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Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 25: A Warm Mid-Calf Skirt

December 16, 2019

Yes, it was just about zero degrees Fahrenheit, and I had a job interview. Back in the day when YOU WORE A SKIRT - preferably a suit - to an interview.

Mid-calf wool for the win! The skirt was lined, the tights were wool, the socks were silk, the boots were too dressy to be really warm, but they worked...

So now, for me, it's a staple. On normal winter days, this can be a fun way to be dressy without being "dressy." If you can follow that bit of linguistic gymnastics!

Everybody is going to go about this in their own way, as should always be the case when assembling your wardrobe! But patience is the biggest thing that I can counsel; these skirts aren't easy to find. Unless, of course, you can work with a ... View the Post

November 2019 – 12 Months, 12 Outfits – based on 6 Hermes Scarves

November 1, 2019

OH my! It's the first of the month AGAIN? It seems like this happens every 30 days or so... (Did we pay the rent????)

Let's get right to some beautiful colors, and some outerwear. Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are finally starting to really need these things!

 

I wanted to find this heroine a great blue coat, but I didn't see anything that came down over her hips enough to merit inclusion. It can be pretty important to have a coat that covers your longer sweaters...

But this scarf consoled me A LOT...

And yes, MORE Blondo boots. I'm so smitten with them that I want to make sure everybody sees them about a million times. Seriously, I can walk for miles in them, and they're legitimately ... View the Post

October 2019 – 12 Months, 12 Outfits – based on 6 Hermes Scarves

October 2, 2019

This month, I looked deliberately at each wardrobe to try to make choices that would be versatile and fill in some of the holes that I could see...

This first color palette still delights me:

A simple outfit; most of these wardrobes could benefit from the addition of a white shirt...

I have these lantern pants - I can't wait to wear them!

Everything still looks wonderfully coherent, doesn't it?

And each new garment added this month gives you plenty of new possible outfits...

I'm still loving these colors...

Yes, another white shirt...

Could you imagine finding this all in your closet?

Here again, the new pieces of the wardrobe fit right in...

When I first chose ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 13: A Dress

September 23, 2019

How fun! We finish the first 13 weeks - the Autumn segment of The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe... with a dress! (I love dresses... I find them the easiest, and possibly the most comfortable, thing to wear...)

If I still worked in an office, I'd have this dress in a New York minute:

Of course you might not want a dress, which is your choice. There are always options; you should insist on being yourself!

Yes, many of the accessories that you've used when wearing your earlier garments from the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe are equally useful with your dress...

It's NOT too early to start thinking about what you're going to want to wear for the winter holidays; the best dresses will be in and out of stores ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 12: Pants or a Skirt

September 16, 2019

I love skirts - they're well worth considering as an alternative to relentless jeans and pants. With opaque tights and comfy shoes, they can be as comfortable as anything else you wear...

And if I was in the market for a skirt right now, this would be a leading candidate:

When you choose your skirt (or pants, if you prefer), make sure that it is lovely with most of your shirts and sweaters; in a simple, neutral-colored, timeless design...

A denim skirt can be appropriate in a lot of places...

This dark brown skirt could be a perfect base for sweaters and tops in all shades of brown:

A matching skirt and sweater can be the base for all kinds of interesting accessories...

Your black ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 7: A Second Layer

August 12, 2019

While the first 6 pieces of this wardrobe are versatile, our heroine could certainly use something to keep her a bit warmer, and give her that "finished" look that you get with a jacket or cardigan...

I'm a fan of keeping this first cardigan (or jacket) as simple as possible; simple = versatile when we're talking about clothes...

In all of the earlier weeks, we've been looking at pants, so I thought that I would show that a good cardigan is the perfect thing to wear with a dress. If you want to look more casual, or wear a summery dress when the weather cools down, a sweater is the answer!

Why yes, that handbag is absurdly expensive... But I like the way it looks here; I'm sure we can all find something a ... View the Post

June 2019 -12 Months, 12 Outfits – based on 6 Hermes Scarves

June 3, 2019

I'm sitting in a kitchen in Washington DC right now, where it is HOT!!! Putting together outfits with summer dresses felt just right...

