for Travel Archives

Nature Colors! Start with a Bracelet: Sustainable Lynx by Fierce Lynx Designs

November 20, 2023

As soon as she saw these bracelets, she thought of water, and the sky, and grass, and leaves, and soil... all of the things of nature that she loves the most!

She wants a small, versatile wardrobe to pack when she visits branch facilities of her composting company... These are the perfect colors!

Their driver staff - who go around the city and pick up the full buckets of compostable materials from customers - wear green and brown. That's where she started, and she still feels at home wearing those colors...

She usually spends a day riding with one or two of the drivers and a day hanging out at the actual massive composting facility. The staff there wears WHATEVER THEY WANT - knowing they will shower ... View the Post

Long Weekend of Travel? Start with a Scarf – Sonny Ross Scarf by Echo

November 17, 2023

Suddenly, there are a whole bunch of new Echo 100 scarves!

For no good reason I can offer, this one really sparked my imagination - SO pretty, but also a wide range of color possibilities...

This scarf seemed like an obvious candidate for a core of denim, or ivory, or olive... But what if I just worked with the five visible colors in (more or less) equal quantities?

The Library Will be Open For the Holiday Weekend! The library at the gardens are seldom open, and when they are, you have to have reservations, and an assigned desk, and you need to tell the Preservation Society what you're going to be studying. It's a serious thing!

She's going! She loves working with heritage flowering plants in her ... View the Post

Business Travel Packing Made Easy? Start with a Scarf: Tré Seals Scarf By Echo

November 15, 2023

I've been planning to buy one (well, at least one!) of the Echo 100 Scarves, from their amazing anniversary project; I knew that something would have whappage, and be irresistible to me...

You're shocked, I know:

Okay, this might be unnecessary, but it's what we do here on The Vivienne Files!

This heroine isn't me - although it certainly could have been me in my advertising days!

Our intrepid friend today is heading to one of those cities that starts with an N - New York, Newark, Northampton, Nantes? She will only be there 3 nights, and during the day she will be training employees of her company in cool and fascinating research techniques...

The weather will be moderate - not that ... View the Post

A Warm-Hued Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Start with Art – Lane Near Wormingford by John Nash

November 13, 2023

This art is on the VERY short list to be included in next year's "Six Paintings, 12 Months..."

No Black Friday for Me, Thank You! She's leaving Thursday, after an early afternoon meal with her large, rowdy, noisy, messy family....

She will help clean up the kitchen and dining room.

She will help do dishes.

She will help pack leftovers for everyone.

And THEN... She's off to her favorite quiet rural area, where her favorite small hotel is holding a room for her....

Yes, she's going to change clothes before she leaves - she wouldn't want to wear her favorite silk shirt to muck about in a holiday kitchen!

She's just taking her small tote; she doesn't need too much for a long weekend ... View the Post

Experimenting with Proportions by Starting with Art: Partial Eclipse of the Moon by Étienne Léopold Trouvelot

September 11, 2023

She likes things to be simple, but interesting... Anything for a good experiment!

So when she was told that she would have 2 weeks access to the data regarding the varying distances to the moon, she knew that she packing would be a chance to try out some interesting things!

There will be at least a dozen other scientists at the University, working toward an accurate measurement of the vacillations of the earth's axis. It's fascinating, really!

While she's concentrating on numbers, and distances, and appearances, she decides that she will pack a 3-color wardrobe, and experiment with how she gets dressed each day. She's hopeful that she will arrive at a firm conclusion about what "outfit proportions" ... View the Post

Choose a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Portrait of Margaretha Trip by Helen Frankenthaler

September 8, 2023

Things I learned from this post:

Shades of grey are A-okay! You might want to think seriously about your preferences for high-contrast outfits vs low-contrast...

Listening

Two weeks at a Buddhist center, participating in a workshop on listening. It's actually an event to which many companies send top executives; that's why she's going...

She won't know anyone else there, and they won't have any know each other's job titles...

Somehow, she suspects that she might be able to tell at least a few things about some of the other participants!

