travel capsule wardrobe Archives - Page 17 of 25

Rescuing Forgotten Accessories: The Navy Blackthorn Scarf

June 17, 2020

Maybe it's not really a forgotten accessory - maybe you just got it. Still, when a new scarf arrives at your home, it can be sort of overwhelming to figure out what to do with it!

For me, in warm weather, with a rectangular scarf, I would first off try to see if I could wear it in my hair! And then I'd play around with how I would tie it to a handbag. Then I would think about actually wearing it around my neck. The more ways you can find to wear a scarf, the more often you'll be able to incorporate it into an outfit....

Let's ponder how you might wear (or be inspired by) this scarf for the next 4 months...

First month, it's smart to make certain that you've got the necessary solid-colored tee shirts and ... View the Post

Start with 2 Scarves: A Teal and Hot Pink Accented Travel Capsule Wardrobe

June 12, 2020

It seemed like a good idea - take a couple of the scarves from yesterday, along with the accessories, and see how they would work for a travel capsule wardrobe. So let's go!

There are the 2 scarves that are going to be the starting point for this wardrobe:

First up, I added a tank top to both of these Accessory Families, so that the accent colors would be well-represented in the clothing for this trip...

Navy would be a lovely neutral with these 2 accents, but I thought that I'd go full-on summer with beige and white:

This would be such an easy trip - travel wearing the beige cardigan and pants, and the beige espadrilles, with any of the 4 tops. Pack the other 6 garments and the accessories, and ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting L’Ombre by Pablo Picasso

June 10, 2020

You might remember this psychiatrist from the spring of 2017; her casual wardrobe occasioned some discussions about how professionals should dress... She Wasn't Sure If She Would Go...

But they've asked her to sit on the dais 1 night, so she feels like that's a reason to show up...

Many of the meetings will be outdoors - better for social distancing, and more relaxing. The dinner's are rather nice, but most of the conference is quite casual...

She can drive there in just a couple of hours, so there's no worry about being on an airplane. And she'll have a private hotel room, and be outdoors much of the time, so overall the conference sounds both safe and... could it be? almost pleasant!

She's got ... View the Post

Start with Nature: Revisiting the Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

June 5, 2020

In the dead of winter, four years ago, we visited with this heroine when her friends invited her south for a long weekend to get out of the cold... I'm SO smitten with the color palette; if I were to start over, I admit that brown leather goods would tempt me!

Drive Down! Her friends have invited her back...

"We've on this kick where we have full-blown dinner parties every night. It's been the same gang of us for the last few months; we could use a new guest!"

"Since you've been quarantined for a couple of months, and so have we, can we assume that we're safe for each other?"

"My brother and sister-in-law are staying in the guest house, so you can take the upstairs suite; with the kids ... View the Post

How to Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet – May 2020

June 3, 2020

Yes, it's the May bracelet. Time has lost all meaning for those of us between the quarantine and the curfew.

And I have to apologize for a slowly diminishing selection of products available to include on The Vivienne Files. More and more stores seem to be running out of things (or at least running out of good assortments of sizes), and some places are already getting in cashmere sweaters. It's difficult to know what the future few months of retail will look like, but I think I can confidently recommend that if there's something you really like or need, you should grab it when you can....

I will continue (of course!) to try to find the prettiest, best coordinated, best-priced items I can, available in as many sizes as I ... View the Post

Start with Art: Portrait de Greta Prozor by Henri Matisse

April 23, 2020

She's been sitting for a REALLY long time...

She's taking her favorite painting, distilling it down to the essential colors, and then PACKING!

Black, denim, olive, and BRIGHT golden yellow! She doesn't want to work very hard getting dressed, but she's okay with people noticing her...

It's just for a long weekend... She's going to plan outfits for each day, although she won't necessarily wear every outfit. She just doesn't want to have to work; she's done quite enough work, spending so much time indoors...

Her travel wardrobe is dark, and a bit intense. That's just exactly what she wants - no worry about spilling things, no worry about putting together outfits "on the fly," and no having to shop ... View the Post

Planning Accessories for a Travel Capsule Wardrobe, in Black and Pink

April 21, 2020

A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you one of my favorite blog posts from a few years ago, and then my revision of it in my current favorite colors. I think this an exercise that a lot of you engage in frequent, since there's no way that the wardrobes that I post here will ALWAYS be your favorite colors!

