The Vivienne Files

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

March 9, 2026

Wouldn't it be fun to see one of these "in the feathers"?

I imagine that our heroine has seen one at least once; at least she's sufficiently familiar with them to choose to copy their coloring in her wardrobe:

At the end of February, our heroine had this compact but very practical capsule wardrobe - easy to assemble a lot of different outfits from this small number of pieces:

But suddenly, our heroine is finding that people want to interview her! Yes, she always assumes that a local radio show might want to talk for 15 minutes about the shifting "bird demographics" of their area...

Now she's finding that she might even be on television! At a minimum, she's going to be on some videos online; people ... View the Post

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Spirit of Autumn by Albert Pinkham Ryder

March 6, 2026

Isn't this calming? Calming seems wise right now, doesn't it?

Our heroine's profession is to listen and to bring calm, acceptance, and understanding to her clients. So when she was inspired to base her wardrobe on the colors and the mood of this painting, it made good sense!

She loves the colors in her wardrobe - brown and rust to echo her hair, the soft golden tones of her skin, and the changeable aqua of her eyes!

At the end of February, she had a very small 12-piece wardrobe that felt like it had a lot of ivory in it, but that was still almost infinitely versatile. One could get dressed in the dark with this in your closet, and never look truly bad!

Her shopping this month is a mix of useful ... View the Post

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Ruffled Autumn Clouds by Emile Nolde

March 4, 2026

Give me your honest opinion: is there white in this painting - in the yellow areas? This heroine could use some white at some stage - especially when the weather heats up!

This is our ambitious heroine's wardrobe color palette - perfect for fitting in AND standing out, all at the same time:

At the end of February, our heroine had assembled a 12-piece wardrobe that wasn't foolproof (mixing her accent colors might get weird!), but that's very versatile. One thing that she discovered is that she really likes getting a shirt AND a sweater AND a tee shirt in the same color, if possible.

So when March rolls around, she spies the yellow sweater and knows that this month, yellow is the accent color. ... View the Post

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Winter Cottonwoods by Georgia O’Keeffe

March 2, 2026

Ah, this is what Chicago has been looking like recently - bare trees, drifts of old snow, sun peeking through at sunset:

Our heroine is very fond of the stems, the roots, and the "unattractive" working parts of plants. Her goal, and her passion, is to make all plants acceptable, and no plant a pariah.

Her very subdued wardrobe is based upon these colors:

At the end of February, she has assembled as 12-piece capsule wardrobe, which is almost completely foolproof. Our heroine doesn't really have a lot of time to spend standing in front of her closet, debating what to wear!

Who among us has that time?

Any person who lives in rhythm with nature knows that you have to deal with what's right in front of ... View the Post

Start With Art – Wall of Light Orange Yellow by Sean Scully

February 27, 2026

True story from my trip to Paris in December: Belovedest and I were walking down a side street near our hotel, and saw art in the distance! The doorway of the gallery was glass, and the entire structure of the building was open so that we could see ALL THE WAY THROUGH to a large room in the back of the building. And facing us, we saw 3 Sean Scully paintings, in shades of blue. We would have had no idea that they were there, had we not been able to see them from the street. A delightful 10 minute detour!

I think my lesson is that looking in all of the doorways is a good idea!

Today's heroine is going to have to visit with us every couple of months for a while, because she has found an intriguing color combination ... View the Post

Fresh Colors – with LOTS of Green! Pantone New York Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2026-27

February 25, 2026

So New York Fashion Week is behind us, and I saw ABSOLUTELY NONE of it... We're not about fashion, we're about personal style! But it's always fun to see what colors Pantone chooses to highlight from the rainbow of things that are shown on the runway...

This year, if you like brown or green, you're going to be happy!

With no further ado (because this post takes quite long enough as it is!) I share with you the anointed colors for next fall, with some suggestions for an accessory splurge. If you already have something in one or more of these colors in your stash, it might be time to build yourself a wee "accessory family" to liven up your neutrals..

