May 14, 2025
Yes, IDA O’Keeffe. Georgia’s sister. Imagine how she felt, painting her lovely paintings… That had to be hard!
I quite like this painting. The colors are great, and I find the geometric qualities in it to be really pleasing. In the absence of her sister, maybe Ida would have been famous.
The color palette jumps off the painting at us:
This heroine is quite fond of a simple linen shirt, and with good reason. A linen or cotton shirt is one of the garments that you can literally wear every month of the year. It can be worn over a tee shirt and under a sweater in bitter cold, open over a tee shirt or tank top in scorching heat, or on its own (maybe with the sleeves rolled?) on all of the middling days.
Our heroine is heading to the beach house for the weekend, so she doesn’t need a lot of clothes. And since she’s NOT riding mass transit, she can actually travel in sandals. (I’m sort of creeped out by wearing sandals on a train or jitney bus, partly because of the air conditioning, and partly because of the lack of excellent cleanliness!)
Earrings – Monica Vinader; linen shirt – Alex Mill; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; tank top – Lands End; cropped pants – Lands’ End; bracelets – Chico’s; sandals – Steve Madden
Picture a convertible, top down, headscarf fluttering in the breeze…
The rest of her wardrobe is based on two more linen shirts, and just enough other clothes to give her plenty of ways to get dressed:
Black linen shirt – J.Crew; black earrings – Adina Eden; white earrings – Molly Olivia; white bandana – Kohl’s; lemon yellow linen/cotton shirt – J.Crew Factory; large black & white scarf – Rag & Bone; blue tee shirt – J.Crew; white top – Boden; black linen shorts – Eileen Fisher; bubble-hem skirt – Lands’ End; bracelets – Nordstrom; gold sandals – Dune London; handbag – Olga Berg
The big scarf is for snuggling, the bandana is for all KINDS of things. Never discount the usefulness and the impact of a crisp bandana on a hot day – inexpensive too!
Her complete wardrobe covers all the summer weekend bases, except maybe a sudden cold snap.
There’s probably no way to dress badly from this wardrobe – wearing the blue tee shirt with the yellow or green linen shirt wouldn’t be horrible.
What might she choose?
With the black and white classics in hand, you could add any accent color that strikes your fancy!
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, our wardrobe was based on a beautiful scarf made by my dear friend Scottie. Beige, brown and red… one of the most glamorous wardrobes I’ve ever done!
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Well I didn’t know that Georgia had a younger sister who was also an artist. This has a very Art Deco vibe to it. In my minds eye, I could translate this into 1930’s style elegant dressing. The Jessie Zhao scarf is delightful. It is a brave person who wears mules when travelling or walking anywhere really. I only wear sandals when I know that there is little chance that my feet won’t get trodden on or no risk of tripping over uneven paving or going over on my ankle. This limits the opportunities a great deal.
This is a fun wardrobe that can be very casual or somewhat dressy. It’s perfect for Florida. I wear sandals most of the time here. The Jessie Zhao scarf is lovely.
I enjoyed the look back. This wardrobe is the kind I wear in my fantasy life. Sigh…
And as usual, when I have the time, I did a deep dive into past Vivienne Files. I’ve always referred back to your stress dressing posts. It seems like so much of the time I’m stress dressing. But, of course, , I want to look and therefore feel fabulous even when stressed.
Right now, I’m living in a tiny studio apartment with my husband and two little dogs awaiting the birth of our first grandchild. I tried to apply some of the principles that Janice suggests. Since we will be here for at least a month and a half, it’s a good experiment.
I truly love a great number of these pieces. My favorite, by far, is the black and white Rag & Bone scarf. I’d order it today, but I’m just not buying anything new until after my move. It appeals to me as a seasonless piece, great for both travel and home.
I am not such a fan of black and yellow together, but I love the yellow with the white very much. Or, I could see it working with the white skirt and the black shacket. I just get far too much bumblebee vibes of only black and yellow. I’m sure it’s just me. Once something gets in my head in a color palette, I’m afraid that it’s stuck there. I’ll never do pink and purple together (unless it’s in a mixed print) as it reads My Little Pony. But, I’m a weirdo…and I own that.
What an interesting painting. What an interesting artist! Never knew she existed, thanks for this!