June 26, 2020
She knew, as soon as she saw it, that the door lead to where she wanted to be…
Some other day – some other season – she knew that she would include the blue, and the darker browns and greys, in her wardrobe. But for now, for the summer, she wants lightness…
When her sister called her – at the very last minute! – to invite her to the cottage for the weekend, she knew that she had to go. She was dressed for a meeting, but decided that getting on the road was more important than changing clothes.
Besides, she knew that dinner on Friday night, at the cabin, was always pretty special! Her sister can really cook, her sister’s partner is a whiz with wine, and all of the kids know that this is an important part of the week. So being in a skirt just feels right…
Yellow tee – Lands’ End; silk scarf – Eileen Fisher; pearl earrings – Majorica; white cardigan – L.L.Bean; straw tote – Banana Republic; yellow striped pull-on skirt – Madewell; watch – Skagen; driving loafers – Aerosoles
Still, she only has about 1 minute to pack! She looks, and then grabs yellow and blush, a pair of shorts and a pair of pants. At the last minute she remembers to toss her sandals into the bag too!
Sunglasses – DIFF; pink pearl earrings – Amadeus; white tee – L.L.Bean; tie dyed tee – Loft Outlet; hammered disc & rose quartz earrings – Latelita; rose gold bracelet – Swarovski; soft coral cardigan – L.L.Bean; crossbody bag – Kate Spade; yellow striped linen shirt – Banana Republic; cashmere silk blend scarf – Nordstrom; oatmeal linen pants – L.L.Bean; white canvas shorts – L.L.Bean; white sandals – Cole Haan
She’s really important this weekend – she got the good bedroom, with a private bath! She showers for what feels like 3 hours (not that she would ever waste water like that!) and then dumps her bag out on the bag and sorts everything out. This is what she finds that she has with her:
She’s only staying until Tuesday morning, so she literally only has to get dressed on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Four outfits, from this little capsule wardrobe, is easy!
She and her sister are going to sit and drink wine and watch everybody fish in the river. Fishing IS a spectator sport, isn’t it?
love,
Janice
p.s. Three years ago, our heroine wasn’t traveling, but she WAS pulling together a casual wardrobe in navy, beige, teal and brown…
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What an uplifting painting, and such a pretty wardrobe!
Please develop this with some of that blue, the browns and the olive-khaki I can see lurking there!
This is really fresh and pretty. I think I could make up a French 5 piece using these colours in my wardrobe at the moment. I love the scarf.
Love the throw back post for denim and khakis. Perfect for a retiree. Today’s is very fresh and cheery. And the bottoms all having elastic waists make it very timely!
Assuming we ever get to travel again (?!?!), I would find these “casual neutral suits” perfect for building a wardrobe for visiting my (retired) parents, hopefully for a good 2-3 weeks. I am solid on denim and navy but those colors are so similar to each other that I would like to have the option of another neutral. An olive/moss cable knit cardigan like the one shown to match my pair of chino pants or a pair of dark grey jeans to match my charcoal cardigan or light grey jeans/pants to match my pale grey cardigan would round me out. Or I would love instead to find pants and a cardigan in just the right shade of taupe-grey, which has eluded me so far!
Yes! Taupe grey is such a great color. I can find it in shoes, but a bit harder to locate clothing. – nancyo
Janice,
First off, I love your blog. I found you about a year ago, and some times I get inspired, when I look back. I did just that, and saw a post you posted about seeing a person, I think in the airport, with a long patch work coat. It really caught my eye, but I was on my tablet, not the computer, so I didn’t save the page. I have searched for three days and can’t find it again. Can you help?
Cyndi
Got it!
https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2019/06/start-with-a-jacket-travel-six-pack.html/
Goodness, I’ve written a lot in my life…
hugs,
Janice
What a delightful jacket! I really like the travel outfit. And now I’m looking down at myself and realizing that by complete coincidence, I am wearing a black T, black capri pants, and this subtly-pattern-mixed shirt in the same color scheme worn open like a jacket! Can I travel to Europe now? ;)
https://www.landsend.com/products/womens-plus-size-no-iron-supima-cotton-long-sleeve-shirt/id_333260?attributes=12912,43307,43322,44256,44919,44966,45021
You really surprised me today. When I first saw the painting and the color choices, I wasn’t too excited. AND THEN…the wardrobe! Fabulous! You must have jumped for joy when you found the tie died t shirt with both yellow and blush in it. Every item is just right. What a great wardrobe. Maybe we really will get to start planning travel wardrobes again and actually go somewhere.
I hated this palette in that first image (blush and yellow? why??), yet with the gorgeous, soft tie-dye t-shirt and scarf bridge pieces, you pulled it off! I am quite astonished that you found two such lovely pieces in this colorway that coordinate so well in a small capsule. With the subtle stripe prints, these almost floral looking tie-dye patterns are perfect. I am once again struck by how muted tie-dye and ombre items work so well with both prints and solids. And as a bonus, I think these two choices could be very flattering worn around the face for those of us who have light, soft, muted coloring/features and uneven/textured skin. (For me personally, the yellow is probably still too strong and warm.)
I am enjoying seeing all the tie-dye pieces this summer. The very vivid patterns and brilliant, non-fading dyes are too much for me, but I like the muted, soft looking ones. It’s a bit sentimental…in high school (around 1990), I made bunch of tie-dye t-shirts from inexpensive men’s undershirts and Rit dye that I wore through their gradual fading for many years. There was a moss green and white one in particular that I remember fondly and would happily wear again with jeans and Converse…only with a jaunty silk scarf and blazer this time ;)
Yesterday, I did something I’ve never done before; I started a blog post, got about a third of the way into it, and then closed the file and put it in the trash!
