Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature
My computer is grumpy, and my sore throat is grumpy... it's just grumpy world here!
So I'm going to suggest that you go back and visit a post from about a year ago, that's one of my favorites...
I really love the consistent moon and stars feeling, as well as the variety of pieces available in navy and white. And her story of insomnia...
Some days, I'm positively proud of what I create!
love, Janice ... View the Post
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
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
Join me on this adventure! Someone wrote to me last week, after I showed this amazing storm photograph, asking if these colors could work as accents for a capsule wardrobe that is mostly grey.Well... maybe. I'm going to give it a try, to see how it works. But I have a real concern: all of the shades of pink and purple will be glorious accents to the grey wardrobe, and would be madly flattered by black leather goods and silver jewelry with pink, lavender or purple beads, stones or pearls. HOWEVER... introducing the warm browns and tans into the mix immediately makes me think that I need to use gold, rather than silver, jewelry. And I'm not at all sure where the leather pieces will fit in....
Nonetheless, we shall endeavor to make ... View the Post
Yes, I'm in Italy, but the Internet never sleeps! I thought that while I'm away, you might like to see some older posts from The Vivienne Files. One of the things that I try to accomplish with work here is to show that true style is timeless; when I look back at some of these posts, I feel comfortable having you look at them now, and I am pretty certain that they will still look good in 5, 10, or 20 years.
If you click on the dates, below the images, you will be taken back to the entire original post...
This first one is one of my all-time favorites; from the over 1,500 posts that I've done, it would be in the top 10 for sure!
This striking photograph gave us a story which continued into the NEXT wardrobe, below.
After the ... View the Post
July 21, 2016 Insomnia Part 2 - Version 2 see first installment here, and Part 2 Version 1 here)
Our sleepless protagonist is browsing in a bookstore - immediately drawn to photo books of space phenomena - when she sees this:
She admires it, registers it somewhere in her brain, and goes on about her day/night.Later that morning, she's wandering in a department store, and sees the Image Consultant area. The staff seems to be at loose ends, so she plucks up her tired courage and asks if she can meet with the consultant...
An hour later, her universe has been rocked. While she's told that her neutral navy is perfect for her, she's encouraged to add warmer accent colors to her wardrobe! Part of her recommended palette looks sort ... View the Post
July 20, 2016 Insomnia, Part 2 (see part 1 here) So she's walking around Paris late one afternoon, and sees this:
Oh. My. Her favorite night sky, with one point two million different shades of pink and rose... sigh....
Let's remember, when she took off on this "night walker" vacation, this is what she packed:
Moon & star earrings – Marc Jacobs; striped top – L.L.Bean; bracelet – Les Interchangeables; cardigan – J. Crew; small square scarf – Treasure&Bond; shirt – Uniqlo; flats – SoftWalk; skirt – J. Crew; henley – L.L.Bean; loafers – Coach; pants – Uniqlo; socks – Topshop; clutch – Rebecca Minkoff; astrology scarf - Antagoniste
But the image sticks in her head, and when she's ... View the Post
July 15, 2016 So simple, and so striking:
This is a color palette that doesn't need any embellishing. It might be too austere for some, in the long run, but for a short-term travel adventure, this is nearly foolproof!
Insomnia She's been awake at night for WEEKS... looking at the night sky much more than she would normally like. So she's decided to take her sleep-deprived self to Paris. It's far enough away that she won't know if she has insomnia or jet-lag!
Because she doesn't trust herself to make finely nuanced style decisions when she's traveling, she decided to pack the most mistake-proof wardrobe possible. This is literally a "Whatever's Clean" ... View the Post
February 24, 2016
So I'm going to start alternating "1 Piece at a Time" Wardrobes with other fun things, so that we don't collectively burn out on the concept before I've addressed ALL of your color scheme requests. I am absolutely going to look at accessories for these wardrobes - those might be some of the "interspersed" posts. As much as I have an endless attention span for a single subject, I understand that a bit of variety keeps things fresh for us all.Someone suggested that the male cardinal wardrobe (here) and the female cardinal wardrobe (here) might be combined. I'm ALL OVER that idea!
Do these two look like they get along?
I've often thought that it's possible to build a wardrobe with 4 or 5 neutral colors ... View the Post
So Wednesday I danced with the "cool male" cardinal; today, let's see what the "warm female" cardinal colors have to offer!
I'm going to use exactly the same red garments as I did on Wednesday, just to show how very different they feel when they're used with brown and camel.
Blazer – Emilio Pucci; pants – Austin Reed;
Blouse – Joseph; skirt – Austin Reed
Cardigan – Elder Statesman; trousers – J.Crew;
Tee – Sonia Rykiel; jeans – Austin Reed
V-neck blouse – Velvet; silk-trimmed top – Madewell;
Red sweater - Balenciaga; turtleneck – L.L.Bean
Camel sweater – J.W. Anderson; skirt – Adam Selman;
Space-knit sweater – Adam Selman; dress ... View the Post
February 17, 2016
There are a lot of cardinals in the park very near here - it's my favorite detour when I'm out and about to go look for them. They are SO striking, and such a spot of cheerful color on these short, grey winter days!I'm always taken with the way in which the male and female birds are colored differently. He is very high-contrast, in cool colors:
I'm going to visit her color scheme too, but for now, I was in the mood for a small 4 by 4 wardrobe in these colors. Maybe a miniature winter work wardrobe? (for those among us who do miniature winter work?)
Cardigan – L.L.Bean; pants – L.L.Bean; Blouse – Faith Connexion; skirt – Diane von Furstenberg
Cardigan – L.L.Bean; trousers – ... View the Post
January 14, 2016
When I say there's inspiration everywhere, I'm really NOT exaggerating! My recent trip to Florida is a good example - I saw these lovely guys all over the place (although they are not, in fact, indigenous to the area I was visiting - someone imported them! Someone with good taste....)
The color scheme was so easy!
Come Sit on the Veranda... Well, the invitation was a little bit more fleshed-out than that! It went more like "we have great internet down here, so you can work during the day, and then in the evenings, we'll sit on the veranda with a bottle or two of wine, and watch the birds on the lake until it gets dark. Then after dinner, we can come back out and look at the stars..."
Her toes ... View the Post
