The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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A Travel Capsule Wardrobe for Both Coolness and Modesty: Baie de Cannes by Picasso

July 26, 2017

You have asked me this question a lot - how can you handle traveling to a hot destination, where you need to be appropriately dressed when occasions or locations require modest attire?

Modesty almost always means 1 or more of 3 "things" need to be covered: 1. your shoulders 2. your knees, or 3. your head

So we've got to make certain that we have available to us at all times (in the backpack!) a shirt with sleeves, a skirt (or the zippy-on pieces of zip-off pants...) and a scarf... If you're one of those clever people who can wrap and tie a scarf in such a way that it works as a skirt, you're in luck...

Let's start with a lovely abstraction of a wonderful beach destination:

These are lovely ... View the Post

Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Demoiselle Cranes and Lotus by Jessie Arms Botke

July 19, 2017

I could use paintings from this artist for WEEKS! She had an amazing career, and her body of work is beautiful - graceful, colorful, yet true to nature. Genius...

Please be aware, when looking at paintings online, that a LOT of work has been "touched-up" by people gone mad with Photoshop. If something seems wildly out of the normal style for an artist, look for multiple versions of the image. Especially once something gets to Pinterest, it is widely circulated, even though it might NOT be authentic. This is also true if you see a photograph of a bird that seems unlike anything found in nature - some of those pictures have been really altered... sigh... Same Lake House, Different Weekend... "You know that there are ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe that Starts with Art: Saint John by Gerhard Richter

July 17, 2017

This could qualify as Moderately Extravagant Monday!

And here's some art that might not be to everyone's taste, but colors that certainly have energy and make a strong statement:

(I personally love Gerhard Richter, and this work especially...) They Think She's Crazy...

She sleeps like a baby on airplanes. Well, any place she can sit down, she can sleep soundly. And she uses this to her advantage!

Those last-minute plane tickets that are dirt cheap, but only work if you can leave in 2 days, and only stay someplace for 3 days? She's all over them...

Most people eschew such quick trips, because they can never get over the jet lag, and they don't feel like it's worthwhile to spend all that time on ... View the Post

Revisiting a Favorite Pair of Posts: The Golden Stairs by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones

June 16, 2017

Do you remember this? I do, and I think of it as one of my finest hours! (well, MANY hours...)

If you'd like to flash back to the lovely trip that our heroine was taking with this travel capsule wardrobe, you can find her here.

And a couple of days later our heroine decided to start building a larger wardrobe around the same color scheme; this was what she found and how it worked out...

Through the end of the summer, I'm going to "flash back" twice a week (I'm targeting Tuesdays and Thursdays...) I hope that this isn't an inconvenience for any of you; I have a couple of trips coming up (of COURSE I do...) and I find that I need a bit of time to get things sorted out chez nous.

love, Janice ... View the Post

Pack For a Special Occasion by Starting with Art: Vernal Yellow by Lee Krasner

June 13, 2017

 

Most of the time, clothing (and thus The Vivienne Files) is about covering ourselves with efficiency, good value, and a coherent personal image. But it's worth remembering just every now and then that clothing can also be the object of extravagant fantasies...

Someone's happy, excited, full of energy, and just plain bursting with joy - that's what this painting felt like to me:

So They're Just Going to Elope...

No date worked for everyone. No location was good for most people. It just got more and more difficult...

So when the offer was made "why don't we just take the train to Paris and elope?" she was ALL over it...(yes, she has another suitcase somewhere...)

They'll arrive a bit late ... View the Post

Building a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Paysage Algérien by Renoir

July 12, 2017

It surprises me that this painting is from Renoir - I always think of him with pastels or clear and cool bright colors. But this is perfect for our current "neutral experiment": it's got navy and beige, and some great rust and green accents! It's easy to think of these as autumn colors, but if you've ever traveled to (or lived in) a hot and arid summer climate, you know that things start to get rusty and deeply green by mid-summer:

So They Bought a Camper... She never, in her life, would have imagined this. But when they sat down together and made a list of where the wanted to travel, now that they were retired, it looked like:

Fly to X, rent car, drive to Y Fly to Z, rent car, drive to A...

OVER AND ... View the Post

How to Pack for a Spa Weekend? Start with Art: Dans le Parc by Maurice Denis

  May 26, 2017  

Doesn't this make you want to just sit somewhere and watch the world go by?

Someone driving up with friends for a spa weekend is using this color scheme to inspire her packing... (well, it inspires her entire wardrobe, not just one weekend!)

Since they're driving, she can be super-casual and relaxed, but she still has her favorite leaf-motif jewelry - the painting strongly suggests that she's a nature lover.

Once they're at the spa, they'll be living in their robes, but she's going to need an outfit to get home in, and maybe something other than a robe in which to dine. Just because they put you in a robe doesn't mean that you're not allowed to get dressed!

 

It's a tiny ... View the Post

How to Pack a Foolproof Travel Wardrobe, All in Neutrals

May 24, 2017

If you're in Chicago, you of course must go to the Art Institute of Chicago, our very deservedly famous art museum. But when you're there, make sure not to miss the fabric exhibit. It's small, it's in the basement, it changes every few months, and it NEVER disappoints...

Seen there last weekend, included in a really stunning exhibit of batik fabrics:

This fabric is maybe 9 or 10 feet long, and 4 feet wide. It's really kind of breathtaking...

Seeing these neutral colors working so beautifully together, our mythical heroine was able to solve her packing dilemma...

I've got it all arranged...

We'll just go from city to city by train; I've already purchased the train passes....

Well okay, she ... View the Post

What to Pack for Ireland? Start with Art: Etude de Mademoiselle Pogany by Brancusi

May 19, 2017  

Ireland? I used to live there! If you're going there, you're in for a treat... but be warned, much of the year it's a somewhat colder treat than you might be expecting...Let's use a beautiful, simple painting to focus our color choices, and just to treat ourselves, eh?

This is NOT going to be a "Whatever's Clean" wardrobe - it would certainly be possible to do it with this color scheme, but I'm going to recklessly include both pink and red pieces here that will not play nicely together. You don't have to have every last little thing matching, so long as you've got the basic neutrals in place...

You might feel really foolish leaving a fairly warm place and getting onto an airplane while wearing or ... View the Post

What to Pack for Paris? How About Beige and Navy, with Teal and Brown Accents?

May 8, 2017  

Remember our heroine who was taking photographs in Paris for a long weekend? Well, she's realized (we're shocked) that she needs to go back for a much longer trip!

She's staying with her original color scheme and her original travel outfit. She's maybe going to see the same people when she checks into her hotel, but it's possible that wearing the same outfit might help them recognize her; that would be good!

After a few days of consideration, she's decided to take everything with her that she took for her first trip. She really wants to dress up a bit more on this trip (because her sweetie is going with her!), but most of these pieces are going to work just as well for that!

Since Sweetie is coming ... View the Post

How to Add an Accent Color for Warm Weather; Start with Art: View of New York by Charles Sheeler

May 4, 2017

 

This painting couldn't be allowed to fade into the history of The Vivienne Files without another look, right?

Our bird watching, star gazing heroine is going on a much longer trip, but has decided that she doesn't need to make any changes to her travel outfit:

  You might remember what she packed for her shorter trip to visit her friends with the veranda - all of these things were perfect, so she'll definitely include them:  

  These are what she's adding to her suitcase for her longer trip; she's gone a wee bit overboard on her accent color, but summer clothes don't last as long as winter, so she felt a bit like indulging. And no, it's not the exactly precise color that ... View the Post