June 14, 2023
They Named Her Ivy…
A long time ago; she always loved her name…
She saw this print, and something deep inside her clicked into place. Not a thing, really, but just a feeling. A new confidence, and understanding…
So she decided to wear green during her upcoming trip. All green. Just to see if it felt as right as she expected it to feel!
earrings – Auree Jewellery; pendant – Auree Jewellery; tee shirt – L.L.Bean; scarf – Kueen; pants – L.L.Bean; shirt-jacket – L.L.Bean; backpack – Lefrik; loafers – Rockport
She’s not worrying about matching everything. Nature doesn’t worry; why should she?
Maybe people will think she wears too much green. Or that her outfits don’t quite go together. She is dressing to please herself, so these thoughts mean nothing to her anymore…
Earrings – Vue by Sek; cardigan – Burrows & Hare; bracelet – Drae Collection; tee shirt – J.Crew; necklace – Daniela Janette; camp shirt – Alex Mill; dress – East; scarf – Hortons England; bag – Fossil; shorts – L.L.Bean; sweater – L.L.Bean; sneakers – Cariuma; sandals – Farylrobin
Her travel capsule wardrobe feels like home…
She loves her options:
Could you – would you? – assemble a wardrobe that felt like home to you, but that might raise an eyebrow or two?
love,
Janice
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Love this post! Green has become my favourite colour over the past years, but I am often insecure if the different shades go together. Thank you for showing that it works!
This reminds me of a woman I worked with, who only wore purple every day. 💅🔮💜 She even drove a purple car! Whatever makes you happy.
Love
My main take away from this (an important one to me) is that the greens don’t have to be matchy matchy to wear them together. I like the heroines confidence in her choices “She is dressing to please herself, so these thoughts mean nothing to her anymore…”
Green is almost a neutral, so I think many shades work together. After all they do in nature, as you said. The only change is make for this to work for me would be to replace the dark loafers with a mid brown pair, and maybe choose a cool dark olive for one of the T shirts instead of the warmer one that you have. Lovely!
Wow! Great observations. I thought something was off, but couldn’t figure out why. When I looked back at your suggestions, they are spot on and would make the wardrobe look much better to me n
I know women who look absolutely radiant in this color.
For me, it would have to be in shades of burgundy and red? That is where my allegiance lies, always and forever.
I have to admit that I am too social conscious to not care what others think. What others thought of my wardrobe would have an impact on me. I would very likely adjust accordingly. A little painful to admit this.
As much as I love olive greens, and I was someone that hoped you would do this exact post using olives, I am finding that it is overwhelming for me. Perhaps it has something to do with letting my eye adjust, but right now, I think I would need to add in navy and other colors to make this wardrobe work for me.
And finally, my olives have to match or coordinate. I would have trouble wearing cool olives with warm olives.
This post was really instructional for me. I learned quite a bit about myself in the space of 15 minute. Thank you.
Throwing every green thing you can find into your cupboard isn’t really curating a beautiful, workable wardrobe to my eye. I love green but I could not wear the cooler and warmer tones of it together. However, the freedom to do what one wants, sartorially, is thrilling and liberating. I want the pieces in my wardrobe to work with each other, to satisfy my colour sense and be “beautiful”, to function for my life and be comfortable to wear. Although it would not suit me, using my yardstick, it looks like this wardrobe works for Ivy.
How fun! I opened your post and read it, Janice, in my all olive green outfit and with a scarf from Fable that I only found because of you! I 💚 green! Thank you for another lovely post.
Beautiful! Olive Green! Not for the faint of heart, because a head to toe Olive outfit is a head turner. Men love the color of Olive on women , and are attracted to women in public, who wear it. Beautiful! 😍 😍
A monochromatic wardrobe, especially for travel makes life so easy. No matter what pieces you pair, you look put together. Green is not my colour, but shades of blue? Very tempting.
Janice, do you remember your 2016 post on Olive? This was my first post I read on Olive Green that sparked my interest in becoming a Vivienne Files Maven.
