Six Pack Archives

Love Bright Accents? Start With a Scarf – The Kelsey McKinney Scarf by Echo

November 15, 2024

She likes red and green. And purple. And pink. And blue. And yellow...

She's going away for a long weekend that will be FESTIVE. Not necessarily big splashy parties, but she knows that anywhere she goes, there will be a bit of a holiday fizz in the air! So she decides to travel with her core of black essentials, but to round out her travel capsule wardrobe with four accent colors.

Remember, not every heroine flies to her destination! This lovely lady might be taking the train, or the boat, or driving...

And yes, Vivaia shoes are everything they claim to be; I've got two pair, and I live in them. Both will go to Paris next month!

She reviews her packing... jeans, a skirt, bright but not gaudy or ... View the Post

Feeling Bright? Start With a Scarf – the Dorothy Lichtenstein scarf from Echo

November 11, 2024

She's ready for a holiday weekend, but this is NOT the woman who's going to wear red and green, or a wreath or Christmas tree...

Which is great! You need to know what you do and don't like, by the time you're fully grown. Well, I believe this; your mileage may vary.

This is her inspiration, and it's a goodie:

This is her color palette; maybe she's stretching a point to include the bright blue, but she's got this sweater...

It's cold. It's dry. She's wearing white pants! If you want to stand out in a crowd in the dead of winter, this will do it...

She knows for a fact that she's probably going to want to wear a skirt. She might wear it with a sweatshirt, though...

And a blazer is never a bad ... View the Post

Want a Foolproof Fall Wardrobe? Start with Bracelets – Harvest Lynx Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

October 28, 2024

Note to all: if you're shopping for scarves, CHECK THE FIBER CONTENT! There are unscrupulous places on the internet selling perfectly nice polyester scarves for the same price as wool and cashmere scarves! And if you dig just a bit, the exact same scarves are available for literally 20% of the "wool/cashmere" price. A shocking, opportunistic stunt that's taking advantage of a brand name... Quintessentially Autumn Every year, usually in October, there are hundreds of them, just in the US: "Autumn Glory" (in Oakland Maryland), the Springs Festival (in Springs, Pennsylvania) and tons of others - FALL FESTIVALS!!!

These are just two that were part of my childhood...

Get yourself something cider and pumpkin, wear ... View the Post

Want To Add Some “Snap” to Neutrals? Start With a Scarf – The Abby Silverman silk scarf by Echo

October 21, 2024 Normally Neutral She usually wears ivory and black. Every day. With nothing else added... So this scarf has some appeal, right from the start!

She recently made a mistake (there are really NO mistakes?), and ordered a pair of brown shoes instead of the black that she would obviously have preferred. But she found the brown ones to be fetching, so she just picked up a brown handbag, and a pair of earrings, and called brown "an accent color..."

So NOW, this scarf really appeals!

This could have all stopped RIGHT THERE... but she sensed that she was ready for something new...

A RED SWEATER???? Her friends will be so shocked - it's worth wearing, just to see their faces!

So when it came time to pack ... View the Post

Craving Soft Colors, in a Crowd of Vivid Team Colors? Start With Art – Moon by Ono Chikkyo

October 16, 2024

It's come to my attention that nobody can leave comments! I don't know what's wrong, but I've having the smart people look into it... So sorry for the technical difficulties....

love,

Janice

It's tempting to think that all heroines are strong personalities, with a touch of bright flamboyance around all that they do. But in fact, many of us are quiet, low-key, and don't get noticed right away! And that's splendid...

Today's heroine thinks of herself as a moon, in that she reflects the brighter (but sometimes TOO bright) light of others.

Her painting inspiration for her weekend homecoming trip:

She has soft ashy-colored hair, and light but clear and bright blue eyes; her colors for the weekend will ... View the Post

Casual cool weather packing? Start With Art – Woman in a Café by Jean Louis Forain

October 14, 2024

I realized in New York that few people gets dressed up for everyday life - at least not in Chicago or New York! Sneakers and sweatpants are practically a uniform...

Today's heroine is going for a weekend sporting event. It could be a track meet or something else that goes on for a couple of days, or it could just be a single sporting event, like a football game. Or rugby. Or American football. You get the drift!

She wants to look like she had a clue getting dressed, but also like she acknowledges the inherently relaxed and somewhat cold nature of the environment into which she is plunging herself. Supporting family, friends, or just your favorite team is always interesting...

