The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Paris Miscellany December 2016 – The Beautiful, The Festive, and the Quaintessentially Parisian

When I take pictures in Paris, I'm a little bit... reckless? Carried away? It's hard to avoid - between the excitement of being on vacation, and the EXCITEMENT of being in Paris... well, there's a lot of beauty that I feel that I want to capture. And much of it doesn't fall into any nice thematic sort of plan, so I'm just going to show you things!First - PASTRIES!!!  The holidays are when chestnuts come into their own, and my favorite dessert - Mont Blanc -  is topped with a TON of candied chestnuts that have been forced through a ricer. I can eat these until I am absolutely ill...

But if chestnuts don't appeal, every pastry shop window has a ton of possibilities!

   Cold weather also brings the need to drink ... View the Post

Paris Street Style, December 2016, or What I saw Parisians Wearing, and in the Paris Shop Windows

December 15, 2016

 

Why yes, I did a bit of people watching, and window shopping, when I was in Paris! What did I see?

Sigh... lots of amazing things! One particular phenomenon that I saw on students (well, mostly students) was the plaid coat with unmatching plaid scarf outfit. The first time I saw it, I thought it was just a madly creative young man, but then I saw it again, and AGAIN...

I think it's rather cool, albeit bold. I could see myself wearing this black, white and red ensemble... For the less brazen, a plaid scarf worn with a solid or tweed coat would be a nod to this look, without going over the top!

Red plaid coat – Alcoolique;  red plaid scarf – Halogen;   Bluegreen & red plaid scarf – ... View the Post

Paris Street Art? Graffiti? Whatever you call it, it’s pretty interesting!

  I'm still feeling a bit like the north end of a south-bound skunk (as my sainted father would have said!), but I wanted to start sharing my Paris photographs and observations with you. As you've probably noticed, I'm fascinated by the graffiti/street art in Paris. They work so HARD on it... and some of it's a real contribution to otherwise ordinary walls on ordinary streets - at least to me.

One thing that I think is significant is the degree of artistic quality present in much of this work. Even on the streets, you can't just toss any old half-baked thing out there and expect it to be accepted. High aesthetic standards!

When I first saw this wall below, I thought it was some Star Wars -ish movie poster, but when I looked ... View the Post

Mainbocher Exhibit at the Chicago History Museum; Who’s Your Favorite Designer (of all time)?

Mainbocher, (or Main Bocher, which was his real name) was born and grew up in Chicago. As a former Chicago resident, he had over time donated some of his creations to the Chicago History Museum, and so they finally got things sorted out to do this - very lovely and very well-presented - exhibit. The exhibit runs through AUGUST of 2017, so if you're planning a trip here in the next 9 months of so, you will have a chance to see it.

Mainbocher is credited with introducing such fashion innovations as short evening dresses, jeweled sweater (hurrah!!!) and the strapless gown. He also revived the corset before Dior's new look, not that he got much credit for it. (nor should he - I think corsets are an abomination against my internal ... View the Post

Italy – What They Wore, What I Saw, and other random thoughts

October 31, 2016   It was glorious. Absolutely, positively wonderful. Of course, anybody who knows me at all understand that 2 weeks alone with Belovedest is going to be the best thing in the world, no matter where we go. But I've got to tell you - if you've EVER got the chance to visit the Abruzzo region of Italy, DO IT.  

The mountains area extremely steep, and the towns (many of which date back thousands of years) are perched on the tops of the mountains where they are stunningly picturesque, and easily defensible if a band of mounted villains try to attack. If I ever write a Medieval romance, it will DEFINITELY be set in an Italy mountain town...

 

  We went hiking - there's a hermitage ... View the Post

Chic Sightings: Navy Columns with Shades of Green in the Capsule Wardrobe

July 13, 2016  

I had a few of these ideas lingering in my head, and I've FINALLY figured out how to present them in a somewhat unified manner. What unites all of these outfits is that they're based on the simplest navy "core," either a dress or a matching tee shirt and pants.The key, to me, for wearing accent colors successfully is to give them a sense of looking intentional, rather than just grabbed at the last minute. While you might not want FOUR pieces in your accent at one time, wearing 2 or 3 green items - shoes, jewelry, bag, or sweater - makes it look like the green was a purposeful choice on your part. Plus, it lends a sense of balance to your ensemble!

