Archives for 2016

2016 - Page 16 of 23

The Highlights of Our Paris Vacation

Yes, honestly, I looked down at our feet, and the wee heart-shaped pebble was right there between our toes... It was that kind of vacation!

It really was one of the best trips ever - everything fell into place for us to a degree that's almost impossible to describe. We had 20 minutes of rain (during which we stood under an awning and discussed the rest of our day), we ate like crazy people, discovered some new (to us) cocktails, did some excellent shopping, and walked about 10 miles every day. Despite the mad amounts of eating and drinking that we did, I lost weight...

The first highlight - we got to see the Paris Marathon. As runners (well, in my case, as a fast walker/runner), seeing the elite runners at the head of the ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Macaws over River, Peru by Frans Lanting

April 11, 2016

A truly breathtaking photograph:

The most straighforward of color schemes:

Freedom She just needs to be free. Mostly free to sleep late if she wants to... to eat what she wants, when she wants... to get dressed without thinking about it...

She she settled on khaki. ALL khaki. Mostly from 1 store. With bright colors. Tee shirts and scarves. She walked into 1 store and bought all of her jewelry. She wants bags that keep her hands free. It's all about FREE...

She's not even sure where she's going, yet. But she knows that it's going to be someplace where she doesn't know anybody, so she will be free to be as quite or as outgoing as she ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Saints Genevieve and Appolonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

April 9, 2016

Normally, I try really hard to make sure that the things that I show on The Vivienne Files are realistic, and not appallingly expensive. Well, from time to time I'll see something irresistible, but I try to make those pieces the exception, rather than the rule.But today, I'm throwing away all of the rules...

The Guest Lecturer She's an expert in the symbolistic representation of saints in Gothic architecture. Her writings on the variety of interpretations of the legend of Saint Michael was groundbreaking. (well, groundbreaking if that's your thing!)

I was so afraid that when I was meeting her at the airport, I wouldn't be able to find her, or recognize her. But I needn't have worried; as soon as ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories: Turquoise, Coral, Black and Ivory 1 at a Time

April 8, 2016

Yesterday's "1 Piece at a Time" capsule wardrobe is a great base for accessories - although trying to find turquoise and coral that are the same shades can make you a bit daft...This is our starting outfit:

Shoes are critical, and I thought that a simple ballet flat would be pretty with the swing and movement of the black skirt.A small-ish bag is my next accessory choice. I'm particularly smitten with that octagonal bag...

I love earrings, so they're next! While I'm not usually a big fan of "matchy-matchy" accessories, I think there's some wisdom to purchasing the earrings that were manufactured in the same batch as your necklace; you know that they're the same overall mood and ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Turquoise, Coral, Black, and Grey: 1 Piece at a Time

April 7, 2016

What beautiful summer colors, and what exciting accessory possibilities!

Coral was a specific request...

Normally, I would build solid columns and suits, but just to show you a different way to go about building a wardrobe, I'm adding an accent tee shirt first. This can be a wonderful idea if you're still "on the fence" about a color scheme; if you buy an accent piece and find that you don't reach for it every couple of days, it might mean that you need to rethink your choice of colors.

Okay, NOW we're putting together the black suit. These kinds of monochromatic outfits really come into their own when the accessories show up!

Since we're fast moving into summer, I thought ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: A19 by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

April 6, 2016

I see this painting every week or two - it's a definite favorite, and it creates a clear mood of strength and confidence.

At first glance I thought that this painting was almost monochromatic, but when I started looking at the colors, I saw a pretty nice range of possibilities.

"It's a Good Idea..." "An amazing idea, actually. But you do realize that you're going to have to visit every branch office and show them how to do it..."

Well yes, actually, she did know that. She was PLANNING on it...

"We're going to need to reserve the auditorium closest to each branch, so that the presentation can be made to as many people as possible simultaneously." Happily, she ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Still Life by Cornelia van der Mijn

April 5, 2016

These aren't just flowers, they are a tour de force of power and beauty!

