The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Alphonse Mucha Summer

Yes, there's plenty more to come from Paris, after jet lag has released it's relentless grip...This painting made me want to find things that were soft, feminine, but with a certain inner strength or control.  The expression on her face is pretty confident!

Tee shirt – Thakoon, corduroy jeans – Current/Elliott, ankle boots – Mango, cashmere turtleneck – Eickhoff, skirt – 3.1 Phillip Lim, pumps – Salvatore Ferragamo    

Top – Moschino Cheap & Chic, skirt – Jenni Kayne, sandals – Dorothy Perkins, halter dress – Missoni, sandals – Manolo Blahnik    

Dress – Diane von Furstenberg, slingbacks – Miu Miu, blouse – Aubin & Wills, pleated skirt – Alexander McQueen, ballet flats - ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Water Dreaming, by Tjapaltjarri

Words are difficult... but something to do with nature, and clarity, and an organic feeling...

Water Dreaming – Mick Namarara Tjapaltjarri, white shirt – Acne, pants – Haider Ackermann, scarf – futabaya, monk-strap boots – Jil Sander, scarf – Oolmoo, sweater – Organic by John Patrick, skirt – J. Crew, boots s- See by Chloe  

Water Dreaming – Mick Namarara Tjapaltjarri, striped pullover – T by Alexander Wang, skirt – Christophe Lemaire,  ankle boots – Rag & Bone, turtleneck – Dsquared2, cords – Isabel Marant Etoile, suede sneakers – Isabel Marant  

Water Dreaming – Mick Namarara Tjapaltjarri, sweatshirt dress – Carven, leather bracelet – Miller & Jeeves, black pumps – Elizabeth and ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: The Shoe Shop, by Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones

Subtle, neutral, graceful...    

Painting: Shoe Shop, by Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones, blazer – Topshop,

 slingbacks – Circa Joan & David, scarf – futabaya, dress – Narciso Rodriguez,

 coat – Rachel Comey, scarf – Tamakiku, boots – Gabriella Rocha  

Painting: Shoe Shop, by Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones, wrap sweater – Stella 

McCartney,  silk tank – Kain Classic, ankle boots – Debenhams, skirt – Donna 

Karan, taupe sweater – Vince, scarf – milleneufcentquatrevingtquatre, 

bracelet – Paige Novick, jeans – Helmut Lang  

Painting: Shoe Shop, by Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones, blazer – Malene Birger, 

brooch – Cara Accessories, pants – Brunello ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Mondrian Composition in Oval

Yes, you CAN combine "warm" and "cool" colors.  If Mondrian can do it, any of us can!  

Painting – Mondrian, sweater – Topshop, jeans – Seven for all Mankind, pink flats – Fitzwell, grey hoodie – L.L.Bean, jeans – Maison Scotch, hi-tops - Converse  

Painting – Mondrian, tweed jacket – Red Valentino, dress – Dorothy Perkins, pumps – Soft Style, tank – Malene Birger, sandals – Kors by Michael Kors, pink capris - DKNY  

Painting – Mondrian, sweater – J. Crew, suede skirt – L’Agence, boots – See by Chloe, trench coat – Calvin Klein, scarf – Scotch-Soda, flats – Pied a Terre  

Painting – Mondrian, sweater – Acne, pink skirt – J. Crew, flats – Ara, blouse – Mauro Grifoni, skirt ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Sonia Delaunay’s Rose des Ventes

Using this painting as the focal inspiration for outfits really demonstrates how you can start with a core of neutrals, and then build out with some unexpected accent colors...

Painting – Sonia Delaunay, hooded sweater – N. Peal, beige jeans – MAJE, blue espadrilles – Boohoo, white jacket & coral dress – Dorothy Perkins, coral espadrilles – Pied a Terre  

Painting – Sonia Delaunay, cardigan – J. Crew, dress – Dorothy Perkins, sandals – Opening Ceremony, scarf – Filippa K., dress – Valentino, coral pumps – Dorothy Perkins  

Painting – Sonia Delaunay, cardigan – Crumpet, tee shirt – Alexander Wang, grey twill pants – Seven for all Mankind, oxfords – Jil Sander, sweater – Maxmara, scarf – ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Mary Cassatt’s Lydia Seated in the Garden

Sweater – Topshop, Pants – The Row, Brogues – John Lewis, hoody – Patagonia, cropped jeans – Acne, boots - Bogs  

Dress – Vanessa Bruno, scarf – All Saints, flats – Carvela, blouse – Givenchy, skirt – J. Crew, pumps - rsvp  

Blue cardigan – Romwe, scarf – Malene Birger, woven flats – Mia, dress – Go Green M by M, cotton shirt – Organic by John Patrick, skirt – Cacharel, pumps – Salvatore Ferragamo  

Aquamarine earrings – Ponponella, silk dress – Issa, nude pumps – Rupert Sanderson, scarf – Faliero Sarti, green coat – Sonia Rykiel, boots – KG by Kurt Geiger   ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Monet Water Lilies

Dress – Lela Rose, earrings – Ralph Lauren, slingbacks – John Lewis, chinos – Michael Kors, sweater – Suno, loafers – Roberto del Carlo    

Tee shirt – Vanessa Bruno Athe, Skirt and sandals – J. Crew, bomber jacket – Acne, sundress – Allsaints, espadrilles - Soludos    

Navy sweater – Fatface, Navy skirt – Stella McCartney, navy ankle boots – F-Troupe, tank – Uniqlo, cropped chinos – J Brand, ballet flats - Madewell    

Dress – 3.1 Phillip Lim, cardigan – J. Crew, pumps – Van Dal, sweater and chambray pants – Vanessa Bruno Athe, silver boots - Acne     ... View the Post

Shopping: The Logical Flaws of the “10 Must-Have Items” lists

If you search on the internet for "2012 must-have items", you get more than three hundred MILLION hits.  Even if you assume that most of these won't, in fact, tell you to buy something, that's still a tremendous number of people bossing you around about how to spend your hard-earned money!

And these lists are full of logical flaws:

If these are truly must-have items, why don't all of the lists agree?  Or at least have a significant degree of overlap?  After looking at the first handful of "top-ten for spring" lists, I saw at least 50 different items I absolutely have to buy if I'm going to be able to show my face in public. Why do all of these lists assume that you can't look around a store and make your own choices? ... View the Post

A Cool, Cool, Style-Defining Tool!

January 16, 2012

Above is a "word cloud" of my core wardrobe.  I absolutely love this, because it sort of puts into a graphic image the key aspects of how I dress most of the time.

Doing this requires that you keep a list of everything that you wear for at least a few weeks...  Or, you could just type out a list of everything you own - it depends on what you're trying to visualize.

Then get thee to wordle.net, and follow the instructions under the heading of "create".  You can choose fonts, color schemes, orientation of the text etc.  I found that my cloud really started to come into focus for me once I had a classic font, and a black and gray color scheme.

An interesting use of this for me might be (1) ... View the Post

Shopping: The Danger of the Alluring Assortment

I've seen it a hundred times, at least.  Hapless shopper wanders into store, without anything particular in mind.  And then... they see it.  The shelf of tee shirts in 19 colors.  The round rack of cardigans in 24 colors.  OR the wall of socks in every color of the rainbow (yes, I'm talking to you, Bon Marche!).

When this shopper came into the store, their feelings about buying were "Will I buy?".

But then they see this assortment, and they automatically start to evaluate the various colors, mentally sorting them into piles of "yuck", "nice but I couldn't wear it", "possible", and (this is the fatal one) "my colors".

And of course, when you see something in "my color", it should therefore become "my garment", ... View the Post