This just feels cool to look at, doesn't it?

I'm still smitten with this - maybe it's all the stripes?

While dresses aren't as versatile as separates, there are still at least a few options with any dress...

Still loving this color scheme...

Technically, they call this a kaftan, but let's not haggle over terminology...

All looking good...

One might wear this dress often in hot weather!

I still find this palette intriguing. It's not common, but it seems to work well!

Such a classic dress...

Even though this is an unusual ... View the Post

April 2019 – 12 Months, 12 Outfits – Based on 6 Hermes Scarves

April 1, 2019

It's time again to revisit our six growing wardrobe based on Hermes scarves - always one of my favorite posts!

Since the weather is somewhat warmer, I'm including cropped or capri pants for all of our heroines. And since it's still cool, I'm pairing their pants with lighter weight sweaters in linen or cotton. Some shoes and a couple of pieces of jewelry finish off these simple, timeless outfits...

It's possible that this heroine is going to have too many striped things. Or is it possible?

Her wardrobe is really starting to take on a coherent feeling:

And we're finally at a point at which we can pull together a few new outfits using our new garments with pieces already in this wardrobe. THIS is when ... View the Post

March 2019 – 12 Months, 12 Outfits – Based on 6 Hermes Scarves

March 1, 2019

Possibly my favorite blog post every month!

You can see the January post here, and the February post here...

First up is this quite abstract scarf, in my favorite black and white with 2 shades of blue:

Normally I would look for a solid skirt for this outfit, but I couldn't resist the stripes here! And the juxtaposition of more stripes appeals to my fondness for pattern mixing:

Next is this lovely scarf with all of those shades of purple, lavender and pink. I'm not sure how it's all going to look when this is finished, but I love the colors together!

I'm on a one-woman mission to convince everyone that skirts don't have to be dressy...

The balance here between warm and cool colors is going ... View the Post

Wear a Uniform and Simplify your Summer Wardrobe – Using Beige as a Neutral

May 23, 2018

Maybe yesterday's white outfits are a little bit too... risky? for you... Maybe beige is a better option?

The beige heroine has every color of the rainbow at her disposal for accents - you would really struggle to find something that would clash with these pieces!

So let's go with summery pastels that aren't saccharine and sickening...

Pink is always pretty on virtually anyone, and this muted shade of teal is a nice change from navy or royal blue:

If you were only going away for a few days, this might be all you would need!

You've got all kinds of different levels of dressiness here, as well as being able to dress for everything from very hot to a bit of a cool morning (or ... View the Post

Wear a Uniform and Simplify your Summer Wardrobe

May 21, 2018

Some people manage to sail through life wearing white and they always look cool and collected. Even white linen! I think that we all need to embrace the inherent wrinkles in linen - wrinkled clothes make your face look smooth! But seriously, a core of cool white pieces for warm weather could make getting dressed every day a breeze...

With this timeless wardrobe core, you could use accessories to add all of the fun and interest... I don't think you would wear ALL of these pieces at the same time, but you certain could if you want to!

How about a couple of accent colors that supposedly clash?

A hot long weekend? Yes, the white is risky, but so cool and comfortable...

Yep - lots of possible ways to ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – May 2018

May 1, 2018

Always my favorite day of the month, for The Vivienne Files! And since today (April 30th) is actually somewhat warm in Chicago, this doesn't feel like an insane outfit to bring into our capsule wardrobes!

If you haven't seen these before, the general idea is that I start the year with 6 Hermes scarves, and for each of the 12 months of the year, I choose an outfit to add to a growing capsule wardrobe. Some of them turn out really well, and others... need some year-end adjusting! But it's a fascinating process...

Let's get started; one of the things that I liked most about this scarf was the juxtaposition of the surprising yellow, green and blue against the black. Not your usual accent colors!

This wardrobe is ... View the Post