The Vivienne Files - Page 42 of 264 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Preparing for Warm Weather – Stress Dressing Clusters!

May 9, 2022

Years and years ago, I shared with the world my secret for how I get dressed on those mornings, when everything goes wrong and I don't even want to THINK about clothing...

Right now, our weather is madly uncertain - it's been a cold and wet spring, but I think that in the next few days, summer is going to arrive with a vengeance.

How to prepare? I can't just open my closet door and hope to make sense of a complete change of seasons...

So I've sorted out a wee wardrobe cluster, all pressed, hanging in 1 place, and ready to go!

You can choose any 6 garments that work well for you, but I would always suggest that you include a 2nd layer, like a cardigan, and a pair of long pants. This is the perfect ... View the Post

Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Rikka, the Beginning of Summer

May 6, 2022

Yes, for those of us still shivering in VERY cool temperatures, this is aspirational. I think we all have to accept that these 24 Japanese Seasons probably don't conform to what we're currently experiencing...

Nonetheless, aspiring to a warm summer day is a lovely daydream!

Shopping, Cooking, Celebrating Summer The Farmers Markets are back! And she's ready - tote bag in hand, shirt with a bit of a sleeve to keep sunburn off of her shoulders...

Never was a woman so thrilled to be going shopping!

Does she wear lots of olive and denim-ish blue?

Of is this our heroine from Wednesday, dressed for a casual day?

A couple of hours later, she's got her work cut out for her! Some freezing, some ... View the Post

Start with Art: The Slav Epic by Alfons Mucha

May 4, 2022

Wear Your Colors She always took it to heart - auburn hair, ivory skin, lots of golden freckles...

So when she was invited to her friend's country home for the weekend, packing was easy! These weekends are basically a lot of eating, a lot of laughing, and a LOT of napping...

After dropping by her office for a few hours, she catches the bus; she will have to walk a bit when she arrives, but she will be nice and hungry when she gets there... Dinner is always late on Friday nights!

Many of the friends assembled there will sleep late - although there are always a couple of ambitious people who get up before dawn to go hiking!

Brunch will last for HOURS... followed by naps for most of them. If you're not ... View the Post

May 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

May 2, 2022

Let's visit our gradually growing wardrobes, based on beautiful scarves from PJ Studio Accessories!

This month, it was SO easy to shop for this wardrobe! I can't imagine how I personally would get through the summer without a shirtdress in a light fabric...

Each of these wardrobes now includes 19 garments - pretty much enough to get through the summer! If you're inclined to participate in the "21 Garments, 21 Days" challenges, any of these wardrobe plus a couple of tops would get you through the next 21 days pretty easily. Yes, some of these garments are skewed a bit toward cooler weather; some substitutions might be needed...

All the shoes you might need - from boots to sandals!

How might ... View the Post

Start with a Detail – The Water, Monaco by William John Leech

April 29, 2022

She wasn't sure that she loved the painting, but she saw something in it that REALLY spoke to her...

She's Always Been a Towhead She violated all of those pieces of advice about looking at art, and she got up REALLY CLOSE to the painting...

THIS is what she saw, that called to her:

Her hair was turning from blond white to just plain (amazing!) white. She avoided the sun, as all wise women do. And she embraced the soft, the pale, the subtle muted colors that suited her so well...

if I didn't already have a white summer cardigan...

Beige is the core of her wardrobe - winter, summer, no matter! And light grey wool, in the cool weather...

She's excited to add some light green to her wardrobe! ... View the Post

Revising a Wardrobe Plan: Start with Art – The Water, Monaco by William John Leech

April 27, 2022 Our heroine felt... unsatisfied with her initial wardrobe plan. It was perfectly practical, and many women would have been delighted with having black, beige and pastels available to them... So our heroine went back to her inspiration painting, to try to identify what about it really appeal to her!

She loved the contrast between the trees and the pastels in the water... She wasn't mad about the color of the sand, or pavement, or whatever that mungy greenish beige was supposed to be! ..... Walking to work, she saw a very nicely dressed man, in a navy suit, a light blue shirt, and dark tie... NAVY! Navy and pastels are classic. And then she saw a lovely woman wearing a simple white tee shirt with a navy ... View the Post

Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year

April 25, 2022

When I started working on this post, it was pouring rain in Chicago. I mean pouring buckets and barrels and VATS of rain...