It was “Tote Bag Travel Capsule Wardrobe In Olive, Denim and Ivory. A Weekend Travel Capsule Wardrobe.” Dated October 25, 2016.
I remember that post and these two posts are all me.
It’s my most favorite post that Janice ever did, and the first I ever read. Started me on my journey in Vivienne’s world, many, many scarves ago.
https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2016/10/tote-bag-travel-in-olive-denim-and-ivory.html/
Here’s the link to those who wish to look back and visit – it was lovely, wasn’t it? I look back at old posts and just marvel that some of these things came out of my head!
hugs,
Janice
The Totebag Travel posts are some of my favourites. I hope the inspiration hits you to do more of them. Overnight/ quick jaunts are definitely my reality.
Thanks for the look back!
Hehe. Oh I love that. Many, many scarves ago. Sounds familiar.
I love seeing these olive-ish greens together! I would add a scarf (and probably a top) in a print that has warm and cool olive/sage/moss colors blended together to help marry the differing undertones in the pieces. The casual, hiking-adjacent + silk scarves and gold jewelry vibe really works for me. I personally don’t care for the style of the dress, and it feels a bit too boho for the rest of the capsule, but perhaps that satisfies Ivy’s desire to sometimes “dress pretty” and is spot on in terms of color.
The only discordant element to me is the black loafers. They look and feel very heavy in this wardrobe. I noticed that they only get added once to the sample outfits, and the (wonderful!) olive sneakers could easily be substituted there, so I would absolutely find a different pair (because being able to switch off between two pairs of walkable shoes is a good idea). Brown, tan/beige, more green, gold…so many other options. I think a tan-based leopard print shoe would be marvelous here.
If Ivy is committed to the black (and if she has raven black hair, I could understand it), introducing black elsewhere in the capsule would help. It doesn’t have to be a solid black piece; a print with black would work, as would a marl knit with black. And I do think that a monochromatic wardrobe can be extended to white/cream on the light end and to black on the dark end. (And for the purists, there are some shades of olive that are so deep as to be almost indistinguishable from black and other tints so pale as to be nearly cream.)
After looking at the three wardrobes, including the brown one from “12 months…”, I’ve concluded I’m not a monochrome wardrobe lover. If I had to choose, I’d pick blue because I think the blue tones work better together. The browns also play well together. I’m not so sure about the greens. Adding pattern seems to help, and I love the blue-and-white patterned garments you added to the blue selections, Janice. By the way, last week Queen Matilde of Belgium wore an interesting green and white patterned dress while in England. The top of the dress featured a capelet with a green leaf pattern while the skirt was white. She wore green shoes and beautiful emerald and diamond earrings with the outfit.
Apologies for spelling Queen Mathilde’s name wrong.
My greens. I hear my husband’s and my friend’s comment: ‘May-be with something cheerful?’ That is what this outfit seems to do with me. But wíth that cheerful something? Yes! Great concept. My eyes and hair are not very different in color, so monochrome suits me.
Good question: the wardrobe that feels like home to me. I was allways very happy with the dressing-up box as a child. A silk kimono with mirrors and embroidery, a small dutch traditional dress, and I liked to be Hiawatha or the bride. Lots of scarfs. Be what you like to be today.
That would raise an eyebrow or two, would-not it? :))
I like this precisely because it’s not super matchy. I agree with Sally in St Paul about the loafers and would swap them for a 2nd pair of sneakers in cream or nude or taupe. But for tastes, the colors- as we say in Spain!
As usual, I consider your wardrobes useful either for what I love, what I don’t and how to work what I have for the best.
Cheers and blessings all :)
Janice, I found your blog (through Pinterest) around Christmas and have been earnestly studying your archives. Your gentle encouragement has established what has to be the *best* community on the internet. I’ve been dressing better— in fact, a friend at church commented on how “spiffy” I always look! I, of course, told her all about TVF. Thank you so much for your generosity and kindness.
