The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Weekly Timeless Wardrobe Archives - Page 7 of 12

Building an Autumn Weekly Timeless Wardrobe using Clusters!

July 29, 2020

This is the wardrobe that I would be working on right now - although it's still a good time to find nice summer garments, late summer is the best time to find autumn clothes! (well, in a normal year...)

Remember this from 39 weeks ago?

These garments divide pretty neatly into 3 clusters; this isn't the only way the clusters could sort out, so if you have a different preference, go with it!

This is what the 3 clusters would look like - it's easy to see a ton of possible outfits from these:

So, with our color scheme from yesterday of navy and beige as neutrals, forest green as the accent (and white as the "spare" light neutral that keeps our heroine from having to wear beige shirts!), let's ... View the Post

Building Your Weekly Timeless Wardrobe by Clusters!

July 28, 2020

Yes, the series ended yesterday, but my ideas about it could go on for a long time...

The world's easiest flashback - remember these 13 garments from yesterday's post?

It's been pretty evident to me for a while that these 13 garments arranged themselves into 3 clusters pretty neatly. Actually, you could arrange these pieces in at least a few different ways, but for now I'm looking at this:

If you're not inclined to want to analyze your wardrobe on a weekly basis, maybe shift to a monthly basis, and look at clusters rather than individual garments!

Plus, this is a really easy way to pack - if you pack clusters, you know for a fact that you have garments that go together! (you do of course have to be sure ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 52: Sleeveless Dress or Sundress

July 27, 2020

The END of this project! I'm feeling a bit wistful...

But let's look at summer dresses. I live in dresses (well, in normal times I live in dresses) in the summer, because they're cool, always appropriate, and so easy. Make sure you've got the right undergarments, and you're comfortable and good to go!

I'm starting with this dress because it's a great deal, and would be madly versatile. I see this worn over something, in cooler weather...

At this point in wardrobe building, there aren't many rules for choosing this dress! Something you love, something for which you have all of the right accessories, and something that will be cool in hot weather...

For those who are building wardrobe around our 6 Scarves, ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 51: Light Neutral Shorts or Capris

July 20, 2020

If I were going to start this list from start, I might put these shorts a LOT earlier in the summer list! But I don't think that retail inventories are normal this year, do you?

Since we're almost finished with the Summer wardrobe, and we still have all of the Spring clothes in our (imaginary) wardrobes, we can be pretty relaxed about any guidelines for this next addition:

It makes a lot of sense to have a pair of shorts that matches your favorite 2nd layer; it's like having the world's most casual suit!

If you have this "suit" in white, there's literally no color that you can't wear with it!

Remember that if you cant' find accessories that match your accent color, you can always choose ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 50: A Lightweight Second Layer

July 13, 2020

Can this month be almost half over? Are US Income Taxes due on Wednesday? Yes and yes...

Let's look at finding something nice to wear over our summer outfits when we venture into air conditioning, or to grab when we're sitting outdoors until the wee hours...

This is a pretty easy item to add to your wardrobe - you're looking for something lightweight, but still enough to feel covered when you need a little bit more than a tank top or sundress during warm weather:

If you're mentally assembling a wardrobe to go with one of our six "Six Scarves, 12 Months" scarves, there are still good options available.

And for what it's worth, these scarves cycle in and out of being on sale; keep your eyes open!

I ... View the Post

Adding Accessories to a “Two Mood” Travel Capsule Wardrobe

July 10, 2020

Yesterday, our heroine was getting ready to head to the lake, with a packet of relatives, for the rest of the summer!

For her packing inspiration, she started with this painting:

She has her clothes all ready to go!

 

 

 

But she doesn't have... well... shoes? earrings? a bag or two?

Let's do this!

She really likes her square earrings because they're called Lily Pad earrings! Although she's never seen a square lily pad...

She knows that she needs rubber flip flops - her feet will be wet fairly often! And sunglasses - you ALWAYS need sunglasses...

