I get tons of questions about how to pack for various special occasions – weddings, graduations, etc. To me, this sounds like the perfect time to break out a really wonderful dress. Nothing flouncy or bright or conspicuous – that wouldn’t be comfortable, at least for me. But something with an amazing cut, in luxurious fabric… Coupled with a drop-dead spectacular coat…
In fact, the whole trip could be an excuse to pick up a handful of the most beautiful garments: a wonderful sweater, along with the perfect jeans, another more casual but still exquisite dress, and a show-stopping skirt, along with a couple of blouses.
While grey might not be your cup of tea, many of us could travel a long, long time with just this limited assortment of garments. And of course I’m going to revisit this basic travel idea in a variety of colors – that’s just the way I am! What color would YOU like to see?
Silver and diamond earrings- Georg Jensen, silver cuff bracelet – Michael Lando Design, grey bag – Torula, Grey dress – Max Mara, coat – Burberry Prorsum, suede pumps – Ferragamo
Cardigan – Peter Jensen, blouse – Rebecca Taylor, watch – Cartier, pants – Sportmax, loafers – Bottega Veneta, scarf – futubaba, suitcase – Rimowa
sweater – Rag and Bone, jeans – Acne, dress – MaxMara, wrap top – MaxMara, skirt – Prabal Gurung, scarf – AllSaints, black blouse – Valentino
)
I want it all!
thanks Janice
Me too. This is stunning.
Oh, and my color would be chocolate brown. :)
I would love to see you come up with an uber feminine set. Pink is kind of obvious but perhaps even a softer peach. Just to on trash the classic navies, greys etc
Contrast the classic navy and greys it was supposed to read lol
I second the pink!
How lovely! What about beige?
So chic, so lovely. There's nothing more elegant or more versatile than grey. Grey and camel (not beige, but a camel with a bit of sun in it) are my all-time favorite packing combinations for a city trip. And I love grey for a wedding, since black seems too severe, beige seems mother-of-the-groom, and both pastel and bright colors unfailingly clash with the bridesmaids' garb.
Thanks as always, Janice, for the beautiful suggestions.
I second the camel! Would you add an accent color or is this supposed to be a monochrome set?
Unbelievably gorgeous. This entire capsule takes my breath away.
This is a beautiful wardrobe! I love the Max Mara dresses! And that coat!
Lovely and versatile. I'm finding that using a variant of 'whatever's clean' pulled from my 33 is making a great summer travel wardrobe. Thank you.
I'm looking forward to planning for a trip to a fall wedding– Royal Purple or violet please. :)
Dark plum would be nice. Or,how about olive green? Not army drab, but a nice clean shade that would be a break from the typical warm colors.
Second the plum, or navy or forest green. Bonus points if the dress covers the knees but isn't a maxi dress.
I can second these or possibly teal although that may clash and my favorite, red just isn't going to work. I was surprised at how agreeable a deep plum was at my daughters wedding with the bridesmaids in various shades of red, orange, pink and yellow.
I LOVE grey. Something about it… so elegant, so lovely… I could live in these, no problem!
Though, I do have to say, and I'd love to hear if others have this problem. I'm a black, white and grey dresser but I often make the mistake of buying something in colour and then never wearing it. How do you stay vigilant when you feel like you're boring and need to break out a little?
I'm with you on this. My clothes are mostly neutral but sometimes I'll get a bright to liven things up. What works for me is to limit the brights, for example i usually buy red, which is my favorite bright, or purple. And maybe limit myself to accessoris like shoes, or perhaps something not too costly like a t shirt or tank top.
How about blue?
You can take the woman out of Texas, but … I recognize the elegance of these clothes, but they are depressing to me even though gray looks okay on me. They are pretty bland and tame for a special event in any season in my home town of San Antonio. I guess it's not urban enough in spite of being one of the largest cities in the U.S. Or maybe it's the sun, heat and the vibrancy of the Hispanic culture that is at its core. For fall back home or in my adopted town of Tucson, I'd like to see the colors of rust like red, rusty brown, orange, yellow.
Elegant right but I never wear them either. I love all the jewel tones. My go to basic is purple.
I'd love to see taupe as a neutral.
When you go to the website for the wrap top, it says "was $207, now $318" !!
I love that – once they know it's on The Vivienne Files, it's suddenly worth MORE…
Some websites are not proofread as well as other, it seems!
Grey works for me! I could wear all of this capsule
I'm putting in a request for navy!
MaxMara are the most consistent, dependable source for women's clothes that look elegant, yet are wearable…anywhere in the world.
I have a coat that is very similar to the Burberry shown in the first grouping. Mine is a silvery-grey houndstooth check with bishop sleeves. I also have a grey silk dress that coordinates perfectly with it. Now I just need a Special Event this autumn.
I second the requests for purple and navy.
I would love to see a deep red-violet. It's a lovely, very flattering and I think sophisticated color. Thanks for ALL of your great ideas. Joy
So pretty! Beautiful wardrobe. I love the gray but not sure how great it looks on me. I would love to see the cream/beige/taupe range.
Your taste is impeccable. Unfortunately I look like a corpse in these colors. I like myself red I also like salmon color. And burnt sienna and mustard. . I like black is a base color. Sometimes I have trouble putting some of that those things together. Love to see that combination.
I absolutely LOVE all the greys. It's my go-to-colour for autumn, winter and spring. However in summer I really like to wear bright colours and colours I don't usually wear, like a summer-sky blue. It helps me to feel cool. But I really like hot colours too. Even though I am not at a resort, when I wear bright colours and flashy prints I feel as though I'm on holiday.
I specifically like the Prabal Gurung grey straight skirt(embroidered? Encrusted with jewels???) and wonder how I can see a bigger picture of it. It's inspiring to me – I have to attend a wedding in July and something along those lines might just be perfect.
If you have any ideas about how I can see that skirt in close-up with lots of detail, that would be a great help to me.
Love your blog – I am amazed that you find so many and such gorgeous things to wear. Brava!
Barbara
Check matchesfashion.com. And I will try to figure out why ALL of the links in this post disappeared; usually I try to link to a source for the clothes and accessories…
Thank you. matchesfashion.com worked very well. The beiges you show today are also absolutely gorgeous.
Thanks for all your work. Really beautiful.
Barbara
I love all of the styles, though I'm not sure that grey is my best colour. I would love to see variations in coral, turquoise or green – being purely selfish, as I already have several items in these colours in my wardrobe! Living in Spain, I have discovered that brighter colours are easier to find and look better in the sunshine.