The Vivienne Files - Page 260 of 262 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

One French woman’s Small, Simple wardrobe: Back to the roots of the Vivienne Files

June 9, 2011 This is from a posting in a discussion group in which I listed the entirety of Vivienne's work wardrobe. I imagine that it has changed very little in the intervening years. Note that I've assigned "days of the week" to these little vignettes, but I don't know that this necessarily corresponds to how and when Vivienne actually wears things.

Here's the inventory... (1) Charcoal gray flannel pants, gray and black striped sweater (1b) red and gray twinset

(2) Black short knit skirt, black merino twinset (2b) black and white striped turtleneck longer (tunic length?) sweater

(3) Black pants and blazer, black and white ... View the Post

Vivienne Veto: too tight tops

Ah, tourist season brings out the snarly in Vivienne's personality. She and I agree that the sheer tee shirt, when worn in multiples, can be a cute way to layer up colors and give a little pizzazz to otherwise pedestrian tee shirt looks. But those very thin, lightweight shirts are NOT meant to be worn alone, nor are they meant to be skin tight. Unless you're VERY fit, this kind of look gives away much more information than is necessary or desirable. If I wanted to see the contours of your navel, I'd go hunt you down on the beach. On the street, please keep the hills and valleys of your torso better concealed. And if I can see your tattoo(s) through the shirt.... words fail me. ... View the Post

Paris shopping: Les bouquinistes

It is impossible to walk through Paris and not see the (approximately 200) dark green book "boxes" along the Seine. In addition to selling the usual posters, postcards and refrigerator magnets, one can find amazing old books and magazines. Unfortunately, unless you can read French, there's not necessarily a lot which might be of interest.

Except... I've started buying magazines which were released the month that I was born. They're a fascinating little snapshot of history, and it gives me a good reason to support a Parisian cultural institution. They're easy to carry back in my suitcase, and they only cost, on average, around 10 Euros.

In the next few days, I'll post some more information about my most ... View the Post

Things Parisians own: Paris Par Arrondissement

Paris is large, and has streets which (1) are only a block long, (2) change names repeated over the length of the street, and (3) have very similar names and are easily confused. Thus, it's not at all uncommon to see someone in Paris dig one of these nifty little books out of the bottom of a handbag or briefcase. There's simply no way for even a native Parisian to know where every street in the city is! Just five inches tall, less than an inch thick, and covered in waterproof plastic, the PPA (say pay pay aaaah) includes every street within the Periphique (the ring road) around Paris, as well as maps of the subway and the suburban train system, and nifty listings of parks, hospitals and other items of interest. They can ... View the Post

From the Style Shelf: Working Wardrobe by Janet Wallach

One of my very favorite bloggers, the beautiful Caramel Cupcake (http://cupcakecaramel.blogspot.com/) has been analyzing her style books, and it prompted me to pull some of mine off of the shelf and look them over again. And first would HAVE to be Working Wardrobe, which came out the same year I graduated from college. (yes, that would be 30 years ago...)For someone coming out of college with a wardrobe utterly unsuited to the business world, and a job in government waiting for me, the idea of building one of these capsule wardrobes was intoxicating. I still find these illustrations by Christine Turner to be sort of rivetingly elegant.

Forgive the blurry edges of the scans - I was unwilling to squash the book flat in my ... View the Post

Vivienne Veto: Beverage bondage

There are indeed at least 10 Starbucks in Paris now, according to Google Maps. And I can bear witness that they are busy and popular. One opened recent about a block from the hotel where Vivienne works, and it's raised a whole new series of grievances among the hotel staff.

