The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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cool weather Archives - Page 9 of 43

Start With Art: Winter Solstice by Dame Barbara Hepworth

August 24, 2022

It seems a bit premature to be looking at art entitled Winter Solstice, but our heroine loves pastels!

She doesn't much care what anybody else wears - she's not interested in dark colors! She feels beautiful in pink, and lovely in sky blue...

The core of her wardrobe for cooler weather is gray, with a bit of denim and chambray tossed in for practicality:

please note - everybody's "Common Wardrobe" will be different - what I'm looking for are the core, neutral garments that form the base for the more expressive and statement garments and accessories in our wardrobes.

On those days, our heroine knows that she doesn't have to look any farther than these 9 pieces to get her dressed and out the ... View the Post

Start with Art: A Mother’s Love: The Polar Bear Family by Jason Carter

August 22, 2022

She loved his art the first minute she saw it! The clarity, simplicity, beautiful colors - all of it!

And she knew that this painting would be useful in helping her focus her ever-shrinking wardrobe:

She knows that the core of her wardrobe will be black, white and denim - this painting seems just right!

She start her autumn wardrobe planning with A Common Wardrobe. It's not called "common" because the clothes are cheap or run of the mill - it's called common because these are clothes that a LOT of people have in common!

That's a good thing - you can easily find them, they fit in easily when you're not sure what to wear, but best of all, the serve as a neutral background for whatever accents you wish to ... View the Post

Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Risshū – Beginning of Autumn

August 17, 2022

Here in Chicago we felt it yesterday - that sense that autumn is coming. We all know that there will be sweltering days ahead, but we were reminded...

For me, that early cool day reminds me that I might want to check my wardrobe for upcoming autumn weather. This is a good time to start looking for the accent cashmere sweater that you will wear every week for six months, the scarf that you will cherish for years to come, or the warmer trousers that you need to replace the ones that you've worn to pieces this last few years...

Even if you live somewhere that doesn't get a lot of snow, you might still need a warm outfit or two!

This leaf perfectly conveys where we are, right now!

When I was ... View the Post

Version 4 – Start with a Scarf: The Ghan by Un Poco

August 15, 2022

This is a slightly more extravagant wardrobe than the first 3... and note that if you're looking for accent colors, Benetton always carries plenty! Back to School - Not in THIS Climate!

She has the longest drive - they live a long way south of the University...

Her friends are always eager to see how she's managing a "real" autumn - she struggles with socks, and when they first met, she hadn't brought any sweaters with her!

She's charming, feminine, and great fun!

 

She confesses that she loves "having" to buy corduroy pants, and a cashmere sweater! If there's a temporary cold spell where she lives, she at least has something to wear for a day or two...

Four VERY different ... View the Post

Version 2 – Start with a Scarf: The Ghan by Un Poco

August 10, 2022 Back to School, Indeed!

That morning, when they got up to load the car, it was pouring...

Happily, anybody old enough to go to college is old enough to pack their many worldly good into the car!

But she wore boots, just in case...

She was even able to delegate the driving to her eager (and very competent) child! The boots came in handy when they stopped for coffee...

She's really looking forward to seeing her friends again - meeting up with them and having a lot of fun takes away the sting of leaving a dearly loved child far away...

She heard that a really nice restaurant opened during the summer, so she took the initiative to make reservations for the 4 of them. They always go out for nice ... View the Post

Part 3 August 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

August 5, 2022

I really like doing these monthly wardrobes in 3 posts, rather than 1 REALLY large post. You can imagine how much work goes into getting all six wardrobes ready, and I feel like taking my time over them gives me a chance to do a better job!

What do you think?

So let's look at the glorious hydrangea scarf... I love hydrangeas - the mix of colors in the blossoms delights me! My phone wallpaper is a photograph of mixed pink and blue flowers... sigh...

A navy blazer. It just seems like something that someone who loves navy might want to consider - especially if this heroine likes classic, timeless styles...

