Paul Klee - Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber Archives

Dressy Weekend? Start with a Scarf – The Raven Garden of Happiness by June Hunter

March 22, 2024

It's a dressy weekend - the weather will probably be warm... but there is always a chance of a cool snap!

But how to be dressy without bringing everything you own? Well, a tight color palette and planning ahead is always the way to go.

And how about starting with black and pretty accents?

Before you go down this path, you want to be ABSOLUTELY certain that wearing black isn't a problem. This wardrobe is actually designed for someone who's a prominent figure in a wedding, at which the bridesmaids will be wearing black dresses; I think she's okay with this!

She's wearing a very "normal" travel outfit - closed-toe shoes, and a cardigan for the inevitable freezing air conditioning... but she's rocking ... View the Post

Our Final 2 Capsule Wardrobes: December Six Paintings – Twelve Months

December 8, 2023

I didn't have any coffee yesterday (physicals with fasting blood tests are the worst...), and today I'm getting all weepy and sentimental about all sort of things! Not the least? Saying goodbye to these 6 paintings...

For the rest of our lives, if we happen to see an image of any of these anywhere, we will recognize them, and remember them well! What a way to learn art...

First, my very favorite. In the end, I'm true to black and white!

Our heroine ended November with a tidy 35-piece wardrobe, well-suited to most of life:

Before you buy ANYTHING, you should be able to state clearly to yourself why you either need or want the item in question. If you neither need nor want it (beyond the simple lust for ... View the Post

Two More Capsule Wardrobes: November Six Paintings – Twelve Months

November 3, 2023

More heroines, making "festive dressing" choices...

First, our pastel-loving heroine:

Her existing 32-piece wardrobe is complete, and depending on where she spends the holidays, she may be well-equipped...

But the weather is occasionally cool where she is, so she wants a sweater, and a neutral, dressy skirt. And when she sees the classic, elegant dress, her shopping is done!

Here's how her new purchases fit into her existing wardrobe - lovely additions!

Her new accessories fit in well - although both her shoes and bag are unquestionably the dressiest ones she owns! But those 2 pieces, put with almost any outfit, will make a major difference...

Her new skirt can be worn with ... View the Post

Six Paintings, Twelve Months: Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silver by Paul Klee

October 9, 2023

Let's visit our friend with the very pastel wardrobe!

Her wardrobe at the beginning of this month is 29 garments (as I believe all six wardrobes should be...):

There are no glaring holes in this wardrobe, but our heroine can clearly see that she could justify more yellow, pink or green clothes. And she would like to have an outfit for cooler weather, even though she doesn't live in a relentlessly wintery place...

This is what she finds; she knows that the corduroy pants aren't a perfect match for any of her other garments, but she's content with blending shades of colors. Being flexible is sometimes useful...

Her updated wardrobe doesn't really look changed - just a bit more balanced.

And yes, ... View the Post

Three Capsule Wardrobes: First Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – September 2023

September 1, 2023

It seems as if ALL of the children in the Northern Hemisphere are back to school! This time of year always makes me want to pull on a sweater and corduroy pants, some short boots and a lovely wool scarf...

Soon enough for cool weather!

Let's get started...

This heroine found herself last month with a 26-piece wardrobe; most of us could manage for quite a long time with that many clothes, if they were for the right weather...

Our heroine clearly understands that she should grab yellow things when she sees something just right. She loves her navy cotton skirt so much that she would like to find another navy skirt to start to dress up for longer evenings ahead... She could certainly get a narrow skirt, ... View the Post

Three Capsule Wardrobes: First Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – August 2023

August 2, 2023

My favorite work every month! This, to me, is the closest The Vivienne Files can get to showing how a real wardrobe might grow, month by month. If we all (I mean ALL) carefully planned our purchases to be versatile AND to endure, we could eliminate a lot of waste in the world. At least we should try, eh?

Last month, we left our heroine with a wardrobe of 23 garments; it's pretty well balanced, except she might be challenged to wear her dress in cooler weather.

Tights and a sweater will get her through, of course, but maybe a skirt would be useful...

