The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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How to Build a Warm Weather Travel Four by Four Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Palimpsest 46 by Kamrooz Aram

April 25, 2017

Let's revisit yesterday's painting - I don't feel like we've nearly exhausted the possibilities of these colors! My hypothesis is that yesterday's heroine has been invited to... a wedding, let's say, out of town far enough that she's going to stay for a week or so. Except for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding itself, she won't have to get madly dressed up, but she can reasonably expect at least another dinner or two out with relatives and old friends.

So we start here:

And we remind ourselves of what our color scheme is going to be for this travel capsule wardrobe:

Our heroine was really happy with her travel outfit when she took her long lazy weekend break, so she's not changing a thing ... View the Post

Build a Warm Weather Travel Six-Pack by Starting with Art: Palimpsest 46 by Kamrooz Aram

April 24, 2017

I'm smitten with this artist, Kamrooz Aram - you're going to see more from him:

 

I love these colors - especially those little touches of brightness! I didn't use them in this Six-Pack, but in a larger wardrobe, you would definitely see them... I also don't have any grey garments included here, but for a trip that would last a few more days, a nice grey summer dress, and certainly a tee shirt and shorts, would be such simple things to add.

And while I don't have style notes here, I'm definitely thinking that this is a woman who loves flowers, but who also appreciates the compelling power of large patches of solid colors, arranged in a way understood only by the artist.

My heroine is traveling ... View the Post

Three MORE French 5-Piece Wardrobes for Spring: Blush, Red and French Blue

April 10, 2017

More accent colors! If greenery, from yesterday's French 5-Piece Wardrobes for Spring, is the "color of the year," then blush must be running a close second...

First up, let's see how blush works with these very classic neutral pieces:

I'd say this looks great!

Will blush look lovely with these very organic-feeling neutrals:

I admit that I'm always surprised by how very versatile olive green can be...

I'm pretty confident that black and white will work well...

It's not an expected color combination, but I think it's all the more effective and interesting for that!

Red is such a classic accent color, but it really never gets boring. Not many women wear it, frankly, because I ... View the Post

How to Wear Denim and Khaki with a Variety of Accent Colors: Start with Art – Saint Bride by John Duncan

March 31, 2017

I love this painting... What a wealth of details, and vivid colors - plus being carried across the sea by angels sounds like a most privileged (and hard-earned) way to travel!

The range of accent color possibilities here is pretty vast, but I narrowed us down to just four:

She Really IS In Charge... Although you might find her sitting on the floor, happily coloring with a group of 4-year-olds...

Yep, she runs that HUGE day care facility. Inspections, regulations, paper work and MORE paper work...

If she's going to have time for the fun stuff, she's got to be meticulously organized:

Because she's ALL about the fun, especially when there are little children involved!

Happily, it's ... View the Post

Should I Buy This Scarf? How to decide if you really ought to buy an accessory…

February 27, 2017

I saw this, and was immediately captivated. I am, of course, two months into a year without shopping, so the question of buying the scarf isn't really relevant to me personally, but it is something that we all confront: "Should I Buy This?"

It's an intriguing scarf - it's not really a traditional floral design, and the color scheme is subtle and quite pretty. I imagine that this would be very flattering on a lot of women! (and it comes with an ivory background - rather than the black - if that appeals....)

My thinking? Imagine a spectrum of outfits - from very casual to somewhat dressy - that would be perfect with this scarf. And then think seriously - are these outfits that I already own, or that I would ... View the Post

How to Accessorize A Capsule Wardrobe with Lots of Denim? Let’s see…

February 24, 2017

 

One last really fun visit to this Salvador Dali painting, and the wardrobes inspired by his color choices:

 

The original wardrobe was for a woman who spent a great deal of time in fields and forests; today's heroine spends her time at the shore! Waterproof footwear, nylon bags, shell-inspired jewelry... Nobody but you might notice that you're consistent in your choices, but you will ALWAYS feel like yourself if the water is your second home!

  Small earrings don't have to be boring, nor predictable:

If you're going to spend a lot of time near water, a water-resistant backpack is very useful...

  Sunglasses, ALWAYS.

Yes, no matter how casual you are, you can ... View the Post

Can I Use Denim in Place of… ? Substituting Denim for Olive Grey in a Four by Four Wardrobe

February 22, 2017

 

You asked, and it was a really intelligent question - can I use denim in place of olive green, in a wardrobe from The Vivienne Files?