If I were adding ... View the Post

Looking for Absolute Simplicity? Start With Art – Les Colombes by Maurice Denis

February 23, 2026

More often than I would expect, I hear from someone who's looking for a foolproof travel capsule wardrobe. Some people want dressier, and other want more relaxed, but everybody seems to be looking for a simple way to pack for a whole BUNCH of trips...

So let's start with a tranquil, simple but arresting work of art:

This offers us a palette for our travel capsule wardrobe that's timeless, and SO easy to find:

Freshly Retired! She's got plans - lots of them! For the next 3 months, she has EIGHT trips planned - most of them relatively close to where she lives. Some travel will be driving, and some by train. She's going to catch up with a couple of friends, visit a couple of old favorite towns, and check ... View the Post

In the Mood for Something Pretty? Start With a Pink Cashmere Cardigan from J.Crew

February 20, 2026

I think that many of us are in the mood for something to both brighten up our wardrobe, and to give us a head-start into spring - do you feel this? It's certainly true for me!

When I saw this sweater, in this color, I was immediately drawn to it. I love cables, I think it's genius that so many cardigans now have a lot of closely-spaced buttons. Wearing something like this without a shirt underneath is much easier when you don't have to worry about the dreaded (and completely unnecessary!) button gap:

I'm sticking with navy as our dark neutral; in fact, I'm keeping the navy garments from Wednesday's post. If nobody learns anything else from The Vivienne Files, I hope that someone grows to understand that buying ... View the Post

Interested in a Bright Accent for Spring? Start With a Yellow Cashmere Cardigan from Alex Mill

February 18, 2026

If you look good in yellow, treating yourself to a truly lovely yellow cardigan could be a wise move. You can wear it pretty much all year (okay, except for the dead heat of the summer!), and it's a color that brings cheer to anything you wear with it!

For today's experiment with this sweater, I've chosen navy (and dark-ish denim) as our neutral, and included both white and stone. And because a chambray shirt is among the most versatile garments you can own, I included it too!

So this is our palette - chambray isn't shown here, but I think we can assume that every wardrobe includes shades of denim blue, eh?

Here's an example of how versatile chambray and stone can be - I don't believe that there's a ... View the Post

Ready to Start Thinking Spring? Start With Art – Book Illustration by Goyo Hashiguchi

February 16, 2026

It's not quite spring here, although I hear from some of you that flowers are starting to show?!?!?

But it IS the second half of February, which, for the forward-thinking and wise heroine, means starting to look for clothes for warmer weather. The best things sell quickly, especially if you wear a common size...

Our heroine was here last summer...

First, and always most important, let's pause for just a second and appreciate this:

Our heroine has chosen these colors for her wardrobe; it might seem limited, but there's a lot of possibilities if one is patient and focused. We all might want to focus and develop a more signature, personally authentic style...

We're going to start our heroine's Spring ... View the Post

February 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

February 13, 2026

Happy Valentine's Day! I don't necessarily "buy into" the holidays like this, which seem like one more reason to buy something. Let's just all take a LONG break tomorrow to contact those that we love - not just romantically. Send an unexpected email. Call someone. Write a note. Make sure that your loved ones KNOW that you love them...

But right now, let's admire the attention to detail, the glorious fabrics and trims worn by our two favorite fashion saints:

Such an easy color palette, but one with so much potential impact:

At the end of January, our heroine had this delightfully compact but (to many of you) rather casual wardrobe:

We have to remember that - in her "down time" - when ... View the Post

February 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

February 11, 2026

Let's spend just a moment communing with a bird. This particular bird:

Wouldn't it be nice to be this calm? And I swear that I see confidence in the gaze of this bird. Of course, once you've got your personal style all sorted out and you look this good, why wouldn't you be confident?

I particularly admire the palette:

At the end of January, our friend who works on bird censuses (I had to look this one up - I would have SWORN it would be something like "censui" or "censua") had this quite compact but amazingly versatile wardrobe. I see 18 outfits here...

Our heroine has made a big decision - if she likes something that she owns, she's going to see if she can find the same garment in another color ... View the Post