Archives for June 2020

June 2020 - Page 2 of 2

Start with 2 Scarves: A Teal and Hot Pink Accented Travel Capsule Wardrobe

June 12, 2020

It seemed like a good idea - take a couple of the scarves from yesterday, along with the accessories, and see how they would work for a travel capsule wardrobe. So let's go!

There are the 2 scarves that are going to be the starting point for this wardrobe:

First up, I added a tank top to both of these Accessory Families, so that the accent colors would be well-represented in the clothing for this trip...

Navy would be a lovely neutral with these 2 accents, but I thought that I'd go full-on summer with beige and white:

This would be such an easy trip - travel wearing the beige cardigan and pants, and the beige espadrilles, with any of the 4 tops. Pack the other 6 garments and the accessories, and ... View the Post

Choosing a Scarf: The PJ Studio Accessories Edition

June 11, 2020

After I looked for a while at the "Choosing a Scarf" post that I mentioned at the end of yesterday's post, I was determined that I wanted to try this idea again!

To me, a scarf is the quintessence of your style. It's a distillation of the colors that you like, as well as the overall kind of patterns or prints or images that delight you...

When I was scarf hunting, I bumped into this designer, and this assortment of lovely things:

As I did before, I'm choosing to show a handful of things that could be worn with each scarf in question. I'm not necessarily suggesting that you need to own all of these things, or that you would wear them all together (that might be overdoing things a bit...).

But what I do think ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting L’Ombre by Pablo Picasso

June 10, 2020

You might remember this psychiatrist from the spring of 2017; her casual wardrobe occasioned some discussions about how professionals should dress... She Wasn't Sure If She Would Go...

But they've asked her to sit on the dais 1 night, so she feels like that's a reason to show up...

Many of the meetings will be outdoors - better for social distancing, and more relaxing. The dinner's are rather nice, but most of the conference is quite casual...

She can drive there in just a couple of hours, so there's no worry about being on an airplane. And she'll have a private hotel room, and be outdoors much of the time, so overall the conference sounds both safe and... could it be? almost pleasant!

She's got ... View the Post

Revisiting the Triple Top Secret

June 9, 2020

Watching lots of people wandering about with backpacks, this last weekend, I was wondering what everybody was carrying! I know, water bottles, spare phone batteries etc. but I wondered if they had any clothes with them...

And that got me to thinking about what you want to have handy if you're going to be out for a LONG day. Say you start out with breakfast and sight seeing early in the morning. You're going into areas that are air conditioned, and the weather might turn flat-out cool later in the evening. What to do?

This is something that I've tried to remember to do, when packing, for years - make certain that I've got at least 3 tops with me that can ALL be worn together, or in any various combination of 2, or ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 45: Dark Neutral Lightweight Pants

June 8, 2020

I don't know about where you are, but right now, if I have to pull on a pair of pants, they'd BETTER be linen... (I don't love heat...)

This time of year, if you're going to wear your favorite silk scarf, it might be smart to consider wearing it in your hair, or on your bag, or... (there must be more ideas...)

I can't emphasize enough that we need to be vigilant about reading every word of the descriptions of items that we find online. I searched, SPECIFICALLY, for silk pants, and was returned a ton of satin pants (most of them polyester).

While I'm nagging about careful reading, if you order earrings, be certain that you're getting TWO earrings (unless, of course, you only want to order one earring). ... View the Post

Start with Nature: Revisiting the Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

June 5, 2020

In the dead of winter, four years ago, we visited with this heroine when her friends invited her south for a long weekend to get out of the cold... I'm SO smitten with the color palette; if I were to start over, I admit that brown leather goods would tempt me!

Drive Down! Her friends have invited her back...

"We've on this kick where we have full-blown dinner parties every night. It's been the same gang of us for the last few months; we could use a new guest!"

"Since you've been quarantined for a couple of months, and so have we, can we assume that we're safe for each other?"

"My brother and sister-in-law are staying in the guest house, so you can take the upstairs suite; with the kids ... View the Post

Rescuing a Forgotten Garment: Print Sleeveless Tunic

June 4, 2020

Today's interesting warning - if you're wearing a mask frequently, be ABSOLUTELY sure that you're washing both the mask(s) and your face every 5 minutes or so. I currently have a really painful broken-out face from mask irritation. It's both ugly and sore...

But let's look at helping one of our friends get some good use from a beautiful garment, eh?

This isn't the exact tunic, of course, but it's sleeveless, and includes the colors royal blue, black and white, just like our friend's tunic. So I'm hopeful that any advice I can think of will be useful!

With a little bit of thought, this top could be worn for most of the year - I know it's odd to think of wearing sleeveless things in cooler weather, but stick with ... View the Post

How to Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet – May 2020

June 3, 2020

Yes, it's the May bracelet. Time has lost all meaning for those of us between the quarantine and the curfew.

And I have to apologize for a slowly diminishing selection of products available to include on The Vivienne Files. More and more stores seem to be running out of things (or at least running out of good assortments of sizes), and some places are already getting in cashmere sweaters. It's difficult to know what the future few months of retail will look like, but I think I can confidently recommend that if there's something you really like or need, you should grab it when you can....

I will continue (of course!) to try to find the prettiest, best coordinated, best-priced items I can, available in as many sizes as I ... View the Post

June 2020 Six Scarves, Twelve Months, Twelve Outfits

June 2, 2020

I think we could all use some peace, quiet, and timeless classic simplicity... Calm seems wise right now...

And now that the weather (at least in Chicago) has become legitimately summery, it's time to break out another skirt!

I firmly believe in the merits of skirts for warm weather - they're cool, they cover as much or as little as you want, and they are appropriate for a ton more places than any pair of pants or shorts! If you have that "thigh thing" that keeps your from wearing skirts, indulge in 1 or 2 pairs of these and you will find you might actually enjoy a skirt! ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 44: Dark Neutral Shorts

June 1, 2020

Now that it's warm enough to wear shorts in Chicago, this post feels timely! It's long overdue...

A note about linen shorts - yes, they wrinkle. Amazingly. And then... they soften up, and they're just sort of gently crumpled. I find them the most comfortable fabric for garments in the scorching weather, and I rather appreciate the natural look and feel of the wrinkling! Your mileage, as in all things, may vary...

It's pretty straightforward - for most colors - to find shorts that work well with our "Six Scarves, 12 Months" scarves:

I've ALWAYS got a few thoughts, and reminders of how flexible these suggestions are! Remember, nobody can tell you what clothes you need or should buy...

I ... View the Post