The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Accessorizing Archives - Page 9 of 22

How to Choose Business Accessories, One at a Time – With a Navy Suit

January 11, 2017

 

Monday, we pulled together a wonderful business capsule wardrobe with a navy suit for the reader with a new job, but let's get her some accessories too!

 

Obviously, she had shoes on when she interviewed, but let's add a beautiful pair of black pumps, with comfortably low heels, to her wardrobe first:

 

And I always want earrings, sooner than later. I know women who never wear them and who look just fine, but I always feel more... complete? finished? when I get my earrings on...

While it's entirely possible to carry everything you need in your pockets when you're just banging around town, for work, a nice bag is essential. I didn't try to get navy leather goods for this ... View the Post

How Much Can Accessories Affect Your Capsule Wardrobe?

November 30, 2016  

Someone sent me this painting a few days ago, and the first thing that I noticed (after just generally admiring the lovely art) was the touches of teal and cool brown accent:

And I have to let you know that this painting set a record last week for the highest auction price EVER for a Canadian painting. Well worth it, in my opinion...

I was intrigued with the idea of a very conservative, mostly navy and grey wardrobe, accented with those two surprising accent colors. So I started with a few pieces, including a navy pantsuit. If you're looking for suit separates, I highly recommend Talbots - they have a variety of colors and fabrics.

Let's start with these basics - this is literally a Wardrobe Slot ... View the Post

What to Pack for Paris? The Easiest Answer, So Far!

November 29, 2016  

Yes, I got back from Florida late Sunday night. And yes, I'm leaving for Paris on Thursday....Somehow, that got past me when I was planning these trips individually! But it's going to be fine.

When planning a travel capsule wardrobe for cold weather, it's critical to start with your outerwear. During the day in Paris, virtually EVERYONE is going to see me in my coat, and only the rare person in a restaurant and maybe a museum will see what's underneath. Thus, the coat is pretty important!

For this trip, I felt like I wanted to wear my red Barbour jacket. Partly because I want a break from black, partly because it's a wonderful jacket (with two big snapped pockets that completely obviate the need for a ... View the Post

One Navy Dress in a Capsule Wardrobe: 14 Ways to Wear it With Muted Accents

September 2, 2016

One last adventure with this dress - this time, with muted accent colors like olive, burgundy, and mustard! (I have been hungry 24/7 for a week...)

You might notice more or less immediately that I'm reusing a TON of accessories from the recent post with the grey dress. I'm not doing this because I'm lazy, (well...) but because it all fell into place, unexpectedly.

When I put together posts like this, which are variations of previous posts, I reuse the original PowerPoint file. For this, I went through each page, deleted the original grey dress, and pasted in the navy dress. Then I changed the color of the divider stars... It was only when I went to the next step - changing the accessories - that I realized that I ... View the Post

One Navy Dress in a Capsule Wardrobe: 14 Ways to Wear it With Brights

August 31, 2016

I always intended to do 3 posts with this dress, yesterday's pastels, today's bright colors, and on Friday I'm going to look at some muted shades... (tomorrow is the first of the month - time to revisit those "1 Outfit per Month" wardrobes!) So today, I changed the shoes, but kept to the same general theme of working through a range of colors.

(These seven images look really great together on my computer; I don't often notice this, but I've got this lovely rainbow running down the side of my desktop right now...)

The color spectrum isn't quite the same as yesterday, but I still worked my way around the color wheel. Doing this ensures that I don't miss any possibilities; it's something to consider when you're looking ... View the Post

Essential Accessories for a Travel Capsule Wardrobe: What I’m Packing: Italy, September 2016

August 25, 2016     As of 6 pm Chicago time on Wednesday, I have no news about the town that I was going to visit next week. It is about 50 miles from the epicenter of the earthquakes, so I suspect that it avoided much damage. Nonetheless, we are considering the possibility of just staying in Rome for a week, and avoiding the region entirely. No decisions have been made yet, though... Of course, let's keep the earthquake victims, (and all victims, everywhere) in our hearts.  

  Let's jump right in! I've known for weeks what my travel outfit is, including shoes, so let's start building around that:    

For what it's worth, I'd buy the same Munro oxfords again when these wear out; they're ... View the Post

Building a Wardrobe of Bags – Accessories for the Capsule Wardrobe

August 19, 2016  

A couple of weeks ago, Belovedest and I were wandering around Chicago when we happened upon a store called The Shudio. Yes, it's a "hybrid of a retail shop full of eco conscious goods... combined with a metalsmith jewelry studio."  And yes, this is some fun...I could have purchased a lot of things, but I'm trying very hard to avoid that kind of reckless madness (especially with THREE big vacations coming up in the next year!), but I did buy a lovely little black leather wristlet, from a company called CHC. They donate 10% of their revenue to a local organization for homeless women, and all of their materials are local. Pretty nice; I was happy.

