warm weather Archives - Page 15 of 34

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

June 2020 Six Scarves, Twelve Months, Twelve Outfits

June 2, 2020

I think we could all use some peace, quiet, and timeless classic simplicity... Calm seems wise right now...

And now that the weather (at least in Chicago) has become legitimately summery, it's time to break out another skirt!

I firmly believe in the merits of skirts for warm weather - they're cool, they cover as much or as little as you want, and they are appropriate for a ton more places than any pair of pants or shorts! If you have that "thigh thing" that keeps your from wearing skirts, indulge in 1 or 2 pairs of these and you will find you might actually enjoy a skirt! ... View the Post

Rescuing Forgotten Garments: A Leaf-Print Skirt

May 27, 2020

It wasn't a sad email, but it definitely was a cry for help! She loves the skirt, but so far has only worn it with a white tee shirt or white tank top. She owns lots of other clothes, so there MUST be more possibilities...

Note that this skirt does NOT have a bunch of gathers at the waist - thus untucked tops will not look awkward when they extend below the waist. Of such small details is a versatile garment made!

So, as I've done before, I tried to think of how this skirt could be worn each of the next 4 months, in 2 different ways.

First, for June, a pretty blouse is 1 option, or a linen tee shirt. I'm still smitten with these ruffled espadrilles; espadrilles aren't always terribly pretty, but a ruffle seems ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 43: A Sleeveless Print or Accent Top

May 25, 2020

I'm still ready for warm weather, and the weather in Chicago is still not ready for me... But I can plan - when it finally gets warm, I'm going to be ALL SET!

As I try to do most weeks, here are some tops that will look good with wardrobes based on these scarves. When one is building a wardrobe around the colors in a scarf, it's difficult (but important) to remember that every single garment won't be worn WITH the scarf - especially in hot weather! So you needn't be worried about how you might arrange the scarf with these various necklines...

Tying a scarf to your bag is always the easiest option! Or tying it around your ponytail, or worn as a headband, or even a mask! Has anybody gone full-on silk scarf mask yet? ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

May 20, 2020

Oh, we haven't heard from this heroine for a while... Remember her when she first visited a college campus for some lectures (and brought the house down!), then she took some students to The Cloisters, outside of New York.

She's been working off and on in Paris, since the fire at Notre Dame. Now, of course, she's working from home. But her intricately braided white hair remains flawless (how DOES she get it cut?) and her nail polish and lipstick are still works of art that defy normal wear and tear...

This is her inspiration:

Her color palette is firmly in mind any time she shops - this is not a woman often given to wardrobe impulse! Someone once remarked that red and green seemed "Christmassy" to them - ... View the Post

Start with Art: Coastal Image by Theo van Rysselberghe

May 19, 2020 We're Working from Home Indefinitely The work environment at her office is usually super-dangerous, from a virus perspective - people in each other's faces all day, sitting too close, yelling back and forth, passing food...

So when they announced that she would be working from home for at LEAST the rest of the summer, she was delighted!

She's working towards calmness; this is her inspiration:

Her color palette is light, and soft. She's working at home, so she won't sit on something disgusting on a bus or train. She doesn't eat at her desk, so she's not worried about spills...

She's not on screen that often, but she knows that she needs to be prepared every day to pull on a cardigan or ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 42: An Accent Color Sleeveless Top

May 18, 2020

Oh, if ONLY it was warm enough to wear summer clothes! I know, I'll be griping that I have to run the air conditioner too often... But these colors appeal to me right now...

The nice thing about these tops is that you can pretty much always find something in a color that you like, and then you have an easy, inexpensive accent for almost any outfit!

It wasn't tough at all to find tops that look good with our favorite (current favorite?) 6 scarves:

As you probably can assume, by now - I have some ideas, suggestions, thoughts, observations...:

I love navy with bright green; in cooler weather I might turn the green "down a notch" into forest green, but I could still see navy, green and white ... View the Post

Start with Art: Dans la Forêt: Portrait de L. Massine by Natalia Gontcharova

May 14 2020

Remember the accountant? With a man's first name? Well, she's been doing quite well; the last big engagement in which she was immersed resulted in 3 people being charged with financial fraud, and a handful of other officers resigning in the dead of night and vanishing...

She was made partner...

Her color palette for her wardrobe is unusual - just when someone thinks that all she wears is black and shades of beige and brown, she trots out some cobalt blue!

She's got to go back. Yes, during the pandemic. She's assured that nobody is there, and that this is the very best time to take a team in and go through some of the really old "on paper" records that seem to have been... forged? Expense ... View the Post

Rescuing Forgotten Accessories: The Botanical Blossoms Scarf

May 12, 2020

Another heroine decided to dig into her accessories and unearth an under-appreciated beauty!

She knew that, when she bought it, she was thinking of bright, cheerful warm days, when she wanted to be as vivid and happy as the flowers...

So she decided that she would wear this scarf twice a month until the end of the summer. Maybe it would just be tied to the handle of her handbag, or worn in her hair, but she wanted to start using and enjoying it!

It might be warm enough to wear sleeveless tops, if she has her cardigan close at hand:

One would hope that by June, she will be able to wear shorts! At any rate, that's her plan:

By July, she plans to wear dresses fairly often. (yes, she discovered how ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 41: A Dark Neutral, Sleeveless Top

May 11, 2020

Well, a dear friend of mine is currently moving her plants indoors, because the weekend is supposed to bring freezing temperatures, and I'm writing about summer clothes! (I'm writing this on Friday afternoon May 8th)

Getting the best clothes often requires planning ahead; you can't imagine how often I will see something that I think is perfect to share with you, only to find that there are only 2 sizes still available...

So let's plunge into the possibilities of a simple, dark tank top or other sleeveless top!

For those who are following along with the "6 Scarves, 12 Months" series of posts, these are the tops that I would suggest for a wardrobe based on each of the scarves:

As always, I've got ... View the Post

Accessories! Start with Art – The Visit by Marie Laurencin

May 8 2020

I couldn't resist coming back to this painting, and to the wardrobe based on these colors!

First, let's look back at the spring wardrobe with a core of grey and white garments, and then a few accents in blue and pink (including that blue cardigan that keeps catching my eye!):

I'm looking for accessories that are somewhat "soft" in feel, to compliment the softness of the colors here, and also for things that will look good with more than one outfit...

For our blue dress, I wanted a scarf that our heroine could wear around her shoulders (although of course she has her white cardigan that will be perfect for that!), and some earrings that also were organic in theme. Silver sandals will be useful with pretty much ... View the Post

Start with Art: My favorite puppy’s Life by Fiona Rae

May 7, 2020

The capitalization of the painting is the artist's; artists see things in ways we hope to learn, some day...

While there are quite a few really fun colors in this painting, any heroine worth her salt knows that you've got to limit yourself a bit, at least at the start of a wardrobe "build."

First up, our wise heroine decides to make certain that she has a solid base for her wardrobe in navy and white:

Her heart was SET on hot pink and purple... but the marketplace of clothing didn't really help her out much!

This is one of the hardest parts of putting together any wardrobe - deciding that you KNOW what you want, but then finding that your lovely dreams are not readily available in the retail ... View the Post