The Vivienne Files

November 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Fourth Painting, by Mark Rothko

November 6, 2024

Probably my favorite painting, if not necessarily my favorite wardrobe; my favorite wardrobe changes hourly!

She's pretty well stocked with tops - basic and not!

And yes, she already has THREE dresses, as well as a matching blouse and skirt...

She has all of the best scarves, and I covet her earrings...

Her shoes and bags cover her needs pretty thoroughly...

But this is - hands down - the heroine with the dressiest life. And she's facing a daunting onslaught of holiday activities, including quite a few that are work-related!

So she's getting what she needs. A suit, two dressy tops, metallic flats, and festive jewelry! She's going to sort out what she's wearing for EACH event, and ... View the Post

November 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Third Painting by Elizabeth Magill

November 5, 2024

If you're in the US, I'm assuming that you have already voted, or have a plan to vote today... A Big Small Change Our heroine's been living in a blue and white wardrobe, inspired by her love of this painting:

She has a wardrobe full of lovely tops - solids, prints, almost all of the basics, and a nice bunch of accent and statement things:

Maybe she could use another dress? Or not - she has skirts, and the world just isn't as dressed up as it used to be...

She loves her scarves and jewelry, and who wouldn't?

She also feels pretty good about her shoes and bags:

But she's been thinking for quite a long time about denim. Not a TON of denim, but maybe a pair of jeans? And a chambray ... View the Post

November 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Second Painting, by Georgia O’Keeffe

November 4, 2024

I think I'm going to do a post each day this week, and finish the six paintings for the month of November. It seems to me that any kind of distraction might come in handy right now...

Ah, this most exuberant of heroines! Not just anybody could pull off a wardrobe in only three colors, when one of them is RED. But it's possible. There are lots of women, and lots of wardrobes...

This wardrobe feels pretty complete to me - when you remember that you can only wear one outfit at a time (at least in theory!), own this much clothing feels pretty complete...

In all fairness, if this was my wardrobe, I'd need a few more summer dresses! But still, I don't think I'd ever really struggle to get dressed...

I ... View the Post

November 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – First Painting, by John Nash

November 1, 2024

Sitting up in my desk chair is still a challenge, so I've decided to attack these paintings "one at a time." Well, it's possible that my endurance will increase - we can always hope!

When you've reached the point at which you have 44 garments in your wardrobe, you actually should be in pretty good shape for getting dressed for most things in life. I started keeping track of what I wear every day, and since mid-June, I'm at about 40 pieces. With a bit of thinking, I'm sure that I could assemble a very workable wardrobe of 52 garments, which is our target for these six wardrobes. (12 months x 4 garments per month + the Christmas Day bonus four from when I announce the paintings = 52).

Oh yeah. 52 would also be ... View the Post

Want a Fresh Palette? Start With Art – Door of Light by Akada Misao

October 30, 2024 Just For the Night... They tell her that's all she needs to do - just meet with the core workers, take the whole staff to dinner, and then come back the next day.

Unless she gets stuck, because of air traffic, or a strike, or volcanoes...

She's not THRILLED about the trip, so she decides to be inspired by something as unlike work as possible:

She seldom wears yellow. But she's in the mood to shake things up a bit, so this is going to be her color palette. She knows that for a longer trip, she could easily add lots of beige, and bits and pieces of green...

It's not a madly dressy office, so she knows that she doesn't have to dress up. Comfortable pants will make all the difference if she's stuck on a ... View the Post

Want a Foolproof Fall Wardrobe? Start with Bracelets – Harvest Lynx Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

October 28, 2024

Note to all: if you're shopping for scarves, CHECK THE FIBER CONTENT! There are unscrupulous places on the internet selling perfectly nice polyester scarves for the same price as wool and cashmere scarves! And if you dig just a bit, the exact same scarves are available for literally 20% of the "wool/cashmere" price. A shocking, opportunistic stunt that's taking advantage of a brand name... Quintessentially Autumn Every year, usually in October, there are hundreds of them, just in the US: "Autumn Glory" (in Oakland Maryland), the Springs Festival (in Springs, Pennsylvania) and tons of others - FALL FESTIVALS!!!

