The Vivienne Files - Page 200 of 268 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Some Winter Thoughts

January 28, 2014

I grew up in a very snowy and cold place, so these Polar Vortexes don't completely overwhelm me, although they're pretty doggone dreadful... My parents were particularly adept at handling the cold, and so I have a few ideas and insights that might be useful.

Cover your head - at least your ears. It seems really obvious, but lots of people manage to skip this part. If your hair absolutely won't sustain a hat, at least put on some earmuffs - those bare ears sticking out of the side of your head are a freeze magnet.

And you should avoid wearing big earrings, necklaces next to your skin, or anything metallic that touches you directly. Metal gets ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting With a “Difficult” Scarf: Liberty London Ianthe Scarf

January 27, 2014 Yes, I was going to take the day off, but I had this post finished... Liberty London makes this scarf is a variety of colors, some assorted sizes, and at least two different fabrics that I know of, but no matter how it's done, the Ianthe scarf is a popular classic. But this scarf is subtle, understated, and challenging... I really honed in on the subtlety of the coloring, and determined that very muted, dusty or milky colors would blend best. The overall curved patterns combine to form a starburst feeling, which I wanted to hold in the back of my mind, and the very fine detailing meant that I was going to be watching for small stones in jewelry, fine but visible textures in fabric, and ... View the Post

Many Small Thoughts – Collected

I often notice things that I want to remember to tell you all, but much of the time, no single thing is worth a full blog post. So today, you get a whole bunch of relatively random factoids in one place. ( can you believe that Spell-check did NOT reject the word factoid?)First up, the weather in Chicago has been uniformly dreadful - bitterly cold. But my feet has NOT been cold when I was out, and that's because I wear Bogs boots. I wear them with nothing but tights on my feet, and my feet don't get cold. Ever. It's amazing.

They're not sleek,and they're not elegant, but when you're dressed in 14 layers of clothing and you look like a walking boudin noir, warmth is all you care about, ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting With a “Difficult” Scarf: Sepia and Light Grey

January 24, 2014 One of my friends asked me specifically to suggest some ways to wear this scarf - Musique des Spheres, from Hermes. The scarf came out... at least 10 years ago? And thus is only available on the secondary market, but as you can clearly see, it's a stunner. There is NOT a pink patch in the upper left corner... I struggled to find the best image of this scarf I could, and this was what I found. Identifying the adjectives that convey the aesthetic of this scarf is difficult - I had to think and study for quite a while. But I found that I kept coming back to the ideas of contrast (the clarity of the lines against the background), balanced with an overall sense of muted coloring (the scarf is not pure white, ... View the Post

We Need to Talk…

January 23, 2014

That said, I've got to confess: I'm getting overwhelmed. I've tried from the inception of The Vivienne Files to post six days a week as often as I possibly can. This usually meant that I was working at least part of six days a week, and I never minded that.

But recent posts are taking a very long time to compose. For each garment or accessory I show here, I look at at least 1,000 rejects. The images usually have to be cleaned up in some way, and resized. By the time I've created the hyperlinks, and drawn some nifty little dividers on the pages, and tweaked everything to my satisfaction - well, you can appreciate the effort. And then it takes me a couple of hours to find the right words to translate what's ... View the Post

Start With a “Difficult” Scarf: Black and White

January 22, 2014 This scarf, currently available from Hermes, is incredibly beautiful - much more interesting in person than any photograph can do justice...

But it's easy to see how you could fall into the routine of wearing this scarf pretty much exclusively with black and white garments - it just seems reasonable. So I'm proposing a mental "reframing" of the scarf that might expand your comfort zone with it... First off, think of the adjectives that characterize the unique beauty and appeal of this scarf. To me, this scarf is clear, graphic, and linear. This gives you a basis upon which to think about the sort of outfits that might benefit from the addition of this ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Packing Outfit by Outfit: Pink, Maroon and Black, for Business Travel

January 21, 2014

The weather's cold, and you've got to go on a business trip. A SERIOUS trip...Start with a comfort garment - the favorite cardigan will make you happy, and will suggest your color scheme too! Choose a couple of outfits that ensure that you bring all of the pieces of your black suit, add a couple of jazzy red garments, and you're all set for business events. One simple dress, and everything will fit in a carry-on bag.

A black winter coat, and some gloves, will be needed here, of course:

First day in the home office - better look serious!

And you know they're going to take you out to dinner...

Second day in the office is a lot more mellow, ... View the Post

Shopping with a Painting, or What I Bought, January 2014

January 20, 2014 For quite a while, I've described my personal style as LaValise de la Garçonne, aka The Tomboy's Suitcase. I try to remind myself that I really don't need clothing much beyond what I would pack for my next trip, and that as much as I'd like to be a classy, elegant, lady-like creature, I'm much more likely to be the person who climbs up the ladder and fixes the broken gizmo than I am to be the prim princess with the clipboard supervising the process...I've just recent stumbled upon the perfect painting to express my colors and overall feeling that I want to accomplish in my wardrobe: Two Sisters with a Cello, by Marie Laurencin. I can't actually SHOW you the painting, because I can't afford to buy rights ... View the Post

Breaking All the Usual Packing Rules: Navy and Green

January 18, 2014

Normally, I've always suggested that you pack around a great travel outfit, and then a carefully selected travel capsule wardrobe of separates, chosen separately, all working together.

But what if you decided to pack outfits? If you work from a unifying theme around which you choose all of your outfits, this is a very effective idea, which also has the benefit of helping you remember all of your important accessories!

For this example, I'm packing for someone who LOVES the combination of blue and green, and who has a variety of clothes and accessories which reflect this. The trip starts somewhere relatively cool, but will include some warmer weather activities, and a dressy dinner for a special ... View the Post

Wearing a Classic Burberry Scarf All Year: July through December

January 17, 2014 Let me explain a bit of the "step by step" of how I would envision the use of a scarf as a unifying theme within a wardrobe. Starting with July - let's say you've decided that you want to get an entire new outfit in July, and you want to exercise the discipline implied by using a single scarf as your inspiration. You're working with four colors, and an overall sensibility and aesthetic of right angles, with woven textures. July = hot, in the Northern Hemisphere. But it also means work for many of us, so a dress is the plan. You spot something solid red, in the world's most forgiving silhouette, so that choice is pretty straightforward. But you don't want to add on red accessories; ... View the Post

Wearing a Classic Burberry Scarf All Year: January through June

January 16, 2014 These scarves are wildly popular, and I've been asked a couple of times if someone who loved them could use these colors as the basis of an entire wardrobe. Camel, black, white, with accents of red? What a wonderful idea... Are we tired of seeing scarves, or art? I get lots of specific requests, but I've had one rather strongly-worded objection to these posts. Since I write for you all, let me know what you think.

I thought that by the time warm weather rolls around, you're not going to wear the scarf all that often, but there's no reason to forego a touch of the traditional plaid on your tee shirt...

love, Janice

... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: MacCallum Lake by Lawren Harris

January 15, 2014 I'd never heard of this artist until just a few days ago, but I'm so delighted to have been introduced to his work. This painting made me look for warm textury shades of russet and rust, as well as wavy misty greeny/bluey tan clouds in the sky. Basically I made up some words, but the potential within this painting is amazing.

I love the range of possibilities offered when you look at these outfits as separates, combined into a wardrobe...

love, Janice ... View the Post