12 Months - 12 Outfits Archives - Page 5 of 5

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: April

April 1, 2016

What fun! I was really eager to get to these outfits, and see how the assembled capsule wardrobes continue to grow. For April, I was thinking of an outfit that provides a transition between seasons, and gives us a couple of solid basic garments (and some fun jewelry!).Capri or cropped pants are the kind of garment that can be worn twice a week for the next six months, so it's important to get these into your wardrobe early. I chose really basic neutrals for all six wardrobes, so there's lots of different ways for them to work for you.

A sweater might seem sort of counter-intuitive going into warm weather, but these sweaters are all either linen or cotton, so they can be tossed over your shoulders as necessary, without ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: March

March 1, 2016 It's that time again! This month, I have chosen outfits that are the most casual way POSSIBLE to wear a skirt. While you might never feel comfortable wearing a skirt with a pair of Keds, it's a normal outfit for me, and it at least gives you a good laugh at my expense! Just a reminder, these are the scarves around which I'm building each capsule wardrobe. Your choice of focal point does NOT have to be an expensive scarf - it can be any beautiful object or image that resonates with you. If your favorite picture in the world is your computer wallpaper, work with it! But I feel like I should mention that if you really DO love one of these scarves, don't hesitate to get it. Hermes does NOT carry ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Reflections II by ImageDiary

WHAT a scarf...

And what delicious colors with which to work in a capsule wardrobe...

My goal here was to look for fluidity, as much as possible...What I wouldn't do for this dress, by the way. This is the kind of thing that you buy and then build outfits around - which wouldn't be difficult. While you can easily wear it as I show here, you could also put on tights, boots, a black cardigan and your Reflections II scarf in cold weather...

This scarf was described as having "water drops" as the pattern:

Pearls seems pretty obvious, when the theme is water:

PLEASE, cut the tag gizmo off of the blue sweater... What ARE they thinking?

There ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Hermes Panthera Pardus

February 2, 2016 The minute I saw this scarf in the store, I knew I wanted to use it here on The Vivienne Files, so you all could see it too:

He's got green eyes! The colors, and the details here, are just gloriously beautiful. I always particularly admire the contrast edge on a scarf, because it's pretty, and because I can't even imagine how difficult it is to silkscreen that part, and then roll it and hand stitch it so perfectly. Artisan genius... and it comes in other colors!

The range of possible colors that can be used here was pretty impressive, and a bit unusual. Hermes can always be counted on to come up with color schemes not seen elsewhere.When I do capsule wardrobes like this, please ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: February

February 1, 2016

Although the marketing types will urge us all to dress up in lace and frills and all sorts of dainties for Valentine's Day, I think it more likely that many of us will consider it a big night out if it requires a dress of any sort! So for February, I looked for dresses - simple, classic, versatile, timeless dresses that will be as useful for you in July as they are in February...As before, I tried to keep the "parts" as consistent as possible across the six color palettes, so that the impact of the changing colors will be shown to better effect.

Remember, these are the six scarves around which I'm building these "month by month" capsule wardrobes. Any beautiful item can serve this function - ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: January

January 30, 2016

You all have the BEST ideas! And I'm stealing this and running with it...Starting today, and then on the 1st of each month (yes, the next installment, for February, will be Monday), I'm going to share the "monthly" new outfit for each of 6 different capsule wardrobe color schemes. By the 1st of December, we're going to have a nice tidy capsule wardrobe, built around a unifying color theme and overall "feel."

I chose 6 Hermes scarves to define our color palettes:

These six scarves indicated, to me, six different core neutral colors, and an interesting range of accents. I've included a small image of each scarf on the page with each outfit, to remind us of the colors with which we're working. Of course, ... View the Post

Simply Seasonless in the Capsule Wardrobe: Black Pants

Last week's episode of Simply Seasonless (the denim shirt) included quite a few essential capsule wardrobe items that are ALSO pretty versatile. Today, I'm thinking of a pair of black "ankle pants", i.e. those pants that stop about 2 inches above the ankle bone. They're obvious with sandals or espadrilles, easy as pie with boots, but surprisingly fun with opaque tights and pumps or ballet flats... The key to wearing these pants successfully? Make sure they're narrow at the bottom, simply styled, and not TOO short.And yes, you're seeing some of these garments again - this is key to an efficient capsule wardrobe!

Black capri pants – Emilio Pucci, Denim shirt – Marc by Marc Jacobs, scarf – Hermès,

blazer – ... View the Post