Build a Capsule Wardrobe Archives - Page 60 of 89

Mixing Solids and Patterns, or 18 = 108 (or more…)

September 7, 2015

Ever since I started trying to identify my signature wardrobe items, and have worked with A Common Wardrobe, I've pondered the various ways in which printed or patterned garments can be incorporated into your wardrobe. I think for most of us, either non-solid pieces, or accent colors, are pretty important to give a sense of change and variety...

So in my thinking, I started with a wonderful 9-Piece Slot Machine Wardrobe in solid black. These pieces run the gamut from a tank top for warm weather to a cashmere turtleneck for (in my life) about 6 months of winter. Just doing the math, these give you 27 3-piece outfits (3 x 3 x 3), plus 12 more 2-piece outfits. Some of the combinations might be a little ... View the Post

How to Create Your Capsule Wardrobe – a Vivienne Files Bookshelf Excerpt

September 5, 2015 Taken from one of my very favorite reference books for The Vivienne Files: Ma To-Do List by Jeanne-Aurore Colleuille and Laure Gontier. I'm going to quote directly from their book...

The 3 Secrets for Creating your “Capsule Wardrobe”

“My style is the result of distillation. I have accepted my grey hair. I only wear black and white. Each year, I buy three or four dresses which I wear in rotation. I own a pair of jeans.” – Jamie Lee Curtis

"This barbaric Anglo-Saxon concept, adored by fashion magazines and women of style across the Atlantic, doesn’t have a real French equivalent. The word that they use to describe this concept is barbarisme... is doesn't translate with quite the ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art in Orange and Red: Nature Morte by Georgette Agutte

September 4, 2015

This color scheme had to be revisited one last time, because there's an eccentric aunt lurking in the background who wants a bit of attention. (just for the record, I'm the eccentric aunt in my family's tree...)

She persists in believing that orange and red are meant to go together! They're side by side in the color wheel, they're both in flowers, and fruits, and lots of beautiful prints. Why not pair them - it's a singular style statement that you don't see every day!

You would see this woman... on a plane, train, you name it, she's going to be visible. Happily, her sunny personality is equal to the level of high-intensity color.

For reference purposes, and to give credit where artistic credit is due, ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Egypt Drawing 9 by Susan Osgood

September 3, 2015 So beautiful... the depths of the black throughout the blue, the radiance of the red shining in the distance, and are those footsteps moving up off the top of the image?

A color scheme of clarity, but with dimensions of color:

Can You Play the Game? The rules are few, simple, but rigorously enforced:

Either participant can initiate the game. You must be ready to leave within the hour! You must be able to carry (not roll) your bag...

The destination is not known by either participant until after arriving at the airport and talking to an airline representative to find the least-expensive flight (within certain parameters). No sand, no snow. Trips last ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: French Paisley Striped Shawl from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

August 31, 2015

For all of us who are art lovers, it's important to remember that we can indulge ourselves while supporting our favorite museums. Gift shops make a real point to find the most beautiful items available, and they always have a certain quality that you just don't see in every store...This beauty screams fall, doesn't it?

What really appeals here is the way that the strong camel and brown tones provide a perfect backdrop for the clear red, green and blue:

Under the Radar She wanted to travel. A lot. She has a project, and some goals in mind. So she wants to get out of town, maybe as often as every other weekend, through the autumn and winter...

There are LOTS of cities really close to her - ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Light, Earth and Blue by Mark Rothko

August 27, 2015

A very special request! This is such an interesting color combination - distinctive, but calm and very grounded in nature. The woman who wears this is going to be very special...

Although the obvious neutrals here are olive green and navy, I gave each color equal weight in the color scheme to reflect the balance that I see in the painting. Your view may differ!

She Just has An Eye... Nobody else seems to ever get sent to the auctions - especially the big ones in Europe. But, in all fairness, after she found that Jasper Johns that NOBODY else believed to be authentic, nobody else can realistically expect to go. When it comes to spotting the overlooked gem in the market, nobody is her ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Understanding by Parscha Mirghawameddin

August 25, 2015 What a striking painting - a juxtaposition of colors not often found together. And they work so well... thus, the title is Understanding - these colors have found a way to live together with joy and beauty.

