The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Home » Build a Capsule Wardrobe » Page 75

Build a Capsule Wardrobe Archives - Page 75 of 87

Packing for Special Occasions: A Floral Coat, and Flower Colors

July 10, 2013

Sometimes, you have to travel for a special event to a place where the days are warm, but the evenings can be quite cool. This is a perfect opportunity to invest in an astonishingly beautiful coat, which gives you lots of colorful options around which to build a travel capsule wardrobe.

Regarding the question about the handbag color? I personally would always opt for a metallic when I'm not sure of what color. Not a blindingly shiny gaudy metallic - something more subtle and muted, in the same general color range as the clutch shown here. I find that metallic are a lot easier to blend in with a variety of colors than anything else that I see.

love, Janice

PS - For more color inspiration, check out ... View the Post

Packing for a Special Event: Black

July 5, 2013  

For a  business event that is quite dressy, this ensemble below would be wonderful.  And I particularly like this whole assortment of clothes, because it is all very suitable for those of us who do not have a well-defined waistline.  Do remember, this much unrelieved black relies heavily on judicious and generous accessorizing to avoid looking monastic...You may not feel comfortable wearing a black dress to some occasions; I see them more and more at weddings - but of course now many brides dress their attendants in black, which opens up the possibility for the guests also.  It's all about how comfortable you will feel - that's the only standard that ultimately matters.  

Dress-  ... View the Post

Packing for a Special Event: Lavender and Grey

July 2, 2013   It's always difficult to know what shoes to wear with a dress like this.  While metallic sandals would always be an appropriate choice, the coat in this ensemble makes it possible to wear open, ornamented black sandals. Packing a black clutch and black sandals is handy, because you can then wear them if you want to dress up the other dress, or the skirt.    

Amethyst earrings - DeLatori, Lavender dress – Valentino Roma, Bag - Artessorio, Sandals – Van Eli, Coat – Philosophy di Alberta di Ferretti    

Blouse – Giambattista Valli, Cardgan- Nicole Farhi, Pants – Saint Laurent, Bracelet – Sisco & Berluti,   Bag – Bottega Veneta, Suitcase – ... View the Post

Packing for a Special Event, Urban, Early Spring

June 26, 2013

 

Rose quartz earrings – Nikki Baker, Bag – A. F. Vandervorst, Dress – Paule Ka, Coat- Jil Sander, Taupe pumps – Kristin Michaels     Yes, this is the second day in a row that this lace-trimmed scarf is shown - I think it's both amazingly beautiful and quite versatile.  I can't imagine anything that you might wear from this travel wardrobe that wouldn't look just a tiny bit nicer with this somewhere.  

Cardigan – Eric Bompard,  Blouse – L’Autre Chose, Watch – Movado, Pants- Gardeur,  Loafers- Munro, Scarf – futabaya,  Suitcase – Tumi     And yes, there are a couple more tops in here from Eric Bompard.  If ... View the Post

Packing for a Special Event, Urban Setting, Autumn

I get tons of questions about how to pack for various special occasions - weddings, graduations, etc. To me, this sounds like the perfect time to break out a really wonderful dress.  Nothing flouncy or bright or conspicuous - that wouldn't be comfortable, at least for me.  But something with an amazing cut, in luxurious fabric... Coupled with a drop-dead spectacular coat...   In fact, the whole trip could be an excuse to pick up a handful of the most beautiful garments: a wonderful sweater, along with the perfect jeans, another more casual but still exquisite dress, and a show-stopping skirt, along with a couple of blouses.   While grey might not be your cup of tea, many of us could travel a long, long time with just ... View the Post

Toronto – how I got it all packed

We're back!  And Toronto was wonderful - what a great, vibrant, busy, diverse city.  We will definitely go back, and I have much more to share with you about this trip.   But I received a lot of questions about how I packed - so I've got snapshots of the process!  

The bag - empty.  Those are my ghastly workout shoes next to the bag, so you can see how small the bag actually is.  This is the Tumi Riggs carry-on - no wheels.  I didn't even realized that they MADE one with wheels...  Maybe Tumi should give me one of those, eh?

There's about 30% of my packing capacity already -  my shoes "bumpered" on the sides of my bag, and my pajamas rolled up and slid in between the shoes. ... View the Post

Packing from the 333 Capsule Wardrobe, with a few essential deviations from the system

Belovedest and I are off to Toronto for a long weekend of rugby and rest.  I packed pretty easily from the Project 333, except I had to jump ship for the rugby match - nothing but jeans and a jersey will really be appropriate!So I hauled everything out and assembled it on my nifty hanging rack:

The obnoxious plaid thing is my pajamas... Far left is my black jacket - I might wear it on the plane, or pack it, depending on what the weather does.   Then you can see my jeans, and my rugby jersey, and then my sweaters and scarves, tee shirts, and pants.

Everything lays out like this:

  It is quite a bit more clothing that I would normally pack for 3 nights, but the rugby match requires very special garments, and the way ... View the Post

Accessories for multiple European Cities

May 30, 2013    

paisley scarf - Brooks Brothers, red earrings - Blue Nile, knot earrings - Brooks Brothers, navy sunglasses - Paul Smith, square scarf - Etro, gold chain necklace - Brooks Brothers, red & white scarf - Monsoon, turquoise earrings - Michael Kors, navy & gold bracelet - C. Wonder, watch - Nixon You could survive without three scarves - you can live with no scarves at all!  The gold jewelry all shares a chain/link sensibility, and two simple pairs of earrings in your accent colors can get a lot of mileage.  Sunglasses in one of your core neutrals, and you're ready to travel...

Navy short-sleeved tee - J. Crew, navy ... View the Post

Multiple European cities: Packing with navy, khaki, red and turquoise

May 29, 2013  

 

I get some amazing questions, with descriptions of trips that make me absolutely green with envy!  One of my friends recently shared that she's going to be in Belfast, London, and Paris - what a dream trip for me...

She had isolated two jackets that she wants to take, and around which she would like to build her travel capsule wardrobe.

navy rain jacket - Jack Wills, short trench coat - Woolrich These are great choices - something waterproof is ALWAYS essential in Ireland, and it's wise to have a lightweight jacket even in the middle of the summer.

So my thinking: you need to start with a dark neutral color; navy is the obvious choice in this case.  I always start with a "core ... View the Post