The Vivienne Files

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

October 14, 2026

Our last heroine, but NEVER the least! In my next life, I'm going to major in French, and make my living translating arcane French documents buried in the Bibliotheque Nationale...

And I will use this painting as my inspiration, just as our current historical architecture expert does:

When she left for her autumn term teaching in Paris, she had this wardrobe. I suspect that she packed everything - 40 garments isn't insane for 4 months if you're in one place, and can unpack, hang things, and do laundry:

And I'm QUITE certain that she took all of her accessories with her - they're the fun part!

This month, the first thing our heroine wanted was another black dress. As much as her sleeveless dress is ... View the Post

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

October 12, 2026

She's a statistics expert, and she works with BIRD data - what a great combination of technology and nature! Her inspiration for her personal style is this dapper creature:

Going into full-tilt autumn, our heroine felt that she was relatively well prepared for most of what life had to offer:

I have to share this with you: in the year of my birth, 1960, the average woman's wardrobe (in the US) was 42 garments. That would be the wardrobe above plus two.

And when I really try to remember what I wore through high school and college (when I was not interested in clothes much at all!), I may have had this many pieces. But I don't think so...

Now, the average wardrobe is OVER 150 things. What has changed so ... View the Post

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

October 9, 2026

Our heroine, the professional listener, is overwhelmed by how many clients she has right now... Calmness is in short supply!

So let's draw our own personal relaxed mindset from the muted colors and soft focus of this beautiful painting:

At the end of September, our heroine's 40-piece was this:

And this was her accessory collection. There's something particularly wonderful about brown shoes - I can't come up with the right word!

Our heroine didn't have a clear idea about what she wanted to buy this month. Well, she had been pondering the idea of a flannel shirt, if she could find one that would fit in and be worn a lot. And another skirt - wearing a skirt to work seems to make her feel ... View the Post

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

October 7, 2026

Our aspiring bank employee is our heroine today! I particularly love this woman; she's doing things MUCH more cleverly than many of us did 40 years ago when we were trying to take over the world...

Her inspiration is this lovely painting:

At the end of September, our heroine had a 40-piece wardrobe. She's never had any sense that anybody at her office every notices that she wears a lot of navy, a few accents colors, and nothing else. Clothing isn't nearly the most important thing at work!

This is her current collection of accessories. She knows that her co-workers have noticed these - especially her scarves! There are occasional questions about where she found something, and also occasional ... View the Post

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

October 5, 2026

Let's drop in our landscape designer, and on her favorite Georgia O'Keeffe painting:

At the end of September, as the weather began to turn grey and misty, our heroine had this 40-piece wardrobe:

and these accessories:

Our heroine has decided that she needs to go visit a couple of ongoing work sites; heretofore, she's only met with clients in the company offices. But she's been asked, and she will go!

And she really wants to get into the mood of the season - grey mist and fog with bright sunshine breaking through.

And she's seen a scarf that really calls her name. At a distance, the scarf seems mostly soft greenish-blue, but up close, there are lots of sunshiny details. The heart will ... View the Post

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

October 2, 2026

OCTOBER! I don't know why the very sound of the word fills me with relief - it's not as if I absolutely hate hot weather...

Our heroine this month is travelling to New York two weeks out of four, for the foreseeable future. And those New York types do a LOT of dining out, so she's thinking about hitting the holiday clothes early this year!

I'm almost nauseated by how much new clothing just hit the stores in the last two days; does EVERY store need to bring in literally hundreds of new garments each month? Sigh...

First and foremost, let's admire, yet again, the beautiful painting that is the inspiration for our heroine when she goes shopping for clothes and accessories:

Our heroine's current 40-piece ... View the Post

Combining a Pair of Classics: Chic Sightings – Burgundy and Denim

September 30, 2026

I don't know why I never think of combining these two colors - they're both classic, and they go together beautifully. Sometimes, I have to see someone really eye-catching and elegant (but NOT expensive or dressy!) to get my brain started!

First - of course I found a painting! There is always a painting...