This is a great, uncommon color scheme - and it could easily be flipped to use a lot of the beige from the upper left areas as a neutral too!

Eyes the Color of Pond Scum Well yes, her family had always been a little bit... harsh when they teased her about her coloring. Green eyes and red hair were uncommon in her family - unseen for generations, to tell the truth...

But for decades, she's believed that her eyes held depth of beauty, and that ... View the Post

Turquoise and Purple! With a Warm Transitional Common Capsule Wardrobe

August 19, 2015

You all were so eager to see turquoise and purple - I felt terrible that I didn't come through! So when someone suggested that I could start gradually migrating yesterday's Seashell Accents Common Capsule Wardrobe into cooler weather, I was suddenly filled with inspiration and good ideas!

In order to make this a bit more compatible with the choices above, I took out the shorts, changed up the shoes, and replaced the two linen wrap pieces (which are sold out!) with a silk blouse and a classic straight skirt.

The shoes are more closed, and a hair darker than the earlier versions of this wardrobe. The slightly darker flats were more at home with the brown skirt, and the more covered-up tops...

You still, ... View the Post

A Warm Summer Common Capsule Wardrobe + Water and Pearls

August 17, 2015

Yes, I promised a capsule wardrobe with turquoise and purple. I should have taken a look at what's still available for summer before I spoke so precipitously! It's kind of an unwritten policy when I'm working on The Vivienne Files that, if I show a piece of clothing, it should be available in the full range of sizes in which it was originally sold. It's no fun for anybody to go look at something that really appeals, and see that it's only available in one really peculiar size. (my favorite being 00...) So, plan B. Stick with blue, but go softer, and to a more seasonless offering of denim and chambray. That gives us another nice "seaside" feeling, and is beautiful when paired with the mother-of-pearl jewelry that ... View the Post

A Warm Summer Common Capsule Wardrobe + Seaglass

August 15, 2015

We have looked at soft and warm accents, and strong warm accents, so now it's time to look at some really beautiful soft, cool touches in a capsule wardrobe. Someone mentioned sea glass as an inspiration, and so I chose a bracelet to anchor my color wanderings, and then went looking!

(I have the very BEST job....)

When I was looking about, I kept in mind that I wanted organic, soft items, that held onto the warmth of the summer sand (I mean the beige neutral clothes...)

As with all accent color purchases, the colors don't have to be perfect matches. If you keep wandering around the same general color(s), you will find that things either match or blend pretty well without a lot of effort. This is supposed to be ... View the Post

Twin Posts: What to Pack to Visit Chicago, Labor Day Weekend

This is really exciting for me; as a blogger who seems to be under most radars, to have been asked by Susan of Une Femme d'un Certain Age to partner up for a pair of posts was unexpected, and pretty thrilling.

Susan's blog was one of the very first I ever followed, and her style and élan are qualities that I try to emulate in my own way. I can't encourage you enough to get to know her and appreciate the charm and elegance that she brings to her life, and in turn, to ours!

So today, Susan's going to give us some guidance about what to pack if we're off on a voyage to her neighborhood, in Los Angeles. I'm really eager to see what she has to say, since that's an area to which I've only traveled ONCE, and I'm sure I have a few things I ... View the Post

Olive, Wine and Gold join A Common Capsule Wardrobe, warm tones for summer

August 13, 2015

In honor of the season (in the Northern Hemisphere) of the ripening of all delicious things, I give you the "Tuscan inspired" capsule wardrobe of wine, olives, and gold that was sent to me a few days ago.This reader really goes all out - she finds photographs and paintings that illustrate the colors that she likes, and builds me a little collage that is my reference material. I need to find out if she'd mind if I showed the illustrations here - they're really beautifully chosen and constructed, and serve as a glorious inspiration to my already hyper-drive imagination!

And yes, I did choose that bracelet because it reminded me of olive trees and grape vines...

For easy reference, here are the original ... View the Post