The Vivienne Files

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

May 11, 2026

I wonder how many different birds could inspire how many different wardrobes?

This is such an easy and classic color palette. If you absolutely couldn't live without blue denim (I bet you can, but you do you!) you've always got the water to give you shades of blue...

One of the many things hanging on the GIGANTIC pin board in front of my computer is a photograph of a magpie. Black, white and blue... We don't see magpies in Chicago!

At the end of April, our heroine had this wardrobe. To my mind, the outfits just jump off of the page:

Our heroine was seriously thinking about red when she started browsing, but when she saw this linen jacket and tweedy pants, she changed direction. Slightly - still plenty ... View the Post

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

May 8, 2026

I don't know if the character in the painting is sad, or is just getting away from the news - and other people - for a few minutes...

This heroine remains quite pleased with her color palette. She's having good luck finding things that she both likes and needs - shopping isn't always easy when you've decided to wear just a limited palette. Unless you live in black, like some of us...

At the end of April, our heroine had this 20-piece wardrobe:

Although the weather still isn't particularly warm where our heroine lives, she decided that she was going to look for clothes for warm weather ANYWAY.

And she debated about the necklaces. She was trying to choose between the two, and she kept going back and ... View the Post

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

May 6, 2026

Such a wonderful painting:

Our VERY determined heroine might find that she wants to change her color palette; the blue at the bottom of the sky (yes, the lovely teal/petrol blue) is almost impossible to find in clothing. And frankly, our heroine doesn't want to spend hours and hours looking for clothes - she's far too busy studying for financial certification exams!

She's willing to give it another month, but she may just concentrate more on finding some nice white garments instead...

Right now, this is here wardrobe palette:

At the end of April, this was our heroine's wardrobe. It is very orientated toward looking serious and business-like at work, or online when she works from home.

As much as she ... View the Post

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

May 4, 2026

I'm back from a college graduation in Boston - at Fenway Park! It was freezing cold - pants and coats were the order of the day...

Today, we're going to look at making a small adjustment in this wardrobe. Originally, I had pictured that our heroine would have a color palette like this - long on yellow and brown, with grey accents:

As we look for additions to this wardrobe, it becomes evident that this much yellow was going to be a LOT of yellow. First up, yellow's not all that easy to wear, even if it flatter you. And secondly, it's not that easy to find!

So after a bit of thought, our heroine made a change in the proportions of colors she desired in her wardrobe:

She might change it again. These things ... View the Post

Want Two Accent Colors? Use Two Paintings!

April 29, 2026

I'm sure that the wise heroines among us have already thought of this - combining two "beige-based" travel capsule wardrobes to come up with a larger wardrobe with two accent colors.

Let's include this painting:

and this one:

That gives us this color palette - obviously this should work out pretty well!

One neutral cluster that we've seen was this:

The second painting-inspired wardrobe had this just slightly different neutral cluster:

There was a "faded sage" wardrobe cluster:

And we have a cluster in a pretty coral:

The perfect things to add to a wardrobe that included ALL of these clothes would be a madras plaid shirt in beige, coral and sage, or a floral tee shirt that ... View the Post

Want a Simple Spring Wardrobe? Start With Art – The Seasons – Summer by Ray Hendershot

April 27, 2026

She wants peace. Calm. Not having to think about what to pack or what to wear. She wants the wardrobe equivalent of this:

She particularly wants green, mixed with that "old paint, peeling off of the barn" shade of beige...

It wasn't a settled choice until she saw this color - called faded sage. THIS was just what she wanted:

The beige was easy - she just saw it on Friday here on The Vivienne Files! She changed the jewelry to better suit her...

The night before her first weekend away, she assembled her tiny spring wardrobe, and was tremendously satisfied. It would be difficult to put together a truly ugly outfit from this:

She really didn't WANT to think about outfits, but she took a solid ... View the Post

Do You Have a Signature Accent Color? Start With Art – Rhythm of Bird Flight by Erika Giovanna Klien

April 24, 2026

Some of us do have signature accent colors - you're not surprised to know that mine is purple. It's not that I wear purple clothes all that often, but I have purple highlights in my hair. That pretty much wraps up the whole signature color for me! But I do wear purple clothes occasionally, and I just ordered a purple backpack!

