The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting With Art: The Boating Party, by Mary Cassatt

August 1, 2015   "Mom wants us all to come down for the Regatta... I know we said that after the kids quit sailing we wouldn't go, but I think it would really mean a lot to my mother."     Well, that's a loaded invitation, isn't it? But that's okay, you know she misses her only child, and that she cherishes her memories of Regattas from years past...   "Of course we can go. I'm assuming that we'll be there for the entire week?"

   

yes, you're a saint...    

    While navy isn't the color that covers the most area of this painting, it's definitely the "anchor" ***cough, cough*** color here.    

Same thing with white - especially when you're ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Version 2, Bright Women in Front of the Hat Shop by August Macke

July 10, 2015   I was going to wait a few weeks to do this for autumn, but I found myself thinking about these colors so much last night that I thought I'd best just go ahead and jump into it!   For cooler weather, I swapped out the pink for that strong green, and I darkened all of the colors a bit; I particularly wanted to make sure that the navy on the left of the painting was included, since that's a pivotal neutral for me here.  

The last weekend at the lake, for this year As soon as you can escape from work, you're headed to the cabin. There's always work to be done to make sure things are ready for winter, and this may be the last non-snowy weekend you can all get there. So even though you had to wear a suit ... View the Post

Start With Art: Bright Women in Front of the Hat Shop by August Macke

July 9, 2015   This painting is great - I want to revisit this one with a more fall/winter orientation. For warm weather, my first thought was that the shades of blue reminded me of denim and chambray, accented with that YELLOW, the rose, and some acid green (which I didn't address here, but might in the future!)    

    So this is my warm-weather color scheme:  

  Everyone is at the lake but you... Yes, everyone else went to the cabin last night. But you KNEW that you had to go into the office this morning - that client report wasn't going to write itself!   But if you put your head down and WRITE, you can be out of the office by 2:00 or so - in time to get to the lake for ... View the Post

How to Pack Light: Yellow and Black “Whatever’s Clean 13” for warm weather

June 3, 2015   You knew this was coming, didn't you? Some people really LOVE printed skirts and trousers, and they deserve to be able to pack a "Whatever's Clean 13" wardrobe too!

  Figuring out what to include in this suitcase mostly requires finding a common "accent" color that's shared by a handful of your skirts and pants, and then building around that. When I was browsing things to get started, I found a few things that shared this glorious yellow, and so I chose that as my accent, and selected the black and white found in these Valentino trousers as my neutrals.   First up, a travel outfit with bright, happy trousers, but a simple top and cardigan, all pulled together with yellow earrings and a yellow scarf. You ... View the Post

A Yellow Handbag: Integrating a New Accent Color

May 4, 2015  

I know I said I was going to take Mondays off. Some Mondays, I will. But today I had this whole yellow handbag question lurking in my mind, so I thought I'd share what I've found and learned.   First up, there are lots of nice yellow handbags in the world! I personally would carry this one with the shiny plaque against my body (I'm not paid to advertise for any brand; I don't do it for free!). But this is a nice size, and I have every reason to believe it's well made, and it is available in seven colors...  

And of course I'm sticking with these five navy garments, because I delight in showing the inherent versatility of timeless classics.

 

My initial adventure into yellow ... View the Post

Solid Clothes with Patterned Jewelry in a Capsule Wardrobe

March 12, 2015

I'm often asked about the possibility of wearing only solid-colored clothing - nothing patterned. Because I show stripes and flowers (and every other kind of print) so often, some people seem to be concerned that wearing only solid colors is somehow prohibited.

First off, let me make it perfectly clear that, in my opinion, you can wear anything that makes you happy. So long as you don't get arrested, or fired from your job, go for it. Let your preferences shine through. Express your personal preferences, your inner nuttiness, or your freak flag - it's only clothing, and as long as you are truly, deeply happy with what you wear, the rest of us can just accept it. Ultimately, it's up to you!

Another request I recently ... View the Post

Start With Art: A Shelf of Books -> a Summer Wardrobe

November 7, 2014   You really, seriously, can get inspiration anywhere, if you keep your eyes and your aesthetic heart open to what's out there.  This absolutely wonderful picture was sent to me - what a delightful mix of softly faded colors.  

    It wasn't at all hard to come up with a color scheme.  Many of you ask about how I build color wheels - I use the graphing gizmo in PowerPoint.  I use PowerPoint for all of my vignettes, because it does everything I need.  Just insert a graph into a slide, and then change the colors and sizes of the various wedges to suit your preferences. You have a new, beautiful mnemonic for your wardrobe colors, AND you have a new skill to put on your ... View the Post

Start With Nature: Autumn Leaves, a Four Pack

October 29, 2014   Over the weekend, we had an absolutely beautiful day on Saturday - bright, clear, and warm enough to walk for miles.  As we neared home, we passed this tree, and Belovedest took a photo of it for me.  

In order to really hone in on the leaves, I've cropped down the photograph to a handful of leaves, and isolated just three colors.  It's easy to get overwhelmed when you see something beautiful - focusing really closely on one small thing can help a lot to clarify which colors captivate you most.  

  This seemed like a wonderful opportunity to find a beautiful winter coat! A core of brown, simple clothes make a good base...  

  For an overnight business trip, ... View the Post

Start With Nature: Chrysanthemums – a Four Pack

October 24, 2014   Okay, some of these colors aren't easy to find, and they might be a little bit much for your entire wardrobe.  But if you have a core in taupe (or brown, or navy, or black), these colors as an accent could be a lot of fun!  

  Just as a reminder, these are the Starburst Chrysanthemums I photographed a few weeks ago - they are now frozen and quite dead, but I will love this photograph for quite a long time.  

Stumbling onto the scarf was really key!  It has the accent colors of the deep coral, the softer rose, and the yellow - everything after that was relatively simple!  Here you can see where having the core items of a coat, trousers, boots and a tote bag in your neutral ... View the Post

Start With Art: Yellow Tree by Linda Jacobson

Seotember 16, 2014   So beautiful, and such inspiring colors! I was completely unfamiliar with this artist; my readers send me the most wonderful things...  

  I chose a muted palette from this painting - I think I'm in a muted mood today. Would you like to see a 2nd post (after my vacation!) based on this painting, with more vivid colors?

 

  I've been asked to clarify the role of the various "fours" in the 4 by 4 Wardrobe, so I'm going to do that while working with this painting. Multitasking...   The First Core of Four is designed to give you two tops and two "bottoms" (I don't know why, but lots of people are completely bothered by the term bottoms...) that can be worn as four outfits. ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch Step 8: Two Tops, and a Necklace

July 1, 2014  

One thing that I've noticed after many years of wearing clothes is that I feel like my capsule wardrobe is better balanced if I have more "tops" than "bottoms".  Two to one seems a pretty workable ratio for me, and so in search of this it's time to grab a couple more blouses, tee shirts, or sweaters. This is an ideal time to introduce a pattern, if you wish, or to bring in more of your accent colors. If you found that you really preferred wearing light neutral blouses, those are perfect for this step.   And a necklace... Some days when I'm walking in downtown Chicago, I make a point of looking specifically for necklaces, and I'm always kind of shocked that I don't see very many. A semi-precious stone or ... View the Post