The first woman I saw was wearing the MOST simple jeans and chambray shirt, but her cardigan and boots were both burgundy, her scarf was perfection incarnate, and I have no idea what earrings she was wearing!

I like to think that she would approve of my earrings choice for her:

Plenty of women in my neighborhood wear denim skirts on a regular basis. Burgundy brings a certain loveliness to a ... View the Post

Chic Sightings – Combining Two Neutrals: Black & Brown

September 28, 2026

I've been seeing a lot of black with brown in my neighborhood, and I've been meaning to share it with you...

And then I stumbled across this painting! I've been having quite the run of good luck with paintings corresponding with my "real life" sightings; I think that's a good sign.

The first brown and black sightings I made were of women wearing a brown skirt or pair of pants with pretty much everything else in black. A scarf with the two colors, or a pair of earrings in onyx and tiger's eye, served to pull together everything and make it look intentional:

I particularly admired this dressy version:

A brown dress might be a fun way to experiment with brown; add a scarf and earrings, and your ... View the Post

I Love It But How Will I Wear It? Seasalt Cornwall Fair Isle Cardigan

September 25, 2026

Some of you have been over the Seasalt Cornwall website with a fine-tooth comb! There have been questions about how to incorporate Fair Isle sweaters into a wardrobe, so I'm going to address one of the (at least) three Fair Isle sweaters I see there.

This sweater is lovely, and the colors are unusual:

Our friend who wants to buy this sweater is interested in using it as the fulcrum around which she will assemble a small autumn wardrobe. She only needs clothes for weekends, and an occasional week night, so she feels like the Slot Machine will work for her...

Just as a reminder, this is our plan:

Pants are pretty straightforward - taupe, olive, and my favorite ivory cords!

I grabbed my favorite ... View the Post

Looking for a Bright, Cheerful Accent Color? Pantone New York Fashion Week Colors, Spring/Summer 2027

September 23, 2026

Always a favorite post for me! It takes HOURS and HOURS to find things that even come close to the "new" colors, but it's always weirdly fun...

I'm a weirdly fun woman!

First, a painting that I've seen a few times in the last few weeks, which reminded me of these colors:

Just a random art gift, from me to you!

What's the point of an accent color, anyway?

For me, when you have all of the core colors of your wardrobe chosen, and you own sufficient neutral things to be able to get dressed every day without effort, it's time for accent!

Maybe you already own a single item or two in a color that you've always liked, but never really made a focal point.

Maybe it's a color that you loved as a ... View the Post

I Love It But How Will I Wear It? A Liberty Floral Skirt from J.Crew

September 21, 2026

Autumn shopping - so much fun, so much stress!

When in doubt, don't.

Take the time and effort to figure out what you need, what you REALLY want, and how it can be happily integrated into your wardrobe.

One among you is longing for this skirt, to use as a "keynote" item for a quick weekend trip with her sweetheart. She's a big fan of crewneck sweaters, button-front shirts, and flowers...

So first let's admire this lovely thing:

She likes the Slot Machine approach to packing for a long weekend, so let's start there:

First - the sweaters! Simple, classic, in her three main wardrobe colors. And to make it just a bit romantic - a beautiful rose brooch and pink pearl earrings:

Now that she ... View the Post

I Love It But How Will I Wear It? Brown Striped Sweater from Seasalt Cornwall

September 18, 2026

I finally remember why Seasalt Cornwall ISN'T a strange brand to me - there's one on the main shopping street where my uncle lives in England! I'm occasionally crazy, but I'm not completely gone. Yet...

So one of you - at least - has a longing for this sweater, and isn't at all certain if it will work for her. My first instinct: if you have brown in your closet already, this sweater is going to fit in like it was born there!

THE LINK IS WORKING! AND YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT THE FIVE COLORS IN WHICH THIS SWEATER IS OFFERED...

Maybe our heroine is headed to Garrett County Maryland, for the Autumn Glory Festival?

At any rate, she's got a long weekend of "leaf peeping" ahead, and wants to build a tiny ... View the Post