The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

December 2020 Six Scarves, Twelve Months, Twelve Outfits

December 2, 2020

It's the end of the year - at least for this project! I will probably re-visit this to analyze these wardrobes when I've had a few days to digest them; if you have any specific requests for analysis please let me know!

Of course this has been an... unusual? year. Thus, I'm finishing off these wardrobes in a pretty "non-festive" way, since the majority of us have no business going to a party!

But we can still look good, and not waste clothing money, right?

Let's hop to it!

I think this first color scheme has been very successful. The neutrals are classic, the accent colors are pretty easy to find, and it all has worked out well. This year, our December additions are going to be (for the most part) warm, ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Echo Patchwork Painted Floral Silk Square

November 30, 2020 You Want Me to WHAT??? Yes, fly to Chicago for ONE meeting....

"If you go to the meeting on Wednesday, you can take the rest of the week off..."

Okay... She will go up to visit a friend with a lovely home along Lake Michigan, about an hour north of the city.

And since her employer is paying for her to check her luggage, it's going to be a pretty big suitcase!

She starts here:

Her favorite wardrobe colors are navy and white, so she chooses this color palette for her trip:

First, she pulls out her Common Wardrobe that she's been wearing this autumn. She includes her white jeans because (a) she loves them and (b) there will be days when she and her friend don't leave the house! Why not?

And ... View the Post

Can You Build a Wardrobe with Colors that Clash? Start with Art: Painterly Architectonic by Liubov Popova

November 27, 2020 She Really Loves This Painting...

And she has all of these colors in her closet! So she figures that she will pull together her "Garde-Robe du Mois" (wardrobe of the month) for the end of November and the start of December based on this...

First, she's trying to figure out how often she will wear things, based on the "How Many Pieces of Clothing Should I Own?" worksheet.

She starts with 31 days - a longer month, perhaps.

And then, because she never leaves her home these days, she knows that she only wants to wear 1 outfit per day.

She will probably evenly split between 2 and 3 garment outfits.

And finally, she plays around with the "How many times do you want to wear each piece during your time ... View the Post

Start with Art: Adding Accessories – Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film by Leopold Survage

I'll be back off and on for a week or two until things settle... Your kind messages and support help keep me sane right now. much love, Janice

 

November 25, 2020

She's quite happy with how her wardrobe is progressing; she's basing her choices on this painting she just discovered, and the color palette she developed from it:

She has her clothes all ready:

This is already a pretty fun wardrobe, but she's eager to see what accessories will add. The perfect scarf is all this outfit needs - a pair of earrings and some loafers finish this outfit in a classic way!

A sweater with texture and a pendant with a real eye-catching pattern are perfect for a work day:

The turtleneck print is subtle but its just ... View the Post

A Brief Hiatus….

November 20, 2020

I'm taking today, and possible Monday and Wednesday... Sometimes, there are more important things in life than work and personal style (I know, it's hard to imagine!).

My plan for an upcoming post is to revisit the question of how much clothing we all actually need.

If this is a question that intrigues you, I built an Excel worksheet to help you find a number. It takes into consideration the following variables:

Over what period of time are we planning? How many outfits do you wear in an average day? How many garments are in your average outfit? and How many times within your time period do you want to wear any individual garment?

You can get the worksheet here for a kind $.99 donation to help ... View the Post

Start with Art: Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film by Leopold Survage

November 18, 2020

a question first - does anybody else have ankles that get cold? I was out today, and saw many people appropriately bundled for winter, except they were wearing cropped pants with nothing covering their ankles... Shaking Up the Routine She still has to go to her office - she's often the only person there. But she sits by a window onto the street, and people often stop to read the real estate ads posted very near where she sits. So she feels that she has to dress nicely, even if she's alone!

In the normal world, she wears black and white, with accessories. She likes to mix patterns, and the austere discipline of her wardrobe pleases her.

But THIS year? It's time for some fun!

And this is what inspired her! ... View the Post

Start with a Bracelet – Golden Hour by Fierce Lynx Designs

November 16, 2020 Rumor Has It...