Next, she grabs her sunhat, and her Keds. Even if the Keds get wet, they'll be fine within a day... And even though ... View the Post

2 Moods in 1 Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Start with Art – Poem by Bunya no Asayasu by Hokusai

As of 7:36 Central Time today, I changed the downloadable file that many of you purchased. I understand that the first file was NOT downloading at all! I'm so sorry... If I could avoid these computer-ish snafus, I would!

love,

Janice

 

July 9, 2020 The Kids Can Canoe All Day... And the rest of us can hike, or go with the kids, or sit on the shore and watch...

She thinks this is brilliant - the 3 families will distance from each other for 14 days; the house is plenty big enough. It will require some vigilance to make certain that the children understand what's required, but they've been pretty smart, so far...

Knowing that they're going to be there probably 'til the first of September, she wants to plan carefully. ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 49: Print or Textured Warm-weather top

July 6, 2020

I know, I was saying that this top would be "textured," but I was just trying to be consistent with how I described other tops at this point in each quarter. My thought, at the time that I wrote the original list, was about cabled sweaters, seed-stitched knits, and other lovely fabrics that have some depth...

BUT... these aren't easy to find in warm weather, nor are they going to be particularly comfortable! So what makes the most sense at this point in these wardrobes is to just find a blouse, tee shirt or other top that you love, and that goes with your neutrals....

Not a lot of guidance necessary here - you should love this item!

Even though our chances of wearing a silk scarf (in the Northern Hemisphere, ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 48: Neutral print or patterned top

June 29, 2020

Today's my 60th birthday!!!! The entire weekend has been a series of carefully choreographed get-togethers with friends and family...

And I feel EVERY SECOND of my age right now!

But let's look at getting our summer wardrobes sorted to our satisfaction, eh?

First up, this beautiful little top would be perfect for most of us who are using white or khaki as our summer wardrobe neutral:

I always have a few thoughts to share - mostly I'm always a big supporter of doing what you most want to do, and not buying and pretending to wear things that you don't love...

Speaking of accent colors - this kind of tee shirt is perfect for introducing something out of your comfort zone (in this case, orange). There's ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 47: Neutral lightweight top

June 22, 2020

Ah, this is finally looking exactly like the weather!

There are no wardrobe rules. None. I might make suggestions, and offer guidelines, but you should make your own choices! It's your style...

I absolutely would mix patterns with these shorts - anything that looks as if it might be one of the prints in the patchwork is a reasonable choice:

If you've got cool earrings, let them be the statement part of your outfit. Simple, classic clothes are a perfect background for accessories:

Let's mix some brown and black, eh?

A print that includes your 2 neutrals is a perfect choice. This heroine could swap out for navy shorts, or a white skirt, or navy pants....

And talking about annoying color ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 46: Neutral lightweight 2nd layer

June 15, 2020

My plans for this were so good, I thought for sure that I could find lovely linen shirts for everybody! Normally, this time of year, stores are FULL of linen, silk or cotton "overshirts," which is exactly what I had in mind for this wardrobe addition...

But NOT this year - things are selling out quickly so I had to do a little bit of scrambling... Thus, we've got ruanas and cardigans and shirts and kurtas...

It was pretty straightforward finding toppers that will work with the growing wardrobes built around these 6 scarves:

The thing that convinces me that this layer is useful? The fact that everybody I know with a car keeps a cardigan in the back seat ALL SUMMER!

Oh how I WISH someone would make ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 45: Dark Neutral Lightweight Pants

June 8, 2020

I don't know about where you are, but right now, if I have to pull on a pair of pants, they'd BETTER be linen... (I don't love heat...)

This time of year, if you're going to wear your favorite silk scarf, it might be smart to consider wearing it in your hair, or on your bag, or... (there must be more ideas...)

I can't emphasize enough that we need to be vigilant about reading every word of the descriptions of items that we find online. I searched, SPECIFICALLY, for silk pants, and was returned a ton of satin pants (most of them polyester).

While I'm nagging about careful reading, if you order earrings, be certain that you're getting TWO earrings (unless, of course, you only want to order one earring). ... View the Post