But I didn't include many accessories - I just accessorized the initial travel outfit, but nothing else. THAT won't do...

We started here, with a travel outfit in which I could live for quite a while:

And these are the 10 garments that I chose to pack; at the time I said that I wasn't sure if I was packing for Paris or Dublin (or maybe New York?)...

My best plan (so far) for making certain that I pack ... View the Post

Adding Wardrobe Accents! Expanding a Beige & Olive Weekly Timeless Wardrobe

April 20, 2020

After being indoors for AGES (I'm in my 6th week...), I find that paintings full of "nature" colors really appeal...

Today's heroine realizes that she's going to need to move toward some navy, maybe by the time summer rolls in... Her current Weekly Timeless Wardrobe for Spring is lovely beige and green, but she understands that the green is just too difficult to find.

This is her inspiration:

She's going to indulge in some accent colors, before she starts gradually working on her 3rd neutral...

Here's where she's starting:

For so long, she's been comfortable with muted colors. But now that she's free to be out and about, she is really in the mood for something bolder and brighter!

After much ... View the Post

How to Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet – April 2020

April 17, 2020

Happy Birthday to my amazing mother!

What a beautiful piece of work THIS is:

She Doesn't Think Anybody Noticed... But she's been pretty... slack... about getting ready to telecommute each day. So she's turning over a new leaf - out of bed, SHOWER, do NOT put the clothes back on that are on the floor beside the bed. Earrings. Maybe a dash of lipstick. She needs to look (and more importantly, FEEL) like she's working...

This is her inspiration:

Her sweetheart isn't working, so she creeps out of bed at the appropriate time, and gets dressed from clothes she's now stashing in the hall closet!

It doesn't much matter from the waist down what she wears, but anything that's going to show when she's ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: A Long Weekend with a Robin Scarf from Aspinal of London

April 16, 2020 Urban Heart... She misses the city. So much. Just to sit with a cup of coffee and watch the people walk by - the stories, the personalities, the style...

And she's tired. She wants to be able to get dressed without any exertion! So she pulled out her favorite scarf, and her favorite dresses, and started to pack:

Black. White. Gold. No muss, no fuss...

Her favorite dress is a bit roomy - she can easily layer a tee shirt or other shirt under it! In unreliable weather, this is SO helpful. And in a travel capsule wardrobe like this, it is really ALL about the accessories, isn't it?

She start packing - 2 more black dresses! The "fit and flare" dress is perfect with cardigans, or alone with a gold wrap for ... View the Post

Start with Art: Choosing a Travel Capsule Wardrobe based on Petit Matin by Joan Mitchell

April 10, 2010

I promised pretty colors...

Our heroine is looking for flowers... She's packing for a long weekend, basing her choices on this palette that she's chosen:

Thinking about flowers, and admiring photographs of flowers, were a part of what kept her happy and content during the quarantine. But now, they're going to walk a ton, outdoors, and admire nature.

Now that they're free to travel again, they've found the perfect destination - a mansion house with extensive gardens! Miles and miles of gardens...

She's less conservative than she has been in the past. Once upon a time, she would have a solid navy suitcase, and wear solid navy shoes for the drive. But now, she's more relaxed, and understands that ... View the Post

One Way to Expand a Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Cloud Rainforest Scarf by Klements

April 8, 2020

I'm very infatuated with this scarf; it it were in my colors, it would be in my closet!

These colors feel like autumn, but in lovely linen this is a great palette for warmer weather:

You may remember back on the last day of March (which seems like it was about a year and a half ago!) our heroine was hopping on trains to visit new cities and towns, and was using these colors as the basis for her wardrobe. These were the clothes that she was packing:

Our heroine has decided to go on a longer vacation - there's no reason to hoard vacation time... She's been so happy with her tiny travel wardrobe that she chooses to use it as the base for her larger wardrobe. How can she make this work?

First, she ... View the Post