The Vivienne Files - Page 172 of 262 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

My Capsule Wardrobe, and Starting From Scratch

December 15, 2014 My wardrobe is in kind of a mid-season funk right now. My arms are getting a little bit girthy from my workouts (hurrah!!!), and a few things that used to be capsule wardrobe stalwarts are going to have to move on to someone else's wardrobe. I'm losing sight of what my "big picture" wardrobe plan is... and that makes getting dressed time-consuming and tiring. Plus, since I don't have to go into an office any more, my wardrobe is long on "business-ish" garments that could be donated or sold. So it's time for me to Start From Scratch!

Step 1: Pants - easey peasy - my black pants from J. Jill. Perfect fit, and a 12-month fabric.

Step 2: Shoes - Stuart Weitzman "creampuff" style. They're long discontinued, ... View the Post

I Love It But Will I Wear it? Ruby and Amethyst Jewelry

December 13, 2014

It can happen to any of us - you wake up in the maturity of your life to find that you own a piece or two of really REAL jewelry - the kind of stuff that requires a special mention on your home owner's insurance. The kind of stuff that could be flogged in an auction, or pawned in a moment of spite. But instead, you decide that this stuff is really quite beautiful, and you'd like to wear it more often. Much the wisest course, I'd say. Before you get carried away, however, let's address a couple of serious (and frivolous) essentials:

Make ABSOLUTELY sure that your goodies are insured. Ask a lot of questions about deductibles, conditions of when and where you were when the item might ... View the Post

Chic Sightings: A Mixture of Greens

December 12, 2014 I rarely see anybody wearing green, and I almost NEVER see a mixture of shades of green in one outfit, so it was truly a red letter (or a green letter, I suppose) day when I saw both of these women. Sometimes it's certain that these kinds of ensembles are the result of carelessness, or color-blindness, but in both of these cases it was clear that a deliberate plan was at work. Bold statements, but eye-catching and fun. Not for the faint of heart, but certainly something in this to inspire us.

love, Janice ... View the Post

Maximize Your ROI: Beautiful Boots

December 11, 2014

One of your recently purchased a very beautiful pair of new boots, but then began to wonder if you would be able to wear them often enough to get your money's worth from your purchase.The boots are lovely - very practical for walking, but still graceful. So I have a few ideas...

Boots with casual dresses

Unlike "back in the day" when your skirt had to cover the tops of your boots, it's now perfectly appropriate and acceptable to have your legs show in between boot top and hem of skirt. Tights can match your dress or your boots, or if you're particularly comfortable with the idea, they could be a contrasting color. I'm not going to do that, but I've seen it done to charming effect. ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Art, Nature and Color Palettes

Since I started the Start With Art Series, building wardrobes based on works of art (or photographs, or other objects), I've received a lot of suggestions for which art works I might want to consider. I've been keeping a file of all of them, and I've finally decided that I should share my thoughts and ideas with you by making the file available.

The file has 100 works of art (a few scarves, a couple of photographs, and a plate, but mostly paintings), and then a 2nd page that includes my proposed color scheme, and my thought process around what I would look for in a wardrobe. The whole file is available for $5. I included a table of contents, with hyperlinks to each painting. I am really eager to know ... View the Post

Chic Sightings: RED, in the cold weather

December 9, 2014

We spent a lot of time running around the city this past weekend, finalizing the purchase of gifts for a host of interesting small people! And one of the best parts of being outside on a crisp winter day in Chicago is the people-watching... The first outfit was pretty conventional, albeit beautifully pulled together; what made it really stand out were her bright red shoes! It was a perfect day for a statement shoe, as there was no precipitation, and nothing slushy on the pavement. She was young, with long dark hair and a brilliant smile. No red lipstick, although that certainly would have been an option! And the 2nd ensemble was notable for a few reasons. First off, a white coat is a brave ... View the Post

Who Won What – the Knotting Cards, and the $50 Novica Gift Card!

One of the more interesting things in life is coincidences. You KNOW, in your rational mind, that it's just a random confluence of events, but your heart wants to find a connection, or a reason, for these things to occur at just this time...

So if anybody's got a good explanation, tell me why, for BOTH random numbers I generated, the answer was 37?

I love these kinds of little events...

AND THE WINNERS!!!

The Novica Gift card - Julie Bower

The Hermes Knotting Cards - Beatriz Fortes

Will you each please contact me at [email protected] and give me your mailing addresses? Julie, I think I can just email the card information to you, so you can start shopping immediately!

We are a lucky bunch, ... View the Post

The French 5 Piece Wardrobe, The French 10 Piece Wardrobe, Project 333, My Capsule Wardrobe

December 6, 2014 Everywhere you look, there's a "number" wardrobe that's recommended to make life easier! I am as guilty of that as anyone, because I like nice, tidy, finite wardrobes, and I'm crazy about numbers. But what do all of these number ideas teach us?

The French 10 Piece Wardrobe

To me, this idea translates into a core wardrobe with lots of versatility. It is the canvas upon which you demonstrate your personal preferences, whimsy, and style. Ten pieces of clothing is a pretty excellent number for those of us who are out in public 5 days a week, in that it provides a week of "tops" and a week of "bottoms".

If they're carefully chosen, these ... View the Post

Assorted Accessories for All Seasons

December 5, 2014 These posts about seasonal colors are so much fun, and I learn something every time I work on one! Today, I started with an Hermes scarf, and then built an assortment of things around the scarf. Some of the accessories are for winter wear, and other are for the entire year. I only wear 1 watch, but I'm not sure why - there are a lot of beautiful, moderately priced watches available that might add a touch of color or metallic luster to an outfit. While I know that in this day and age many people don't wear a watch at all, maybe a 2nd watch is an option to consider...

Winter Color Palette Accessories

This hat would destroy my hair, but it might be worth it...

Spring Color Palette ... View the Post

Scarves for All Seasons

December 4, 2014

Since we had so much fun yesterday thinking about our "official" or self-determined seasonal palettes, I thought I'd pursue the idea a bit more today. While I've been quite lucky to have been told by trained color evaluations that I'm wearing the right colors, I can easily sympathize with those who get conflicting advice, or who like other colors. Ultimately, I really believe that the happiness that you radiate from wearing colors that you love will overshadow any possible lack of compatibility between you and the garment. That's just a fancy way of saying that you should wear what you want, and you'll radiate loveliness just from being happy. Your mileage may vary, of ... View the Post

Jewelry for All Seasons, and a Giveaway from Novica!

December 3, 2014

I've never been closely aligned to my designation as a Winter; I pretty much already knew that I was going to wear a lot of black and white, so learning that I was a Winter didn't change anything for me. However, I know many people who are quite fond of using their "seasonal" designation as a guideline for shopping.So since I knew I was going to show you lots more jewelry today, I thought I'd take advantage of the seasonal designations as a different way to choose some pretty things for you to see...

If you can't find something you like on Novica, you're just not trying! They have some of the loveliest jewelry in the world -including cuff links... Novica also carries home decor, paintings, some amazing ... View the Post

Jewelry, at a range of prices

December 2, 2014 There was a little bit of concern floating around after my post about dressing up with jewelry - some of the more gorgeous items that I shared with you were a bit... pricey?... and a few people expressed their concern that they couldn't do justice to dressing up unless they won the lottery first.

But lower-priced jewelry exists, and can be an extremely good thing to search out, for a number of reasons.

If you're test-driving a new style or type of jewelry, and it doesn't make sense to spend a fortune on something that you're not sure you'll love. If you're buying jewelry to wear with just one specific garment or outfit, and you know that you aren't going to want to keep the piece forever, or, if you're going ... View the Post