The Vivienne Files - Page 104 of 265 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

My 4th Most Popular Post – How to Wear a Petrol (or Slate) Blue Cardigan

February 14, 2018

Not too long after I started The Vivienne Files, I began to receive a lot of emails from people who owned specific garments that they struggled to integrate into their wardrobe. Thus, I wrote a lengthy series of posts about "How to Wear....". This one was the most popular, which is interesting, albeit inexplicable to me!

And yes, the original cardigan wasn't really either slate nor petrol; finding beautiful, subtle colors is difficult, and becoming harder all the time! If you really want to own a garment in a richly well-dyed color, you will have to search, and probably pay more than the price of a take-out lunch...

The advice in this post about how to look at your "orphan" garment and find it a home is ... View the Post

My 5th Most Popular Post – Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch: Choosing Colors

It doesn't surprise me that this post was high up on the list of all-time favorites - it's a perennial topic for The Vivienne Files!

Remember 3 and a half years ago, when I built SIX separate wardrobes, from scratch? This was the first post of that series...

While these aren't the most creative or unexpected color palettes imaginable, they are certainly timelessly classic, which is a pretty good thing!

I have to admit, after all this time, and after looking at all of the colors with which we've worked, I still love black and white with just a touch of red or bright blue... I'm old-school!

love, Janice ... View the Post

My 6th Most Popular Post – All Time – Start with a Scarf: Hermes Arbre de Vie

You might remember that I'm in Paris until next Monday afternoon... And I was thinking that while I'm away, I would revisit the 6 most popular posts I've ever written for The Vivienne Files. I'm, frankly, pretty surprised by what they turned out to be!

Number 6 - What to Wear With an Hermes Scarf Arbre de Vie (tree of life)

It starts with this scarf, and includes outfits in this color scheme:

When I wrote these posts I tried to show a wide variety of possible outfits for which the scarf would be a fitting accent - I think it's stood the test of time pretty well!

love, Janice ... View the Post

I’m NOT in Paris… I’m in bed…

Yes, our flight was cancelled yesterday, and we had tentatively planned to travel on Sunday to Paris, but...

I now have flu. Literally at 1 p.m. on Thursday I was sitting with friends, chatting and having a good time, and by 2 p.m. I was in bed under four blankets, shivering and feeling ghastly...

The ghastly continues. The trip has been canceled for now.

Happily, I have already assembled small blog posts for the time that I was supposed to be away, so I won't have to work while I'm recuperating! Small blessings, but I'll take them.

love, Janice ... View the Post

Paris Packing – A Parka, and Lots of Stripes

February 9, 2018

You might remember that I was supposed to go to Paris back in December, when a sudden fibromyalgia "interlude" caused me to cancel; I was literally IN THE BAGGAGE CLAIM AREA OF THE AIRPORT when I realized that I wasn't strong enough to make it up the escalator to check in, let alone fly all the way to Paris...

But this is better because (a) Belovedest is going with me! and (b) we'll be there for Valentine's Day! Sweet, eh?

As much as it's fun to be in Paris for a romantic holiday, we have to bear in mind that the weather will be cold, and quite wet - and as much as I'd love to travel without a big heavy coat, it might be plain stupid to try to get by without it - nothing is more miserable than being cold every day. ... View the Post

What If I Don’t Really DO Accessories?

February 8, 2018

Some people just don't wear a lot of jewelry; they don't want to collect handbags, nor shoes, and they find one scarf suits them quite well...(okay, they're nuts...)

Actually, that's their right. Of course it is! But it does suggest that they're going to want to plan a bit to make certain that they have what they want and need when they get dressed.

Let's start where we were yesterday, with this nicely tidied leisure wardrobe:

When we finished this wardrobe yesterday, we had a lovely color palette for our heroine's clothing. Working from that, we can easily devise a corresponding palette for her accessories - add a choice of metal (if you're not going to have a lot of jewelry, what you do have can ... View the Post

My Casual Wardrobe is a Disaster….

