The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 20: Dark Neutral Warm Cardigan

Ah, now that some of us have been snowed upon, it's time to swap out a warm-weather cardigan for something a bit more cozy...

Since this cardigan is a pivotal part of your wardrobe, you want to choose carefully!

I've kept quite a few garments from last week, to illustrate how all of these pieces might go together in your wardrobe...

Sometimes, all you need for an accent color is a tee shirt and some socks! (maybe earrings...)

You might stumble on a new accent color that you really like!

Twinsets don't have to be purchased together; you can find garments that look perfect together...

The simplest outfit can come together perfectly with a scarf, or the right necklace...

Those accent socks can ... View the Post

Start with Art: The Fan by Marie Laurencin, and Test-Driving a New Neutral

Her favorite neutral is navy, too. But her approach is a bit different from our last heroine!

She's just plain and simply a more dressy woman. It's her style...

Yes, she has a simple tee shirt, but her button-front is in silk, and instead of jeans, she plans to pack velvet pants... Still, because of her disciplined color palette, she has just as many outfit options as her more... vivid friends!

Her favorite painting dictated pink as an accent color. Nothing else is acceptable!

She already can see so many ways to wear her new additions... touring museums, sitting in a cafe, perhaps an opera or ballet?

She really, really, REALLY wanted to find that bluish-purple color that's on the left side of her painting. ... View the Post

Start with Art: The Sunshade by William John Leech, and Working with Accent Colors

She loves this painting...

And so she decides that when she goes on vacation this autumn, she will use this painting as the inspiration for her accent colors! Her core wardrobe is navy and white...

She knows that she could travel with just these pieces and do just fine; she might want a couple more shirts (although she remembers that she could certainly wear her crewneck sweater without something underneath it, for more options...)

But she sticks to her heart, and starts to search for green. She decides that she doesn't needs to wear her green tops together, which gives her quite a bit more freedom than if she were going to try to get 2 matching garments! (2 green pieces at once feels, to her, like a bit much...)

And ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 19: Dark Neutral Pants

First off, can ANYBODY explain ankle pants to me? I understand them in warmer weather, but with snow on the ground (I'm writing this on November 1, in Chicago, where we have had snow...) are bare ankles logical?

Do other people have really warm ankles that need to be exposed during the winter?

Are we willing to be uncomfortable, if it means that we're "on trend"? (I hate that phrase, for what it's worth...)

I will never understand!

So when you're shopping for pants, be VERY aware of the length that you're buying. You could be rudely surprised! But if you've spent your entire adult life having pants shortened, this could work in your favor...

And yes, this shade of honey isn't a really dark neutral, but it's uncommon and very ... View the Post

November 2019 – 12 Months, 12 Outfits – based on 6 Hermes Scarves

OH my! It's the first of the month AGAIN? It seems like this happens every 30 days or so... (Did we pay the rent????)

Let's get right to some beautiful colors, and some outerwear. Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are finally starting to really need these things!

 

I wanted to find this heroine a great blue coat, but I didn't see anything that came down over her hips enough to merit inclusion. It can be pretty important to have a coat that covers your longer sweaters...

But this scarf consoled me A LOT...

And yes, MORE Blondo boots. I'm so smitten with them that I want to make sure everybody sees them about a million times. Seriously, I can walk for miles in them, and they're legitimately water-resistant, i.e. ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet – October

Oh, some diplomacy could be useful these days...

Someone Needs to Visit THAT Office... And she just knows that it's going to be her...

Nobody can really tell her what's going on there; all they seem to be able to say is that there's a problem...

Thus, she doesn't know if she's going to be in the production area, with all of the "creative" types, or stuck in the Executive Suite with the suit-y people...

So she's packing a variety of calm, relaxing neutrals...

And her travel capsule wardrobe accent color is going to be soft and approachable; she really needs to get these people to talk!

She wants to look nice, but not wear anything that really arouses strong opinions. She suspects that there are quite ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 18: Dark Neutral Corduroy Pants

I know that it's really Autumn when I pull out my black cords!

