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Want An Easy Travel Capsule Wardrobe? Start With a Scarf – Jacky Marshall Scarf by Echo

February 19, 2024

Love at first sight...

Her favorite neutral colors, and a wonderful pink accent that she KNEW she could wear forever... It's THE Current Accent Color this year, but pink never goes out of style!

She's taking an unconventional - but very practical - approach to her packing. She's going to grab four of her favorite outfits, and then see if the sum of those pieces will work do the trick... If you stick with a disciplined color palette, there's no reason that this shouldn't be brilliant! And if you make certain that each of the outfits can be worn with your new favorite scarf, the color palette will fall into place...

First outfit is a black "suit-like" ensemble with a tan vest:

Next, she feels ... View the Post

Love to Wear Black & White? Start with a Scarf – Helen Nonini Scarf by Echo

January 31, 2024

We're almost through January! Did you notice that there were THIRTY-ONE Mondays in January? Sheesh....

But we have loveliness to brighten this last day:

The colors here are glorious - bright, strong, and just slightly off of the usual or expected red and blue...

I realized within seconds that there was virtually NO way I was going to be able to match those colors to any dress, sweater, or much of anything. Furthermore, I decided that I wasn't going to try!

Many of you know that I wear a lot of black and white; the best way to show this scarf in its full beauty would be to pair it with subtle, classic clothes, and some special accessories.

This first ensemble is a simple but perfect way to dress ... View the Post

Want to Focus on Accessories? Start with a Scarf – Betty Soldi scarf by Echo

January 19, 2024

Wow. Just plain wow...

Not many colors, but who NEEDS colors when you have this?

I'm sure your not amazed to learn that matching the sepia tone of the image is impossible to find in clothing! But let's think for a moment... if this was a photograph, you wouldn't try to match the color of the frame to the photo, right? So you don't need to match the main color of a scarf - think of it as your outfit serving as the background or frame for the scarf!

This heroine is a BIG fan of accessories that channel her inner Elizabeth I.... so her clothes are simple and classic:

Wearing dress pants, and then packing a skirt and jeans, gives you a wide range of "dressiness" possibilities:

I'm pretty certain that our heroine ... View the Post

A Bold Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Start with Art – The Dream by Luciano Cian

January 12, 2024

The Clients Are Nervous... She sold the initial contracts... And now that it's time to actually execute the project, the staff assigned to the work are worried about how the clients have been acting. Sigh...

So she's going to travel with them, and spend a day - maybe two - with everybody. Just to make sure that the clients are happy, and that they understand that these very technical staff are part of the same organization. Yes, they're a lot more... conventional... than she is!

The clients were maybe expecting everyone to be as colorful and unconventional as their salesperson...

So she packs up a few things and books a ticket with the rest of the crew:

She's actually not ALL that "out ... View the Post

Need an Accent Inspiration? Start With a Scarf – Shepard Fairey by Echo

December 1, 2023

OH dear! I'm supposed to be working on the "Six Paintings, Six Wardrobes" posts today! But once I saw that Shepard Fairey had done a scarf for Echo, I was thoroughly distracted... You know his art; remember the Obama posters from way back when...

This nice thing about scarves (well, one of the many nice things about scarves!) is that even if you don't much love the image when the scarf is flat, nobody but you will probably EVER see the scarf spread out and fully visible...

Our heroine today is one of us who mostly loves to wear neutrals - especially black and beige! But she's going to be attending a couple of "medium dressy" events this winter (some including children), and she needs to maybe brighten up ... View the Post

Business Travel Packing Made Easy? Start with a Scarf: Tré Seals Scarf By Echo

November 15, 2023

I've been planning to buy one (well, at least one!) of the Echo 100 Scarves, from their amazing anniversary project; I knew that something would have whappage, and be irresistible to me...

You're shocked, I know:

Okay, this might be unnecessary, but it's what we do here on The Vivienne Files!

This heroine isn't me - although it certainly could have been me in my advertising days!

Our intrepid friend today is heading to one of those cities that starts with an N - New York, Newark, Northampton, Nantes? She will only be there 3 nights, and during the day she will be training employees of her company in cool and fascinating research techniques...