The environment is very casual. The weather will be somewhere between cool and almost winter - it will be interesting to see how other participants ... View the Post

Expanding a Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Start with Art – Woman with Folded Arms by Picasso

June 12, 2023

Oh, let's look at this some more!

When we left our heroine on Friday, she had a lovely 9-piece travel capsule wardrobe all sorted out for long weekends this summer:

Wise people learn from their successes, and when your deeply-held preferences work out well, why not continue on that path?

Since the weather is warm, our heroine realized immediately that a few white garments might be useful:

And while she wasn't wild about the idea of adding denim to her wardrobe during the warmest weather, chambray is a good option!

Prints? Maybe? I admit that our heroine was strongly drawn to a couple of striped shirtdresses, as well as a plaid camp shirt and matching skirt in shades of blue.... Frankly, she ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Shades of Blue: Start with Art – Woman with Crossed Arms by Picasso

June 9, 2023

I had to try this...

Our heroine is quite a bit cheerier than Picasso's subject!

She committed to wearing blue. It feels right to her, and that's what is most important, right?

She knows that a painting that inspires you doesn't have to be copied identically - so long as you are true to whatever initially inspired you, you may interpret that inspiration any way you want!

A long weekend seems like a perfect chance to try-out the idea of wearing all blue... She won't be around a lot of people who know her, so she doesn't expect anybody to actually notice that she's always in blue...

The night before she leaves for her wee adventure, she takes a good look at her planned travel capsule ... View the Post

Start with Art: Pattern Design from New Ocean of Art by Kōrin Furuya

June 7, 2023

I must remember to re-visit this art when the weather cools, and I can put our heroine in an Oxford grey outfit...

But today, our heroine is sticking with black & white, and 2 vivid accent colors!

I don't know where she's going! Clearly she's only going for a few days, because her bag is what we call a "weekender." And I assume she's going somewhere warm-ish, because she's wearing sandals...

We might be able to learn more about her upcoming adventure if we peek into her bag?

Well, we can conclude that she likes black and white. And that she's going somewhere warm, and relatively casual. She won't be gone for too long...

And there's NO wrong way to put together an outfit from this travel ... View the Post

Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet: Forget-Me-Not Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

March 24, 2023

Inspired by FLOWERS!

Our heroine is happy wearing muted colors, unless it's a day during which she wants to wear something bright! You can have both in your wardrobe, of course.

A sweatshirt for travel, as well as a cozy scarf, is rarely a bad idea - especially if you're traveling in an air-conditioned vehicle...

She's only going away for the weekend, but she never knows ahead of time if she's going to be in the aquamarine, subdued, calm mood, or in the bright yellow, outgoing and active mood. Not a problem - she's prepared for both:

Kindness Gems has those lovely necklaces available in a bunch of different stones, and in gold...

Her travel wardrobe is both an homage to her favorite flower, ... View the Post

Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Signature Peacock Print Scarf by Luna & Avery

February 13, 2023

Our heroine didn't even TRY to resist this scarf!

She knew, with a long weekend trip ahead, this would be a great inspiration:

For travel, she mostly wants to be comfortable! She chooses to wear her short boots, rather than try to pack them. And her scarf is the perfect accent for her navy "suit" and lavender tee shirt...

She knows that she wants to bring jeans, and her favorite navy cashmere crewneck sweater. Then she hesitates... her lavender cardigan and shirt? They will be perfect with either jeans or navy pants, and the cardigan can also be worn over the tee shirt in which she is traveling.

Hmmm, what else? She knows that she is going to a dinner that's going to be crowded and noisy - she ... View the Post

Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: In Vaudeville (Dancer with Chorus) by Charles Demuth

February 10, 2023

Everybody dance!

Options! She Wants Options...

She's not sure that she'll stay in the city for more than a day or two. She may stay longer...

Or she might get on a train out to some smaller town by her 2nd or 3rd day. She doesn't want to decide until she actually arrives in the city and get a feel for things...

Just to complicate things further (or simplify things?), she isn't sure how long she's going to travel. If she is good to keep going, she will keep going! But if home begins to beckon, she will return...

So she wants to have very little luggage. But she wants to be able to dress both up and down. AND she wants a range of colors - not all black...

She feels like she's ... View the Post