Of course, if you're not crazy about corduroy, you have other options:

I love the way corduroy is dressier than denim (by a mile!), but is still relaxed...

Having dark neutral pants for cool weather lets your go a bit crazy with sweaters, socks - everything else!

Note: This following sweater might be accented with navy, rather than black. I honestly can't tell on the website, so I'm showing it... If it's not black, I apologize!

The texture of corduroy makes it easier to blend, rather than match, colors in your wardrobe. So long as things look nice together, they don't have to be perfect matches; who's looking that closely? (perhaps they need a new ... View the Post

What Does a Capsule Wardrobe Look Like? 3 Examples of Weekly Timeless Wardrobes

Many of you have been wondering what these wardrobes might look at in different colors - I've got some examples! And you were wondering about the weird round gizmo in the bottom left of the overall wardrobes images...

WELL... I'm envisioning these 4 colors (rust, light blue, pink and yellow) as the 4 symbol colors for the 4 seasons; rust = Autumn, light blue = Winter, pink = Spring, and yellow = Summer.

When I get the book about this written, these 4 colors will be used on each page to somehow signal what season is discussed on that page. I'm not entirely sure how this will work, but I have a vision...

So how would 13 garments look if they were chosen with this lovely painting in mind?

I'm thinking this little capsule ... View the Post

Start with Art: 2 Sisters with a Cello by Marie Laurencin

I wanted to show how different accent colors can completely change the look of the neutral grey pieces that we looked at a couple of weeks ago... So I thought that my favorite artist might be a good place to start...

Quiet... She's going away for a week, and she doesn't plan to do any more talking than absolutely necessary! That might sound odd, but her job requires her to answer questions ALL DAY, and she's looking forward to being quiet...

Of course, she will have to order her meals, and thank the various people who are helpful and kind to her...

But she wants to walk around and look at art. Maybe just sit for a while in front of a favorite painting?

Enjoying a good dinner all alone, concentrating on her food, ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 17: A Print or Patterned Cotton Turtleneck

It seems like there's a Monday every week, doesn't it?

This is a rare "scarf-free" post for The Vivienne Files; when you're including printed or patterned garments in an outfit, you don't really need a scarf. But I won't stop you if you add one!

And doggone it, once and for all, garments that are WINTER themed - like snowflake tops - are NOT reserved for only the period of time up until Christmas! I have a wonderful cardigan with reindeer and winter themes - not a Santa to be seen - but I get smart-alec remarks when I wear it in January or February. Seriously...

The only guideline for choosing a turtleneck in a print is that it looks good with 1 of your 2nd layers, and that you love it. If you would like it in a scarf fabric, ... View the Post

New Colors? The Pantone Colors for Spring/Summer 2020

Oh hurrah, new colors.... Which of course is absurd, but it always give us a chance to look at a whole bunch of French 5-Piece Wardrobes (which is also absurd...)

These are little ensembles of a sweater and some accessories, based loosely upon the colors that Pantone has chosen to feature for the upcoming Spring and Summer. The items that I've chosen do NOT match the Pantone colors exactly, because that's the road to madness!

First up - RED! Always available, and a color that you either love or just never wear...

Saffron is the "Color of the Year" for 2020.  If you can wear it, jump in and stand out in the crowd - the rest of us will just stand back and admire...

This looks like a muted navy to me!

This might be ... View the Post

What Can You Do With a Weekly Timeless Wardrobe? Add an Accent!

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe is enough clothing for a lot of us - enough different garments, and enough colors. But what if you bump into an accent color that you can't resist?

For demonstration purposes, I'm going to start with the Week 16 Wardrobe...

And then let's imagine that our heroine sees this shade of blue on the L.L.Bean website. And she recognizes the value of true "whappage" - that feeling when you walk away, and are still thinking about something hours or days later. It takes a while to really know the difference between a crush and real love, and in the same way you have to cultivate your sense of "I could wear the dickens out of that color" vs "gosh, that's pretty..."

She realizes that her love is real, and she ... View the Post