December 8, 2023
I didn’t have any coffee yesterday (physicals with fasting blood tests are the worst…), and today I’m getting all weepy and sentimental about all sort of things! Not the least? Saying goodbye to these 6 paintings…
For the rest of our lives, if we happen to see an image of any of these anywhere, we will recognize them, and remember them well! What a way to learn art…
First, my very favorite. In the end, I’m true to black and white!
Our heroine ended November with a tidy 35-piece wardrobe, well-suited to most of life:
Before you buy ANYTHING, you should be able to state clearly to yourself why you either need or want the item in question. If you neither need nor want it (beyond the simple lust for owning all of the beautiful things!), keep your cash!
This heroine discovered, rather late in the wardrobe plan, that she sorely missed black and white stripes. I can surely sympathize!
So she shopped with a mission:
Earrings – Closet Rehab; striped shirt – Lands’ End; Cashmere turtleneck – Lands’ End; tee shirt – Lands’ End; tweed shoes – G.H.Bass; tote bag – Lands’ End
What a change! The tops from her wardrobe now look like this:
And her bottoms are these; if she could have found the perfect tweed pants, she would have them! She will continue to look for them, long after we have hugged her and waved goodbye…
Her shoes and bags are splendid – I would take every pair of shoes in a New York minute:
Wonderful jewelry, wonderful scarves:
It would require a couple of big suitcases, but with this wardrobe, I could travel indefinitely… I don’t do a lot of warm-weather destinations, so I think I’d be fine. I’d love to try!
How to wear her new purchases? Always be sure to have a plan before you hand over your hard-earned money for something, right?
I may well print out some of these images and tack them to my idea board for a while…
But let’s be grown-ups, and move on to the last wardrobe! I think this is a wonderful painting, full of soft colors, and subtle images and patterns. One could be inspired by this for years…
The “end of December” wardrobe doesn’t look like anything any other woman in this project is wearing – clearly this heroine lives somewhere warmish:
She needs some yellow – at least something to wear under her cardigan! And she doesn’t have a green sweater EITHER!
Her most genius discover is the Erdem bag. Nobody I know can afford “real” Erdem, but this bag is a special partnership with the British Fashion Institute, and is priced well below a month’s rent…
I love Erdem, but don’t believe I’ve ever shared any with you; it is wildly expensive…
Moonstone, rose quartz & diamond earrings – La Kaiser; butter yellow tee – L.L.Bean; bay leaf sweater – L.L.Bean; pink sweater – Lands’ End; floral tote – BFC Newgen X Erdem; floral jacquard sneakers – Keds
Now, at the end of the year, her shirts and sweater are thus:
I love a stack of tee shirts…
And her bottoms are thus:
Her shoes and bags are perfect for her wardrobe; if she were less absent-minded, she might not have TWO pairs of light blue ballet flats…
I rarely wear pastels – I don’t feel quite right in them – but these earrings could persuade me to change my mind:
Her new purchases make it possible for her to dress a bit warmer; no matter how warm it is where you live, it might get cool sometimes…
And that is that!
At the end of the year, have you found that there’s a favorite that has stuck with you?
I’ve realized that – as much as the all-brown wardrobe turned my head A LOT – I’m true to black and white, especially stripes and patterns.
It’s a good thing to know about myself!
love,
Janice
Like this article? Save it to Pinterest!
The Klee is closer to the type of wardrobe I need here in Florida. But I would want brighter, clearer colors. I also noticed this heroine has only one pair of shorts. Something to address if she’s in a truly warm climate.
All the wardrobes are fabulous. But what I really love are the accessories. I could find a way to incorporate all of them into my wardrobe.
I’m sad to see these heroines go, but I’m excited to see what’s coming next.
Thank you,Janice, for another lovely and instructive year.
Happy Holidays to all!
These two are my favourites from the whole year. I love your collaborative colours but being older works with just a few colours. I must have black for winter and navy for summer. Thanks so much fir your wonderful and amazing ideas colours and outfit planning.
Yes the beautiful accessories are what make my heart beat faster! I have a very small, and probably what would be regarded as a boring wardrobe, but love love scarves, and brooches are my favourite jewellery at the moment. I too shall be sad to see this series end, but Janice always brings us such interesting heroines and their wardrobes!
Thank you for those lessons on how to decide what to buy. What you add something, the place for it in a wardrobe becomes quite obvious, and with your help, I have almost finished doing that with my own clothes, and it’s quite satisfying that not much tempts me right now. (Not much!)
