Accessorizing Archives - Page 4 of 22

Accent Colors to Wear With Gray – Pantone New York Autumn/Winter 2023

March 6, 2023

Grey for warm weather is hard to find! Later on, I might be able to find gray linen without a lot of trouble, but right now we have to think of grey as something we will wear on cool spring days...

All I'm doing here is showing all 10 of the Pantone Colors for Autumn/Winter 2023, as chosen from the New York Fashion Week shows... (which means that there will be ANOTHER bunch of colors for London, and probably ANOTHER bunch for Autumn/Winter, without any fashion show connection!)

I'm eager to hear from you all about which of these color combinations you like, and which you ... View the Post

HOW CAN YOU WEAR A NEW ACCENT COLOR? PANTONE AUTUMN/WINTER 2023/24

February 24, 2023

While the rest of us are just barely getting ready for Spring 2023, the crafty people at Pantone have already found colors that they're predicting will be BIG for Autumn/Winter 2023/24!

The first thing I noticed about these colors? Fully half of them were some variation of red! I wonder if this is really going to be popular, of it is just their assessment of the future...

Nonetheless! These colors suggest to us possibilities for a fresh accent in our wardrobes, and that is always interesting. Let's see:

What a wonderful color! But it's hard to really evaluate an entire page of things that are all the same color, so I'm going to toss in a simple navy core wardrobe, for mixing purposes...

Yes, the ... View the Post

Accessories! Project 333 based on Morris Graves/Rain by Kay Russell

January 30, 2023

Just to refresh our memories after the weekend, our current heroine is working on a Project 333 wardrobe based upon this painting and color palette:

Her plan is to include 16 garments and 17 accessories in her 3 month plan; the clothing that she's chosen is here:

She's going to be logical about this, and work her way through an assortment of outfits, making certain that she includes the appropriate accessories for each...

Finding both earrings AND a scarf in her favorite dusty green is a small victory, I'd say!

She's going to slightly dress up with her vest - a stunning pearl brooch, and some pretty loafers will do the trick:

Something warm and casual is always useful!

Her favorite ... View the Post

Accessorizing! Adding to a Navy, Green & Yellow Wardrobe

November 28, 2022

It has only been a few days - I'm sure you remember the wardrobe that we looked at last Wednesday!

I left that heroine with almost no accessories...

My favorite approach to adding accessories to a wardrobe is to choose a range of outfits, and then accessorize each outfit with what they need. After the 2nd outfit, I find that I can start re-using shoes, at least!

If you can find a lovely pair of shoes in your accent color, consider grabbing them! Some of us don't feel comfortable with accent shoes, but other people look amazing in them:

A seasonal brooch and a dressy bag will make it possible to wear an otherwise "not really dressy" outfit to all kinds of events:

Accent socks! And a scarf ... View the Post

Start with a Bracelet – Ethereal Lynx Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

October 28, 2022

She's Hard to Describe... For one thing, she's the only woman a lot of them know who can wear a ruana and look like a heroine from a romance novel...

She thinks that she's very low-key and inconspicuous - after all, she wears a lot of grey!

Her accent colors aren't bright, or gaudy...

But still, there's something about her that catches your eye, and doesn't readily let go...

If someone is truly beautiful, the world will see it...

Even if their beauty is entirely inside. Or maybe, ESPECIALLY if their beauty is internal...

love,

Janice

p.s. Nine years ago, I sorted out the "Triple Top Secret." It was something that I'd been doing for years without really seeing the ... View the Post

Some Pretty Things aka Have You Written Your Holiday Wish-List?

October 14, 2022

Let's just look at some pretty things, eh?

I ended up arranging things by color/mood, because they seemed to look good on the page like that!

Something like this, assembled with appropriate links or information, might make gift shopping easier for those who want to get you something that you really love this winter...

My first love here was the scarf. Or maybe the bracelet. It could have been the ring, too...

