The Vivienne Files

Is a Navy Suit REALLY Useful?

August 24, 2026

Ah, some of you still need to dress conservatively... And there's a lot of struggle around the wisdom of owning a good navy suit.

If you don't like wearing navy, DON'T DO IT! But if you like wearing navy, and you're comfortable in a blazer, and you can envision needing a classic suit, you could do worse than this:

What can you do with such classic beauty? Well, let's start with a very conservative color palette and see what's possible!

I'm going to approach this the same way I looked at the striped suit on Friday - a half-dozen outfits, a few additions, and then another half-dozen "remixed" outfits from the 16 garments in our capsule wardrobe.

Let's start casual:

The wine shade that I'm ... View the Post

Year #3 of Start With a Suit – Boden Navy & Camel Stripe

August 21, 2026

This is the third year that I've started with Boden's autumn suit (it seems to be something they do each year) to build an autumn/winter capsule wardrobe.

The first one was here, and the second one was here. You could ABSOLUTELY justify having all three of these suits, if you're in a suit-wearing environment, you love these colors, and you're happy wearing bold prints!

Our heroine works for political campaigns. I feel for her...

But how about this suit?

I absolutely believe that this heroine could own all three suits, and pack two of the three for each trip. Return home occasionally, swap out one of the suits, back on the road!

This is the color palette I picture for this suit - there is indeed a red ... View the Post

Start With Art – A Third Look at Wall of Light Orange Yellow by Sean Scully

August 19, 2026

We've met this heroine twice - once in February, and then again in May. She travels every three months or so, so we catch up with her just in time to see what's new in her wardrobe....

Her inspiration painting is a winner - intriguing, and much more complex than one realizes at first glance. And what a range of colors!

Her next trip should be in weather that's a bit cooler than we're having right now! They want to go leaf peeping. Yes, it's kind of an irritating term, but it's a glorious and very rewarding way to spend a few days...

She's chosen the following for her wardrobe palette:

Let's take a quick flash back to see her earlier travel wardrobes - the first was for cool spring weather:

And ... View the Post

Chic Sightings and Start With Art – X66 by Anne Ryan

August 17, 2026

Last weekend, Belovedest and I walked down to the Art Institute of Chicago to see a current exhibit: Beyond Form: Abstraction at Midcentury. As you almost certainly have figured out by now, I'm a big fan of abstract art...

Before we look at art, we usually go up to the third floor of the Modern Wing to The Member Bar, where we can get coffee and pastries. (note, if you're a member, and you can get free regular coffee...)

This is one of the great people-watching venues in Chicago. I think that those of us who purchase memberships to museums are a special bunch! Every time I'm there, I see at least one woman who is strikingly attractive, usually because she's "got her own style."

("get your own style" is a big ... View the Post

August 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

August 14, 2026

It's a good thing that our heroine bought cotton gauze clothes last month; it's still screeching hot in Paris.

At least her tiny short-term apartment rental has air conditioning....

But our heroine knows that she's going to be traveling this fall, and she wants to be prepared. This is one VERY organized woman!

First, some time spent with her favorite painting:

A couple of basics, a couple of more interesting things... and some delightful accessories!

Yes, if she loves this lace blouse as much as she expects to, she may well buy the white one too. There's no reason to avoid buying duplicates when they're perfect wardrobe workhorses, for you.

Why yes, her brooch does echo the gold banding ... View the Post

August 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

August 12, 2026

Let's visit the duck, shall we? I think she's like a lot of us these days - calm on the surface, paddling like mad underneath...

Our heroine - the wildlife research statistician - is finishing up her stint at the very rural Vermont college...

At the beginning of August, this is the wardrobe our heroine has assembled:

And these are her most delectable accessories:

Maybe she's exaggerating, but she feels like EVERY person working with her right now puts on white pants or white jeans after work! She decides that she's going to look at how much white clothing she owns, and to think about making a bold wardrobe addition...