These are just two that were part of my childhood...

Get yourself something cider and pumpkin, wear ... View the Post

Update….

October 24, 2024

I'm home - I was in the hospital, because it turns out that (1) I have COVID (which I certainly picked up when I went to the hospital the first time, to have my ribs checked...) and that (2) I have SEVEN broken ribs, not three. Turns out that broken ribs don't show up as clearly on an X-Ray as they do on a CT scan.

But I don't have pneumonia. And that's important, and good. So I'm hanging onto that thought!

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Want To Add Some “Snap” to Neutrals? Start With a Scarf – The Abby Silverman silk scarf by Echo

October 21, 2024 Normally Neutral She usually wears ivory and black. Every day. With nothing else added... So this scarf has some appeal, right from the start!

She recently made a mistake (there are really NO mistakes?), and ordered a pair of brown shoes instead of the black that she would obviously have preferred. But she found the brown ones to be fetching, so she just picked up a brown handbag, and a pair of earrings, and called brown "an accent color..."

So NOW, this scarf really appeals!

This could have all stopped RIGHT THERE... but she sensed that she was ready for something new...

A RED SWEATER???? Her friends will be so shocked - it's worth wearing, just to see their faces!

So when it came time to pack ... View the Post

Want to Fit In? Start With Art – Pines and Sky by Walter J. Phillips

October 18, 2024

She's going to the whole Homecoming thing - the game, the pre-party, the actual dance, (which is allegedly SUPER casual...), the brunch. Her friends persuaded her, and so she's happy to be going. But she doesn't want to paint her face, wear some outlandish hat, or just in general do anything that might look foolish!

Her school colors are navy and forest green. She loves them. And she's been using this painting to inspire her wardrobe for a while, so she's in good shape for having things to pack.

These are the colors that she uses for her wardrobe... After a few minutes, she makes the decision to NOT pack anything in periwinkle blue. She's always tempted, but too many colors in a travel capsule wardrobe might be ... View the Post

Craving Soft Colors, in a Crowd of Vivid Team Colors? Start With Art – Moon by Ono Chikkyo

October 16, 2024

It's come to my attention that nobody can leave comments! I don't know what's wrong, but I've having the smart people look into it... So sorry for the technical difficulties....

love,

Janice

It's tempting to think that all heroines are strong personalities, with a touch of bright flamboyance around all that they do. But in fact, many of us are quiet, low-key, and don't get noticed right away! And that's splendid...

Today's heroine thinks of herself as a moon, in that she reflects the brighter (but sometimes TOO bright) light of others.

Her painting inspiration for her weekend homecoming trip:

She has soft ashy-colored hair, and light but clear and bright blue eyes; her colors for the weekend will ... View the Post

Casual cool weather packing? Start With Art – Woman in a Café by Jean Louis Forain

October 14, 2024

I realized in New York that few people gets dressed up for everyday life - at least not in Chicago or New York! Sneakers and sweatpants are practically a uniform...

Today's heroine is going for a weekend sporting event. It could be a track meet or something else that goes on for a couple of days, or it could just be a single sporting event, like a football game. Or rugby. Or American football. You get the drift!

She wants to look like she had a clue getting dressed, but also like she acknowledges the inherently relaxed and somewhat cold nature of the environment into which she is plunging herself. Supporting family, friends, or just your favorite team is always interesting...

Her inspiration:

She's ... View the Post

Not the Best Diagnosis…

Broken ribs. Three of them...

I feel a little bit vindicated, because this much pain HAD to be something broken, didn't it?

Thank you - so very much! - for all of your kind messages. They keep me going...

lots of love,

Janice ... View the Post