I have one of these little rectangle necklaces from Carved. They're lovely - very well made, and VERY affordable. And they come in dozens of colors... Take a look!

This scarf delights me - I could imagine folding and tying it in a couple of different ways to show the purple/pink ... View the Post

Five Accent Colors with Five Neutrals

October 12, 2022

Ah, the last 5 Pantone colors from New York Fashion Week! Just to make things interesting, I brought along five different neutral color "clusters" to test-drive with these VERY varied colors...

To me, this peachy color cried out for some camel...

And I think these are perfect together!

For about the ten thousandth time, if you look good in yellow - WEAR IT! It's not easy to wear for some of us, and it's such a great accent...

I'm picturing this heroine living somewhere that's warm most of the year, so her favorite neutral is white:

I think this is lovely - the top outfit, on a rainy day, with the right coat and umbrella, would cheer up everyone you saw!

I'm tempted to wear ... View the Post

Four Accent Colors with Charcoal Grey, and 1 with Navy Blue

September 26, 2022

Let's take a look at the second five "London Fashion Week" colors, as shared with us by Pantone...

You probably remember from last week that I showed the first 5 colors as accents to navy blue; I'm going to hold onto that navy for this bright green. It just seems to be the right thing to do!

This is the minimal, core navy wardrobe that I was using:

At least in my eyes, these colors are made for each other. While these outfits feel a lot like spring, let's bear in mind that we dress to flatter ourselves, NOT to match the calendar!

For the last 4 accent colors, I decided to see how they look with charcoal grey. This wee core wardrobe is more casual than the first; what you choose will depend on ... View the Post

1 Dress, 100 Days: Day 1

September 1, 2022

Today's the day! I'm excited to see how I feel wearing the same dress for 3+ months...

I'm meeting a friend for lunch today - she started her 1 Dress 100 Day adventure in the middle of August. We're wearing the same dress, but we will NEVER look very much alike!

Here's my first day - a lot of necklaces, and a shirt to protect my shoulders...

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Indulging in Jackets and Sweaters

July 20, 2022 I think this might qualify as a "Sometimes Extravagant Wednesday"... Treating Yourself... I know that dressing in a solid column is somewhat controversial, but it's also so popular that I wanted to see what possibilities could be found for both navy and olive...

Getting dressed is easier when you wear a solid column every day, but if you're looking for things like matching loafers, you might find that shopping can be challenging!

For a heroine committed to wearing her column, she might have tiny wardrobe of pants and shirts, and then TONS of sweater and jackets, scarves, and nifty shoes...

There are so many color possibilities - I can't think of any color that she couldn't wear with navy!

Everything from relaxed ... View the Post

A Few of My Favorite Things – April 2022

April 6, 2022

I've never done this, in the 12 years (!!?!!?!!) that I've been writing The Vivienne Files - just show you a bunch of stuff that caught my eye!

But I realized a few days ago that my "cool things to remember" file was getting stupid big, and so I thought that I could just show you items outside of the context of a wardrobe. You're adults - you'll figure out how these could be worn!

Everything here is from 1 website: wolfandbadger.com. I've been to their stores in New York and London, as well as ordering things from them. Their service is excellent...

And since all of these things come from small designers, you really could email a designer to ask questions! For example, if you madly admire a pair of red earrings, ... View the Post

Dresses – Accessorizing Them A Little Bit Differently…

March 25, 2022

Are you getting ready to wear dresses again? Now that the weather teases us with hints of spring, I begin to ponder what dresses are lurking in my stored warm-weather clothes, and how I will wear them...

I know some women prefer to wear dresses in colder weather, because they can wear tights! Fair enough, but don't discount the comfort and versatility of a "below the knee" dress in a light fabric and a roomy cut!

Today, for no good reason, I wanted to accessorize dresses in a way that's NOT the first thing one would expect; if you can find more than 1 way to wear a dress, you'll have a good reason to wear it even MORE often. That's always smart!

For example, this most excellent black dress would be an obvious base ... View the Post