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Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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4X4 Wardrobe Archives - Page 6 of 14

How to add Accent Colors to a Navy, Grey and Camel capsule wardrobe

March 10, 2017

Monday I added accessories to a very neutral navy, grey, camel and white; many of you requested in the comments that I go back to my reader's original accent colors of wine and forest green to see how they might look with this capsule wardrobe.

Changing up accent colors is one of the easiest ways to take a very classic capsule wardrobe and put your personal spin on things, so I was positively eager to get to this post!

First up, let's update the color palette that we were using, and update the style notes for a bit of guidance:

 

I didn't want to really disrupt the core of our original Four by Four wardrobe, so I chose the very easiest way to experiment with accent colors - tee shirts!

I just pulled ... View the Post

Can I Use Denim in Place of… ? Substituting Denim for Olive Grey in a Four by Four Wardrobe

February 22, 2017

 

You asked, and it was a really intelligent question - can I use denim in place of olive green, in a wardrobe from The Vivienne Files?

Heck yes! Neutral colors can be interchanged, especially in casual wardrobes in which rigorous color matching isn't terribly important. Let's recreate a recent wardrobe and make this substitution, to see how it works out.

First up - remember this amazing painting by Salvador Dali? I've changed the associated color palette to include the denim that we want:

I'm starting from the same point as before - a solid core of grey garments:

The first difference is immediate - instead of the olive tee shirt from before, I found a shirt that feels very denim-ish!

Tee – ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe with Olive and Grey – Start with Art: Head of a Woman by Salvador Dali

February 16, 2017

I've been asked repeatedly to look at grey and olive together in a wardrobe, and I finally found a painting that put a really interesting spin on those 2 colors:

The colors in "Head of a Woman" by Salvador Dali are amazing - a huge variety of neutrals, including olive, grey, black, shades of brown, and even a bit of faded denim blue. But it's that pink that really sets this apart!

Just to give us a different look at how to go about building a 4x4 wardrobe 1 piece at a time, I'm starting with four of the grey garments that we've been using in wardrobes for the last few days. My thinking is that you might already own a pretty good core of one neutral, but be stuck as to the steps to take to incorporate your ... View the Post

How to Expand Your Accessory Wardrobe: Winter Scene in Moonlight by Henry Farrer

January 23, 2017

 

On Friday, I expanded the original travel capsule wardrobe into a more complete "Four x Four" capsule wardrobe, but the real fun comes with adding more accessories!

When our heroine originally packed for her winter weekend on the farm, these were her accessories - lots of scarves!

Just for reference purposes, and to enjoy this painting one last time, this is her style inspiration:

For normal life, constantly wearing boots won't work, so we probably should start by getting her a comfy pair of loafers...

  And just because I'm bracelet mad these days, another star bracelet could be a fun addition. It's a good thing that I'm in a shopping moratorium this year, because these ALL are very ... View the Post

Expanding a Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Winter Scene in Moonlight by Henry Farrer

January 20, 2017

 

This is such a lovely painting, and such a truly simple and straightforward color-scheme:

When we first visited this painting, it was to help inspire a cold-weather long weekend in the country. This was the wardrobe (minus the nightgown!) that our heroine packed. Many of you asked me if it would be possible to expand this wardrobe a little bit, into a more complete winter wardrobe; I'm ALWAYS happy to try to oblige!

 

That translates into half of a Four by Four Wardrobe, arrayed this way:

As much as that star cardigan could be worn every (cold) day for a decade and not grow old; it only makes sense to have at least a couple of cardigans for the colder weather. A zipped black cashmere ... View the Post

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 to Build a Business Wardrobe One Piece at a Time: Navy, with Emerald and Amethyst

January 9, 2017

I got this email just before Christmas - one of my readers got a new job, and needs to build a new wardrobe to wear. This is a pretty special workplace - very elegant, with occasional clothing allowance cash awards given, and all laundry and dry-cleaning reimbursed! Pretty dreamy, at least from a wardrobe point of view...

I think the target color scheme is based on my reader's very russet hair, fair skin and freckles, which look GREAT with these accents...

Of course, I answered her email right away, and she's already purchased a bunch of things for her new position, but I thought that this was so pretty, so luxurious, and such a dream shopping adventure, that I wanted to share it with you all!

First thing - ... View the Post

Build an Accessory Wardrobe 1 Piece at a Time: Soir d’Octobre by Maurice Denis

January 6, 2017

 

Yesterday's capsule wardrobe based on Soir d'Octobre was pretty great, but we can't just leave our imaginary heroine like this:

Let's remember our inspiration:

So let's work step by step - just as we did yesterday - and add all of the essential accessories (and a few fun ones) to this wardrobe.

First, one must have shoes! This time of year, a pair of short boots is a nice warm choice:

sweater - L.L.Bean; shirt - Lands' End; leather pants - J.Crew;   Top boots – Rockport; middle - Aerosoles; bottom – Ariat  

I know that many women would want a handbag immediately, but for me, I don't feel dressed unless I'm wearing earrings!

Here, I decided to test-drive the theory that I ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in a Olive-Based Capsule Wardrobe: An Evaluation

December 9, 2016   The wardrobe is as far from colors that I wear as is physically possible, but I still think it's really  nice - very well-balanced, lots of attractive choices, and a wide range of ways to pull outfits together.  

  I'm always surprised to see how organized these wardrobes turn out to be, even though I made choices for a lot of months based on things that just interested me, or that I found attractive. In this wardrobe example, the Four by Four wardrobe possibilities were really easy to find:

When we look at this wardrobe in terms of how well it serves the owner for a range of activities, through a full year of weather, the only real "blanks" I see are in the area of very dressy activities. ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in a A Black-Based Capsule Wardrobe – An Evaluation

December 7, 2016  

Ah, this one is closest to my normal capsule wardrobe, and to what I would buy if I had to start all over...Remember, we left this wardrobe on the first of November like this:

 

You can see the outfit-by-outfit progression of this wardrobe here: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November.

Because this wardrobe is so close to my own, I wasn't really concerned that things wouldn't be reasonably well balanced. The easy assembly of a "Four by Four" capsule wardrobe supports my thoughts:  

 

I wasn't quite as certain that things would be as well-balanced for seasons and dressiness - I tend to love cold-weather clothing more than warm, and ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in a Grey Capsule Wardrobe: An Evaluation

December 6, 2016   Back on the first of November (which seems like it was YEARS ago...) we left this capsule wardrobe looking this way: 

If you need to track back and catch up on how we got to this point, the earlier posts can be found here:  January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November.

I had a hunch that this wardrobe was in pretty good shape, and this is borne out by the way that the Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe fell into place so easily:

I noticed something sort of interesting when I graphed the garments on the basis of season and dressiness - the cooler weather clothes were more casual, and the warmer weather items skewed a bit more dressy.

This makes sense, when ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in a Beige-Based Capsule Wardrobe: An Evaluation

December 5, 2016  

This seemed like it was going to be a really impractical, too pastel, too feminine exercise... but upon analysis, it's turned out quite well!This was where we left it on the first of November:

If you want to go back and catch up on earlier posts, check here: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November.

Here was the first signal to me that this was a pretty well-constructed 11-month shopping adventure; I was easily able to pull out pieces to assemble a really functional Four by Four wardrobe:

This layout, on spectrums of weather and of dressiness, might suggest that this heroine could use something dressy for cool weather...

And when I arranged all of the ... View the Post