...that the elusive "they" are going to install broadband internet access up at The Cottages!

She's off to see if this is true, and more importantly, to take advantage of the cool weather to admire the sky. Away from the lights of the city, everything is different...

The days are so short now that she's awake for both sunrise AND sunset, and intends to take full advantage of those golden hours of the morning and late afternoon...

So off she goes!

Since she's going to be alone for these 3 days, she's going to be wearing a mix of night clothes and "normal" day wear. If there's anything fun in the night sky, she might find that her days and nights turn around...

It seems like a ... View the Post

Start with Art: Adding Accessories – With My Back to the World by Agnes Martin

November 13, 2020

Friday the 13th, what might go wrong?

She's still craving calm, peace and quiet. There's quite enough upheaval in the world right now, without her adding to it!

So she finds a favorite painting, and isolates a color palette she loves:

And then she adds to her core Common Wardrobe of grey garments some accent things in each of the 3 colors; her wardrobe for the month looks like this:

In order to keep the peaceful organization of her closet growing and advancing, she decides to focus now on the accessories that she wants to wear with her wardrobe. So she chooses a number of outfits, accessorizes each of them (sort of like playing with dolls!) and then stores away all of the rest of her things for a few ... View the Post

Start with FICTION? Fulvia Morgana, from Small World by David Lodge

November 11, 2020

I've never tried this before! But when I read this description, I knew I had to share it, and to fantasize about what she might have packed.... So let's meet Fulvia Morgana from the book Small World by David Lodge.

Isn't she fascinating? There's no hint of how old she is, or how she's built, or what her coloring might be!

But I'll warn you, she's not the nicest person in the book...

For our purposes, though, I'm thinking about what she changes into when she arrives at the ghastly literary conference...

note - this character is super-wealthy, so I've completely ignored prices on things in this post; it was interesting...

For the first night, she wants to sit quietly on the sidelines to see who's there, ... View the Post

Start with Art: Adding Accessories – Red Hills, Lake George by Georgia O’Keeffe

November 9, 2020

Remember this lovely work, and our heroine who was so uncertain about including both red and pink accents in her Garde-Robe du Mois?

Her final wardrobe was this lovely, uncommon but very practical assortment:

She's going to whittle down her "visible" accessories for the month too - put a few pieces of jewelry into nice storage bags and give them a vacation. Fold some of her scarves into a storage box... Put some of her shoes away on a shelf... A bit of simplifying for 30 days or so!

So she takes 10 outfits, makes sure she has the perfect accessories for each of them, and then tucks away her other treasures for a different month and a changed Garde-Robe du Mois...

editorial comment: I would ... View the Post

Start with Art: With My Back to the World by Agnes Martin

November 6, 2020 Calm...

She wants accents for her wardrobe this month to be calm, relaxed and gentle - like this:

Her core wardrobe is grey - she loves it. She looks good in it, she likes the way it looks in her closet, and it just feels like her!

But this year, she wants a little bit of gentle color! And so she starts with yellow, including a skirt that might not be a perfect fit in her wardrobe, but which she chooses NOT to resist...

Sometimes, you have to break out a little bit!

The next color isn't at all easy to find! It doesn't make it any easier when it's called all KINDS of names - mineral blue, light turquoise, silver blue, aqua...

But she persists and is delighted:

She originally thought ... View the Post

Can A Garde-Robe du Mois Include Red AND Pink? Start with Art: Red Hills, Lake George by Georgia O’Keeffe

November 4, 2020

She wants to be able to dress with a soothing softness. She ALSO wants to dress with invigorating brightness. And she wants to do this within the structure of a 21-piece Garde-Robe du Mois...

What a heroine to do?

Start with art, I suggest...

She looked at how beautiful these colors are together, and took heart!

Here accent color palette looks like this:

First, since she's not going outdoors much at all, she's going to wear ALL of her light-colored neutrals - no slush to splash on her pant legs if she's always at her desk at home!

When she starts to add things to her Common Wardrobe, she first of all craves a bit of pattern, and maybe 1 last pair of pants:

Then she turns with a warm ... View the Post