Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature
OCtober 30, 2013 So the idea of carefully choosing a "cluster" of shirts and sweaters, to give yourself some layering options, also works well if you have to dress warmly but a bit nicely...
When you have to have a few options for holiday or party attire, this is also an approach to consider.
love, Janice ... View the Post
October 28, 2013 I found, after a few days of travelling, that the shirts and sweaters that I had packed gave me a lot more options than I had anticipated! A reminder: these are what I had in my bag:
Of course, I could wear any of these except the cardigan on their own. But as the weather, and my location, shifted, I began to experiment with different ways to layer these 5 garments. I discovered that, ultimately, I had a DOZEN options. In the coldest weather, I was able to layer three tops together for maximum warmth, and thus the Triple Top Secret was born!
But I quickly realized that, if I had chosen JUST a little bit more carefully, I could have had even more ... View the Post
October 26, 2013
My recent adventures took me from decidedly summery weather to something more in keeping with gloves and scarves. As usual, I was limited to just a carry-on bag... But I was really delighted with what I took with me.Nobody around you is going to be fooled into believing that you have a vast and limitless wardrobe at your disposal, and you're going to need to be able to do some laundry occasionally with this little ensemble. I found, however, that I was covered (or uncovered, as the case may be) for everything that I encountered.
AND!!! I deciphered the reason that all of this worked so well, and next week I'm going to explain the secret, and show some other ... View the Post
October 8, 2013 Who am I kidding - I will wear more than six scarves before the winter is over - there will be WEEKS during which I will wear more scarves than this. But these six scarves represent the critical categories into which my scarves seem to fall. None of them is still currently available - and I can only remember buying two of them at all clearly. I DO remember buying my pink scarf the first time I visited Paris (1998?), and being absolutely horrified with myself that I spent so much on a scarf. Now that I've worn it about 500 times, I no longer remember the price...
Mostly pink/blush colored scarves:
Halogen, La Fiorentina, Nordstrom, ... View the Post
October 7, 2013
Lots of people have been interested in where I purchased my various Project 333 items, and what designers or brands were represented. So I'm going to break down the whole show, by category, and review what I have. Better yet, since so much of my stuff is no longer available, I'm going to source out reasonable facsimiles or replacements.Starting with shoes: I have 2 pair of loafers included in this assortment, and 2 pair of oxfords. If I were starting from scratch, I'd probably only get one pair of each. But here are the autumn shoes, shown in order of absolute criticalness in my life.
My loafers are from Stuart Weitzman, the tall boots are from Eddie Bauer, the athletic ... View the Post
Yes, Karl Lagerfeld wears the same outfit every day. And I'm going to be getting close to that point...I can see how people who are continually immersed in fashion all day, every day, can get completely burned out on making clothing choices. For every garment or accessory that I show here on my blog, I estimate that I look at over 100 items that get rejected. Sometimes, I can say with confidence that I looked at over 500 pair of pants, or 700 bracelets, before I found what I really wanted to include here for you.
After I've written a blog post, I want to wear absolutely simple, plain, easy and uncomplicated clothes. I don't need to have more than a dozen discrete, discreet outfits, so this upcoming Project 333 ... View the Post
October 2, 2013
Cardigan – Chinti and Parker, Grey pumps – Everybody, teal cardigan – House of Fraser, teal-trimmed pumps – Carolinna Espinosa
Black & brown pumps – Softspots, brown cardigan – Paul & Joe Sister, camel cardigan – Burberry, Camel and black pumps – Enzo Angiolini
Grey cardigan – Massimo Alba, Floral slingback – J. Renee, maroon cardigan – Sonia Rykiel, pumps – Marvin K.
Dress – Stefanel ... View the Post
September 27, 2013 Now that we can occasionally pull out our sweaters in Chicago, I've noticed that a LOT of women are wearing a simple beige wrap cardigan in all sorts of lovely ways:
Cardigan – Alpha Massimo Rebecchi, Tweed skirt – Stella Jean, ivory sweater – Stefanel, taupe suede pumps – Naturalizer, black sweater – Stefanel, printed skirt – Weekend by Max Mara, black pumps - Sofft
Cardigan – Alpha Massimo Rebecchi, Grey trousers – Giorgio Armani, grey blouse – See by Chloe, grey flats – Munro, navy top - Shirt C-Zero, navy trousers – Paul Smith, navy fabric loafers – Munro
Cardigan – Alpha Massimo ... View the Post
September 16, 2013 After I finished today's post for Tish at A Femme d'un Certain Age, I looked around at some other possible colors with which the black items could be worn... and stumbled upon some beautiful green options. Not something which you might want to wear every day, but an interesting choice if you want to be remembered and make a statement of originality!
Blouse – Uniqlo, earrings – Annette Ferdinandsen, Black slouch pants – Helmut, black cardigan coat – Ann Demeulemeester, scarf – Nordstrom, watch – DKNY , flats – Delman , tote – Victorinox
Peridot and blue topaz earrings- Ippolita, green asymmetric sweater – Allude, earrings – Arunashi, green tank ... View the Post
August 26, 2013
The travel outfit is always the most important decision when packing a tiny suitcase. In the worst travel outcomes, you can be stuck wearing this outfit for a REALLY long time. Even if everything goes perfectly, this is the outfit in which you arrive - your first impression at the branch office, or the hotel, or with the relatives. As much as I adore textured and patterned cardigans, for the Four Pack, I'd stick with a solid-colored cardigan. This amazingly beautiful sweater might get a lot of action, if the weather proves to be cool, and a solid makes it easier to coordinate other items.
Now you have a variety of choices! This doesn't exhaust the ... View the Post
August 15, 2013
In the interest of full disclosure, if your click on any link to Boticca and purchase something, they give me a (very) small commission. That's not why I use their accessories on The Vivienne Files; I use them because they're timeless, elegant, classic, and unique, just like us!
love, Janice ... View the Post
I repeatedly make the questionable choice of including beige or khaki in my summer wardrobe... sigh... it's not a great color for me. So here, in addition to addressing the idea of moving toward warmer clothes, and buying with a purpose, I'm also showing a move from one color in a wardrobe to a different one.Remember, this was the summer Whatever's Clean wardrobe:
First, because I'm starting to really feel like beige isn't working well, the 2 beige pieces are going to take a back seat. And of course white linen pants aren't going to go too far into the fall...
Here's where grey takes the place of beige, and a pair of jeans will replace the white linen pants.
Second step: the ... View the Post
