The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Archives for 2015

2015 - Page 8 of 26

Cleaning Out My Scarf Drawer, in my Own Odd Way…

 I have too many scarves. It's just that simple - when I'm looking for a specific one, I struggle to find it, and I wander past a LOT of beautiful scarves that aren't getting the love and attention they deserve.

So I decided to clean up!

For no really good reason I can think of, I decided to choose 10 scarves to send out into the world. And from there, my methodology was bizarre, but effective...

First off, I got to thinking about how there are really only two kinds of clothes - good ones and bad ones. You can define these two terms however you like, but for me, good means good fabric, well constructed, by people who are paid a decent wage and work in decent surroundings, and which are sold by people who are also treated with ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Cvetaeva, Version 2

September 24, 2015  

And, as promised, another look at this scarf, with a completely different color scheme!

Doesn't this look completely different when folded and worn this way?

I'm eschewing all accents this time, and going strictly for some interesting neutrals:

 

  She Doesn't Mean to be Difficult... But the prototypes were entirely wrong. Wrong color. Wrong sizes. Wrong details. You have to wonder if the had the specifications upside down...

So she's off to Milan, to have a serious chat with the knitting mill management!

It's not that she doesn't like Milan - she loves it - but this isn't a good time to have to make this trip. She won't have time for more than one really amazing ... View the Post

Building a CONSERVATIVE BUSINESS Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Festival in Montmartre by Gino Severini

September 23, 2015  

One last visit with our friend who spent so many years taking care of her family...

  A Well-Deserved Move Up... She put her head down, learned everything she could, pitched in wherever she was needed, and became more productive and more indispensable every day. She didn't complain about menial tasks, nor repetitious projects. She was pleasant but not ingratiating, helpful but not servile, and intelligent without making anyone want to whap her in the head. She was, in short, a dream employee.

Of course she was - she was mature enough to know what really matters!

So one day, when the manager wanted to talk to her, she had no concerns that she was in trouble for something.

And in fact, it was ... View the Post

Building a BUSINESS CASUAL Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Festival in Montmartre by Gino Severini

September 22, 2015  

Let's come back to this great painting and color scheme, and see what our wonderful care-giver is up to... 

  A Shift of Focus As time passed, our care giver discovered that her responsibilities gradually diminished. Her parents were in a facility that gave them the kind of attention they deserved, after their life of work and service. Her children were grown and starting their own lives as adults. And her husband - like all of the best life partners - only wanted for her to be happy and fulfilled.

So she decided to get a job...

First thing was to make sure she had something interview-worthy, so she found a navy skirt that she could wear with her navy blazer. While the fabrics are very ... View the Post

Building a CASUAL Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Festival in Montmartre by Gino Severini

September 21, 2015   I love this painting; it lives just down the street from me at the Art Institute of Chicago. Severini isn't well-known, and I think that's a shame - his Cubist works are lovely...  

This painting lends itself to a color scheme firmly grounded in versatile neutrals, but sparked with some extraordinary accent colors. In addition to the pink and blue that I've chosen, you've got some beautiful yellow, a hint of true red, and some aqua too!

Care-giving as Art  She took care of them all - children, spouse, parents, neighbors, and never missed a beat...

And she always looked lovely while doing so! Never over-done or fussy, and ALWAYS appropriate to the occasion and the activities. But ... View the Post

Whatever’s Clean 13 FOR MEN – warm colors, warm weather

 

September 19, 2015

I understand that some of you are less than fascinated by the assembling of a travel wardrobe for a man; I can understand that. However, I felt that I really needed to respond to the requests that I've received, for years, for such a project. And let's not collectively forget that these wardrobes work EXACTLY like the women's version. With very little adaptation, any of these wardrobes could change gender and be really attractive. Yes, you'd want to toss in a piece of two of jewelry, and swap out ties for scarves. Maybe the 3rd pair of trousers would be better suited to be a skirt, and you don't have to pack quite so many shirts that button down the front, and have a collar. (although you could keep them just ... View the Post

Whatever’s Clean 13 FOR MEN – cool colors, warm weather

I particularly love working with menswear - their garments are so beautifully designed and well made that it's gratifying to put things together into outfits...For a warm weather trip, I'm still including a blazer, cardigan and sweatshirt. Maybe it's from living in Chicago, but I find that there's no destination that doesn't, from time to time, require something warm. At a minimum, the blazer or cardigan comes in handy when you want to be more "dressed" for some activities. And if you never actually need your sweatshirt, that's good!