Using a hoodie and canvas shoes gives your dress more mileage ... View the Post

Chic Sightings: Black and Pink in the Capsule Wardrobe

July 8, 2016  

Everybody says that a little black dress (LBD - it even has its own acronym!) is a capsule wardrobe essential... and for me, that's certainly the truth! But of course I'm not going to tell you to wear black, NOR am I going to tell you that you must wear dresses. That said, I've seen a lot of black dresses recently in downtown Chicago, and some of the freshest looks have paired their black with pink!

If you own an amazing handbag, it's well worth building at least one entire outfit around it. And if you're going out after work, a few pink touches make your work-wardrobe black dress more than appropriate for a romantic dinner:

Earrings – Ippolita; short-sleeved dress – Lands’ End; open cardigan – ... View the Post

12 Must-Have Items for your Capsule Wardrobe in 2016? Let’s Consider…

June 18, 2016   I'm sure you see these lists too: "12 Things You NEED in Your Capsule Wardrobe in 2016." They always amuse me, and irritate me, in equal measure.   Let me be perfectly clear: there is NOTHING that is required for every woman. Nothing. Every woman does not needs shoes. Every woman does not need to wear a bra. Really, so long as we're all covered enough to be decent in public, I think it should be much more of a free-for-all than it currently is. Conformity kills creativity...   So let's look at this particular list, and see what we can learn that might be of use!     1. Ankle Boots If there were even an item that I would encourage you to consider, it would be this. If you live in a climate ... View the Post

How to Wear A Navy Cardigan for Spring – 8 Outfits!

April 22, 2016  

This started out as a Chic Sighting post, but after I saw the first woman, I didn't see ANYONE else... But I really like the idea of buying a new cardigan for spring and summer wear (counter-intuitive as it seems, a lot of us that are in and out of buildings during the hottest weather have to carry a cardigan or jacket at all times, to keep from freezing to death!).Here I'm working with 4 different possibilities for below the waist - white linen pants, beige linen pants, navy linen pants, and dark-wash denim pants. This gives choices that range from cool-ish spring days, to pretty doggone hot dead of summer!

Cardigan – L.L.Bean; green onyx stud earrings – Alok Jain; green & white top – Phase Eight; ... View the Post

Window Displays and Other Beautiful Things, Paris 2016

This is my last post about our recent trip to Paris, so I'm going to cover a few different areas, and toss in some bizarre, uncategorizable outliers...For B and me, Paris isn't Paris without food! One of the first things we have to do when we get to Paris, (after breakfast, of course) it find some eclairs. Coffee eclairs are a food group during our vacations!

The patisserie windows in Paris are always beautiful, and there are a LOT of them; seldom do we have an "eclair emergency" that can't be assuaged in just a few minutes.

This sugar isn't just refined; it's positive elegant!

 

 

I love this - it dumbfounded me that walnut meats could be displayed so elegantly!

And those beauties on the top left are Merveilleux ... View the Post

A Big Parisienne Advantage: Costume Jewelry, April 2016

April 15, 2016  

While I know that some of us don't wear and don't like costume jewelry, there are others among us who cheerfully indulge when something makes our heart sing. And Paris is the best place I've ever been to buy costume jewelry.In the US, the "fashion" jewelry industry is dominated by the 4 "department store" brands (which shall remain nameless), and thus we have to do some creative searching in order to find something out of the ordinary. But in Paris, it's a different story. Want a pair of earrings that look like pansies? Easy... a bracelet that looks like a row of ducks? I can find that... earrings that look like gorillas hanging from your ears? check the Diwali store just south of Notre Dame; they were in the ... View the Post

Paris Graffiti and Street Art, April 2016

You might not fully appreciate my love of good graffiti, but I walk a LOT in Chicago, and never get to see anything nearly this witty or just plain well-executed. The graffiti in Chicago is that same tired, self-aggrandizing and incomprehensible "tagging" that's some variation of initials or names, written large, and badly...Okay, this guy was NOT graffiti, but I think someone sitting outdoors, playing a harp, qualifies as street art of the very finest quality!

 

Some of the graffiti is just small pieces on a wall (sometimes quite HIGH on a wall); and sometimes, you see a bike driving out of the building. Very Harry Potter-ish...

The first image was seen quite a bit, and was apparently part of the sponsorship project for the ... View the Post