The next day, the temperature is over 20C, and quite lovely. If the wind doesn't (literally) blow you over...

Which made me realize yet again that there are really more than 4 season in the year; they've apparently always know that in Japan!

So I'm very intrigued by the idea of 24 Seasons - which are divided into 72 wee mini-seasons! I'll stick with this 24 for now, but I never rule out doing something fun with 72 seasons!

My thinking, at this early stage: an outfit for each mini-season, 3 garments. That would be a 72-garment wardrobe - considerably smaller than what I currently ... View the Post

Adding Accent Accessories – Start with Art: Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber by Paul Klee

April 22, 2022

You know that it's "klee an in clay"? There once was a book by that title that helped us pronounce all sorts of art and music names properly; well worth grabbing if you see it used...

Well, when I started this post, I wasn't at all sure WHEN you would get to see it; they're working on the internet and cable in my building - fifty-some floors of rewiring! Outages and glitches are built into this process; if I am going to miss a date I will post a note from my phone so you know I'm okay!

SO!!! Let's get Wednesday's heroines some accessories!!!

For reference, and for pleasure, let's remember that this is the art from which we started:

Let's go back to our core of 10 pieces of clothing. There's no reason in the ... View the Post

Start with Art: Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber by Paul Klee, and French 5-Piece Wardrobes

April 20, 2022

We visited this fascinating painting a few years ago, and I've never forgotten about it!

So when someone asked me about having a couple of accent colors for summer, and after we looked at the possibilities of 1 scarf for 4 women, I got to thinking.... (as my mother would say - "we knew you were thinking; we smelled the smoke...")

The last time we looked at this painting, I only isolated 3 accent colors, but today I'm choosing four!

So my plan is this - I'm going to start us out with a core summer wardrobe in light colors - white and beige. Then I'm going to scare up four French 5-Piece Wardrobes - one in each of the accent colors...

Let's start here:

I'm not going to run through how many outfits ... View the Post

Start with Art: The Water, Monaco by William John Leech

April 18, 2022

Making Compromises, When Your Palette is Difficult

She's really committed to these colors, even though she knows that it's not going to be easy... There's no real way she can envision getting dressed for an entire season without wearing black - even if it's hot!

And the rest of the colors? She has accepted that "her" beige, that green-ish, rain-soaked and slightly lichen-colored quay, isn't going to be anywhere to be found; she's prepared to compromise with the much more common beige...

The accent colors could be tricky; she can't actually see herself wearing soft lime OR light periwinkle with black!

But she gives it all a go - it's just clothing, after all.

Starting with the simple stuff - it's never difficult to ... View the Post

April 2022 Start with a Bracelet: The Nourishing Lynx Bracelets

April 15, 2022

You know those organizations that always show up where there's a war or a natural disaster, and they feed (literally) millions of people? That kind of service doesn't just spring up out of the ground, you know...

There are people who figure out how to actually COOK those huge amounts of food, and make it palatable!

Our ENTIRELY IMAGINARY heroine is off to meet with a group of volunteers that are preparing to travel to one of the current locations where food is needed...

She has accumulated lots of useful information - how to use what's available, no matter how unusual it might be. How to season vast pots of soup and stew so that it's tasty, but not overwhelming for people who haven't had enough food ... View the Post

Version 4 Start with a Scarf: Peonies Silk Scarf by Arlo Goods

April 13, 2022

She's An Actress...

She's been a star of a daytime drama for years, playing the good twin and the evil twin...

Part of the fun of being friends with her is that her expressions and emotions can run the gamut from intellectually serious to hysterically funny in a matter of moments...

So nobody is surprised that she has included ALL of the accent colors in their "scarf-centric" wardrobe, nor are they amazed to see that SHE bought the kimono, and not the scarf!

It's still a pretty versatile wardrobe:

Rumor has it that the writers on her show are about to introduce a long-lost triplet...

love,

Janice

p.s. Approximately seven years ago, I shared with you my shortcut to calculating ... View the Post