A Common Wardrobe Archives - Page 3 of 9

A Summer Common Capsule Wardrobe, In Warm Tones

August 11, 2015

What fun this was - the same general idea as my personal mostly black Common Capsule Wardrobe for warm weather, but in warm tones!

There aren't quite as many accessories here as there were in my wardrobe - but for anyone who is going to wear this wardrobe, you certainly already own LOTS of pieces that will work beautifully here.

So very many different ways to put this together:

And just for reference, the template for Your Common Wardrobe.

What accent colors would you put with this? Peach is the first and most obvious, to me. What else? I'd like to revisit these pieces with some accent colors, if you're interested.

love, Janice ... View the Post

A Summer Common Capsule Wardrobe

August 8, 2015

It was a great question, and one that I'm sorry I didn't think of sooner - what about A Common Capsule Wardrobe for warmer weather? It's not like the concept doesn't work when the weather's above 20 degrees...

For me, of course the neutral is black. You can't imagine how I DON'T want to wear bright clothes after a day of wrestling with the nuances of color for The Vivienne Files! Also, I go in and out of stores, offices and restaurants that have absolutely frigid air-conditioning, so I include both a cardigan and a jacket. If you spend your time in less wasteful environments, you might not need these...

So I start with my cardigan - sheer, and very light. A jacket in silk... Three sleeveless tops, which can be in ... View the Post

My French 5-Piece Capsule Wardrobe for Autumn and Winter 2015. I think…

August 7, 2015

So now that THAT is settled, let's move on to the really fun stuff - adding to and dressing up (or down) A Common Wardrobe.Just for reference, or if you still haven't printed it, this is the template from which I worked for my 12-piece Common Wardrobe.

And these are the core garments with which I'm working:

black cardigan - J. Crew; black v-neck sweater - J. Crew; black cashmere turtleneck - Saks Fifth Avenue, white cotton turtleneck - L.L.Bean; black long-sleeved tee - Three Dots; grey long-sleeved tee - L.L.Bean; white shirt – J. Crew; black slouch pants - Eileen Fisher; black trousers - Eddie Bauer; black jeans - Eileen Fisher; black skirted leggings - Eileen ... View the Post

My Wardrobe: Revisiting A Common Wardrobe

August 6, 2015

Among the most popular, and among the most misunderstood, posts that I've ever written for The Vivienne Files have to be the ones about A Common Wardrobe.

I used to work in advertising. I used to travel a lot, and I used to be privileged to meet some of the most intelligent, creative, eccentric and downright weird people you could imagine. But one thing that I noticed, time and time again, was that no matter how unusual their appearance might have seemed, their clothes would invariably include at least one or two elements that were pretty normal. In fact, when I looked over large rooms full of these people, you could see a common theme of a lot of jeans, khakis, and black trousers, a lot of white shirts, a lot ... View the Post

How to Wear Black and Brown Together, or How to Incorporate an Expensive Garment into A Common Capsule Wardrobe

November 18, 2014 It could happen to anyone of us - you're minding your own business, and then... you see it. The garment that makes your heart sing. Something that you admire aesthetically, that looks perfect on you, that is beautifully made, from gorgeous materials, and that will last the rest of your life... But OWWWW... it's expensive. The biggest question to answer: can I wear this wondrous garment frequently enough to make it worth the purchase price? I'm NOT going to say it's an investment, because only in a few cases will you be able to sell something for more than the purchase price, which is the technical definition of an investment. But in a way, if you get more joy from something, and it enhances your image, ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe + A Common Capsule Wardrobe: One Special Outfit

October 17, 2014

This is a plan for someone who has the Common Capsule Wardrobe in grey and off-white, with a camel sweater, because they're moving away from wearing black. (more on this idea another day). This someone has a special occasion coming up, and they want to expend their ENTIRE French 5-Piece Wardrobe on a new dress and some accessories:

These purchases aren't "single-use", of course; the scarf and jewelry could be worn with almost any of the outfits in The Common Wardrobe. The pumps will go nicely with our grey skirt (or with the jeans, if that's a preference). And the dress is simple enough that it can be worn more casually, after the special occasion. Dark tights and flats or ankle ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe + A Common Capsule Wardrobe: Avoiding Boredom

October 16, 2014 Let's say you have A Common Capsule Wardrobe in black and grey, and you're happy with it. But you're concerned that you're going to get bored by wearing so many neutrals all of the time... So one day you're browsing through the internet, and you find a whole LOT of lovely, bright, good-quality blouses, shirts and sweaters at a good price. You might have always wanted to try these brands, but always been reluctant to purchase their items at the full retail price. (the site is The Outnet - lots of pretties at prices that still aren't small, but which are a ton better than the original retail!). After a bit of thought, you choose to, for one season, indulge your affection for every bright ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe + A Common Capsule Wardrobe: Shades of blue, with Black and Grey

October 15, 2014 We looked at using a variety of shades of pink as an accent in a capsule wardrobe (post here), and it was something that everybody either seemed to love or hate. So I'm going to see what response is to shades of blue - that very particular muted blue that you see in blue onyx. A note about this scarf - it's from Hermes, and it's in their usual amazingly lustrous silk twill, but it isn't a square - it's a very long rectangle with mitered ends. Per square inch of silk, these scarves are MUCH less expensive than the squares, and for many people, they're a lot more versatile style. If you've never been interested in a square scarf, then these (called Maxi Twilly), are at least worth ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe + A Common Capsule Wardrobe: blue, green, and grey

October 14, 2014 The French 5-Piece Wardrobe is a great way to experiment with new color palettes, but it can also be used as a way to build upon The Common Capsule Wardrobe in your chosen neutrals. Adding in a neutral item or two can really expand the versatility of your core garments, while a new color or two keeps the boredom at bay. Let's see what these five items do for A Common Capsule Wardrobe:

Remember, this is A Common Wardrobe, in navy and grey, with which we're working:

First off, the beautiful green sweater actually would give you eight new possibilities (I only show four) - it can be worn with any of your pants, jeans, or skirt, and it can be worn with ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe + A Common Capsule Wardrobe: Shades of Pink, Navy and Grey

October 10, 2014 While the French 5-Piece Capsule Wardrobe is great for experimenting with new colors or trendy items, it can also be an opportunity to build your wardrobe around your favorite colors. If you like pink - all shades of pink - then indulge in a combination of beautiful items for the long-term and a few more spontaneously fun things for a season or two.

There are lots of possibilities here, from bright and cheery ensembles to more subtle and low-key ones.

Just a reminder that this is A Common Capsule Wardrobe upon which we are building.

love,

Janice ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe + A Common Capsule Wardrobe: Burgundy, Teal, Navy and Grey

October 9, 2014 Very popular colors - I often get requests for capsule wardrobes in these! And this year, this wine color is quite popular and readily available - if it's a color that you love, this is a good season to pick up a piece or two. This is an long-term sweater, a blouse that should last you a couple of seasons at least, and a cardigan that you can count on for a few years. Most scarves hold up well and can be counted on for the long term. But I think the stand-out item here is the great wool shopping bag - how clever is it to make a wool bag? I can just imagine how nice this feels...

In order to give you a fuller view of just how useful these few items can be, ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Meets A Common Capsule Wardrobe: navy, grey, electric blue, bright purple

October 8, 2014

There's a lot of talk in books and on the internet about the "French 5-Piece Wardrobe", which is a misnomer if there ever was one! The wardrobe isn't really five pieces; the concept is that you have a core of basic, neutral garments, and you then add FIVE pieces per season. I'm sure some people define a season as every 3 months, but it would certainly also make sense to just do this every 6 months. Whatever makes you happy, right?

But when I read descriptions about the "core" of neutral garments, I kept thinking that it sounded a lot like The Common Wardrobe... And that this philosophy might be an option for helping us build our wardrobes of basics, while at the same time introducing accent colors, long-term ... View the Post