Heck yes! Neutral colors can be interchanged, especially in casual wardrobes in which rigorous color matching isn't terribly important. Let's recreate a recent wardrobe and make this substitution, to see how it works out.

First up - remember this amazing painting by Salvador Dali? I've changed the associated color palette to include the denim that we want:

I'm starting from the same point as before - a solid core of grey garments:

The first difference is immediate - instead of the olive tee shirt from before, I found a shirt that feels very denim-ish!

Tee – ... View the Post

How to Choose Accessories for an Olive and Grey Wardrobe – Start with Art: Head of a Woman by Dali

February 17, 2017

Yesterday, I finally got up the courage to tackle a wardrobe based in olive and grey, and it turned out pretty great, I think. it was based on this most amazing painting by Salvador Dali and color scheme:

 

But a simple wardrobe isn't really useful, nor fun, until you add the accessories...

Cardigan – L.L.Bean; tee - Uniqlo; jeans – L.L.Bean; Top loafers – Dansko; middle – Dansko; bottom – UGG   Feminine is Where You Find It She works outdoors quite a bit - half the time in the lab, and half the time sitting on the ground, counting the plants and animals she finds in a 1 meter square of virgin ground.

Cardigan – L.L.Bean; tee - Uniqlo; jeans – L.L.Bean; First earrings – Kenari; ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe with Olive and Grey – Start with Art: Head of a Woman by Salvador Dali

February 16, 2017

I've been asked repeatedly to look at grey and olive together in a wardrobe, and I finally found a painting that put a really interesting spin on those 2 colors:

The colors in "Head of a Woman" by Salvador Dali are amazing - a huge variety of neutrals, including olive, grey, black, shades of brown, and even a bit of faded denim blue. But it's that pink that really sets this apart!

Just to give us a different look at how to go about building a 4x4 wardrobe 1 piece at a time, I'm starting with four of the grey garments that we've been using in wardrobes for the last few days. My thinking is that you might already own a pretty good core of one neutral, but be stuck as to the steps to take to incorporate your ... View the Post

How to Assemble a Warm-Weather Capsule Wardrobe – The Burgundy Floral Cardigan

February 2, 2017

 

Groundhog Day! (in the US - does anybody else depend upon rodents for long-term weather forecasts?)

And you might feel like Groundhog Day, The Movie, because this idea looks really familiar. Remember the Dandelion Cardigan capsule wardrobe you just saw on Tuesday? Well, someone went wandering on the Lands' End website, and discovered this:

Bright Burgundy Floral Cardigan – Lands’ End  

She was particularly interested in seeing how this worked with navy, so I thought another trip or two through this concept might be helpful...

First up, her preferred navy (which is indeed present in small doses in the cardigan) and ivory are the core neutrals, and then the vivid red (which I wouldn't have ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch: Evaluating and Balancing, based on Lightning over Colorado by Joe Randall

December 30, 2016

One last time:

 

Mr. Randall has a great eye, doesn't he?

When we left our wardrobe at the end of the day yesterday, this is where we were - 25 pieces, lots and lots of ways to wear them, a good balance of colors EXCEPT those 2 beige/brown pieces. I'm still not feeling comfortable with them...

 

If you need to catch up to where we are, check Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and yesterday's posts.

In order to evaluate this wardrobe, there are lots of options (see the various ways that I reviewed the "12 Months, 12 Outfits" wardrobes for some ideas), but I like to just sort by color and see what seems obvious.

 

The grey items look great - a little heavy on outerwear and sweaters, which ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch: Adding Variety, based on Lightning over Colorado by Joe Randall

December 29, 2016  

We're up to a 15-piece capsule wardrobe, all based on this truly amazing photograph:

I'm still not tired of the photograph...

You can see how we got this far by looking back to Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Here's another... color scheme hurdle? I'm not sure what to call it... but I'm still struggling with the inclusion of the warm tan/camel/brown color family in this wardrobe, and I'm not quite sure why...

But one of the easiest ways to incorporate these colors into a wardrobe is through camel - specifically, a camel sweater. And just in case you were wondering, these sweaters from Uniqlo (like the turtleneck shown here) are very nice quality, and very affordable. They're not life-investments, ... View the Post