(1) For the first time that anybody can remember, beverages being spilled in the lobby of the hotel are a daily occurrence. Spilling large cold beverages onto the check-in desk has turned out to be a particularly spectacular headache, damaging paperwork and imperiling computers and other electronics. But don't discount the drama inherent in tossing most of a quart of coffee (skim, with hazelnut syrup, please) across a large expanse of ... View the Post

Back to the roots of the Vivienne Files – part 4

the following is a direct quote from the original Je Ne Sais Quoi discussion group postings I made regarding my friend Vivienne:

Someone asked me what Vivienne thinks of my wardrobe - to put it mildly she thinks I'm crazy! Admittedly, she has never actually been in my apartment and seen the beautiful arrangement (by color) of my bounty, and I HAVE seen her apartment (but not her closet) but she assures me that she has about 4 linear feet of hanging space. (Well okay, slightly more than a meter) But she thinks that I'm a genius packer - the last 2 trips I've made to Paris on business, she has come over to my hotel with me and hung out while I unpacked, pressed and otherwise got my act together. She ... View the Post

Cool Jewels: Charlotte Santa Fe

May 31, 2011

If you've got a yen to purchase a unique piece of jewelry, it could be worth your while to go to Santa Fe. I've never been to any city except Paris where there were more one of a kind items available. And Santa Fe is not limited to just sterling and turquoise - crafts-persons there work with all metals and stones.

My personal coup de coeur was the above - a heat-treated stainless steel band (pitch black with an indescribable luster), and a pearl. The most interesting thing about this jewelry is that it's interchangeable; the pin that holds the pearl in place is spring-loaded (think toilet paper holder) and can be removed and a different stone put in place of the pearl. I also have a mother of pearl and onyx yin and ... View the Post

When image consultants collide

May 30, 2011

Way back in the early years of image consulting, circa 1981 or so, I had my colors "done". I was working in a large department store as a department manager, and it was felt that management staff should all be exposed to the services of our personal shopper and consultant group, in order to help their business. To nobody's surprise (except maybe my mother), I am a Winter:

This was reassuring, as I was already building a wardrobe of gray suits, white blouses, and brightly colored scarf accents. (does anybody else remember Dress for Success?) One of the coolest lingering pieces of advice, which I'm going to discuss at more length some day, was the advice to buy tee ... View the Post

my favorite artist: Marie Laurencin

Every time I go to Paris, I force whomever is traveling with me to go to Musee de L'Orangerie, near the Louvre. This is the home of the oval rooms which house the Monet water lily series, but also where I get to visit some of my favorite paintings, those of Marie Laurencin.

I could give you a biography of Laurencin, but you can Google all those things. Suffice to say that she was divorced long before it was acceptable to do so, the lover of the poet Guillaume Appolinaire, and a friend to just about every cool and influential artist and performer in Paris from World War I through World War II. So in additional to being talented and innovative, she lived the life of a pioneer of art and feminism.

I'm in love with the world ... View the Post

An interesting exercise in priorities

May 26, 2011

One of the things I love about the internet is the serendipitous nature of finding interesting new ideas and information. Recently, I stumbled across the blog The Burning House, which is now defunct.

The premise of Burning House is to photograph what you would grab to save from your home if it were on fire. Now a big disclaimer here - I don't for a New York minute believe that the things photographed are what most respondents would REALLY grab in a pitched emergency. But taken in a larger sense, I look at the choices the participants have made as more a "what would you grab if you had 10 or 20 minutes, and a carry-on bag?" i.e. what do you own that means the most to you? The responses are ... View the Post

Decoding the mysterious “weave knot”

This scarf knot has been receiving a lot of attention in the blog world recently; I saw a NINE step instruction diagram/hieroglyphic on how to tie it! Rest assured, it's not at all complicated - it's really just a clove-hitch knot, which any self-respecting boy scout could tie blindfolded. So in the interest of beautifying the scarf world, I'm going to tell you how to tie this knot, in five steps, in less than one minute, without a mirror.1. Arrange the scarf with the two ends hanging down in the front - the left side reaching to about your waist, and the right end (now fondly called the long end) to your right.

2. Cross the long end under the short end across your chest. You are now finished with the ... View the Post