September 15, 2014 One of the joys of having all of our core basics covered in our wardrobes is that, if a trend happens along that holds some interest and appeal, we can give it a try! This year, sweatshirts with some sort of enhancement seem to be everywhere. I've seen jeweled, beaded, embroidered, textured, and printed ones - some of them very beautiful. These can be worn with nice trousers and good-quality leather shoes on casual Friday in most offices. However, be careful, because some of these sweatshirts, while very lovely, are BLINDINGLY expensive. Happily, there are also very similar products available at more reasonable prices. Just check to be sure that your new purchase is put ... View the Post
Art Archives - Page 60 of 65
Start With Art: The Church at Coggeshall, Essex by John Armstrong
September 11, 2014
What a cool painting! It shows the World War 2 damage to the church, and the "reveal" of the interior structure of the church is fascinating. So sad that such a lovely piece of art is the result of destruction...
From this, I selected two relatively minor colors in the painting as the neutrals, and then used the gorgeous pastels as the accent colors. The black is clearly visible, but I grabbed the sage green from the shrubbery that's relatively obscured on the left side of the painting.
I think what I'm trying to show here is that, although the painting itself is very light with muted pastels, it's still possible to pull together a wardrobe from these colors without enriching your dry cleaner. Capturing ... View the Post
Start With Art: The Magpie by Claude Monet
September 4, 2014 In our mythical leisure, Belovedest and I watch art courses from The Great Courses. Our current course is The World's Greatest Paintings, in which we studied at some length the beauties of this:
Talk about mixing warm and cool colors to great effect! I was irresistibly drawn to use this as a Start With Art subject. Note one really interesting innovation that I'm trying: rather than attempt to nail down two specific browns and greys, or one color to represent the damp and frozen branches, slats on the gate, and branches in the fence, I'm working with a spectrum of brown to darkest grey. Doing this frees you up to build a wardrobe around any color that might be found in the ... View the Post
Planning to Shop, and Getting Discounts…
Fall clothes are hitting the stores (amazing, I know, but we should be used to this by now), and the Nordstrom pre-season sale is coming up soon. This means that it might be wise to start planning for the next season, so that we don't get blindsided by beautiful things without having a clue about what we're trying to accomplish. In addition to making your shopping list, you might want to look into some ways to reduce your expenditures without settling for lower-quality goods. Recently, I discovered a company called Raise. You can buy gift cards at a discount. Every last retailer's not there all the time, and some of the discounts are pretty meager, but sometimes you can get excellent deals. I'm ... View the Post
Trying to Fix Bloglovin….
Follow my blog with Bloglovin ... View the Post
The Monday Morning Giveaway #4 – Carry-on Toiletry Bags & Bottles
June 23, 2014 Last week's Le Monde de Hermes was won by Lynne in North Carolina - Lynne, send me your mailing address to theviviennefiles at gmail dot com!You know that I'm in a constant state of trying to reduce how much I carry when I travel; recently I went through another round of cutting back my toiletries. When I went to my favorite store Flight 001 to buy a new "3 1 1" bag, I found that they had a BOGO - buy one, get one free - offer on these bags. So I have a brand new set of two bags and a set of empty bottles!
Same as always - leave me a comment telling me your best light packing tip, and I'll let you know Friday who wins these. I'll ship anywhere in the world, so any reader anywhere is welcome ... View the Post
Start with Art: Lucy Hessel at the Seashore by Edouard Vuillard
June 4, 2014 My readers have the very best taste; this painting was sent to me to consider for a "Start With Art", and I thought the colors were so beautiful!The mood of this painting - languid, soft, dreamy, relaxed - made me think of a honeymoon, or a second honeymoon...
These were my color choices:
If you wanted to pack for a second honeymoon, you could certainly do worse than this!
As always, a well-chosen handful of outfits selected with a unifying theme will give you lots of options.
love, Janice ... View the Post
Start With Art: Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte – Version 2
May 22, 2014 A second look at this great painting - focusing on the left half of it, and picking up the lovely periwinkle/chambray blue details...
It is interesting that such a drizzly and cold painting lends itself so beautifully to hot-weather clothes.
I love this dress...
A couple more garments, some accessories, and shoes:
Soft and pretty - a great travel capsule wardrobe!
love, Janice
Looking back: 2012 - What to wear with a necklace: dragon pearls 2013 - We look at a whole bunch of ways to wear One Dress: Six Ways in Black, White and Pink ... View the Post
Start With Art: Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte
May 21, 2014
This wonderful work is back in the Art Institute of Chicago; it was being restored and was not available to view for a while. It's such an amazing work - the asymmetry, the subtle powdery colors, the juxtaposed angles...
Even though this is a chilly winter scene, I'm going to look at some warm-weather clothes... I love this coral color, so that's going to be the primary accent color in this wardrobe.
And the taupish grey that suffuses this painting is a perfect base for some simple summery tops.
A few more lovely coral items...
These should get you through at least a long weekend in style!
I ... View the Post
Start With Art: The Girl with A Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer
May 13, 2014
The most beautiful color scheme, combining warm tobacco brown, black, and brilliant blue and golden yellow highlights... That Vermeer guy was good!
One nice warm outfit, for in transit, or for a sudden cold snap, and some beautiful silky solids...
A simple outfit, and a nice basic dress:
A much less basic dress, and a warm-weather outfit with an over-shirt for air conditioning.
And a few extra pieces, for versatility!
love,
Janice
Looking Back:
2012 - one of my readers had a piece of jewelry that she wanted to wear more, and so I suggested What to wear with a ... View the Post
Start with Art: The Libyan Sibyl by Michelangelo
May 6, 2014
I am often asked to consider basing a wardrobe or a travel capsule on this most lovely of Michelangelo's works, and I have to admit that I find her sort of intimidating! The unusual color combinations, as well as the overall strength and power of her image are so striking that my brain goes a bit blank after studying her for a while.
Let me quote, at length, the excellent www.moodbook.com site's description of her:
"The Libica, or Libyan Sibyl brings pre-Christian prophecy to a close. With a graceful movement, displaying her lovely shoulders, her foreshortened arms, and the lowered profile of her fine head with its gold tresses, she lays aside the open book as if about to close it. It is a large and cumbersome ... View the Post
11 Minimalist Icons
April 7, 2014 I'm pretty busy these days with my care-taking responsibilities, but someone asked about the 11 Minimalist Icons mentioned on the cover on last week's featured book, Ma To-Do Lists - Dressing. I don't know that I fully appreciate all of these choices, but they are certainly thought-provoking!
love,
Janice ... View the Post
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