Big hugs to you! Thanks for letting us know that you’re here!
xoxo,
Janice
It is so funny because navy and denim are my favorite neutrals but I actually felt like the blues from Monday didn’t go together as well and yet my eye loves these shades together. Isn’t it strange what we do and don’t like, and how different it is for each of us. I do agree about the black shoes, I think the other shoes you’ve used look better and I would probably go with brown shoes for loafers or a nude shade. The dress is amazing! I love it!
The concept of a monochromatic wardrobe makes a lot of sense for travel if pieces co-ordinate or otherwise ‘play well together’. As my quotidian wardrobe it’s a hard ‘non’. I like variety and a lot of contrast and would be sorely tempted to add bright raspberry, more black or orange or gold to jazz things up a notch. I’d like to see a heroine named Rose…
Also have to agree with the commenter who says she does care how people feel about how she dresses. To some degree it’s not our business how others feel about how we dress, that is their problem. BUT “Or that her outfits don’t quite go together. She is dressing to please herself, so these thoughts mean nothing to her anymore…” this is veering into ‘eccentric, I don’t care anymore’ territory. Something that women of a certain age are often accused of or actually espouse. I unapologetically do care (though I sit here post run in do rag, tights and century old hoodie) because I respect others enough to actually think about what I’m putting on. Not to garner effusive accolades but maybe to make someone smile or think that I cared enough to ‘pull myself together’ for them or the occasion. It takes little effort.
But kudos to Ivy. Her wardrobe doesn’t at all look like the musings of a bag lady in waiting. So clearly she does care, at least a little.
Gorgeous! If I had to go monochrome beyond my favourite grey and white tones I’d probably go blue or green! I could easily add several of these outfits to my current wardrobe and they’d coordinate beautifully.
If this heroine aptly named Ivy wanted an eyeshadow palette- a small one suitable for travel I have one she’d love. 6 shades in a soft cool toned khaki green theme by Urban Decay called Foxy. One of their minis I bought last year.
Well, I almost passed in this post. So glad I checked it out! First, the dress is spectacular on the model-absolutely stunning. Second, I traveled in France in 2018 with a woman who wore basically this wardrobe that she purchased from Lands End, and it was very attractive with her ginger coloring. In my case, I cautiously bought a utility jacket and some wide leg pants last year in olive with a touch of blue. I still look kind of sick when I wear green unless it really goes in the direction of blue green, so I am still working to incorporate those pieces into my wardrobe. Takeaway from today’s post, for me, is that TVF ALWAYS teaches my something, even if I’m not drawn in right away. So, many thanks to you, Janice.
Hi again. I forgot your challenge today. My eyebrow-raising travel wardrobe would be based on jeans and some wide pallazo-style pants with hoody shirts and sweaters. And cozy silver sneaks. At age 85 I guess I should look more grown up….
ha! I missed the “challenge” and had to go look. A couple of years ago my travel wardrobe was entirely purple – including purple hair. My son said he could pick me out of the sea of other parents showing up for the Air Force Basic Graduation. I have since ditched almost all of the purple (except the hair) as I got just too tired of it after a couple of years. This year when he sees me I will be in navy with orange accents. Maybe not completely eyebrow raising, but the purple hair generally gets attention!
I adore my purple highlights – I don’t see giving them up until/unless I start traveling enough that I can’t keep them fresh…
hugs,
Janice
Why? Being grown-up is for young people who think it’s something special! I am rather smitten with my inner child…
xoxo,
Janice
I’ve just turned 60 and yet I still want florals, sparkle and shine. I think one’s style is set in ones twenties. You just vary the particular items as you age but you will still like particular materials, details, colours. I love the idea of silver sneakers. Go for it. Life is too short to worry whether people think that you are not ‘dressing your age’.
I just looked down at myself. I’m wearing grey-green chinos and a muted warm green sweater. It works because the pieces are the same muted intensity. I have a drawer full of green – teals to olives, kelly to olive drab. Too many shades really. I have green eyes and like green. I wouldn’t wear vastly different shades together though.
