The Vivienne Files

She quilted for years - ever since she was a teenager. So when they offered her the position managing the quilt museum (THE best quilt museum in the country, in many opinions...) she jumped at the chance.

The position involves travel... So she's going to try to be organized about this!

It might not be her favorite painting, but this is what she's chosen as her core inspiration:

She wants to dress in neutrals, but she's really reluctant to be pinned down to just cool (or warm) colors; she's going to mix it up! Her palette is this:

She likes to be comfortable and sort of... low key? when she travels - she's visiting women who've made quilts, or other smaller museums, so she doesn't want to show up and terrify ... View the Post

Solar panels. She designs installations for solar panels - big installations, small ones - whatever is ordered, she will optimize both the appearance and the productivity. She's very proud of what she does...

So when she saw this painting, it spoke to her - the angles, the bright sunny feel, the combination of grey (like metal frames) with orange and green - the colors of things that grow and bloom:

She decided to choose a color palette that she could use for all of her travel wardrobes (and maybe all of her clothing, eventually):

One challenge she always faces is that she travels to place where it is inevitably warmer than where she lives! So she dresses warmly for her departure, and packs somewhat less bulky ... View the Post

She predicts flooding. Flood plains, coastal erosion, river bank frailties - she's the expert. And this is her favorite painting...

Long ago she decided to limit her wardrobe to her favorite shades of blue, and to use navy and shades of grey as her neutrals. She has lots of serious things to think about, so having a simplified way to get dressed every day saves her time and energy for her work!

She's often contracted out to television channels which focus on weather disasters - she will spend a few days at their headquarters helping their permanent staff make predictions about areas that need to be evacuated in the face of upcoming storms...

Ice blockages are particularly hard to evaluation - they can cause flooding, or ... View the Post

Our final heroine from 2018! The square peg in the round hole, who nevertheless manages to be very effective at her job...

When she saw this painting, she knew that it would be a favorite for a long time:

So when she entered the workforce, she designed her own color palette and style guidelines... She knows that it's important for her to fit in with her co-workers, but she also wants to show her own personal... point of view!

When she traveled in January, she was absolutely delighted with what she packed - unexpected in some ways, but perfectly appropriate, just the same!

That trip went so well that she was... honored... (?) to be asked to visit their most difficult client just a few months later! (sometimes, it ... View the Post

It becomes too clear this time of year - I don't need anything, and when I see things that I want, about 5 minutes of intelligent self-talk reminds me that the purchase would be... wasteful, at best.

I'd rather travel! And I do travel a lot. When you become accustomed to living for a week or 10 days or longer with just the contents of a suitcase as your wardrobe, you learn that you can manage - happily - with relatively little.

So I've got a plan! (of COURSE I have a plan - you're shocked, right?)

Clusters!

I'm going to be in Florida for part of January, but for the rest of January, I'm going to limit my wardrobe to 10 garments - 2 clusters of five...

This is my first cluster - these aren't exactly my garments, but you could ... View the Post

Ah, our friend who loves peace and quiet... She was smitten with this painting from the first time she saw it:

She found this painting to be so moving that she decided to base her wardrobe around it. In order to focus her shopping, she isolated a couple of key phrases and a small color palette that she drew from the painting:

She's been very pleased with the results!

In January she decided to get away for a peaceful long weekend at a resort that would be relatively deserted in the winter... Her plan was to go for walks, sit by the fireplace and read, and just generally relax and absorb the tranquillity!

She found much to enjoy... So much so that she went back in April! Packing for that trip required a ... View the Post

Ah, this most enigmatic of heroines! Her favorite painting is this darkly beautiful wonder:

After studying it's depths and details for a while, she found her signature style and color palette:

Back in January, she took a trip (we don't know where!) for which she planned her travel wardrobe around these colors:

Our mystery heroine traveled again in April, and she again used her signature painting and color palette to inspire her travel wardrobe:

In July, she went into the city for a couple of days, so that she could go to a couple of baseball games! I said that she was enigmatic...

In October she traveled for what we suspected might be romantic motivations...

After all this travel, we are confronted ... View the Post

To those of you who celebrate today, I sincerely wish you peace and happiness, today and in the new year. And to all of the rest of us, we can still enjoy the day with our friends who celebrate, and enjoy the beauty that the winter holidays offer to us all!

Paris goes somewhat over the top decorating for Christmas and New Years, and I say HALLELUJAH to that. Chicago feels quite drab in comparison...

The top left photograph below, with the adorable little reindeer, was in the window of a store that sells light bulbs! Yes, bulbs. They used their merchandise nicely to give this window an old-fashioned feeling.

One of the last days that I was in Paris, I found a shop that sells ANY kind of blown glass ornament that you might ... View the Post