The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Archives for May 2023

May 2023

Does a Different Neutral Color Make a Difference? Pantone London Autumn/Winter 2023-24

May 31, 2023

When we left these five accent colors, from the Pantone London Autumn/Winter 2023-24 colors, I think we had determined that many of us like all sorts of different combinations! But the question was posed that different neutrals might make a difference in how we felt about the various accent colors.

Good question!

The London neutrals were the following five colors:

I made the executive decision that I am NOT going to try to find Forest Night at this time of year! I don't know if I could tell it from Lava Smoke, unless the description of the item specifically mentioned that it was green and not grey...

When you look at the colors - especially when you look at the digital description of each of them - ... View the Post

Year 2 – Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Shōman – Grain Full

May 29, 2023

It doesn't feel very summery still, at least in Chicago. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be thinking about what we will wear when the weather DOES get warm...

One of my new French style books (Le Dressing Idéal by Anne Montecer) suggests jumpsuits for Spring...

Uh, NO. I have hauled the top half of a jumpsuit over quite enough toilet floors in my life...

but I really like her writing, as a general rule - she has a blog too!

But a matching top and pants? Maybe. Or maybe just the print pants. There's a lot of concern that pants in a printed fabric will make your bottom half look larger, but I think that the distracting quality of the pattern makes it tough to evaluate the size of a body ... View the Post

Wardrobe of the Week: May 21 – 27, 2023

May 28, 2023

It's STILL not particularly warm in Chicago - it may get up into the 70s by Monday!

Thus, I am still wearing long-sleeved shirts (in linen, though!) and sweaters or sweatshirts.

Note - I bought my linen shirts from J.Jill at LEAST 10 years ago, and they're still going strong. Linen is tough...

Happily, our apartment is like a wee greenhouse, and warms up tremendously in the morning, when the sun streams in over the lake and into our huge windows! A great view, AND heat...

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Start with Art: Sport Coat by Pierre Mourgue

May 26, 2023

Okay, this is NOT at all in season, but I couldn't resist! I suspect that we will take a look at more of this artist - I'm quite smitten... Family, and Sport

Once upon a time, when a woman was attending a sporting event in the autumn, she would dress like the women in this lovely painting. Now, our heroine is using her colors, and her calm confidence, as her inspiration!

From time to time, one will be invited to see a family member do something sporty - a niece or nephew who plays football, or American football. Or any other number of sports - there are a lot of possibilities!

Our heroine wants to appear calm, relaxed and pretty. Not such bad goals, eh?

She can absolutely bet her entire retirement ... View the Post

Part 2: Pantone London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2023-24

May 24, 2023

Finally, I'm getting around to sharing the 2nd 5 of the London Fashion Week colors!

I've been thinking a lot about how one chooses their core neutral color - what if you chose it based on your favorite accent colors? Maybe you're really drawn to black, but your favorite accent color looks... wrong with black, to you.

Would it be wrong to put the accent colors cart(s) before the neutral color horse(s)?

Let's look at each of these 5 colors with black:

and with navy - almost identical garments, and I'm going to show them in the same positions etc....

Yellow and black? One either really likes it, or hates it!

And yellow and navy will forever feel like high school to me!

I couldn't find ... View the Post

Start With a Bracelet: Fierce Radiance Bracelets from Fierce Lynx Designs

May 22, 2023

Beautiful bracelets!

Another Eccentric Aunt She invited to her nephew's wedding! She's been assured that it's going to be just a little bit dressy, whatever that means...

She is devoted to wearing beige and ivory as her neutral colors, but she also enjoys tossing a wide range of accent colors into her wardrobe to keep things spicy!

For her upcoming long weekend, she's chosen these bracelets to inspire her:

For the trip, she's going to wear a nice calm shade of apricot with her beige, to channel a quiet and relaxing trip. She's also layering a long-sleeved shirt and a cardigan, because it has been her experience that the train is air-conditioned to a terrifying chill...

There is no rehearsal - just ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: The Iridescent Hummingbird Silk Scarf by Emily Carter

May 19, 2023

A Wedding at the Lake She's not convinced that she would want to drag a long white dress across the lawns, boat ramps, errant piles of discarded bait etc., but it's not her wedding!

But she will be beautiful, and just dressy enough to be festive!

She's one of those women who would be happy wearing all black, all day, every day, but of course you can't do that for most weddings - especially one that's immersed in nature!

So she focuses on her favorite scarf, and chooses her wedding outfit (and other garments) accordingly...

She looks lovely in green and blue - her family will be beyond thrilled to see her in a dress, and a green dress at that!

And an off-the-shoulder top for the rehearsal ... View the Post

Start with Art: Cherry Branch by Bror Lindh

May 17, 2023

I've never heard of Bror Lindh - what fun to find new (to me) artists!

Our heroine chose to include the darker green of the grass under the tree, rather than the more yellowish green out in the sunlight. Good move, I would say!

Garden Tour Weekend A group of her friends are going along - but the weather is expected to be unseasonably cool! Annoying, but not something that will keep them from attending...

They've been assured that there will be NO walking in grass or soil, so they can just wear comfortable shoes without worrying about bringing waterproof boots with them! (they have been on tours that felt more like trekking through the deep forest...)

She wants to be warm, but also have a variety of ... View the Post

New Colors! Pantone London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2023-24

May 15, 2023

It's sort of hard to conceive of this coming winter, since summer has just started, but the people at Pantone are always way ahead of the rest of us...

Today, I'm only showing you 5 of the 10 colors, because many of these colors are proving to be... elusive... If I'm successful in finding the other 5, I will share!

Let's start!

This persimmon is a pretty compromise between orange and red...

In order to see if these colors will work well for some of us, I want to add each color to a simple navy or beige outfit, and see what happens!

You could of course wear your new sweater with either pair of these pants, but I thought that the best look was bringing Persimmon accessories into simple, neutral ... View the Post

Year 2 – Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Rikka – Beginning of Summer

May 12, 2023

Is it beginning to feel like summer where you are? (assuming Northern Hemisphere, of course; I know that some of you are moving headlong into autumn and winter!)

Chicago has finally warmed up; now that I have looked at warm weather clothing for a few days, I think we need to consider adding accents - maybe prints? - to our wardrobes...

The first interesting accent that caught my eye was this cognac sparkle tee. Sparkle! Cognac! What's not to love?

for all of us who are short-waisted (i.e. the distance from our neckline to our waist is shorter than the distance from our waist to our hipline), cropped tops might be just the right length!

the leaves on trees around here seem to have appeared ... View the Post