Archives for December 2021

December 2021

Start with Art: Lucinda by Sofia Bonati

December 31, 2021 An Expert in Medieval Flower Illustrations...

You know, those flowers that appear in the ornamented capital letters at the beginning of a manuscript chapter?

Or in the dividers between sections of a breviary, or other sacred document?

She knows why that particular flower was chosen, and what it means!

It's a niche bit of study, and she is the acknowledged master of it!

From the time she chose her thesis topic (a few years ago, to be honest!), she realized that her wardrobe made a great deal of sense if it was the black of print, the ivory of old paper, and the shades of rose and lavender that are the colors of most of the flowers. If they were colored, of course!

So when she travels to ... View the Post

So Far, It Isn’t Covid…

I've taken an at-home Covid test, and it was negative, but I still feel... poorly.

So I must apologize; normal service will be restored as soon as I'm well enough to sit at my computer for a bit...

much love,

Janice

p.s. yes, it is snowing in Chicago right now, but it's supposed to turn into rain later today...

p.p.s. If you don't already follow Alexey Kljatov on Instagram, go find him and add him to your list. He takes snowflake photographs, and his images will change what you thought you knew about snow, as well as fill your day with amazement and beauty... ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #41: A Dark Neutral Cotton Turtleneck

December 27, 2021

Now that we've all survived the extravagance and jollity of the early winter holidays, it's time to remind ourselves that - most of the time - we need some practical, neutral clothes to serve as the base for our more wonderful and distinctive things...

I suspect that many of us got sweaters for Christmas or Hanukkah... (yes, a sweater you buy yourself is still a gift!)

If you're trying to find an easy way to wear your new sweater, how about layered over a neutral column?

This is also a good way to bring a new scarf into an outfit in a way that really emphasizes the color(s) and pattern of the scarf!

Think about what fabric you want, and what cut. Do you want a more lightweight turtleneck? All natural ... View the Post

The 2022 Scarves!

December 24, 2021

Finally! I have looked at more scarves than one might even realize EXISTED in the world... and I have made my choices!

This year, our scarves are rectangles. After spending years looking at square scarves, this is going to be an interesting change. I know that I've heard from many of you that you prefer rectangles, and find them easier to wear; I hope that these appeal to you!

Also, these are NOT silk scarves - many are silk and wool, or silk and modal. I have scarves in both of these blends, and I find them both very wearable. Don't let the wool dissuade you from considering a scarf for warm weather; it's not big, hairy, bushy, tweedy overwhelming wool...

Here we go:

This year, we are going to wear ... View the Post

December 2021 Start with a Bracelet: The Resourceful Lynx Bracelets

December 22, 2021

THESE are so lovely:

And these bracelets have given our heroine the perfect inspiration for her upcoming travel:

Probably Gone for Months... They tell her. She's going to visit at least a dozen cities, and depending on who wants to meet with her, she could stay for almost a week in each city! Oh my...

And she really won't have time, nor inclination, to think about getting dressed! Further, she's hopeful that the publicity photographs from this tour will reflect an image of her as consistent, serious, but not grumpy...

So she built herself a uniform! A navy column, five sweaters, and she's ready to go!

The tank tops, tee shirts, and turtlenecks will all pack into 1 packing "sleeve." They go ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #40: A Light Neutral Cotton Turtleneck

December 20, 2021

Is it cold yet where you are? (Northern Hemisphere, obviously!) Chicago is NOT "Winter cold" - more still like Autumn... With the first day of Winter tomorrow, I still don't think it's going to suddenly snow and get freezing cold!

That said, it's still cold enough to wear layers - I've been layering 2 tops, and then wearing a down vest as my outerwear. With a scarf and gloves, I have been warm enough, so far.

So all of these outfits are right in my wheelhouse!

Cotton turtlenecks are great for warmth, for bringing some much-needed light and plainness under a bold or bright top, or for giving you some softness under a scratchy sweater. My favorite fisherman knit crewneck is itchy as heck, so I never wear it ... View the Post

Start with Art: Southern Window by Louis le Brocquy

December 17, 2021 Not Feeling Festive...