This starts out like any other menswear wardrobe, but the blazer is cotton, and unstructured (i.e. unlined, but still meticulously finished inside.) The trousers are linen, and the tie is a lighter-weight ... View the Post

Eight Color Ideas, from Ma To-Do List: Dressing by Colleuille and Gontier

September 17, 2015  

Yes, we're visiting my favorite fashion book yet AGAIN... Frankly, until I've blogged about literally every page of this book, I'm not going to tire of it, nor find it boring - it's really just that good. If you can read French, or are willing to throw yourself into a translation frenzy, you can find it here. The next time I'm in Europe, I'm going to look for a few copies for us, since it's becoming more and more difficult to find...

Today's inspiration was found on a page about figuring out how to work with color in a wardrobe; to one side, they tucked in this little list of garments with the heading "We love, we dare..."

I love some of them. I might even dare a few of them. What do you think?

When ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Cvetaeva by wrq.e.d.

September 16, 2015  

Another beautiful scarf...This one, entitled Cvetaeva, is from the amazingly talented and creative team at wrq.e.d. The images include collages, ball point pen illustrations, florals, and a poem, by Marina Cvetaeva.  It's written around the border: the dear art of oblivion the soul has mastered all the way. some overwhelmingly big feeling melted within my soul today. This is the wondrous object:

The first time I looked at the scarf, these were the colors that I saw. I was always envisioning this with burnished brown accessories, to reflect the beauty of the border of the scarf:

  She's a Poet Yes, she earns her daily bread as an office manager for a real estate company. But if you ... View the Post

Whatever’s Clean 13 FOR MEN – warm colors, cool weather

September 15, 2015   Okay - let's dress up the redheads, warmly complected, freckled gentlemen that we love so much!  

In the best of all possible worlds, I'd find a lovely brown tweedy blazer for this guy, but in the interests of providing a wardrobe with maximum utility, I'm sticking with a navy blazer. Navy blazers are an instant signal to the world at large that you're dressed up - even if half of the other men in the room are ALSO wearing one, it's just always the most appropriate option, short of a suit.

If your level of dressiness can step down half a notch though, look for a beautiful blazer in checks, tweeds, or plaids that will combine all of your lovely warm colors. They are available in every fabric from the ... View the Post

Whatever’s Clean 13 FOR MEN – cool colors, cool weather

September 14, 2015  

You asked for it, you get it: a Whatever's Clean 13 for men - the first of at least a couple...

Menswear is SO EASY; pick a color scheme and stick to it like glue! I've sold menswear two different times, as well as selling men's shoes, so I can safely admit that I have some experience in this area...

First up, the finished product, designed to carry you through a vacation that will range from rather nice dinners and other events (a concert or opera?) through to a cool weather morning walk in the park.

 

I started with a navy blazer, just as I would start with one for almost any man building a wardrobe from scratch. While a lot of men can get through life without a suit, in this day and age, a ... View the Post

Building a DRESSY Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: A Bridge in a Snowy Landscape by Utagawa Hiroshige

One last look at our beautiful art, and the very unusual, but workable, color scheme that I chose from it: 

You Must Always Look Elegant and Refined That's what they told her when she accepted the position. They even give her a clothing allowance any time they change the color scheme of the business, which is every 4 to 6 months, sometimes more often!

But she's clever, and knows that they aren't going to ask for receipts, so she chooses timeless, elegant, classic clothes that might be "recyclable" into a later scheme...

Cashmere cardigan – Uniqlo; wool skirt – J. Crew; Silk shirt – Stella McCartney; trousers – J. Crew  

She knows that a simple ivory silk blouse might be usable in any number of different "aesthetic ... View the Post