Build a Capsule Wardrobe Archives - Page 50 of 88

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe 1 Piece at a Time: Brown, Khaki and Pink

July 22, 2016 No More "Dress For Success" Every day, every year, the same....

Navy suit, white shirt. Grey suit, white shirt. Navy grey white navy grey white....

It served her well - she was very successful. She worked 7 days a week; she really didn't have a leisure life - her idea of being dressed down was to wear an old work shirt with old pants from a pantsuit. Jeans? Not in her vocabulary. A cardigan? Would get you a visit from the chairman of the firm...

But now that she was leaving the office world, her heart cried out for brown. The color of dirt. The color of chocolate. And khaki - sand, and stones, and natural things....

And PINK. Because she would never have dared to wear pink in her old, very conservative, work ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: Great Nebula in Carina by Damian Peach

July 20, 2016 Insomnia, Part 2 (see part 1 here) So she's walking around Paris late one afternoon, and sees this:

Oh. My. Her favorite night sky, with one point two million different shades of pink and rose... sigh....

Let's remember, when she took off on this "night walker" vacation, this is what she packed:

But the image sticks in her head, and when she's walking through Gucci, she sees a scarf that speaks to her. Not the moon and stars, but FLOWERS. Something from daytime, and sunlight!

That evening, at dinner, her very attractive waiter mentions to her how very flattering the pink flowers are to the roses in her cheeks. She blushes even more....

So the next day, she decides that it ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories 1 at a Time: Black and Beige

July 19, 2016

Ah, let's add some accessories to yesterday's black and beige travel capsule wardrobe, shall we? Remember, we started with this outfit, to which we MUST add shoes. There aren't a lot of wardrobe essentials in the world, but shoes, for most of us, when traveling, might qualify:

And I always like earrings for travel - they can be out of your way, but still add a nice touch of ornamentation to your outfit, and draw some attention to your smiling face.

Oh yes, and a scarf can be very handy if you're going to be on an airplane or train which might be freezing cold!

Some people never wear watches, and many of us wear some sort of step-measurement device. But I think ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Black and Beige: 1 Piece at a Time

July 18, 2016

It seems that there are some among us who are struggling to pull together what they want to pack. This isn't particularly surprising - travel is stressful enough, and the unknown factors of weather and activities can throw almost anyone into a small panic. So I'm going to approach the "1 Piece at a Time" idea with the thought that we're packing a suitcase, rather than assembling a capsule wardrobe.

Let's assume that you know what you want to wear for traveling - you've got a gloriously beautiful cardigan that MUST go with you:

Based on this outfit, it will be really easy to work with a core of black neutrals, and then add in some beige, too. There's enough white in the cardigan to make white ... View the Post

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