The Vivienne Files

Like to Change Your Colors With the Seasons? Start With Art – Blue Level by Lee Krasner

May 23, 2025

You often tell me that you don't much want to wear brown in the summer time, but conversely you're not really comfortable wearing bright colors in the winter. (it feels too '80s, for many of us!)

So what if your favorite painting offered you options?

You can assemble your color palette (I could have certainly included a touch of orange in here, couldn't I?), but just plain and simply ignore one or more of your colors when you plan for a season!

These are the obvious colors that come from this painting - I can't decide if the three vertical stripes are a shade of brown, or maybe plum...

This heroine is packing for an event - I believe she told me it was a first communion, followed by a church picnic. Great ... View the Post

May 2025 Start With a Bracelet – Art Deco Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

May 21, 2025

Today's heroine has such a lovely inspiration:

She's particularly excited because she's about to break out of her navy and white routine. Her travel capsule wardrobes usually look like this or this.

So she's making just a little bit of a change; if you're one of us who've dressed in a monochromatic wardrobe for YEARS, you understand what a big change this is!

Our heroine's core wardrobe is based on her navy suit. When you buy a suit, you should assume that it's going to be worn a lot, in a variety of ways. (Suits are expensive!)

For short trips, during which our heroine might only have one "serious" meeting, this is typical of her travel wardrobe:

It's going to take our heroine all summer to ... View the Post

Love Black & White, but Crave Nature? Start With Art – Green Forest by Natalia Goncharova

May 19, 2025

Maybe you're like today's heroine - you love your black and white, but in the warm weather you want to wear the colors of plants, and water, and the sky!

Our heroine has a wide range of accent colors available. Always remember that you don't have to match all of your accent colors to each other. I like to have them look nice together so that the images here look good, but in real life, you can be much more wide-ranging in your choices!

Our heroine is leaving from work, so she's wearing things that will be useful when she gets to her warm destination:

I'm going to pack this heroine's suitcase one piece at a time. The first thing I always start with is a top that can be switched out for whatever one is ... View the Post

Unsure of the Weather? Start With Art – The Silbury Owl by Catherine Hyde

May 16, 2025

Lots of women artists this month; if you love this painting, prints of it are available from the artist!

Our heroine loves a good dark brown - or any of the autumn colors! And she's quite fond of pink and orange, together or separate. So her color palette is obvious and simple:

She's going away for a weekend event, and absolutely NOBODY can give her a hint of what the weather will be! She knows that it's cold where she is right now, so she's going to dress a bit warmly, even though it's May...

It might be warm enough to wear a slippy little dress. Or she might actually need a sweater! And for her spare time, she's even bringing a sweatshirt... Oh, weather keeps us on our toes, doesn't ... View the Post

Like a Base of Black and White? Start With Art – Variation on a Lighthouse Theme IV by Ida O’Keeffe

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 ... View the Post

Want 2 Very Different Accent Colors? Start With a Scarf: Petal Pop Silk Scarf by Artifact.

May 12, 2025

This was the other Artifact. scarf that was requested as the inspiration for a wardrobe, and I can understand why!

The possibilities here are many - there's camel in the upper left quadrant, beige in the lower left, and even a touch of denim blue in the middle of the bottom right flower! But I'm sticking with the same black and ivory that we used on Friday, to show the range of possibilities within just a couple of neutrals.

The accent color I've chosen couldn't really be more different - a soft pink and bold orangish gold. It's easy to feel like your accent colors have to go well together, but that's not the case.

I've kept quite a few of the pieces from Friday for this wardrobe. Maybe this is the same ... View the Post

A Different Take On Scarf Colors: Start With a Scarf – Fleur Royale scarf by Artifact.

May 9, 2025

The instant Artifact. came out with new scarves, I received emails about them. This scarf is particularly lovely and an interesting mix of colors. When I first looked at this, my eyes were drawn to warm colors: orange, marigold, and olive.

And the heroine who wrote to me? She wants to work with black and ivory, and pink and olive accents!

Hmm...

So I built us this color palette reference page:

My habit with Artifact. scarves has been to build three outfits, and then add four more garments. It's one of about a billion different ways to assemble a capsule wardrobe; there's no rule about how this can best be done!

These outfits are for Spring weather, or summer days that aren't blisteringly hot. A cardigan ... View the Post

Uncertain Weather on Your Long Weekend? Start With Art – Study for Spring Madonna by Mainie Jellett

May 7, 2025

A favorite artist featured at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin? She's on the train for a weekend visit!

She's studied this painting SO MUCH - she knows the colors by heart:

Ireland's been having record warm weather recently, but this heroine is far too wise to fall for THAT! She's making certain to have a jacket and warm shoes; she doesn't have to wear these things again on her trip, but she's certainly not traveling without them.

A dress and three very summery tops, but a pair of "real" pants, and a cardigan - this give her options for unpredictable weather. And her olive jacket will look great with her stone chinos and ivory sweaters...

The night before she leaves, she takes a look at ... View the Post

May 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #6 – Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay

May 5, 2025

Finally, we get to the final painting in our series of six! I particularly love this painting, and this wardrobe. Three neutrals with one accent color is an unusual balance, but it's classic, and uncomplicated.

This heroine's wardrobe is pretty classic, but she has some really wonderful accessories that make a LOT of difference. Here again is a wardrobe that would see you through a world-wide travel extravaganza:

Our heroine was thinking, as she started her shopping, that she could use something kind of dressy - not strapless sequins, but something that would work for meetings, and that included a skirt that might be handy for outdoor weddings or garden parties...

Her 24-piece wardrobe, with the addition ... View the Post

May 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #5 – Street Lights by Stefan Johansson

May 2, 2025

You know, if you chose to build your wardrobe around this painting, you'd have more colors available that I show in this wardrobe. (I've got to draw a line somewhere, to avoid being completely overwhelmed!)

There's some lovely blue in the water here, for example:

This wardrobe would serve one well for much of the year, or for a range of weather conditions. I wouldn't want to go somewhere blisteringly hot with this, but anything short of that would be just fine:

With upcoming hot weather in mind (in the Northern Hemisphere!), our heroine grabbed a pair of shorts and another pair of sandals, as well as two summer tops. And a really cool sweatshirt, with a quilted cable pattern in it. I love a good ... View the Post

May 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #4 – Pines by the Sea by Bertha Lum

April 30, 2025

Every time I work on this wardrobe, it appeals to me more! I could easily see the merits of having clothes that were all earthy or leafy colors...

A wardrobe with everything from boots to sandals, and from tee shirts to warm sweaters... If I wore a uniform most of the time, this might be a nearly complete wardrobe for my "real" life.

Our heroine found a scarf that's perfect for her wardrobe! After that, she decided that maybe this is a good month to fill in gaps in her wardrobe, and stock up on basics.

Maybe these aren't the most exciting clothes one can buy, but when you have these kinds available, it's SO much easier to get dressed.

And that pointelle cardigan isn't really boring!

Here again, ... View the Post

Black, White and Brights! The Mondrian Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

April 28, 2025

Classic, colorful, and so versatile! These are timeless for sure:

The colors here are obvious, but it's always worth the effort to picture your plan as clearly as possible:

Our heroine already has her good core of black and white things, upon which she will build with her accent colors!

These colors are so much fun to look for in stores! And our heroine couldn't resist a black & white striped shirt; if you have a bracelet with a striped bead, a striped shirt seems essential...

Imagine traveling with this for a few days! Maybe you'd want to look for a pair of black & white spectator loafers, too?

Let's take a moment to imagine a few of the possible ways our heroine could get ... View the Post