And then I started over, with this painting, and it felt like things fell into place much faster. I took a long time to find the tee shirt, but otherwise it was much less difficult.
There’s a lesson there…
hugs,
Janice
If this was a blog about art, I wouldn’t have continued reading. I’m not a fan of modern art that looks like the artist had a strop and took the paints nearest to hand and over painted a perfectly decent picture underneath. I’ve just read that de Kooning started out as a house painter – enough said!
However, I know that you like Modern Art, Janice, and use it as a springboard to creating something uplifting and beautiful. So I continued reading and you haven’t disappointed today!
Mellow yellow and blush pink are certainly an unusual combination but sunrise has the same colours. This is a very calm and soothing wardrobe. I’m amazed that you found the tee shirt and scarf in the combined colours. The rose gold jewellery s so pretty and continues the soft tones.
So instead of a door going nowhere, perhaps this painting could be renamed Sunrise Reflecting on a Blue House – now that idea appeals to me.
I find modern art much easier to work with for wardrobes because most of the artists work with a more limited color palette than earlier, more realist art. It’s tough to look at a landscape from the 1800’s and pick out the dominant colors! But I’m always willing to at least try to work with almost any work of art – feel free to suggest something you love, and request the colors you want too.
hugs,
Janice
About the art, I might add that modern art has a whole range of colors, the more acid or bright ones that are made chemically, that earlier earth based pigments did not. I love modern art and love this blog!
What about paintings by 17th century Dutch artists – Pieter de Hooch or Vermeer for inspiration?
I do like contemporary floral paintings, though. This painting I bought as a glycee print in 1994 and I look at it every day:
The Journey Never Ends by Simon Bull – https://www.qart.com/p/simon-bull/the-journey-never-ends/237151.
It’s a bearded iris but the colours and shape remind me of clouds. I saw it in a gallery exhibition of his paintings and was stunned by it. I have tried to work out how to do a wardrobe based on it but the shading is quite subtle. There’s a lot of soft purple and blues in it. It is slightly more vivid in reality as some of the blues are similar to reef blue and some of thewhite/ivory has pink orchid streaks.
Simon Bull is a British born artist now living in California. His website is https://bullart.com/. Last year he was the official artist for the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC. There is also a Pinterest site with all of his paintings on – over 400 of them!
Well this is surprising! I’ve noticed that the combination of mustard and millenial pink has become very popular, but I haven’t been able to look at it without cringing. Now you’ve taken almost the same colors but made them just clear enough and warm enough that they really work well together. I love these outfits!
I love that term, “millennial pink”!! I keep waiting for that dirty pink and mustard combination to wear out and disappear, but it truly has legs. This wardrobe is pretty, although I cannot wear any of the three colors here so I mentally reinterpret the palette from the painting to emphasize the blues and greys. Also, am I the only person who doesn’t like yellow with tan/beige/oatmeal? – nancyo
So fresh and lovely!
This is a beautiful wardrobe and I look forward to seeing it again for fall with the deeper tones. Just lovely!
Hi Janice: I do see a closet door opening inward from a clothing shop featuring sunny peach and yellow. There’s a bright chandelier hanging over the entrance. Alas, yellow has yet to find a home in my closet. I would be in the dressing room til the store closed to find the right shade.
This is your prettiest collection ever. It makes me happy to look at it!
Janice,
THANK YOU , THANK YOU sooooo very much. I was out all day shopping for groceries and wine, then it was dinner husband and I watched a marathon night of Muder She Wrote. So I didn’t open my pad. Now I can make my take on this coat, with some fabrics I bought in South Africa last year.
I’ll let you know how it turns out, thanks again,
Cyndi
I am so surprised those colours pulled together as cohesively as they did. You have such an eye and knack for colours. One Question: Is there a reason you never find a little summer blazer in one of the colours instead of two cardigans? I especially find a white cardigan can easily look dowdy in the summer. Having followed you for years I have noticed you try to avoid blazers and prefer cardigans. Any reason? I would love to know.
I would also love to see a blazer, utility jacket, or other style topper occasionally as well. I wear cardigans often, but reach for something more structured to smarten an outfit. It can be difficult to find those more structured garments in soft fabrics, but as they say, patience is a virtue (or maybe I should go with “good things come to those who wait”).
Most blazers right now are very tight and very short, which I don’t think flatters anyone – I feel like a lot of them look as if they’ve been outgrown and should be sized up a couple of sizes…
And I’m concerned that the really nice blazers cost a fortune. I hate to show things that are stupid expensive. But I will try more to find better blazers, now that I know that there’s interest!
hugs,
Janice
This post made me smile. So lovely. FYI, that pretty tie-dye T-shirt also comes in blue—it looks like the sky on a perfect summer day! And both are on sale. I am tempted.
On the subject of toppers: I find shorter jackets (especially Chanel-style tweeds), cropped sweaters or shrugs more flattering than longer sweaters over dresses and fuller skirts. I like a long cardigan or blazer with a pencil skirt or pants. I understand it may be more difficult to find pictures of some of these items without people in them!
June 29th, 2020
Happy Birthday, Janice!
And thank you for your Œuvre (your wonderful work with theviviennefiles).
if I could pull of these colors, I’d make a new spring capsule. :(.
oh, well….I’ll try some other shades/hues as close I can that will work this way. :)