This heroine added another grey tee shirt to her wardrobe; the shirt she has is pretty sporty, and she thought a more classic one would be useful. ... View the Post

Three Capsule Wardrobes: First Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – July 2023

July 5, 2023

Our heroines are filling in gaps and rescuing wardrobe orphans this month!

Let's start with our fair and blond heroine... (at least that's how I imagine her - your may see her differently!)

When we left our heroine last month, this was her 20-piece capsule wardrobe:

Our heroine has been thinking for a while that she is overdue to add some yellow to her wardrobe! It's worth mentioning that you can change your color palette if you find that you've included an accent color that doesn't feel right to you... but our heroine is going to give yellow a try!

And she doesn't have a pair of shorts! She's not one to wear shorts frequently, but a whimsical pair might be useful for her. So she shops, and this is what ... View the Post

First Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – June 2023

June 2, 2023

One of my favorite days!

I thought that before our heroines went shopping today, they should each take a good look at what they currently own. This might direct their shopping in some way...

First, let's look at this heroine's wardrobe by showing all of her garments arranged by function:

I frankly don't know that any heroine will see too many gaps in her wardrobe when arranged this way, because she's been really careful to be certain that anything she has purchased so far can be worn in a variety of ways.

Maybe let's see how things look when arranged by color:

This is actually pretty great, but I think maybe she wants something else in denim blue? Yes, it's not a color in her palette, but I think ... View the Post

Second Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – May 2023

May 8, 2023

Let's see what our second trio of heroines has been up to!

The first has decided that she would like to own something sort of like a suit, so she finds a cardigan/blazer and pants that match. She can't resist the Liberty print shirt - it goes with so much of her wardrobe!

This is her wardrobe now; it might not suit many of us, but I can see this on the right woman...

Her accessories are a soft and feminine delight:

Her new outfits show that even an unusually light and delicate wardrobe can be versatile:

Our second heroine made a pretty big decision about her wardrobe this month!

The main character in her inspiration painting is wearing what appears to be a pretty dark purple coat. ... View the Post

Second Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – February 2023

February 3, 2023

I must mention this: to me, this first heroine MUST be living somewhere warm, or at least warm-ish. It's hard to picture someone wearing this much ivory in a place where slushy streets are an issue!

Adding both the pink tee shirt AND the pants to her wardrobe this month gives this heroine a VERY pink wardrobe, but it's wise to grab things that match (or in this case - tone). Skipping 1 of these 2 pink garments because it feels like "too much pink" makes sense in the short term, but in the long term, having both pieces makes life easier...

Yep, this heroine likes pink. And she looks amazing in it!

Her 3 new garments give her lots of new options, although her wardrobe doesn't have a wide variety of ... View the Post

Adding Accent Accessories – Start with Art: Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber by Paul Klee

April 22, 2022

You know that it's "klee an in clay"? There once was a book by that title that helped us pronounce all sorts of art and music names properly; well worth grabbing if you see it used...

Well, when I started this post, I wasn't at all sure WHEN you would get to see it; they're working on the internet and cable in my building - fifty-some floors of rewiring! Outages and glitches are built into this process; if I am going to miss a date I will post a note from my phone so you know I'm okay!

SO!!! Let's get Wednesday's heroines some accessories!!!

For reference, and for pleasure, let's remember that this is the art from which we started:

Let's go back to our core of 10 pieces of clothing. There's no reason in the ... View the Post

Start with Art: Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber by Paul Klee, and French 5-Piece Wardrobes

April 20, 2022

We visited this fascinating painting a few years ago, and I've never forgotten about it!

So when someone asked me about having a couple of accent colors for summer, and after we looked at the possibilities of 1 scarf for 4 women, I got to thinking.... (as my mother would say - "we knew you were thinking; we smelled the smoke...")

The last time we looked at this painting, I only isolated 3 accent colors, but today I'm choosing four!

So my plan is this - I'm going to start us out with a core summer wardrobe in light colors - white and beige. Then I'm going to scare up four French 5-Piece Wardrobes - one in each of the accent colors...

Let's start here:

I'm not going to run through how many outfits ... View the Post