But when I got home and dug out my bag for our upcoming trip ... View the Post

A Capsule Wardrobe in Beige, Bright Blue and Orange: Expanding Your Accessories

August 12, 2016  

Oh, how I love accessories....As a reminder, this is where we left the capsule wardrobe when we finished the 4 additions to it yesterday:

floral shirt – Barbour; orange earrings – Kendra Scott; watch – Skagen;  ring – Savvy Cie; hoop earrings – Madewell;  necklace – Bleu; bracelet – Danielle Nicole;  blue earrings – Kate Spade; tee – L.L.Bean;blue tee – Uniqlo; orange cardigan – Joseph;  floral tee – Atos Lombardini; tank - Missoni; orange tunic – Jaeger; scarf – Eloise Bricka; blue cardigan – Betty Barclay; field jacket - L.L.Bean; wrap – Goyo; pants – L.L.Bean; skirt – L.L.Bean; ballet flats – SoftWalk; loafers – Aerosoles;jeans – L.L.Bean; bag – Ted Baker London; ... View the Post

A Capsule Wardrobe in Navy, Hot Pink and Ivory: Expanding Your Accessories

August 9, 2016

When we last saw this travel capsule wardrobe, it had some accessories - probably enough for a short period of time:

cardigan – Yumi; tees – Lands’ End; watch – Bulova; bracelet – Panacea; earrings – Marc Jacobs; ring – Maiko Nagayama; earrings – Kate Spade;  necklace – Alexis Bittar; Nail polish – JINsoon; lip stain – Yves Saint Laurent, in Explicit Pink;  wrap – Nordstrom; linen shirt – Uniqlo; square scarf – Irene Paris;  small scarf – T.M.Lewin; cardigan – Vince; jeans – Armani Jeans; cords – Marni; skirt – Uniqlo; tote – London Fog;  flats – Anne Klein; loafers – Vionic; pumps – SoftWalk  

It would be great if I can figure out an Accessory Template, but right now I'm still ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories 1 at a Time: Brown, Khaki and Pink

July 25, 2016  

She was enjoying the shopping...Of course, she had to start with shoes. There are women in the world who don't need shoes, but that's not the general rule. So she started with something in her favorite dark chocolate brown:

Shirt – Lands’ End; pants – Lands’ End; sweater – Uniqlo;  scarf – Givenchy; top shoes – OluKai; boots – Pikolinos; bottom shoes – Born  

She couldn't WAIT to get some earrings - she'd been wearing demure, tiny studs for years, and she wanted something more fun. And something PINK!

 

Tee – L.L.Bean; pants – Lands’ End; sweater – Uniqlo;  top earrings – Charriol; middle earrings – Matta; bottom earrings – Latelita London  

And a scarf, ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories 1 at a Time: Black and Beige

July 19, 2016  

Ah, let's add some accessories to yesterday's black and beige travel capsule wardrobe, shall we?Remember, we started with this outfit, to which we MUST add shoes. There aren't a lot of wardrobe essentials in the world, but shoes, when traveling, might qualify:

And I always like earrings for travel - they can be out of your way, but still add a nice touch of ornamentation to your outfit, and draw some attention to your smiling face.

 

 

Oh yes, and a scarf can be very handy if you're going to be on an airplane or train which might be freezing cold!

 

Some people never wear watches, and many of us wear some sort of step-measurement device. But I think watches look ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories 1 at a Time: Shades of Beige and Brown

May 23, 2016  

These subtle colors in this capsule wardrobe really appeal to me...Remember, this was our first outfit, to which one MUST add some shoes. Unless you live somewhere that doesn't require shoes?

  Tee – Uniqlo; pants – Uniqlo; cardigan – L.L. Bean; top shoes – Tamaris; middle shoes – Seychelles; bottom shoes – Robert Zur  

 

And simple earrings! I particularly like that bottom pair because they're simple, but they aren't...

 

Tank - Uniqlo; pants – Uniqlo; cardigan – L.L. Bean; top earrings – Uno de 50; middle earrings – Lauren Ralph Lauren; bottom earrings –Alexis Bittar  

There weren't hundreds of scarves in this very subtle color scheme, ... View the Post