It hasn't been a festive year for her, and she is really struggling to get in the mood for her holiday trip...

But, assuming that she will be able to travel during the health crisis, she knows that she's going to have to pack! Her family doesn't do anything amazing for the holidays - she will spend a lot of days in the house with the older family members, and some time walking outdoors with younger people. Cooking, helping clean up, reminiscing...

She decides to pack mostly neutrals - grey, navy, brown, and ivory - with a couple of pieces in dark green. It will be an interesting challenge to mix things together, and will be somber enough to reflect her state of mind. This is NOT ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #39: A Dress

December 15, 2021

Yes, many of us don't wear dresses very often, but it's worth keeping in mind how very EASY it is to wear a dress. One garment - DONE... No coordinating separates, no worrying if you tee shirt is too short to tuck in (or too long) etc. etc...

And you can pretend to be all dressed up, even if you dress is made of sweatshirt fabric, or fleece!

This is the dressiest dress I'm sharing today - but this could get dressed down a lot with brown boots, and a brown sweater (or rust, or camel!). This weight of dress could be useful for all but the hottest weather, too.

If you're only going to own one dress, this next one is worth a look. Black ponte knit, short sleeves, modest neckline but beautiful swirl of skirt. ... View the Post

It Was An Unscheduled Break…

December 13, 2021

I have no explanation, and I offer no excuses - I have NOT worked (on The Vivienne Files!) for a couple of days!

I have done a lot of laundry, I've finished cleaning out my mother's old apartment (woo hoo!!!), and I've spent time with her and with my sweetheart...

Which is not to say that I haven't been thinking about you...

Santa wanted me to have this little chat - and YES, even if you don't celebrate Christmas, this chat includes you too!

Of COURSE in my world, Santa wears purple! Actually, this is an antique postcard from about 1916. Postcards were the greeting cards on the early 20th century, and in the Christmas ones, Santa is dressed in LITERALLY any color but black. As far as I've seen...

I ... View the Post

Start with a Sweater: An L.L.Bean Fair Isle Sweater, and a 1 Piece at a Time travel wardrobe

December 10, 2021

I am asked 2 questions pretty often - how do you build a wardrobe around a specific garment, and how do you decide WHAT to pack?

This post is going to try to answer both questions!

First up, let's start with this classic sweater, perfect for this time of year in much of the Northern Hemisphere:

For me, the 1st step is to look, really look CAREFULLY, at the colors in our focus garment. You're looking for the easily seen, visible at a moderate distance colors.

Like these:

By now, you know full well that I'm going to go a bit nuts emphasizing how important your travel outfit is - you could easily have to wear it for 36 hours, so you need to love every stitch of it!

It's an obvious ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #38: A Neutral 2nd Layer

December 8, 2021

Time for another 2nd layer! In honor of all of the gift-giving occasions in the recent past and near future, I'm suggesting cashmere sweaters! (and yes, you can indeed purchase a gift for yourself? Who better to buy, and who better to receive?)

I'm recycling last week's skirts, showing them in a less dressy way. If you're going to own a skirt, you may as well get some mileage from it, right?

A simple, beautiful sweater can be worn with lots of things, and will always elevate your outfit by a notch or two; if I were to only own 1 sweater, it would be a black cashmere cardigan:

The same plaid skirt that you wore for a holiday neighborhood gather can be worn to work too....

The brown toile skirt ... View the Post

6 Scarves, 12 Months: Evaluating the Last 2 Wardrobes

December 6, 2021

Why yes, this is supposed to be the last installment of the Autumn Weekly Timeless Wardrobe. Welcome to my life of confusion!

Frankly, once I was in the groove sorting these wardrobes and looking for additions to each of them, I just kept going. When I was more than halfway through THIS post, I realized that I was too far along to really be able to finish the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe in time!

I know you understand.... Thank heavens!!!

It's time to address the grey and brown outfit - the bane of my blogging existence for the last year:

If I was starting this one over again, the clothing would be grey, a bunch of shades of pink, and white, and the leather accessories would be brown. That would be both ... View the Post