Build a Capsule Wardrobe Archives - Page 81 of 81

Wardrobes mantra: Carefully Curated and Deliberately Distilled

So far, all of the wardrobes I've built have been posted under the heading French Chic, and I'm frankly becoming a bit uncomfortable with that. We've wandered quite a distance from what the original guidelines of Susan Sommers' iconic book, and I'm not sure that I should continue to exploit the title which is so indelibly hers.

Thus, I'm just going to call them wardrobes. And with that decision, I thought I should share with you the mantra I use for the building of these little gems.

First: Carefully Curated. Each garment has to make the cut. I've heard some fairly harsh criticism recently that "good enough" is really okay for one's wardrobe, and I have to disagree. Yes, in some circumstances we do have ... View the Post

French Chic: if you’re really exotic and work in advertising!

Blazer – 3.1 Phillip Lim, Cardigan – Acne, Blouse – Yves Saint Laurent, Tee Shirt – Topshop, Pants – 3.1 Phillip Lim, Bermuda Short – 3.1 Phillip Lim, Jeans – Alexander McQueen, Scarf - Hermès

One of my friends has long black hair, an outrageous personality, and works in advertising. This is for her!

White blouse – Marc by Marc Jacobs , Trench coat – Dolce & Gabbana, Winter coat – Maxmara Studio, Dress – Alexander McQueen, Pants – 3.1 Phillip Lim, Leather Skirt – Helmut Lang, Sweater – 3.1 Phillip Lim, Leather jacket – Helmut Lang

Dress – 3.1 Phillip Lim, Jacket – 3.1 Phillip Lim, Tank – 3.1 Phillip Lim, Tee ... View the Post

French Chic: Expanding on the core wardrobe

So as lovely as the garments above are, this is certainly not going to be enough clothing to even get you through a week. Most of us would want at least five separate tops and bottoms (or a dress) to get through the week. Even if you wear black pants repeated each week, it's nice to have more than one pair.

Thus, I decided to take it upon myself to determine what additional garments Vivienne would want in order to consider this a complete wardrobe. Realistically, I think most of us would do this exercise twice - once for cooler weather, and once for the sweltering misery that passes for summer on much of our planet. But for starters, let's just round out this core wardrobe with a few of the ... View the Post

French Chic: The core of the French Chic wardrobe

One of the things about the book French Chic (Susan Sommers) which intrigued me was the list of garments which included "The seven essentials no well-dressed Frenchwoman would be without". That list included:

A black straight skirt a V-neck or cardigan sweater a suit a pair of jeans a silk shirt a couple of white tee-shirts an Hermes scarf

The idea of a list of essential clothing fascinates me; in a world that tries to compel me to over-consume, that finite-ness of a list like this, in which I could have some discipline and some structure, seems heaven-sent. Knowing that I was going to buy a fixed number of garments would give me the freedom to determine how much I wanted to spend, in what areas I ... View the Post

Back to the roots of the Vivienne Files – part 8: Vivienne’s Valise, continued

I've been asked how I managed for almost 6 weeks with the very limited amount of clothing that I took with me on that trip that will live in infamy. I had a plan, believe me!

Just for reference, remember that these are the clothes that I had with me.

For flying, I pretty much always wore jeans, with the black v-neck sweater. Usually I would put either the white tee shirt or the striped tee shirt under the sweater, depending on how warm it was where I was leaving, what the weather would be where I was arriving, and what was clean!

First thing I did in the door of every new hotel in every new city/country was to give some clothing to the in-house laundry. This is always risky, because you never know when someone's going to ... View the Post

What my French friend wears to work: The roots of the Vivienne Files

Vivienne and I first got to be friends because of packing - she works in a hotel in Paris and was helping me pull together a training session I was running - and after the first or second day, she said something like "you got dressed in my closet this morning" and then we wound up having drinks, and THEN she came up to my room to eat room service (Gratis, since she works for the hotel) and hanging out with me while I did my ironing.

Bottom line, I know the girl's packing philosophy cold, since she and I have the same approach.

Start with a base of 5 garments, no matter how long or how short the trip:

Jacket or cardigan Pants that match Skirt that matches Top that goes with the above Another top that ... View the Post

One French woman’s Small, Simple wardrobe: Back to the roots of the Vivienne Files

June 9, 2011 This is from a posting in a discussion group in which I listed the entirety of Vivienne's work wardrobe. I imagine that it has changed very little in the intervening years. Note that I've assigned "days of the week" to these little vignettes, but I don't know that this necessarily corresponds to how and when Vivienne actually wears things.

Here's the inventory... (1) Charcoal gray flannel pants, gray and black striped sweater (1b) red and gray twinset

(2) Black short knit skirt, black merino twinset (2b) black and white striped turtleneck longer (tunic length?) sweater

(3) Black pants and blazer, black and white ... View the Post

An interesting exercise in priorities

May 26, 2011

One of the things I love about the internet is the serendipitous nature of finding interesting new ideas and information. Recently, I stumbled across the blog The Burning House, which is now defunct.

The premise of Burning House is to photograph what you would grab to save from your home if it were on fire. Now a big disclaimer here - I don't for a New York minute believe that the things photographed are what most respondents would REALLY grab in a pitched emergency. But taken in a larger sense, I look at the choices the participants have made as more a "what would you grab if you had 10 or 20 minutes, and a carry-on bag?" i.e. what do you own that means the most to you? The responses are ... View the Post

Back to the roots of the Vivienne Files – part 2

I think this will be the regular Wednesday post until I run out of the original content! As I noted last Wednesday, this information remains timeless, which is as good as reason as any to seriously consider incorporating these insights into my life.

"She buys a new outfit every 3 or 4 months, and thus gets rid of an outfit about that same time. This is her work wardrobe only, remember (although that is the lion's share of her clothes) so out of the 15 outfits she has, they last 3 or 4 years each. Bear in mind, she buys REALLY REALLY good things - Sonia Rykiel is one of her favorites. She made a strong point of reminding me that she does NOT dry clean everything each time she wears it. She rinses out sweaters and blouses ... View the Post