Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature
December 19, 2014 Yesterday, there were a couple of concerns/questions about what to do if you don't look good in camel. How about navy? (grey would also be fabulous, as would taupe...)
Of course, still lots of possible ways to wear these few simple basics!
love,
Janice ... View the Post
December 18, 2014 Many of us are preparing for holiday trips of varying lengths, so today I felt like putting together something that just oozed luxury and subtlety. These rich, beautiful colors, fabrics and textures make a quietly elegant statement, without gaudy logos or overdone ornamentation.
love, Janice ... View the Post
December 17, 2014 I know I seem to talk about this same idea a lot, but I can't sufficiently emphasize the benefits of building your wardrobe around a unifying theme of some sort. Your theme could be a particular color scheme, a painting, a photograph, or a scarf - there are really no limits to what you might choose. This theme doesn't have to last throughout your entire life, nor does it have to define absolutely EVERY purchase that you make. However, it should be an overarching guideline that helps you make the hard decisions when you see something appealing - does it fit? does it clash? does it harmonize? does it make NO SENSE WHATSOEVER in the context of your chosen style theme? So, when someone asked ... View the Post
December 6, 2014 Everywhere you look, there's a "number" wardrobe that's recommended to make life easier! I am as guilty of that as anyone, because I like nice, tidy, finite wardrobes, and I'm crazy about numbers. But what do all of these number ideas teach us?
The French 10 Piece Wardrobe
To me, this idea translates into a core wardrobe with lots of versatility. It is the canvas upon which you demonstrate your personal preferences, whimsy, and style. Ten pieces of clothing is a pretty excellent number for those of us who are out in public 5 days a week, in that it provides a week of "tops" and a week of "bottoms".
If they're carefully chosen, these ... View the Post
November 13, 2014 Isn't this beautiful? One of you sent it to me, and it captivated me immediately. The vertical layout, the soft background, the muted shades of green and blue, the accents of warm rust, gold and orange - what a wonderful painting. There are so many things about this that could serve as inspiration and focus: the colors, the organic nature of the image, the soft blending of the background colors, the use of about a billion shades of bluish green - there's just no end to the ideas that can come from this one work of art. (but that's probably true, for the right person, of any work of art, right?)
This was my chosen color scheme - a base in very dark navy, accents of all those ... View the Post
November 5, 2014 After Friday's post about a Missoni scarf, I received an email with this picture - another really lovely combination of colors...
There are a lot of possibilities here, of course. One could concentrate on the beige, ivory, and periwinkle, but I chose to work with the brighter shades apparent in the scarf.
In my vivid and bottomless imagination, I pictured this protagonist as someone who had to travel for work, but who's work is something rather creative; she's one who likes to wear things a little bit bold...
While many of the garments are relatively simple and classic, the accessories are anything but! And the dress... I personally love ... View the Post
August 21, 2014
I've decided to change up the order of the colors in the titles, so that when we scan through a large number of them, the accent colors will be better emphasized. They are, theoretically, where the fun it! So one of you (you know who you are, you scamp!) fell in love with a deeply INAPPROPRIATE scarf:
I would do hideously inappropriate things for this scarf in grey and pink, so I understand...
So this lovely scamp had pretty much committed to a color scheme with two neutrals of denim blue (not necessarily denim FABRIC, but that blue), and brown. Her first accent color was planned to be grey, and she had not settled on a 2nd accent. I proposed this color scheme to ... View the Post
June 18, 2014 Many people would tell you that you should start building your capsule wardrobe with a black suit. And there's an undoubted crowd who would vote in favor of a little black dress. (for me, personally, that's where I would start...) But after wrestling with this question for weeks, I've finally decided that most of us might find the most utility, and the most immediate transformation of our wardrobe, could come from investing in a really NICE pair of pants. Trousers. Even (very unpopular word) slacks... If you've changed sizes, a new pair of trousers that fit you perfectly will immediately elevate all of your old blouses and shirts. If you want to improve the overall quality of your ... View the Post
January 7, 2014 Many readers asked me to work with a Picasso painting, and I happily oblige. These outfits are based on beige, just as the painting is literally on a beige background. Accents of red, orange, yellow, a touch of green, and you're set for almost anything! My guiding adjectives for this project were warm, saturated, and clear, with unexpected bursts of bright against the toasty neutral.
This is a wardrobe that could see someone through much of the summer!
love,
Janice ... View the Post
January 1, 2014
Would this form be useful for you as you organize your clusters?
Send me an email (theviviennefiles at gmail dot com) and I'll send you either the Excel or the PDF document. Just let me know which is better for you - although of course you can have them both...
Happy New Year!
love,
Janice ... View the Post
December 30, 2013
It's an absolutely unbreakable rule for cleaning out your closet - you're supposed to take EVERYTHING out of your closet, pile it somewhere like on your bed, try EVERYTHING on, and then sort things into piles for things to keep, things to donate, and things to "work on".
I can picture that chez moi:
Open bottle of wine. Take all clothes out of closet and put them on the bed. Look at stacks of clothes and feel a terrible combination of shame, panic, and sense of being completely overwhelmed by the situation. Drink wine. Try on a few of my favorite garments, and put them back in my closet. Take another drink. Throw up my hands in despair and put things back where they were...
I'm sure that ... View the Post
Pants – Brunello Cuccinelli, sleeveless top – Dorothy Perkins, cord bracelet – Dorothy Perkins, blush sandals – Marais USA, chalcedony earrings –NuNu, tunic – Mary Portas, lace ballet flats – J.C. Penney, tank top – Uniqlo, tote bag – Ted Baker, sandals - Balenciag
When you read those "10 wardrobe classics every woman MUST have", you'll often see a pair of khaki pants included as one of the ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED pieces of clothing...What utter tripe - there is NO REQUIRED GARMENT for any woman's wardrobe. (Yes, I firmly believe some women can live without a bra, and if you wear tights every day, then other undergarments might be optional too...)
That said, there is some logic to the idea of a pair of khakis are a core ... View the Post
