The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Archives for 2012

2012 - Page 18 of 25

12 ways to wear a blouse: Hot Tips by Frances Patiky Stein

May 3, 2012

Actually, she included 24 ways to wear a blouse, but some of them were a bit... unusual...

Blouse and matching skirt:

Blouse and pencil skirt:

Blouse over tee shirt with matching skirt or shorts:

Blouse with trousers, or AGAIN with a matching skirt:

Blouse as a jacket over a tank top and trousers, or with white trousers:

Blouse with matching trousers, worn as a jacket over a striped or a solid tee shirt:

I'll be away for a few days at a family celebration, so I won't be posting, or responding to comments and emails. Rest assured, I'll be back here Tuesday late morning, after my ridiculously early work shift!

love, Janice

PS - If you are looking for more color ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing for summer on the coast of Maine

A dear reader asked me for some suggestions about what to take for a summer on the coast of Maine.   She has these garments (well, garments very similar to this) that she currently really likes:

white linen shirt – Ralph Lauren, orange striped tee – Debenhams, navy striped tee – Sandro, purple striped tee – Splendid, white shirt – Marc Jacobs, white & dark wash jeans, denim jacket – Adriano Goldschmeid, black shirt – La Garconne  

And she told me that she really likes blue, so I suggested the following additions (some of which she may already have), as well as some essential accessories.   A few possible combinations follow.  Enjoy! and dream of the beach...

Blue cardigan – Paul Smith, white tee – La ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a scarf: Hermès Belles du Mexique in blue, grey & rose

It would be so easy to build an entire wardrobe around these shades of rose, grey, taupe, coral, peach and slate blue...

 

Taupe dress – D&G, taupe open-toe pumps – Rupert Sanderson,   

taupe sweater – J. Brand, satin pants – Acne, taupe oxfords - Camper  

   

 

Angora cardigan – Stine Goya, grey suede flats – Corso Como, grey dress – Love Moschino,   

cream sweater – La Garconne, faded pink jeans – Isabel Marant, Taupe short boots – Tilly Rose  

     

 

 

Coral knot-front top – Dorothy Perkins, denim skirt – MAJE, sandals – Musa,   

biker jacket – All Saints, white espadrilles – Andre ... View the Post

Chic sighting x2 – at the bakery counter

Some amazing color combinations, on some VERY nice, and lovely women...

Argyle cardigan – Pringle of Scotland, blouse – Tory Burch, earrings – Elizabeth and James, tote bag – Barneys New York, short boots – Acne, – Burberry Prorsum  

Down vest – Moncler, scarf – Barneys New York, sweater – Ralph Lauren, jeans – Old Navy     ... View the Post

The price of a manicure

Years ago, after I turned 30, I decided that absolutely nothing was more important to me than to travel. It became, for me, the primary criteria by which every purchasing decision was made: "Does this get me closer to an airplane?"  If the answer was no, then I at least paused before proceeding.

The upshot of this discipline is that I was able to go to Europe twice a year, spending about 3 weeks there in total each year.  My co-workers exhibited a constant combination of annoyance, jealousy, and just plain incomprehension as to how this could be done.  

Here's how:

As soon as I got a cell phone, I disconnected my land line. Packed lunches. Coffee from the free office coffee maker, rather than the expensive cafe ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a scarf: Hermès Passementerie in camel & grey

We've been chatting a lot about camel and grey together, and this scarf was the perfect opportunity to introduce a couple of outfits with those colors.  Toss in a bit of soft blue, a little bit of yellow, and a dash of coral...  What a great scarf upon which to build some looks!  

Stud earrings – Monet, Camel wool pants – Michael Kors, Sweater – Costume National, loafers – Tod’s, pearl stud earrings – Lord & Taylor, grey dress – Love Moschino, pumps – Salvatore Ferragamo      

Silver earrings – Touch of Silver, Sweater – Lela Rose, jeans – Allsaints, boots – Acne, silver bracelet – Touch of Silver, Cap-sleeved top – Liv, denim skirt – Wrangler, sandals – Dorothy ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a scarf: Hermès Les Parisiens in black

Someone asked me to suggest a few outfits to go with the lovely Les Parisiens scarf.  This particular coloring is a perfect opportunity to mix warm beiges or browns with black, so I took that as my motif.Please note that I'd be more than happy to suggest outfits to go with any scarf - it certainly doesn't have to be Hermes.  Just post a comment with a link to a picture of your scarf, or email me a picture at [email protected], and I'll take a look!

Dress – Ralph Lauren, pumps – L.K.Bennett, black sweater – Steven Alan, suede jeans – Current/Elliott, boots – Nicole Ranger    

Brown pants – Burberry London, black silk & cashmere v-neck, two-toned leather flats – Sesto Meucci, black cashmere ... View the Post

my wardrobe: some pattern & texture with my black

These are the eight winter garments that I've chosen to keep, which I wear in order to leverage the all-black core items already chosen to survive the wardrobe purge  (you didn't really think that I wear unrelieved black every day, did you?)

First I show my additions to my edited wardrobe, and then below, I show all of the items that have been specifically chosen (so far) to stay, through the first four stages of the curating and distilling process.

Yes, I really love argyle...

  ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting with a scarf: Hermès Egypte in bright green

I received a question about what could be worn with a specific Hermes scarf - one with a lot of brown, beige and camel tones in the center, and a bright green border.  My suggestions include all of the shades of brown, gold, white, and navy, which is always so nice with bright green...And a lot of these clothes come from J. Crew.  I've been spending a LOT of time lately in the local J. Crew store, gift shopping, and I've found that they stock a large number of nice-quality basic garments.  Maybe not to your taste, or your budget, but certainly they are good "thought-starters".

Have a lovely weekend!

 

Hazelnut dress – Diane von Furstenberg, metallic sandals – Giuseppe Zanotti, ivory sweater – ... View the Post

A chic sighting, and some thinking

Sweater – Le Mont St. Michel, Flats – Libby Edelman, jeans – J Brand  

This very lovely young lady works in the building where I live.  While the jeans and sweater were very simple, the shoes demonstrated that she had put some thought into what she was wearing, and didn't just throw something together.  At her age, and with her level of natural beauty, she could have been wearing a sack and looked striking.  But with this level of style self-awareness, she's going to be just as elegant in 40 years as she is right now...

As the seasons finally seem to be moving toward warmer weather, I'm starting to go through that semi-annual wardrobe "switch out" that I find so distressing.  Vivienne repeatedly points out ... View the Post