Archives for June 2024

June 2024

Do You Love Larkspur? Are You Passionate About Periwinkle?

June 28, 2024

OMG, tomorrow is my birthday! I will be 64... although I feel like I'm somewhere at the crossroads of 21 and 90. My brain is young, my knees are past retirement age!

What do I want for my birthday? For you to recommend The Vivienne Files to anyone who might enjoy our community, and my ideas...

Speaking of community - many of you - MANY OF YOU - really love the color "Larkspur" offered by L.L.Bean. They currently have THIRTY-THREE items available, so it's pretty easy to find something you can wear frequently. That said, many of these things are marked down, and therefore might just rush into retail oblivion...

I assembled this French 5-Piece Wardrobe in Larkspur to help me focus on how this color might be ... View the Post

Some Wardrobe Update Ideas – Pantone London Autumn/Winter 2024/25 Fashion Week Colors

June 26, 2024

Some of us are diligently wearing our well-crafted wardrobes regularly, but still have... an itch? a yearning? for just a little bit of an update. Something fresh (for us). A bit of a wake-up call for our usual outfits...

And Pantone delivers, with ten colors that they isolated from what they observed at the London winter fashion week. Does this mean that these colors will be readily available or easy to find? Heck no! But they do give us ideas, and ideas are where all beautifully-dressed women start!

Oddly, there is NO shade of pink here.

Please note that I really don't think anybody will wear ALL five items in these images at one time. I'm not sure that you should buy all five, unless you've got a serious ... View the Post

Love the Primary Colors? Start with a Scarf – the Rufai Zakari Silk Scarf by Echo

June 24, 2024

Okay, I think this is spectacular:

And I know the woman who wears this scarf - she embraces the primary colors, with black and white, and lives with a wardrobe that's truly foolproof. This is her palette:

Packing is simple for her, as is getting dressed every day - reach into closet (in dark, with eyes closed - why not?) and get dressed...

But she does want to be sure that she doesn't pack four dresses (well, maybe...) or four pairs of shorts! So she start with complete outfits. More and more I'm thinking that packing outfits that are part of the same family is a great way to assemble a travel capsule wardrobe - do you agree?

An outfit that can span moderate to warm temps is sensible:

Something ... View the Post

Want a Wider Range of Colors in a Travel Capsule Wardrobe? Revisiting Start with Art – Mirage by Max Ernst

June 21, 2024

Remember this from last week?

Well, our (quite real!) heroine was pretty pleased with the blue and white wardrobe, and was wondering what might happen if she added some brown and pink...

Just for clarity (and to help those of us with a less than stellar memory!), this was her original travel capsule wardrobe:

Our heroine's first instinct was to add another 10 pieces of clothing, to try to keep everything even and balanced. But she realized that this might be pretty ambitious, as well as making the wardrobe rather large. (if she was just planning for a summer wardrobe, it might make sense to do this; since she specifically asked me about travel, I'm trying to keep the wardrobe reasonably small)

So after a ... View the Post

June 2024 Start with a Bracelet – Cabernet Dreams Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

June 19, 2024

So if you're going away for the weekend to visit a few vineyards, shouldn't your wardrobe be based on a "wine-themed" bracelet? (or scarf, or brooch...)

Especially when your favorite neutral is navy!

The weather where they're going will be warm, unless it's cool. The days will be hot, or chilly. Nobody seems to be sure what to expect, so she packs accordingly!

She knows that they will be going to a nice dinner, and she's hopeful that there will be a day warm enough to wear shorts. But she's determined not to pack too much - if she has to wear burgundy pants all three days, so be it!

Our heroine is channeling her favorite author - Laurie Colwin - by packing three striped tops. Laurie was ... View the Post

Need a Travel Capsule Wardrobe? Start with a Scarf – the Tracy O’Neill silk scarf by Echo

June 17, 2024

I love this scarf - I need another scarf like I need a bad headache, but a silk bandana? With wee ducks all around the edge? Be still by beating heart...

"It Will Be Cool in Paris in October..." And she's going to be there for at least two weeks! She's going to be tutoring English students in perfecting their accents - how fun is that? If things go well, she could be there are long as six weeks! Was there ever a better motivation for doing your best work?

