10 Ways to Wear Archives

10 Ways to Wear Black Print Pants

August 28, 2019

This is actually a post in support of the usefulness of the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe! Once a heroine has those neutral pieces in hand, adding something fun like these pants is much more practical; she will have a ton of ways to wear them immediately.

What makes these pants work? A neutral background (I prefer the dark neutral here, but in hot weather a light neutral background makes sense too), the 2nd neutral included in the print, as well as one of her accent colors...

I feel like the white tee shirt (or other white top) needs something other than black for shoes, in order to balance the look of everything. You may not agree...

This is an outfit I would wear every week:

I really ... View the Post

National Stripes Day? 10 Ways to Wear a Striped Skirt

June 21, 2019

I honestly don't know if National Stripes Day is anything more than a made-up thing by J.Crew to sell more striped things, but the idea amuses me...

So I saw this skirt and saw both the potential and the challenges:

These colors are lovely, but they're certainly not easy to find in the world of clothing...

Just to make things interesting - and tough - I'm sticking with the general structure that I used for the last skirt for which I conjured 10 Ways to Wear...

In warm weather, a denim jacket might seem odd, but in the world of excessive air conditioning and unpredictable weather, it might make sense. Right now, in Chicago, it's plenty cool enough to wear it!

A simple tee shirt is always such an ... View the Post

Chic Sightings: 10 Ways to Wear a Floral Skirt

June 12, 2019

A language digression: to me, something that is floral is MADE of flowers - a floral arrangement, a floral offering etc. Something printed with flowers is "flowered."

But NOT when you're searching through the world of garments and accessories.... If you want something with flowers, search for "floral."

I must be confused...

The first (and so far one of the only) really lovely early summer days here in Chicago brought out the floral skirts in abundance; I got so many ideas! So I picked a bright, unusual example:

I've been assured that the dark color here is navy; if it's black, nothing really changes here except navy garments and accessories could be swapped for black. I get really irked by the poor ... View the Post

10 Ways to Wear a Denim (or Chambray) Shirt

May 27, 2019

I prefer chambray - it's more "shirt weight" fabric, but if you can find a lovely denim shirt, grab it! It should last forever... Might take a while to break in, but worth the effort, I'd say.

This shirt seems pretty versatile. If I could find one without chest pockets, I'd be happier, but sometimes, one must compromise just a bit, right?

I have a few thoughts about what to keep in mind when you get one of these shirts. These are, of course, just guidelines! But as I often suggest, simpler is better...

One of the easiest ways to wear this shirt is to pull it on like a jacket on cool evenings...

Maybe you feel TOO dressy? Or a cool breeze kicks up? Picture this shirt tied at the waist over this lovely ... View the Post

White Jeans? They’re Quite Versatile…

May 25, 2019

As I continue to minimize my wardrobe (it's going to take forever!), I try to make a point of keeping individual garments that are most versatile. That's not to say that every piece of clothing you own should be wearable 10 ways, but for core pieces it's worth considering.

I bought these a few weeks ago, to replace my old white jeans, which looked as if I'd worn them to clean... something disgusting...

(I don't consider replacing worn-out garments to be shopping, so by my rules, I haven't violated my "no shopping in 2019" plan! If you make your own rules, you NEVER break them, right?)

I have some thoughts about the "best" jeans to get - uncomplicated and easy to wear often without them being too memorable, or ... View the Post

10 Ways to Wear a Denim Jacket

March 25, 2019

When I was younger, I seldom wore a denim jacket; I had one that had belonged to my husband, but it got donated somewhere along the line... For so many years, I wore suits or suit-y clothes that were too dressy to wear with a denim jacket (I thought).

But about 6 months ago, I bought myself this jacket, and I've been so happy with it...

It's deliberately built to be roomy, which I personally love - I might very well want to pile on a shirt and heavy sweater under here, and I don't want to tear the sleeves off of my jacket trying to get it on!

I tried to think of what good guidelines might be to choosing a versatile and timeless denim jacket:

Fast forward to someone asking me last week if it was okay to ... View the Post

10 Ways to Wear a Blue Dress

March 18, 2019

So the yellow dress was, in many of our opinions, hard to wear... I suspect that's why our heroine wrote to me in the first place! But the overall idea of figuring out at least a few ways to wear a dress is still a pretty smart way to get your money's worth from a purchase... Someone asked that I address the same dress, but in blue; that seems like a good idea.

But - the dress color is hard to assess - the dress on the model looks VERY different from the full-length photograph of the dress on its own. AND... the dress is supposed to be dry cleaned; if there was ever something that was going to keep it hanging in your closet (and not on your back!) is that knowledge in the back of your mind that you have to have it ... View the Post

10 Ways to Wear a Yellow Dress

March 13, 2019

From The Vivienne Files mailbox:

Yes, she asked our heroine to wear a yellow dress for the wedding.

It doesn't really matter what dress, just that it be yellow.

Now WHAT do you do with a yellow dress, after the wedding?

For a heroine in a position of having to purchased a dress in a real "non-neutral" color, I have a few suggestions...

If our heroine buys a dress that is a sleek "bottom layer" over which garments can be layered, virtually any neutral can be worn with this dress:

I don't feel like black and yellow together automatically scream "bumblebee!" to to the world... It might scream University of Iowa fan, or Steelers/Pirates/Penguins fan, eh?

With white, it just feels wonderfully ... View the Post