She got really sick of the struggle - it wasn't like climbing Mount Everest, or building your own home by hand, but it was still a bother...

She has some things that she really likes, but just can't seem to get dressed for evenings or weekends...

This is approximately what she has right now:

What to do? Is the problem that she doesn't have enough of a particular "category" of clothes - not enough tee shirts? or sweaters?

Nope - her ratios are pretty good, and there are no glaring omissions. Is it a question of color?

Immediately, when we see that mass of warm green with some "outliers" of cool green that just don't blend in, we can start to see the issue...

And here's the gut-check moment - does she really ... View the Post

How do I Know That I Have Enough Accessories?

February 6, 2018

Our heroine ended yesterday's adventure with a color scheme that felt right, and a spring capsule wardrobe that she found really comfortable; it gave her great pleasure, every time she opened her closet door...

But she still needs to wear shoes! And carry a bag. And maybe wear some earrings, or a bracelet, from time to time. How to plan THAT?

Well, I pondered this for a while, and I think that she should think about what outfits she's going to wear, from her wardrobe, and then make certain that she has the accessories that are right for each of those outfits. What else would she want, if she knew that she had a dozen outfits ready to go?

To keep choices balanced, I'm going to see if I can fill in this ... View the Post

“Fixing” a Wardrobe that Just Doesn’t Feel Right…

She's worn navy forever, and really, legitimately loves it. She also really feels comfortable with bright colors - she doesn't mind the high contrast. But, for some reason she can't quite put her finger on, she's not quite "right" with her wardrobe...

This is what's she's got for spring:

She really doesn't know what to do to feel more comfortable with these pieces, so she just started getting dressed as normal, but changing 2 small things:

She pulls out and wears what she really "feels" like wearing, rather than trying to carefully rotate everything in her wardrobe. If she focuses on what she most likes, it might help her learn something, and She keeps careful track of what she wears.

After three weeks, she sorts ... View the Post

I Read, I Watch, I Listen…

February 2 2018

As much as it might seem that I work on The Vivienne Files for 16 hours a day, I actually do have leisure time! Recently, I've received a few emails about what I've been doing for entertainment, so I thought I'd share...

If you haven't seen this movie, you really should! Unless you hate paintings, of course. EVERY FRAME of this film is an oil panting - the use of color, and the transitions between scenes, and the recognizable paintings - everything will amaze you. The number of people in the south of France with Irish accents was amusing, too!

And I agreed to watch this because I was outnumbered in the room - generally, war movies creep me out, and often give me nightmares. But this was well worth making an ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – February 2018

I'm still not sure why I always add a dress in February - a long-standing affection for Valentine's Day? Or just a desire to make sure that I'm well prepared for dressy spring events?

It's not quite expected to accessorize a classic black dress with bright spring green...

I didn't find a beige dress that appealed, so I thought that this delicious cocoa brown would be perfect with this scarf, or with a grouping of blush pink accessories.

The red is probably the most expected accent color with a navy dress, so I ignored that and chose teal instead!

This green isn't as yellow-ish as the greens used last month, but since it's a dress, it doesn't have to be "dye-lot matched" to the other neutral in this wardrobe... And ... View the Post

Updating a Bone-Deep Glamorous Travel Wardrobe

January 31, 2018

Remember this heroine? I felt that, with Valentine's Day on the horizon, it might be fun to see what she's been doing...

Well, she was shopping one day and saw these... She was smitten...

She had a casual trip coming up - taking a few students to The Cloisters, outside of New York. She's been doing some work on the symbolic significant of roses in Gothic art and architecture, and they're going to go take a look at a couple of important pieces there...

So it seems only fitting that she embrace roses as a personal trend!

It's also an opportunity to add just a touch of pink to her wardrobe. She's not sure that this will be a long-term addition or just a whim, but it's very much at harmony with much ... View the Post