded by farm land and tall pines.

Then the DH's sister, Linda is preaching on Sunday so we'll need to be presentable for that service.

I've come up with a 14 item wardrobe capsule that'll fit neatly into my camper's closet:

Pants--Black, Navy, white capris, Jeans

Tops—Black tank, navy tank, white tank, blue print tunic, teal tunic, multi-print sharkbite tank

Toppers—Salmon sweater, olive sweater, black cardigan, black & white kimono

I have certain outfits in mind, but the point of a well-planned wardrobe capsule is its versatility. Each piece works with more than one other. So, just for grins, I started tallying up all the different combinations I could make of my 14 pieces. I quit when I hit 41!

Guess it'll do for 6 days in a camper.

I also promised, as a lady of a certain size, to share a bit of my fashion sense. (Even as I write that, I have to giggle. "My," "fashion", and "sense" should probably never be combined in a sentence.) But anyway, here goes:

1. Monochromatic Dressing--Nothing makes me feel more comfortable than a head-to-toe solid color. It may not be true, but I think it makes me look taller, hence slimmer.   
2. Creating a V--If an outfit doesn't naturally have a V to draw the eye down and elongate my torso, I can create one with layering. I really like this because I've still got the monochromatic thing going on under the pop of color.
3. V necklines--As often as I can. It's supposed to make my short neck appear longer, and if the neckline is low enough to make the DH smile, well...my mom always told me to lead with my strengths.
4. 3/4 or longer sleeves--You may notice that I have a lot of tanks listed in the capsule above.  However, I NEVER wear a sleeveless top by itself. They always live under a layering piece. I've got zero problems with a daring decolletage, but no one except the DH sees my upper arms.
5. Capris, not shorts--No one needs to see my knees. And my capris need to fall below the widest part of my calves. In a light cotton or linen fabric, capris are actually cooler feeling than shorts to me.
6. Prints--This is always the Never-Never-Land of plus-sized fashion to me. Whenever I shop, I can't help but decide that designers have saved the most butt-ugly prints from being turned into table cloths in Hell by using them for their XXL line. That said, I do have a few print items in my wardrobe. If I pick a print, there cannot be even an inferred sense of a horizontal pattern to the riot of colors.  And I'm most comfortable if I can layer a solid piece over a print. For example, I wear the multi-print shark-bite hem tank listed above with a cardigan. The long tank flirts out under the shorter sweater and a thin line of print in the cardigan's opening draws the eye down in front. 

I'll add black sandals, brown sandals and a pair of tennis shoes, my rain poncho and umbrella, and a few pieces of simple jewelry. And that'll take care of me for this trip.

Norway will be another story...