The Vivienne Files - Page 11 of 263 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

March 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Part 1

March 1, 2024

Even with the extra day yesterday, I'm still not quite sure that I'm ready for March. But she will arrive regardless of my degree of preparation, right?

After a 50 degree overnight temperature drop, I'm not sure what season we're in, nor what to wear on any given day...

But let's look at art, and the wardrobes intrepid heroines assemble based upon their favorite colors and paintings!

So restful, calm and classic. I could walk for hours down this lane...

At the end of February, our heroine has this 12-piece capsule wardrobe:

As she's thinking about what to add, the burgeoning spring warmth suggests to her that maybe some green would be pretty!

Still a couple of sweaters - warmth doesn't ... View the Post

Want to Expand a Travel Capsule Wardrobe? Start with a Bracelet – Voyage to Tibet by Fierce Lynx Designs

February 28, 2024

Monday, our heroine started with her new bracelets, and assembled a small but cheery wardrobe to pack for a meditation retreat...

This was her wardrobe - doesn't this just feel bright, light and clean?

She had a wonderful retreat - and she was very happy with her travel capsule wardrobe. So much so that she decided to add another neutral and make this her warm weather wardrobe for at least a year or two...

But what neutral? Black would work, but might be hard to wear with yellow or green on a regular basis. Beige might wilt when paired with bright accents, as might olive or any other muted color...

Navy. It's obvious, really...

Her target number of garments for her warm weather wardrobe is 24, ... View the Post

Want a Cheerful and Meaningful Warm Weather Holiday Wardrobe? Start with a Bracelet – Voyage to Tibet bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

February 26, 2024

She's going somewhere hot! Well, hot during the day - cooler in the evenings...

Her trip is only for a long weekend, but she's excited, and she has a plan, based on her new bracelets:

She's NOT going to Tibet - that might be a longer trip than just a long weekend! - but she will be meditating, mostly on the world and the elements that compose it. So, a bracelet that includes blue (to represent sky and space), white (air and wind), red (fire), green (water), and yellow (earth) seems just right!

Yes, she fully understands that she might get dirty. But she won't be doing anything grubby or overly physical; meditation retreats are nice, quiet places...

For starters, she assembles her favorite core of ... View the Post

Want a Warm, Simple Spring Wardrobe? Start with Art – Labor by Norbert Schwontkowski

February 23, 2024 This Year, She Wants to Keep Things Simple... Simple, like this:

She doesn't want too many things. She doesn't want lots of flowers or stripes or novelty prints. She wants calm...

Her colors are going to be drawn from this painting - she's going to use the wee table legs as her excuse to include some brown in her Spring wardrobe!

She starts with rose... this is really what caught her eye first, when she found "her" painting.... that rose wall!

Next, she finds her beige things. They're not all the same color, and that's just fine. Beige is nice that way...

Knowing that Spring isn't always warm, she feels drawn to the idea of including some brown in her wardrobe...

And last, she wants ... View the Post

If You’re Only Going to Have One Sweater – Oliver Charles Winter Cable Knit

February 21, 2024

It's here, and I'm wearing it! My sweater from Oliver Charles - lovely, comfortable and beautifully well made... Here's a close-up view:

If you only want to own one sweater (okay, you may want a cardigan too!), this is a pretty good candidate - classic style, luxurious fiber content, neutral color... (this scarf is 100% yak, which is AMAZING...)

I'm going to be wearing my sweater for at least the next 7 days - probably longer, so on Instagram you'll be able to see what I'm wearing each day. But I have so many ideas about how this sweater can be worn...

I truly believe that you could get married wearing this sweater - pile on pearls and go for it!

Any neutral skirt, and a pretty brooch, and you're ... View the Post

A Video of ME!!!

February 20, 2024

I just posted a video of me opening my new Oliver Charles sweater on Facebook!

For everybody who has ever believed that I don't exist, and that The Vivienne Files is the product of highly sophisticated AI, we now have proof that I'm a real human!

Not a real normal human, but let's temper our expectations, right?

love,

Janice

https://www.facebook.com/janice.riggs.3766/videos/659285966236082?idorvanity=5130473253718077 ... View the Post

Want An Easy Travel Capsule Wardrobe? Start With a Scarf – Jacky Marshall Scarf by Echo

February 19, 2024

Love at first sight...