The weather will be moderate - not that ... View the Post

Tote Bag Travel that Starts with a Bracelet: Dazzling Lynx Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

October 23, 2023

Yes, she's starting early. She knows full well that her friends will start planning holiday events, and she wants to be prepared. She's particularly eager to be able to pack just a few garments in a tote bag, for those overnight, 2-party weekends...

She's not crazy - there are lovely holiday things available right now that are selling out quickly. Nobody seems to be keeping deep inventories these days!

She's starting here!

She's one of those women - we all know one - who seems to carry her own illumination system with her! She walks in the door and people start to smile...

For years, she's kept her color palette VERY limited; it gives her lots of opportunity to find things that are amusing, ... View the Post

Start with Art: Silence in the Night by Emilio Pettoruti

October 18, 2023

Finally! She found the perfect painting... Maybe nobody else in the world would feel this way about this work of art, but to her it's just right...

The Simplest Suitcase Possible She's got to travel. She wants to have available a range of dressiness - nothing TOO casual, nor nothing TOO dressy. But still, a sense of choice...

She decides to work with black inner cores - black tee shirts and other tops, with black pants and skirts. Her accent colors will be worn as 2nd layers, scarves and jewelry.

Her first outfit, for travel, is the most casual - jeans and a corduroy jacket!

Her second outfit will include her favorite denim skirt, and purple accents!

She also packs a third outfit - ... View the Post

Six Paintings, Twelve Months: Street, Berlin by Ludwig Kirchner

October 4, 2023

I think I'm going to be able to do these one at a time, which is an interesting approach!

What would I be thinking if this was my wardrobe inspiration, and my wardrobe?

Well, I'd be pretty thrilled with this painting! It's sassy, bright, and has purple right up front! And lots of black, which has been my favorite neutral for 40 years...

This wardrobe has a lot of appeal, to me. Maybe I would want more purple and less pink, but that's a pretty small concern...

But I would have to have a pair of black shorts! Maybe not in October, but eventually. And I definitely feel a longing here for black and white stripes, checks, florals, or even a great paisley scarf.

And a white cardigan. Yes, it's sort of ... View the Post

A Neutral Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Start with a Scarf – Wild Rose Silk Scarf by Echo

September 28, 2023

Incognito She judges gardens. Every weekend, she goes to another city, and tours all kinds of backyards and front yards, and picks the winners...

And NOBODY knows that it's her! Well, the people sponsoring the garden walks always know her name, and they know her email address from which they will receive the big announcement...

She shows up for both days of the walks, dressed inconspicuously, not taking notes, not being a pompous "garden judge" who lords her authority over the poor gardeners...

She always packs the same 10 garments, for the entirety of the autumn (or spring) judging season.

The first things into her bag is her favorite turtleneck - cotton, but hefty enough for a cool ... View the Post

A “Two-Neutral” Capsule Wardrobe? Start With Art – Five Women by Max Beckmann

September 25, 2023

I don't generally think of Max Beckmann for wardrobe inspiration - his paintings always feel very cluttered and busy. But this one has a special charm:

Our heroine really wants some variety in how she can dress this fall - as much as she loves black, she wants to be able to wear quite a bit of "beige/tan/oatmeal" too...

She wasn't sure that this was something that one is allowed to do (what folly!) until she saw this painting, and realized that she would LOVE these colors:

She's very organized - the first thing she wants to be certain of is that her black wardrobe core is perfect:

Next, she very carefully selects her oatmeal/camel/buttercream/twig grouping - four garments, four color names! But ... View the Post

Experimenting with Proportions by Starting with Art: Partial Eclipse of the Moon by Étienne Léopold Trouvelot

September 11, 2023

She likes things to be simple, but interesting... Anything for a good experiment!

So when she was told that she would have 2 weeks access to the data regarding the varying distances to the moon, she knew that she packing would be a chance to try out some interesting things!

There will be at least a dozen other scientists at the University, working toward an accurate measurement of the vacillations of the earth's axis. It's fascinating, really!

While she's concentrating on numbers, and distances, and appearances, she decides that she will pack a 3-color wardrobe, and experiment with how she gets dressed each day. She's hopeful that she will arrive at a firm conclusion about what "outfit proportions" ... View the Post