I mentioned in an Off Topic post a couple of weeks ago that
my 16-year-old nephew, Riley, was a contestant on The Voice. What I couldn’t
say until this week is that he won his final knockout round and will progress
to the “live” portion of the show. Everything leading up to this was taped over
the summer. We are incredibly proud of him, he has only been taking voice
lessons for a little over 2 years and this is totally unexpected!

Unfortunately, and unexpectedly, neither my sister or her
husband will be able to accompany him as his guardian. The production company
flies 2 family members out for each show and they are hoping they will be able
to make it to those. I have been named as his guardian. I knew this was a
possibility but it was only this week that it became a reality.

I have been trying to put together a wardrobe that ticks the
following boxes:

1.
Fits in one suitcase and is appropriate for the
weather over the next 6 weeks. I lived in LA over 20 years ago and I remember
how the weather could go from hot to cool in a day during this time of year.

2.
Is casual yet professional. My sister told me
that everyone dresses very casually and I don’t want to appear overdressed.
However, I am also feeling the weight of looking out for Riley’s best interests
with the production crew. I don’t want to look like a confused, Midwestern mom
if that makes any sense. Yet, this is about Riley, not me, so I also want to
blend into the background a bit.

3.
TV – I’m a private person and the thought of
being on live TV makes me cringe. But…that’s part of the deal, so I
just want to look as good as possible, knowing full well that I’ll probably end
up being shot at an extremely unflattering camera angle anyway!

4.
Budget and time allowances dictate that I use my
existing clothing. There is no time to shop!

5.
I can only wear flats due to health issues at
the moment.

I’ve put together some collection in my finds and I’m
including them at the bottom of this post.

Here are my questions:

1.
The TV capsule: I will probably cut out one of
the tube skirts. Do the tops work for TV and would most of them “go” with the
striped tube skirt?

2.
The casual capsules have been broken down by
clothing type. I have jeans of all sorts, basic t-shirts and light weight
sweater. I then added some fine merino cardigans and light weight jackets as my
third piece. Do these seem to be the correct weights for LA this time of year?

3
I was thinking of bringing some silk scarves and
neckerchiefs to add a little variety. I’m assuming that the larger wool challis
scarves (that I wear in the fall & winter in Chicago) would just be too
much in LA. Does this make sense or are scarves just too fussy for LA?

4
Any advice on good, long-lasting makeup? I may
be out of the hotel for hours and I want makeup that lasts!

I
am also adding a couple of photos of what I wore yesterday as an idea of the
basic look that I think might work.

Wow - I feel like I've written a novel. If you have lasted this long - Thank you! Any help or advice you can give me is greatly appreciated.

1 & 2:an outfit I wore yesterday.
3: casual tops
4: casual bottoms
5: cardigans and toppers
6: tv clothes
7: shoes