Lily, so glad you posted this. I have mostly emerald (bright?) green except for one olive green tshirt and cardigan. Which look great with many of my scarves, and all of my neutrals. To me they almost seem like orphans, except they aren’t because they coordinate with other things beautifully. It’s nice to know I am not alone in having varying shades of green – I also have green eyes and whenever I wear green they look just amazing.
This lady of a certain age (79) is not bothered about what other people think except sometimes I do like to make them sit up and notice (my inner peacock) and a lime green top under a bright pink jacket is a favourite outfit. I don’t even warn them to wear dark glasses.lol.
Re the greens, while olive may not be my first pick for green, I think it shows how tones may be played with and is a great example. As for what I would assemble and dare to wear, my vintage cut items fit that bill. Today I pulled a cotton canvas giant floral print skirt in a bright india ink and white to go with an india ink and white stripe top. The shoes are a soft cocoa brown closed toe t strap kitten heeled sandal that is very 40s. So a bit out of the box with the print mixing. Thank you Janice for some interesting thought provoking posts lately.
I somehow thought today was Tuesday so didn’t think to check for todays post until now. 🤷♀️
I’m another green-eyed lover of green so this post really has me thinking about if I would wear head-to-toe green. I’m definitely open to it…as long as they’re blue-based greens.
The dress is especially great. Square necklines are undervalued which is a shame because they’re flattering on many different shaped bodies.
I have light green eyes and ash brown hair going white. Olive is too sludgy on me. I can wear light grey-green but I look lovely in teal, sea glass, duck egg and other blue-greens. Those are my greens. I get compliments when I tonally dress in teal and other blue greens.
Funny you should provide a flashback link to the blue and beige wardrobe based on a bracelet.
I actually bought that bracelet because of your post and had to wait a while cause it sold out so quickly. I love it.
Also funny, at the moment I am on a trip and have that bracelet with me and a wardrobe based around it.
Thanks for all your great ideas v
Hello Janice, I am loving your blog and really wanted to share this video with you. https://youtu.be/lQflBowgVB4. Not only is it a informative and passionate Ted talk on a great piece of art, but I couldn’t help noticing the lovely outfit. Is she reading your blog, too? A lovely elegant outfit with a stunning scarf. If she isn’t one of your heroines, she ought to be. Much love, and keep the lovely blog posts coming. From Tasmania. Xxoo Melinda
She writes books as well. Very interning woman when you look into her biography.
Julie in Melbourne
I’d love to see an all purple wardrobe. Red is the most difficult colour to blend.
All-purple would be very interesting. I have a hunch that purples would be trickier than greens, in terms of mixing various colour gradients.
And finding purple clothes would be maddening – purple pants? A purple blazer? It could happen – if I ever stumble into a lode of purple clothes, I will try…
hugs,
Janice
My entire wardrobe revolves around olive green. I love it and it loves me back, flattering my hair, eye and skin tones more than any other shade. It is also amazingly versatile and goes with so many other colors.
So many fashion experts insist that every woman must have black in her wardrobe. Yes, many women love black and some wear it very well, but it doesn’t suit everyone. I so greatly appreciate that you include a wide range of colors and color combinations in your posts. Some I really like, some not so much, but I learn from them all and dress better as a result.
Thank you for inspiring us all to be the best versions of ourselves.
Yes! I needed this extra push to wear my greens together! Tone on tone is so liberating. Thanks so much, Janice!
Purchasing green items online is so frustrating. I’m never quite sure which olive/loden/khaki/army/green will be in the bag.
Love it!!! I have never thought green could be this easy to dress, love your picks!
Warm greens! Yes! I’d add a little bright peridot/ citric green, really dark olive & maybe some black & ivory for contrast… but otherwise, these colors are all ones I pick out every time, cuz they’re just so good for hazels. 😊.
Oh, I love this color scheme so much. If only it weren’t so hard to find “good” greens.
My husband has a beautiful trench coat inherited from his father, made in Germany many decades ago, that is the Platonic ideal of the neutral grey-green that I would love to build a travel wardrobe around, or a whole wardrobe. I am so envious of this coat!
This post inspires me to keep up the quest.