February 7, 2024
Her name is Lily…
And aptly enough, she’s always really loved green, and beautiful paintings that feature lots of green.
So when it came time to really update her spring wardrobe, she had an inspiration:
Why NOT really invest in some green things, and wear them often? It’s not an approach that suits everyone, but when she thinks of it (and factors in her soft, muted green eyes), it seems a good idea!
So she starts with a lovely neutral ivory. Or ecru. Or bone. Of off-white. She has to be flexible when looking for these colors…
Earrings – Rodela; necklace – Lily Charmed; cashmere sweater – J.Crew; linen shirt – H&M; tee shirt – Lands’ End; twill pants – J.Crew; pleated skirt – J.Crew; crossbody bag – Soli & Sun; shorts – J.Crew; sneakers – Calvin Klein; gold ballet flats – Vince; sandals – SoftWalk
Oh what fun!
She quickly realizes that it might be too early in the season to find a lot of bright, leafy green… but then she stumbles onto the absolute MOTHERLODE of soft, gentle, muted green… they call it “lily pad.”
Bracelet – Kohl’s; lily pad green cardigan – Lands’ End; twilly scarf – Lost Pattern NYC; earrings – Nine West; tee shirt – Lands’ End; sweater vest – Lands’ End; shorts – Lands’ End; jacket – Lands’ End; tassel scarf – Metiseko; sneakers – Vans; pants – Lands’ End
When this is all assembled together – in a suitcase? in her armoire? – it looks warm, and spring-like, and VERY easy to wear…
She start playing around with outfits, and finds quite enough possibilities to keep her happy until the weather turns beastly hot…
When she share her happy new spring wardrobe with a friend, they realize that this idea might work with a range of accent colors….
love,
Janice
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Love this.
How about white and hot pink for SW Florida ?
Hi Janice, I’ve been following the Vivienne Files from Denmark for a couple of months. I’m that girl with the green eyes. My problem is that this was my strategy for the last 6 or 7 years, and so now I’m fed up with green. E.v.e.r.y. shade. Everything in this post is beautiful, as always, but the green is currently not for me. I packed everything away. I love all the inspiration I get from you to try out new colors(e.g. Bronze, off white, sand, stone, blush). I’m sort of starting from scratch, and it is a very special process, so I’m leaning on you for the moment. Thank you so much for everything you do.
Tine
Some people get tired of colors – you dress to please yourself, so if green grows stale for you, green must go away! Other people can wear the same colors for years, or decades…
Google “Green Lady Brooklyn” to see someone who has committed herself to the color green FOREVER. She’s fascinating, cute, charming, and gives us much to think about!
hugs,
Janice
That was a fun search – thank you for the tip! Come to find out: the Green Lady of Brooklyn is a fellow Canadian! She hitchhiked to New York decades ago to pursue work as an artist.
She’s such an interesting person! I love green but not her palette of apple, lime and yellow-greens. Kudos to her husband for living in her very green world.
There’s a blue lady of New York too! She wears a particular shade of blue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-vnCHc0qrw&ab_channel=NewYorkPost
I like the idea of monochrome outfits to wear occasionally. I’ve been wearing variations of burgundy and pink for the last couple of days. The green is perfect for those of us soft colouring. However, I would add in the slightly brighter green of the leaves. Charcoal grey would be a good additional neutral. Matt gold jewellery (the feet). However, I would feel limited if this was all I wore. I’d have to add in pink blossom colour.
What an absolutely brilliant idea! Perfect spring colors. A variety of clothes for changing spring weather. I also really like the simplicity of taking core neutrals which I might already have and adding a few clothes all in the same color from the same source. Saves time and struggling to find colors that go together. I too would love to see this with other colors.
Love the painting, and that tasseled scarf comes in a myriad of colors. I’m wondering if this green would go with some sage green I have? I’m not sure I could limit myself to just two colors, much less all that ivory/stone/white, but the pieces are awesome.
I’ve found it’s always fun to check for additional colors when I like one of the clothing pieces.
I love this. So restful on the eye.
Love this. Would swap out green for blue. I love monochromatic dressing. I just can never keep white clean so my neutrals remain black, navy and grey. I will be dreaming about beautiful off white monochromatic outfits though.❤️
I love that jacket! So many pockets, you wouldn’t even need to carry a purse.
Soft and calming. Peach, coral or pink would be nice accents while black would add contrast. Thank you for featuring ivory-cream-ecru-bone, etc. for those of us who wear clothes in warmer palettes. In the middle of winter, this fair-skinned blonde can wear a cream-colored top and not look pale. Also, love Lands’ End Sport Knit line and have several pairs of pants and shorts. Comfy and have pockets!
I love this! From a practical perspective I’d probably get tired with just 2 colors – I agree about needing a “contrast”, like a soft pink or soft orange… maybe even a soft yellow would work. But the pick for the items in the ivory core!!! One trouser, one skirt, one short. One sweater, one blouse, one tee. Absolute ideal for all-purpose packing. These items could be in your neutral, or in varied colors, but you would be covered for such a range of activities/temperatures. I use this for packing all the time (although in this winter weather it would be : Trousers, Jeans, leggings; dressy/thick sweater, thin sweater, long-sleeve shirt). The additional green pieces round out the capsule so well – it shows me that spring has turned the corner, and this heroine has legs that dont get cold easily!