I keep thinking that in my 30’s I would have been all over that first wardrobe. Sadly 30 years later those colors are no longer my best. I did pick up that amazing Alex Mill blue sweater from ebay, and also that blue peacock scarf. Just couldn’t resist them, and they work with what I have now. I can absolutely see the pastel wardrobe on the right person. Thank you for another great year – so looking forward to what’s next. Have a great weekend ladies, I am very excited to be going to a Christmas Fair on the coast with my future DIL and her mother.
Janice,
Now I’m feeling all sentimental! Thank you so much for all your work on our behalf. I SO appreciate the beauty you bring to my life! (and the order you bring to my closet!)
Happy Holidays to you!!! and to you fellow readers….
Camille
As much as I like the brown wardrobe, I find I really only want to wear brown in the late summer and fall. It doesn’t feel as right in December or late winter or early spring, when I’m looking forward to spring flowers and colours. It is such a beautiful wardrobe though and I do keep a small cluster of it.
I prefer the series using paintings instead of scarves. In the past I have bought two of the scarves which are so beautiful. I don’t wear them. As a retired person doing lots of outdoor activities like hiking, the silk scarves don’t get out much. I will have to be strong next year and enjoy the scarf series for its beauty and not its attainability.
Thanks, Janice, for a wonderful year of wardrobes. I get ideas from each and every one. Quite often they inspire my outfit for the day. Thank you
The Renoir is truly me.
I love the style of the pastel wardrobe, but even if such pale colors suited me, they just wouldn’t work with my lifestyle of living in the country and having large, exuberant dogs.
Overall, I just found it fascinating how the colors of one wardrobe would or wouldn’t be the best for me, but the colors didn’t correspond with how well I liked a wardrobe at the end, which depended much more on the general style and vibe each one. This is truly moving me towards a better analysis of my own, and I’m setting myself a project of getting my whole wardrobe into a tracker app over the holidays when I have some time off so I can see what I wear over the next year and look for gaps and more ways to wear what I have.
As with the others, I have to say a huge thank you, Janice, for putting these beautiful wardrobes together and for all the inspiration!
Watching you build these wardrobes, and looking over the past iterations has taught me so much in the last year or so of following along with the Vivienne Files.
I’ve been on a weight loss journey for the past two and a half years, so my wardrobe has needed to be completely remade from the ground up.
That was a very daunting prospect when I was first contemplating surgery! I had never before set out to actually PLAN a wardrobe!
Now, after seeing so many color schemes, seasonal wardrobes, styles, and levels of dressiness, I feel like I kind of, maaaaaybe know what I am doing, at least for me.
I have loved seeing all of these wardrobes come together. And I know these two in particular are for sure my favorites. They aren’t “my” colors necessarily, but they make my heart glad to look at them.
Thank you so much for all you do and have the merriest of holiday seasons!
I liked the look back with red. Such a cheery, bold choice yet also a classic. I don’t believe any of this year’s wardrobes included red? Will we see any next year?
Thank you Janice for another wonderful year. Like all the others I look forward to what 2024 brings from your amazing ability. You truly have a gift for putting clothing and accessories together.
It has been a very inspiring year and you have pulled together some wonderful capsules. There has been so much to learn about ourselves and how we want to order our wardrobes and our lives. Going forward in 2024 I want to wish you and all of your wonderful readers a fantastically fashionable year and beautifully curated closets.
Yes, thank you for the beautiful wardrobes you build each year. I particularly love the art inspiration as I have learned new artists along with the clothes they inspire. I don’t usually comment but just wanted to share my appreciation. Happy Holidays!
Hi Janice,
Thank you for another inspirational year of clothes. My favourite, without a doubt is the one based on the Kirchner painting…it actually has me catching my breath each time it appears. Sadly, black and white no longer do me any favours. However, I continue to learn so much by the way you put these wardrobes together, step by step.
I’m so looking forward to whatever treats you have in store for us in the New Year.
Continue to stay well.
Wishing you all the very best of the season, from a very soggy Ireland.
Sue
I’m retiring to Ireland – we’ll have coffee, or a pint…
hugs,
Janice
Ooh, I am so looking forward to what you’ve planned for next year! I feel like I’ve learned a lot even though none of them truly felt like something I could wear. Really, really hoping you do one with cool-toned soft colours. You love black and gold and warm-toned colours so much and it is just not flattering on me.
Definitely the Kirchner! I would have included more purple (if I could find it) and less pink, but it’s a fantastic wardrobe.
Thank you for a wonderful year of wardrobe inspiration!