Archives for January 2016

January 2016 - Page 2 of 3

Kesa and Color Schemes

Kesa are Japanese Buddhist Monk Vestments, which have been worn for thousands of years. Currently, the Art Institute of Chicago has a small portion of their collection of kesa on display (through February 14th). I tried to photograph details of the fabrics - the distance, and my shaky hands, make my photographs less than stellar. But I think you can still appreciate the beauty here, and the amazing color schemes that come to my mind when I look at these.

If you can get to the Art Institute in the next month, I urge you to do so, to see these "in the fabric." More information about kesa, and about this ... View the Post

A New Color Tool….

I just built a file that shows all of the combinations of two neutrals (using the 14 neutrals that we've used for a while: black, dark gray, light gray, navy, petrol, taupe, olive, denim, natural, cordovan, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, khaki and camel), juxtaposed with all 10 of the Pantone 2016 colors.Every year, I do this because, for me, these files are a very useful and inspiring source of color combinations with which to work. You might see some beautiful ideas, too!

It's $3.99, which helps me pay to have the (rather large) file hosted and "downloadable" 24 hours a day.

If you choose to grab this lovely thing, make sure to let me know what color combination(s) are your favorites. I will definitely be building wardrobes ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Hermes Cheval Surprise Remix

January 16, 2016

Today's travel wardrobe is very much like yesterday's, but in a slightly altered color palette. This was a special request for an upcoming Bar Mitzvah, and I think it's great fun!I chose this scarf as our leitmotif for the color scheme, because these scarves are marvelously interesting. You'll be seeing this design again, because there are a couple of color scheme available that are just striking, and I want to see what I can do with them...

look for the horses hidden in the design...

As I mentioned yesterday, this Diane von Furstenberg dress is available in a variety of colors - I just changed out for the color requested! And in place of a hat, a pretty headband. (some of us ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Toasting Friends

January 15, 2016 So many of us have these events coming up this spring or summer - a wedding, graduation, bar mitzvah, baptism, or other celebratory event. What a nice excuse to travel!

But it does require a bit of planning, because in just a few days, you might well span the full gamut of activities from a very dressy event or two, to things like cleaning out a dorm room, or playing frisbee with nieces and nephews. Barbecues, picnics, and more relaxed family activities require a completely different wardrobe from what you'll wear to the actual event itself.What to do? Just plan to take more! A normal long weekend is a great time for a 6-Pack or an 8-Pack, but for these very special weekends, I think 13 pieces is perfectly ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: The Common Shelduck

January 14, 2016

When I say there's inspiration everywhere, I'm really NOT exaggerating! My recent trip to Florida is a good example - I saw these lovely guys all over the place (although they are not, in fact, indigenous to the area I was visiting - someone imported them! Someone with good taste....)

The color scheme was so easy!

Come Sit on the Veranda... Well, the invitation was a little bit more fleshed-out than that! It went more like "we have great internet down here, so you can work during the day, and then in the evenings, we'll sit on the veranda with a bottle or two of wine, and watch the birds on the lake until it gets dark. Then after dinner, we can come back out and look at the stars..."

Her toes ... View the Post

Pantone 2016 Colors, and an Accessory Refresh

January 13, 2016

This horridly cold weather in Chicago reminds me of the best aspect of writing The Vivienne Files - I don't have to leave the building. (seriously - grocery story, gym, pool, dry cleaner etc. all in the building!) But I begin to crave a change of colors, and something to brighten up my winter clothes, which begin to all look the same.

While we all understand pretty clearly that Pantone colors don't actually rule the world, nor do they actually find "new" colors, they can still be a useful guide to looking at some accessories in colors that we might not otherwise consider.

What could be more fun than a new bottle of nail polish, and maybe an inexpensive ring, to cheer up the end (?!?) of winter? I think things on ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting With Art: A Porcelain Figurine Version 2

January 12, 2016

Today's capsule wardrobe is a bit more casual, with a bit of influence from the aesthetics of the figurine; these kinds of things have to be approached carefully, because I don't want to do any egregious cultural appropriation! It's sort of like when people would visit Ireland (when I lived there) and dress all in green, and walk around saying "top of the mornin' to ya...." So I took notes from the fluidity of the figure for some more draped and/or wrapped garments, shamelessly grabbed some pearls, tossed in a really amazing brooch, and included a very origami tote bag. This would be a great addition to the earlier wardrobe - most of these pieces would blend seamlessly with the other garments. Having a ... View the Post

Tote Bag Travel, with a Give-Away

January 11, 2016 Back to the real world....This happens a lot in large cities - when the hotels become less expensive over the weekend, people from the suburbs come into "the city." They come in by train on Saturday morning to spend the day in town, have a nice dinner, maybe see a sporting event or a show, stay over, have a lovely brunch, and get back home before darkness falls on Sunday.

When I said I was going to create the smallest possible travel capsule wardrobe, THIS is what I was thinking of! (I'm so sorry, I have a hunch that I've really disappointed some of you.)

I see these people every weekend, and it seems that they are often hauling about a lot more "stuff" than they might need. This might not be a problem if you're able ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting With Art: A Porcelain Figurine

January 9, 2016

Part of this request was rather standard - someone returning to the workforce, and wanting a 4 by 4 capsule wardrobe based on a navy suit, with grey accents. Very sensible, and something that many of us can find useful, or at least fun to admire.But the real zinger: She drew her inspiration for the colors from a figurine in her bedroom! This clearly means something very special to her, eh?

I stuck with the color scheme she suggested - a lot of navy, accents of the deep red/burgundy, and gray, shading to soft blue:

While many jobs no longer require a suit, it's worth remember that there are still places that REQUIRE them. In order to get the most mileage possible from purchases, I found (after quite a bit ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting With Art: Kveikur by Justyna Polar

January 8, 2016

Someone sent this to me ages ago, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to get to this gorgeous piece...

This suggests the most lovely color scheme, which is both timeless and seasonless:

I've also received lots of requests for travel suggestions for longer trips - that 3 to 6 week trip that includes a few meetings, maybe some teaching, maybe some sightseeing, maybe some time in an office, and almost certainly some casual outdoor activities.

The trips that have been submitted to me for packing advice had a few things in common:

They are all more than 2 weeks, some as long as 6 weeks. This doesn't automatically require more than 12-15 pieces of clothing, but if ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: Black and Yellow Broadbill Version 2

I hadn't planned to revisit this lovely bird, but someone wanted some yellow...

Without the green background, the colors seem more intense to me. At any rate, I brightened up the coral and blue, to be in a better balance with the yellow... No matter how good it looks here, I'm not recommending yellow eye shadow - there's a limit to taking inspiration from nature!

I thought I'd plunge right into the yellow... Note how the addition of the scarf with the coral and orange print keeps the ensemble from looking like a bumblebee, or a Pittsburgh sport fan. (for those out of the sports loop: I think EVERY professional sports team in Pittsburgh wears at least some yellow and black)

(I love the scarves from Abo London - they are REALLY ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: Black and Yellow Broadbill

You've very possibly seen a Photoshopped version of this photograph, which made the colors really BRIGHT... and I'm not sure why someone would have bothered - this photograph is quite beautiful just as it is!

Weeks ago, someone asked me, on Facebook, to work with this photograph. It's about time I got around to it, because it includes lovely colors! I did NOT include the yellow circle around the eyes of the bird, except for a bit in one of the scarves, and the yellow gold in the jewelry. And while I don't always pick up the background color of a photograph, this one was really the perfect color, in the ideal intensity, for this color scheme...Yes, I really, TRULY believe that if you find a color scheme you love, you can ... View the Post