And while the composition is certainly classic, those accent colors are just a little bit unusual...not quite a red red, and the blues are just a wee bit teal-ish...

Organically Sourced They'd seen it for months; they would run out of Queen Anne's Lace, but still have long-stemmed roses... The arrangements with Black-Eyed Susans would outsell the ones with gardenias...

yes, the watch is PERFECT!

So the 3 co-owners decided that she should take off for a full work-week of visits to regional greenhouses, and those eccentrics who keep land completely undeveloped, to see what kinds of windflowers and local ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Gulf of Saint Tropez by Claude Matisse

April 4, 2016 Summer's coming...

And some people are embracing the bright colors that come with the warmer weather:

This Year, A Uniform

They can call it a Jitney, but it's really just a bus. A very crowded, and often very overly air-conditioned bus. And she rides it EVERY WEEKEND in the summer, to get to the shore. But this year, she is NOT going to go through a bunch of angst and constant pondering about what to pack into her tiny bag, that she always ends up holding on her lap. This is it:

If her friends get tired of seeing her 2 dresses at brunch, the heck with them.... If she destroys this pair of shorts somehow, she'll buy another one just like them. She's ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Lunar Eclipse Montage by Dr. Robert Vanderbei

April 2, 2016

Yes, I'm currently in Paris. (!!!!!!!) But there are posts here, queued up in advance, for 6 days a week while I'm on vacation. Just because I go away doesn't mean that you don't need your almost-daily dose of The Vivienne Files!

Now, back to the beauty:

Sometimes, scientific documentation of natural phenomena is executed so perfectly that it becomes art:

Two colors, but WHAT colors:

Connected She spends almost all of her time in her studio, alone. Her work is such that she wears only the most disposable of casual clothing, usually purchased from thrift stores. The materials with which she works, and the abandon with which she uses them, precludes neatness; an apron will NOT be ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: April

April 1, 2016

What fun! I was really eager to get to these outfits, and see how the assembled capsule wardrobes continue to grow. For April, I was thinking of an outfit that provides a transition between seasons, and gives us a couple of solid basic garments (and some fun jewelry!).Capri or cropped pants are the kind of garment that can be worn twice a week for the next six months, so it's important to get these into your wardrobe early. I chose really basic neutrals for all six wardrobes, so there's lots of different ways for them to work for you.

A sweater might seem sort of counter-intuitive going into warm weather, but these sweaters are all either linen or cotton, so they can be tossed over your shoulders as necessary, without ... View the Post

How I Pack for Paris in a Carry-on Bag

Remember, my bag is a hard-sided Tumi carry-on, very much like the great-grandmother of this beauty:

My bag is pretty "whacked" on the exterior, but remains in very secure, solid condition! One of my better investments, I have to say... One of the things about rolling bags that makes packing difficult is that the interior bottom of the bag is bumpy - the bars for the handle run through the bag and make the "floor" of your packing area bumpy. So the first thing I always try to do is use unwrinkleable things, like workout clothes, to level the floor. Here, I've taken running tights, rolled them into long cylinders (fold in half at the knee, and then roll a few times), and then placed a pair of ... View the Post

How to Pack a Travel Capsule Wardrobe for Paris – the “Three Dresses” Version

March 30, 2016

Belovedest and I are going BACK to Paris on Friday! Yes, I was just there in December...And I'm going to try the strangest variation on packing yet - since we're only there for 6 nights, and since I always fly back from Paris in the same outfit I wear for the flight over (with a change of tee shirt), I'm just packing three dresses, which will cover the 5 full days that we're there. Two pair of ballet flats, and a stack of scarves.... This is going to be interesting!

I'm sticking pretty close to my uniform for packing - tee shirt, cardigan, scarf, and pants that won't collapse after 8 hours of sitting. This cardigan is going to be really handy on this trip, as I can wear it over all 3 dresses, depending on the ... View the Post