She's keeping it simple:

She's going to have a place to stay - a VERY TINY place to stay, she's been warned. They were particularly specific about letting her know that she shouldn't bring much luggage, which is true of so many trips we make in life!

Her ... View the Post

Want a Simple Blue & White Summer Wardrobe? Start with Art – Mirage by Max Ernst

June 14, 2024

She loves the painting. She REALLY loves the colors - she believes that the top section is brown, and who are we to disagree?

This is an important thing for us all to remember - just because our painting of inspiration and motivation includes (in this case) four colors doesn't mean that every wardrobe we assemble MUST include all four colors...

So while our heroine has a "shades of pink" and brown wardrobe in her dreams for the upcoming cool weather, right now, she's liking blue and white...

She's found a dress she loves, as well as a handbag that's gorgeous...

She already had lots of white clothes, so this year, she found new sneakers with blue trim, as well as a bracelet, and a new band for her ... View the Post

Want to Embrace the Pantone Color of the Year? Start with Art – Untitled Watercolor 1946 by Mark Rothko

June 12, 2024

For those who don't pay attention to such things, the Pantone 2024 "Color of the Year" is Peach Fuzz. Very pretty, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we can find clothing in this color!

Our heroine is smitten with this painting, and she just knew that someone, somewhere, would eventually introduce clothing that would be perfect...

She knows full well that taupe is a miserably difficult color to find in clothing, so she's prepared to wear white with her new accent color, if necessary. And she's also willing to be persistent, and patient, in the hunt for taupe!

These are the colors she wants for her new wardrobe accent:

She's not entirely sure how much of this new color she will purchase - she's going ... View the Post

Want to Add Denim to Black & White? Start with a Scarf – the Willow Allen Scarf by Echo

June 10, 2024

Maybe you really loved the black and white wardrobe on Friday, but you know that you don't want to travel without some denim or chambray!

This scarf should set you up pretty well:

the text means "take care of the land and animals and they will give you life"

I've isolated the three shades of blue in the scarf, but I think you can be pretty flexible with this:

These four outfits are going to look familiar, but different. This is what The Vivienne Files is all about - the possibilities you have available with small changes. Nobody needs an entirely new wardrobe (well, almost nobody); most of us just need a few well-chosen updates!

Yes, her handbags are similar, but it's not that easy to find a nice ... View the Post

Looking for an Interesting Two-Toned Wardrobe? Start With a Scarf – The Ralph Lauren Scarf by Echo

June 7, 2024

Say you've got a scarf you really need to wear, for whatever reason. And it's not colorful...

This isn't all bad - this is actually a fun challenge to see how much visual interest you can bring to a simple color palette:

An obvious place to start is with black and white stripes....

The knitted texture of a solid sweater can make a lot of difference, as can a woven bag, or "perfed" shoes...

If you're wearing black and white, you don't want to miss the chance to find all of the black and white shoes you can!

Checks are always fun too!

Ah, if you've got a chance to take a quick trip somewhere, there are worse ways to pack than this!

This isn't exactly the way this is ... View the Post

June 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Part 2

June 5, 2024

Today's three heroines went three very interesting, different directions in their wardrobes - all of them valid!

Let's start with Rothko, who is fast becoming one of my very favorite artists:

Our first heroine has a wardrobe that feels like it has a lot of accent color in it, although it's not a huge percentage of the whole (37.5% to be exact) ...

And she has gloriously pretty accessories:

But for June, she felt like settling into some neutrals - especially a workhorse pair of black linen pants. (these should be worn at least weekly until the first frost...)

She also decided to go ahead and buy a cashmere hooded sweatshirt - yes, she might have grabbed a cotton one instead, but this feels more like ... View the Post

June 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Part 1

June 3, 2024

Time to visit our six heroines and see what intelligent, well-considered wardrobe additions they make this month!

knowing full well that these wardrobes could be expanded in ways that defy logic...

This painting doesn't grow old:

At the end of May, our heroine had 24 garments in this capsule wardrobe - LOTS of red:

And her accessories were just right for her - I will always believe that you can tell much more about a woman from her accessories rather than just her clothes!

Our heroine only has one dress - the classic grey one - and she feels like she wants something for summer. It wasn't a big leap to decide that a two-piece camp shirt and skirt was perfect:

Filling in her clothing purchases ... View the Post