Build a Capsule Wardrobe Archives - Page 49 of 87

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: Moon with Jupiter and 4 Moons by Christian Fattinnazi

July 15, 2016 So simple, and so striking:

This is a color palette that doesn't need any embellishing. It might be too austere for some, in the long run, but for a short-term travel adventure, this is nearly foolproof!

Insomnia She's been awake at night for WEEKS... looking at the night sky much more than she would normally like. So she's decided to take her sleep-deprived self to Paris. It's far enough away that she won't know if she has insomnia or jet-lag!

Because she doesn't trust herself to make finely nuanced style decisions when she's traveling, she decided to pack the most mistake-proof wardrobe possible. This is literally a "Whatever's Clean" ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Marguerites by Conrad Kiesel

July 14, 2016

I'm in a real navy and olive mode these days; I started this a couple of days ago, before yesterday's navy and green outfits. One of my all-time favorite posts on The Vivienne Files is still this one - navy and gorgeous accent colors.How's this for a glorious painting?

There are of course a variety of ways that colors could be extracted from this, but these are what I've chosen for today:

In honor of all of you who are traveling to colder climes this autumn, I'm thinking about packing that includes a warm coat and waterproof boots. Especially for those of you going to Ireland in the fall, you'll want both sunglasses AND gloves!

Sunglasses – Tory Burch; scarf – Brooks Brothers; boots – ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Branch of the Seine by Claude Monet

July 12, 2016 It's hard not to love something this beautiful:

The Last Laugh She's been saying for ages that the photographs of the structure don't look right, and that there are integrity issues. But did they listen to her? (you know the answer to this, right?)

So she's flying in to do an in-person inspection, and recommend what needs to be done in order to make the entire rig safe for workers.

They won't be thrilled to see her, but she will only need to be there a couple of hours...

There are some amazing restaurants on the mainland, and she's flying a really LONG way. So she plans to stay for at least 3 days. Nobody's going to ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Owl on Ginko Branch by Ohara Koson

July 9, 2016

Just wonderful:

While the vast majority of this painting is in shadings of beige and black, there are a couple of glorious accents of russet and olive...

She Works Nights Someone has to monitor those data servers - they run HOT, and they have to be watched 24/7. She loves the night sky, so she took the job...

So she works for 5 minutes, and then looks out the window for 5. It keeps her moving around, and she's learned a lot about the night sky.

Now that her company has grown, she's called on to work with people in other offices. Still at night, when the regular staff is at home, and just the emergency teams are in place.

Everyone marvels at how well she does during ... View the Post

Vacation Report, and a Few Extra Thoughts and Goodies

July 6, 2016

I'm back! Both back from my vacation, and back from Florida... both were quite lovely. I must admit that I missed blogging A LOT, which didn't surprise me; this is one of the great jobs of all time...Just as a reminder, this is what I packed for my 8 days in Central Florida. At the last minute, my black shirtdress was supplanted by a red linen dress. For the 4th of July weekend, a red dress is never a bad idea!

I was very happy with what I packed. Unlike what you might see in more "beachy" locations, central Florida is a place where you'll see quite a few people wearing black - head to toe, even! So I didn't stick out too much like a sore thumb.... And my silk shorts are perfect - absolutely perfect. ... View the Post

A Capsule Wardrobe Dilemma, and What I’m Packing for Florida

June 24, 2016 So I realized a couple of weeks ago that I wasn't wearing these 2 cardigans NEARLY as often as I felt that I should...

Every time I would pull out one of these sweaters, I just couldn't get an outfit together that really felt right.In a bit of a funk, I went back to my own best advice, and realized that a lot of my basic summer clothes in black were either too big, or too...faded/droopy/saggy/limp/icky for public consumption.

So I picked up these - the Original Core of Four:

After those arrived and were well-integrated into my wardrobe, I got wild and bought these 4 tops:

It turned out that I was wise to stock up on summer basics, because... well... the ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes – a Half-Way Through Bonus

June 11, 2016 I've been thinking about how these capsule wardrobes would work for additional outfits, now that we're up to a dozen pieces of clothing in each wardrobe. So I played around and came up with another six outfits for each grouping. Enjoy!

love, Janice

... View the Post

How to Pack for a Long Weekend Graduation Trip

June 1, 2016

One of the reasons that I'm taking this hiatus is that I've got two trips in the month of June, which were weighing heavy on my mind...First up, a very quick dash through New York City, to Vermont, then BACK to New York to fly back to Chicago. There's a very important college graduation in there, somewhere...

I have to tell you something amazing - we're leaving in 4 hours or so, and I'm not packed! But I think I've got it figured out.

My goal here, uncluttered simplicity, without sacrificing looking appropriately dressy for the solemn occasions...

(can someone explain to me why this suitcase is a man's bag? what folly...)

I'm packing silk pants, a silk tank, and a silk tee shirt, in order to ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Ted Baker’s Dreams Scope

May 17, 2016 She's so smitten with the scarf that she decided to plan her entire trip around the colors she found in it!

Every Year They go back to the little town in which their wedding took place. For the most part, it's a very casual long weekend, spent walking around the lake, browsing in used bookstores, or maybe taking in an estate sale...

But every year, on Saturday evening of their weekend together, they go back to the place where they were married. And they repeat their vows...

This year, she's going to remind him that beautiful brides come at every age...

love, Janice ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Composition by Natalia S. Gontcharova

May 26, 2016 Okay, I'm more than a little bit smitten with Ms. Gontcharova's work...

For someone who wanted to base their entire wardrobe around this work, there's also a bit of green in here:

When I Am An Old Woman... (blah, blah, blah) Yes, we know, you'll wear purple. But she's been wearing purple FOREVER...

She wears every shade of it. She buys her entire wardrobe with an eye to how well it will work with "her" color...

And she mixes multiple shades of purple without hesitation, and without apology.

Someone once told her that she had eyes like Elizabeth Taylor's; but she knows that it was only the reflection from ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: 2nd of the Portraits Theatraux by Natalia S. Gontcharova

May 25, 2016 I don't know how many of these Ms. Gontcharova did, but I'm going to try to find them all:

Not a color scheme we see every day! I opted to use pure white, rather than try to match that "faded paper" color. My assumption is that the original might have been on white paper - can anybody confirm or deny?

She Yins, She Yangs "Do you think she's completely... normal? I mean, sometimes she looks so aggressive, and other days she's just so calm and quiet..."

"I don't know if she's normal or not, but she must have a GIGANTIC wardrobe..."

"And EVERY Friday, she's got that tote bag with her... Who's she kidding - she goes away EVERY ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Noon – Rest from Work by Vincent van Gogh

May 24, 2016

So beautiful:

And a color scheme that includes extremely warm and very cool colors, with enough neutral off-white to give a base to everything:

Why yes, you DID see this travel outfit (with a few tweaks) just a few days ago, here. I didn't include it just to be lazy - I wanted to show that there's a lot of versatility in just a few pieces of clothing, and that you could easily merge a couple of different color-schemes to design your perfect capsule wardrobe.

Everything here from a sun hat to warm scarves! But when you expect to go out in sunny warm temperatures during the day, and then sit around a fire after dark when the temperatures dip, you have to be ... View the Post