The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Archives for 2013

2013 - Page 6 of 27

Brooches for Winter

I fully intended to hold back this post until it was a bit closer to winter, and the winter holidays, but since all of these brooches are available right now, on ebay, I thought I'd go ahead and give you some eye candy... 

While a brooch might not be considered a wardrobe essential, even the "non-brooch" people among us have to admit that these are pretty - especially when aggregated thematically...  And the vintage brooches are often beautiful quality for a modest price!

love, Janice ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Project 333: Earrings

October 18, 2013  

Earrings are far from an essential part of any wardrobe, but I wear them every day; I find that I really hate the look of the holes in my ears without earrings.  But most of the time I prefer to wear only small stud earrings, or very modest hoops - I'm not terribly keen on large earrings on me...These are the core of my day-to-day wardrobe:

    Pearls, or another lustrous stone in a neutral tone, are a good starter:  

  A metallic stud is always nice:

    It's generally handy to have a somewhat dressy earring for those occasions:  

  And a small earring in an accent color is fun:

   If you're a hoop earring type ... View the Post

You HAVE ordered your copy, haven’t you?

     

    Tish's book is out today. Tish is the very talented and delightful creator of A Femme d'un Certain Age.  I was fortunate enough to be allowed to read snippets of it, and I can promise you a good time. The best part of this book is the way that Tish's voice and personality shines through every word of the book...

So get thee to your local independent bookseller, and grab this.  Support Tish.  Support women writers.  Support bloggers who dream big dreams... ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Project 333: Bracelets and Necklaces

October 14, 2013  

Bracelets and necklaces are also items that absolutely nobody MUST have in their wardrobe; women have lived completely fulfilled and productive lives without them.  But for me, this is the core of what I will be wearing through the autumn and winter.Note that I wear both silver and gold, mostly because I have a Trinity ring as a wedding ring, and my watch has a yellow and white gold band.  As will ALL things style, your mileage may vary.

 

Pearl bracelets - there are SO many beautiful ones available:

 

    Pearl necklaces with some black detailing - I would buy two of these and layer them together:  

    A nice simple gold ... View the Post

Learning from Art: Faces and Necklines

This is a sort of subtle thing that you only notice when you're looking for it... But sometimes, something will just look right, or wrong, and you can't put your finger on it.  If you notice the relationship between the length of the face, from hairline to chin, and then the length of the distance between the chin and the neckline of clothing, you will often see a harmonious matching of proportions.  Like these: ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Project 333: Scarves

October 8, 2013   Who am I kidding - I will wear more than six scarves before the winter is over - there will be WEEKS during which I will wear more scarves than this. But these six scarves represent the critical categories into which my scarves seem to fall.  None of them is still currently available - and I can only remember buying two of them at all clearly.  I DO remember buying my pink scarf the first time I visited Paris (1998?), and being absolutely horrified with myself that I spent so much on a scarf.  Now that I've worn it about 500 times, I no longer remember the price...  

    Mostly pink/blush colored scarves:

Halogen,  La Fiorentina,  Nordstrom, ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Project 333: Shoes

October 7, 2013  

Lots of people have been interested in where I purchased my various Project 333 items, and what designers or brands were represented.  So I'm going to break down the whole show, by category, and review what I have.  Better yet, since so much of my stuff is no longer available, I'm going to source out reasonable facsimiles or replacements.Starting with shoes:  I have 2 pair of loafers included in this assortment, and 2 pair of oxfords.  If I were starting from scratch, I'd probably only get one pair of each.  But here are the autumn shoes, shown in order of absolute criticalness in my life.

 

My loafers are from Stuart Weitzman, the tall boots are from Eddie Bauer, the athletic ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Project 333: The Full Lagerfeld

Yes, Karl Lagerfeld wears the same outfit every day.  And I'm going to be getting close to that point...I can see how people who are continually immersed in fashion all day, every day, can get completely burned out on making clothing choices.  For every garment or accessory that I show here on my blog, I estimate that I look at over 100 items that get rejected.  Sometimes, I can say with confidence that I looked at over 500 pair of pants, or 700 bracelets, before I found what I really wanted to include here for you.  

After I've written a blog post, I want to wear absolutely simple, plain, easy and uncomplicated clothes. I don't need to have more than a dozen discrete, discreet outfits, so this upcoming Project 333 ... View the Post

Autumn Zest: Brooches

I feel like these posts on brooches are almost vanity posts, because I have so much fun doing them.  They take HOURS - don't get me wrong - but I always have such a good time searching out the pins and cleaning up the images to share them with you.If the weather every gets cool enough that we can break out outerwear, a beautiful or whimsical brooch is a wonderful addition to the everyday coat.  In a city with a sea of black, navy and grey coats, the chance to see the occasional brooch, or grouping of brooches, is a chic sighting indeed.

So what could you break out, for the approach of autumn?

(I used a variety of background colors, to give you a sense of how different pins will work with your clothing or coat ... View the Post