And if you're going to buy the blazer, buy the pants (and/or the skirt) while you're at it. Yes, it's a ... View the Post

Part 2 August 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

August 3, 2022

Have any of you done enough shopping that you can see the trends for this autumn?

I've seen tons of clogs. Literally tons. I know that they're very comfortable for people who work in hospitals, so I would assume that everybody might find them comfortable... Maybe if you need shoes, they are worth trying?

And someone, somewhere, put together a million miles of smocked fabric! Not the traditional smocking, like we used to do on gingham fabrics, where you would join together certain squares in the print with stitching to create beautiful patterns...

Nope - this smocking is machine stitched fabric that is gathered with elastic thread. There's nothing inherently wrong with this fabric, except that you can't swing a ... View the Post

Part 1 August 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

August 1, 2022

We're going to have to do the "Six Scarves, 12 Months" posts in segments this month, because it's just THAT difficult... I hate not finishing in 1 post, but I have to admit when I can't finish in time!

This is a great lesson for how to handle shopping when everything in the marketplace seems to conspire against you.

In a "normal" year, I could easily expect to see piles of cashmere sweaters in 30 colors all OVER the retail world - but not this year...

Websites should be chock-full of cabled sweaters, and corduroy pants, and tweed blazers, and all of the traditional garments of autumn. But not this year!

It might be reluctance to stock merchandise that may not appeal - nobody's really sure how people are going ... View the Post

Start with Art: The Red Maple at Lake George by Georgia O’Keeffe

July 11, 2022

The Best Laid Plans... She was planning to spend the autumn photographing leaves, and hiking, and enjoying the brisk air...

But instead, she's going to be touring with a political candidate whom she supports. It's a long story!

She doesn't want to pack much; she frankly doesn't want to think about clothing at all once she closes her suitcase. She's going to have quite enough on her mind!

So she's thinking that she will have room to pack 10 garments in her medium suitcase... Maybe a "Whatever's Clean 13" Wardrobe is what she needs, eh?

Realistically, she might be able to stop at home from time to time, but she wants to be as self-sufficient as possible when they're driving from small town to ... View the Post

Start with Art: Windows Open Simultaneously by Robert Delaunay

June 6, 2022

Iceland, and Packing in a Different Way

She knows her color palette, she KNOWS she's going somewhere relatively cool, and she knows what she wants to wear on the plane...

Is that enough?

She understands that she's going to be wearing her travel outfit for quite a while on her actual travel day, and she plans to wear all 3 garments frequently while she's there...

So she thinks... what additional garment - just ONE thing - would she bring with her for a cool place and lots of sightseeing?

There's a BIG advantage to packing this way - she remembers immediately that she wants to bring her labradorite earrings, so she grabs them and puts them in her little jewelry bag. And she digs her green socks out ... View the Post

Things to Remember to Pack When the Weather is Impossible to Predict

May 20, 2022

It happens every year; May is cold cold cold, with high temperatures in the teens Celsius, and then BAM - the temperature goes up to the upper 20s... (For North Americans - we've been from LOW 50s to upper 80s with HIDEOUS humidity, within 12 hours, and then back down again 12 hours later...)

Pity the tourists... they seem to generally be prepared for the hot weather, and then we get down into the 50s and they freeze.

So every year, vendors here in Chicago sell tons of sweatshirts. But still, without other appropriate clothing, knees turn blue, toes lose feeling... It really spoils a vacation.

And of course, this happens to the rest of us who live here; we think that summer is finally here, and we pack away our ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #50: An Accent 2nd Layer

February 28, 2022

 

Either you deserve a new sweater because you've made it this far into the winter without going crazy, or because your autumn is just beginning and you are ready to get in the mood!

But an accent 2nd layer - with or without a coordinating tee shirt or blouse - can bring a lot of new life to your cool weather wardrobe...

note: all of these pants are the same as I shared last week; you should be able to wear a good pair of pants a dozen different ways!

This might be a smart time to grab a cotton cardigan and lightweight tee shirt - these pieces would be useful WELL into the early summer:

A pretty spring color can give you a little bit more mileage for your corduroy pants:

You don't HAVE to ... View the Post