The ivory and sage is so restful and peaceful – I would definitely use it in home decor to get that calm, clean, low-energy early spring vibe.
This is practical and pretty. This year is awash with muted, soft greens. The thing I’ve learned from reading The Vivienne Files all the way back is to stock up on a color that fits into your wardrobe when it’s available. It might be another 5-10 years before it’s as easily found.
I’ve been combing through the internet for a mother-of-the bride dress and THIS is one of the ubiquitous colors. Unfortunately, it’s also a color that would look drab and cheap on me, no matter how much I spend. But, I’m truly happy for people I know who wear this green well.
I was Mother of the Bride in November. It is so difficult to choose isn’t it? The worst was being banned by my daughter from wearing blue and purple – my best colours because they didn’t fit the colour theme! There is also pressure to wear an elaborate (and expensive) outfit. There are certain styles that are deemed to be Mother of the Bride styles which just make me look stiff and starchy. In the end, I took the advice to be true to my style and wear something stylish but comfortable. After lots of searching, I wore a burgundy floral maxi dress from Hobbs with a Phase Eight pink jacket trimmed with fur collar and cuffs. The skirt had lots of swish and I danced for hours in it! I felt so glamorous!
Yeah, the choices are pretty scary. It’s almost funny that some retailers are suggesting MOB dresses with necklines in the danger zone and/or slits in the skirt reaching to the point of indecent. How does one sit in those? Yikes.
Vivienne,
Many years I have loved your postings! Thank you! I am at a loss about how to wear the twilly scarf. Can you show some possibilities for it? Hoosier Pam
Check the Hermes site – they pretty much invented the Twilly – I actually thought that they owned the right to the term “Twilly” but apparently not…
I’ve seen them wrapped around the handles of a handbag, which seems to put them in the way of serious wear and tear! Wrapped around the wrist and tied like a bracelet, worn as a headband, tied around a pony tail, tied in a bow under a shirt collar… Those are my top of mind ideas!
hugs,
Janice
A green this soft and muted could easily function as a second neutral, making this into a neutral core capsule to which various accent colors could be added, perhaps seasonally, in a French 5 or similar…which suits those of us who like variety. It is interesting to consider how this might be expanded over time into a full capsule wardrobe with only the two colors vs. adding other colors.
The painting – it’s gorgeous! Love the wardrobe too. I don’t look well in that particular shade of green, but there are plenty of others who will, and plenty of other greens for me. And I’ve become very fond of an off-white neutral base for spring and summer.
BTW The Green Lady from Brooklyn seems like a genuine sweetheart :)
Doesn’t she? I admire her commitment to things that she loves – we could all learn something from her, I suspect…
hugs,
Janice
Oh, what genius! Great minds clearly do think alike: my Lent capsule is to be ivory/ecru/off-white and olive, with a dash of light blue and bright orange for accent. This would be a lovely base, although it won’t be shorts weather in the UK before Easter. I’m really looking forward to organising this next week now.
I have green eyes.
I have every shade of green in my wardrobe and never tire of wearing them.
Very nice selected pieces.
I also have green eyes and wearing green really makes them pop. Sadly, it bothered me to have warm and cool shades of green in my closet – I don’t know why – they looked equally good. Anyway, I went through and took out the olive, and now have mostly clear emerald (kelly?) green and a couple of sage greens. I’m more comfortable now. It was weird. I can’t figure out why it bothered me so much to see the mix of warm and cool.
It doesn’t have to be explained – you are sensitive to these things, and you feel better when your tones are consistent! Sometimes there just isn’t logic to things that matter to us!
hugs,
Janice
I have green eyes too but I only wear teal and sea green.
Lovely travel capsule wardrobe but I could never commit to just two colours…for me there needs to be a shot of contrast like coral, peach, pink. Colours opposite on the colour wheel compliment each other which is why I cannot understand why those with green eyes feel that green makes them pop.its unlikely the green but a contrasting pink or even red scarf, jewel or blouse. Make up artists would never use the same colour shadow as the eye colour. Plum or pink makes green eyes glow.
The colours and art work are lovely but I’d keep the off white as a neutral and whittle that green down to an accent colour.
I love the color, but I’m far from Green Lady.
Like olive with wine red or sage with mauve/rose, petrol with turquoise, dark green with blue, light green with sand, etc.
I don’t wear green every day either, I love the variety in my wardrobe.
I actually got the most compliments in green.
Love the artwork! Maybe it’s the screen, but the Lily pad clothes have a very gray tint while the art is more leafy. The leaf tone works for me while a gray green is difficult. Personally I think of green as a semi neutral in my wardrobe…same with my medium blue. Both seem to go with nearly everything else.
You’re right – the colors of the clothes are much more the color of the background green. The leafy green wasn’t readily available in enough quantities to make it a practical “big” accent color.
hugs,
Janice
Oh my- I love this – softness, freshness, tranquility and new growth all wrapped up in a clothing capsule. I would absolutely wear this
This strategy is definitely my jam. My neutrals are navy and cool brown, but I wear so much teal it’s essentially a third neutral. So yay for committing to the bit!