Her inspiration:

She's ... View the Post

August 2024 Start with a Bracelet – Fierce Healing Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

August 30, 2024

"Let's Go Away... for the weekend to the spa up in the next state. It's not a long drive, and we can spend the weekend sitting in a pool in our room, or walking around the grounds, or getting massages..."

She's not handling grief nearly as well as she thought she would; a break might be nice...

She's pretty sure she knows what she will wear for the ride, and she has every intention of wearing the robe provided by the spa much of the time. Still, she will need something to wear to at least get back and forth to the treatment rooms or to walk around.

She thinks that planning her wardrobe around the bracelets gifted to her by a dear friend might be just the ticket. She will wear her bracelets every ... View the Post

Not Sure HOW Dressy? Start With Art – Mont Alba by Charles Rennie Mackintosh

August 28, 2024

I didn't know that Charles Rennie Mackintosh painted! I knew lots of others things that he did, but not this kind of lovely thing:

Such lovely colors...

Suddenly, many heroines among us are traveling to events - weddings, christenings, graduations, reunions - and are NOT being given a whole lot of guidance about appropriate attire!

Maddening. And inconsiderate. But we shall rise above, right?

First, try to get better information. Still, that's not always possible, so what else can one do?

I picture a heroine traveling in a casual outfit, with a cardigan jacket that has all kinds of possibilities:

She doesn't want to pack a whole ton of things - although that's a possible solution!

But ... View the Post

Need a Step-by-Step Six-Pack Travel Capsule Wardrobe? Start With a Scarf – The Scott Schuman scarf from Echo

August 23, 2024

It's just a long weekend. She's tired, and she's only going because it's a very important occasion, and a low-key party that she wouldn't miss. But she's determined to make things as easy and fool-proof as she can...

So she looks long and hard at her new favorite scarf:

She realizes that she can just wear and pack her favorite black and white, and then include pretty much any accent color she wants! Yes, toast brown would be perfect here, but she's going to opt for a couple of brighter colors - this time!

First, she chooses her all-important travel outfit. Even if you're only driving for an hour, you can never go wrong by choosing a travel outfit that can stand up to a LONG day. Things go wrong. There are ... View the Post

A Small, Basic Travel Capsule Wardrobe? Start with Art – Portrait of Woman in Green Hat by Picasso

August 16, 2024

She remembered the post - right here on The Vivienne Files - and was thinking of something a little bit different with the same painting!

I think every reader of The Vivienne Files thinks up their own versions of these wardrobes; that's kind of the point! Put your own preferences in place of mine, or those of our heroine...

Her wardrobe is black and white. She's just now starting to add a bit of taupe/brown to things. But she could see the merit of a blue shirt, or a green sweater, along with a scarf or two...

So for a trip - a fairly long trip - she decides to pack VERY light, but to give herself the feeling of a "bigger than it really is" travel capsule wardrobe. Three accent colors might do ... View the Post

Variation on a Theme? Start with a Scarf – The Mosaic Tile silk scarf by Echo

July 8, 2024

Someone took a look at Saturday's post, and decided that they could easily replicate the wardrobe with an accent of pink! She's even got a scarf in mind:

Although it takes a while to find the perfect pink items, the overall idea for this wardrobe is very simple - remove all blue things - replace with pink!

Like this - same cardigan and pants, different top and accessories:

Please note - everything doesn't have to be flawlessly dye-lot matched! I try to come really close for The Vivienne Files, because all of the things appear quite close together on a small screen. It just looks better if they're a good match! But in the real world, your shoes are at the end of your legs (I assume...) and your bag is ... View the Post

When Wardrobe Plans Go Awry; Start With a Scarf – the Emily Henry scarf by Echo

July 7, 2024

Oh yes, she knew IMMEDIATELY that this was going to be hers!

She could see her color palette a mile away:

She goes to visit friends at the beach every weekend. Literally. If she visited the SAME friends, she could leave some clothing at their summer home, but she moves about and visits a variety of people...

If you're not reading Ninth Street Women, you should. One of the things that's really material to all five of their lives is the time they spend in the Hamptons. In case you think I exaggerate about everybody leaving the city to go to the shore every weekend...

Her first outfit just sort of fell into her lap...

And then - NOTHING. Any turquoise item she found either cost $500, or didn't come in ... View the Post