Her favorite neutral colors, and a wonderful pink accent that she KNEW she could wear forever... It's THE Current Accent Color this year, but pink never goes out of style!

She's taking an unconventional - but very practical - approach to her packing. She's going to grab four of her favorite outfits, and then see if the sum of those pieces will work do the trick... If you stick with a disciplined color palette, there's no reason that this shouldn't be brilliant! And if you make certain that each of the outfits can be worn with your new favorite scarf, the color palette will fall into place...

First outfit is a black "suit-like" ensemble with a tan vest:

Next, she feels ... View the Post

Feeling Colorful? Start with a Scarf – The JJ Martin Scarf by Echo

February 16, 2024

It's been a few days (well, weeks...) since we've had a new Echo 100 scarf - but the new ones are well worth the wait!

This scarf - endless, ENDLESS possibilities:

One could choose any colors from this to include in a palette - brown and red? beige and orchid? It took me a couple of minutes to settle into what I wanted...

My choice - this time! - was to select a variety of accent colors, one soft, one bright and warm, one bright and cool, as well as the three most obvious neutrals of brown, beige and white:

If our heroine is yet another among you who is travel in the Spring (and BOY are there a lot of you planning to run about in March and April!), I'm assuming that she will want to travel in dark ... View the Post

Beach Destination in the Off-Season? Start with Art – High Yellow by Ellsworth Kelly

February 14, 2024 It Won't Be Warm Enough to Swim...

It's normally a place that one thinks of visiting in the absolute dead of hot weather... so they're going now!

And while they won't be able to swim, the weather will still be MUCH warmer than what they're used to - sunny days, breezy nights. Sandals and even shorts will be comfortable, so long as the wise woman has a sweater or long-sleeved top close at hand...

Thus, she's going to wear white! Her legs look great in white shorts - at least she believe them to be lovely. And she so longs for the bright, crisp freshness of white, after a long winter of black wool...

Sky. Sun. Green plants. Her accent colors are so obvious!

They will dine out - nothing over the ... View the Post

Two Wardrobe Neutrals with an Accent? Start with Art – January by Elizabeth Magill

February 12, 2024

I'm getting to be a big fan of Elizabeth Magill - her paintings are deep, and rich with color...

If only I'd found this one last month, eh? But it fits nicely with our theme of clusters in neutrals, accompanied by a sizeable dash of an accent!

This could be a lifetime wardrobe - everything from white to ivory to a soft grey, and a sizeable range of subtle blues. I even see some purple in there!

I'm going to start with the first ivory/cream wardrobe cluster that we saw - the one with the dressier pants, and the skirt. I see this heroine as having a wide range of activities planned, with the need to dress "nicely" from time to time...

Next, her second neutral - a little less dressy, but one could ... View the Post

Find Your Dream Accent Color for Spring? Start with Art – Grey and White on Purple by Mark Rothko

February 9, 2024

First things first - this is not really grey, and the background is DEFINITELY not purple... Does anybody know what's going on here? Are the reproductions that I'm finding completely corrupted, or was Rothko color blind? It's an interesting question...

She's always loved this painting - she wears a lot of navy, charcoal grey and white, but she has never found that background pretty pinkish coral in garments that appealed to her...

But then two things happened - first, she had lunch with her friend Lily, who shared with her the plans that she had made for her Spring wardrobe.

And then, she found a TON of this color at Lands' End... So she tried to channel her "inner Lily" and plan a similar, but slightly ... View the Post

Are You REALLY Committed to an Accent Color? Start with Art – White Herons and Willow by Ohara Koson

February 7, 2024

Her name is Lily...

And aptly enough, she's always really loved green, and beautiful paintings that feature lots of green.

So when it came time to really update her spring wardrobe, she had an inspiration:

Why NOT really invest in some green things, and wear them often? It's not an approach that suits everyone, but when she thinks of it (and factors in her soft, muted green eyes), it seems a good idea!

So she starts with a lovely neutral ivory. Or ecru. Or bone. Of off-white. She has to be flexible when looking for these colors...

Oh what fun!

She quickly realizes that it might be too early in the season to find a lot of bright, leafy green... but then she stumbles onto the absolute ... View the Post