This is what she has right now, in white:

The other white thing that ... View the Post

August 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Spirit of Autumn by Albert Pinkham Ryder

August 10, 2026

So many of our heroines this months are absolutely buried (metaphorically speaking, of course) in advertising for fall clothes. It's so easy to see a handful of things that catch your eye - you buy on impulse - your tidy wardrobe starts to be less and less tidy...

Our heroines are responding by taking a hard look at what they already have, and identifying gaps in their wardrobe. Rationally, if our heroines are able to get dressed every day, their wardrobes don't actually have gaps! But we are going to shop for a new season (most of us!), and thus our heroines are going to try to do it sensibly...

Today's professional listeners has chosen this painting as her style-defining inspiration:

This wardrobe is ... View the Post

August 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Ruffled Autumn Clouds by Emile Nolde

August 7, 2026

Let's check in our bank employee, with career goals clearly in her focus! She's chosen to dress in a manner reflective of the way the upper executives dress, while still keeping a foot firmly planted in her current position. It's a balancing act to clearly appear "promotion-worthy" while at the same time not alienating or offending your current co-workers...

In order to help her in her focus and shopping discipline, our heroine has chosen this painting and color palette as her wardrobe inspiration:

Before any August shopping, our heroine already has 32 pieces in her wardrobe. She's never at a loss as to what to wear!

A big reason that she dresses with ease every day is that she has a GREAT assortment of ... View the Post

August 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Winter Cottonwoods by Georgia O’Keeffe

August 5, 2026

So now that stores are filling up with clothes, I'm going to look at all six of our wardrobes and try to fill in gaps and find some balance for our heroines.

Our next painting is a favorite of our landscaping expert, who is most comfortable wearing mostly subtle colors found in nature:

Coming into August, our heroine had this lovely wardrobe, but it really doesn't reflect that she planned to use grey as an equal neutral with shades of brown. Hmm....

Her accessories are gorgeous...

Our heroine has four grey garments, and an ivory tee shirt. These are all excellent garments, but she's interested in looking for more grey. Oddly, it can be the most difficult color to find!

But since Autumn is ... View the Post

August 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

August 3, 2026

Time to drop in on our graphic and typography expert. You just have to imagine that she has a clear view of how things look on paper or on screen; that doesn't necessarily translate into a crispy-edited wardrobe! But we are doing our best for her...

First, her beautiful painting inspiration:

By the end of July, we had migrated her wardrobe onto a 56-piece wardrobe template:

This is how it looks in a color-sorted, more relaxed view. Sometimes the grid is the most helpful, and at other times you need the more "mixey" look at things:

There's no grid for accessories! I've been thinking about a plan for accessories for at least 15 years, and I still conclude that they're the really personal part of a ... View the Post

A Radical Approach to Cleaning Out Your Closet

August 2, 2026

Yes, I never post on Sundays. But I've had an idea kicking around in my head for a few weeks, and I wanted to put it into words. This helps me clarify my thoughts, and feedback from you helps me refine my ideas!

We're always seeing the same "Wardrobe Clear-out" advice:

take everything out of your closet try everything on sort it all into three piles - Keep, Repair or Alter, Donate

And then you're going to have the perfect wardrobe...

My issues with this are many - who is REALLY going to put every stitch of clothing that they own on their bed (or the floor!) and sort it out? Who's got time? Who's got patience?

Further, it worries me that we're donating clothes that are still appealing to us, but that ... View the Post

Accessories! Bringing Life to the Rising Green by Lee Krasner 4 by 4 Wardrobe

July 31, 2026

It's the end of July. I'm not quite ready for the end of summer, are you?

You may remember our friend who has an upcoming responsibility to be an election observer. This will be - of course - in November. She doesn't know how long she will be gone; she's been told it could be for 5 days to 2 weeks. Happily, she WILL be in a place where laundry will be possible!

She's decided to use this most lovely painting to inspire her travel capsule wardrobe:

This is the wardrobe that she's packing - I have a hunch that she's been told that it might be warm some of the time she's at her assigned destination? Weather is one of the things that can make it almost impossible to plan a wardrobe more than a day or two before ... View the Post