Today's heroine doesn't have a "lifetime signature" but she is planning to stick with shades of coral for the upcoming warm weather. Her inspiration is this:

Our heroine plans to use this as her color palette:

Her goals are two. First, she wants to establish a 9-piece wardrobe in these two colors, which would mean that any weekend she's going away, she will pack 6 or 7 garments ... View the Post

Feeling Bright? Start With Art – No. 7 or No. 11, 1949 by Mark Rothko

April 22, 2026

If Rothko couldn't choose a name for his painting (or technically a number...), then you don't have to pack with just one accent color.

I'm sure Rothko never, once, worried about what he packed. But we aren't modern art geniuses, so we think about these things!

Let's start here - this feels SO MUCH like warm weather to me:

As soon as she saw this painting, she saw this color palette...

Our heroine is committed to denim, and chambray. For many of us, that's a sensible choice. It's readily available, in every style imaginable, and if you care for it properly, denim is a true "buy it for life" fabric.

I have jeans that are going to be with me until the end...

So when our heroine has to go away for a ... View the Post

Have You Gone Overboard? Start With Art – Tulips in a Vase by Leo Oosthout

April 20, 2026

We're going to start with the painting, although this is NOT where today's heroine began her spring wardrobe adventure:

As soon as she saw this painting, she saw this color palette...

Which is a good thing, because she just recently went a bit overboard on a new accent color. I mean CRAZY. And she's already run everything through the laundry, so nothing is getting returned.

It happens. Most of us have done it - when Eileen Fisher releases purple, I go off the deep end...

But this is a lot of red:

She's going to try to make lemonade out of this... First thing is to check what's already in her closet that she plans to wear a LOT this spring and summer:

The white things are wonderful. ... View the Post

Inspiration is Everywhere! Navy, White, Rose Pink and Deep Lake Blue

April 17, 2026

Our heroine was off to a good start - she was certain that navy is her favorite neutral, and she was equally convinced that white would be her light neutral. That's a LOT more progress than many of us ever make in gaining control of our wardrobe!

She started here - her favorite outfit(s):

So she started building her Spring wardrobe by digging into her closet and dresser, and found all of these things:

At this point, she realizes that her choice of navy and white is really solidly based on her preferences... But what about accent colors?

She looks at art.

She looks at nature.

She looks at brilliant wardrobe blogs...

And THEN, she sits down to watch some European rugby with her best friend, and ... View the Post

Pack for a Long Weekend? Start With Art – Hydrangea by C.F.A.Voysey

April 15, 2026

They're going to finally open their archives to the public! She's been waiting for YEARS for this...

She designs fabrics. And sometimes wallpaper, or other decorative things. And floral is her thing!

She's going to visit the archive for a couple of days. She knows that she won't see a fraction of what she wants to study; she's really making this trip to decide if she wants to come back for a lengthy (six weeks?) visit in the summer...

Her current wardrobe inspiration is this:

And her color palette is this:

It's not a long trip by train...

It might be really warm there. It might not. But she's been promised that there is NO mucking through dusty cabinets and files - everything has been ... View the Post

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

April 13, 2026

Our heroine the expert in indigenous plants, and the uses thereof in landscaping, has chosen this painting as the leitmotif of her wardrobe:

She has, as a result, this color palette for her wardrobe. Her hope is that she can show in a small, personal way, the beauty of subtle, natural colors.

It does help that her personal coloring is soft and subtle!

At the end of March, her wardrobe of 16 pieces was thus:

Before her April shopping, our heroine studied her existing wardrobe, and her color palette, at some length. She needed to decide if she was serious about including grey in her wardrobe. Her heart said yes, and her painting certainly agreed!

Also, she wanted to expand her wardrobe in a way ... View the Post