Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature
January 22, 2023
Now that I'm FINALLY getting physical therapy for my bad knee, I'm spending at least a couple of days a week in gym clothes...
I LOVE gym clothes...
And yes, I'm in a very "Julie Vos" mode for jewelry right now. Her earrings sit just right on my ears, and are so comfortable I've been known to forget I'm wearing them until I get into bed!
love,
Janice ... View the Post
January 20, 2023
It's the 20th already? Holy chocolate-coated Buddha on a stick... So Far, So Good... Our heroine has her color scheme all sorted:
And she has all of her clothing (except for 1 piece - that's the bonus #33 item!) chosen, too:
At a minimum, I'm thinking that this heroine needs 3 pairs of shoes, a couple of bags, and some jewelry. Maybe a scarf or two...
The best way I've found to make sure that you have what you need - packing, or planning a Project 333 Wardrobe - is to work your way through a number of outfits and think about what you want to wear with the clothing.
She can't easily resist gold loafers, and a matching handbag...
A backpack is always handy - many of us have started carrying ... View the Post
October 28, 2022
She's Hard to Describe... For one thing, she's the only woman a lot of them know who can wear a ruana and look like a heroine from a romance novel...
She thinks that she's very low-key and inconspicuous - after all, she wears a lot of grey!
Her accent colors aren't bright, or gaudy...
But still, there's something about her that catches your eye, and doesn't readily let go...
If someone is truly beautiful, the world will see it...
Even if their beauty is entirely inside. Or maybe, ESPECIALLY if their beauty is internal...
love,
Janice
p.s. Nine years ago, I sorted out the "Triple Top Secret." It was something that I'd been doing for years without really seeing the ... View the Post
September 30, 2022
Why yes, Pantone found additional colors at New York Fashion Week...
Which is fine with me, because I could look at accessories 'til the cows come home! And since I live in the city, that would be forever, right?
Let's start with this classic red; yes, this scarf is an investment. But you could wear it at least once a week during cool weather, for the rest of your life. I'm finding that I have some scarves that 20+ years old, and that I still adore.
I've chosen ivory (Winter White?) and beige as our wardrobe core colors to "test drive" this batch of accent colors. While I wouldn't wear white pumps in this lifetime, I know a LOT of women who wear them through the year and look just lovely.
And ... View the Post
September 21, 2022
As we have come to expect, Pantone "discovered" 10 "new" fashion colors from the London Spring/Summer 2022/23 Fashion Week.
Bizarrely enough, they seem to have arranged them almost like a (weird) rainbow! So to look at these colors as suggestions for wardrobe accents, I'm going to take the first 5 colors and pair them all with a tiny number of navy pieces...
I chose navy because it looks good with all 5 colors - which makes sense. Navy is opposite to orange on the color wheel, and these colors are all on that side of the wheel!
It sounds strange, but it seems to work...
First up - how often are you looking for something in a true, "not blue, not yellowish" red color, and everything you see is really on ... View the Post
August 29, 2022 Staying at the Observatory Until the Autumnal Equinox
There are all kinds of interesting things to observe and photograph near the equinox; she's going to stay until then, to have everything ready!
She will be alone most of the time, and it will get quite cool before she comes home...
So she starts her small travel wardrobe with some warm things, in the navy of the night sky:
There's laundry in the housing facility at the base of the tower, so she doesn't need much at all for clothing; these 9 pieces will go a long way!
But she realizes that if she takes a few more shirts and sweaters, she won't have to do laundry as often! So she turns to one of her favorite recent astronomy ... View the Post
August 24, 2022
It seems a bit premature to be looking at art entitled Winter Solstice, but our heroine loves pastels!
She doesn't much care what anybody else wears - she's not interested in dark colors! She feels beautiful in pink, and lovely in sky blue...
The core of her wardrobe for cooler weather is gray, with a bit of denim and chambray tossed in for practicality:
please note - everybody's "Common Wardrobe" will be different - what I'm looking for are the core, neutral garments that form the base for the more expressive and statement garments and accessories in our wardrobes.
On those days, our heroine knows that she doesn't have to look any farther than these 9 pieces to get her dressed and out the ... View the Post
August 22, 2022
She loved his art the first minute she saw it! The clarity, simplicity, beautiful colors - all of it!
And she knew that this painting would be useful in helping her focus her ever-shrinking wardrobe:
She knows that the core of her wardrobe will be black, white and denim - this painting seems just right!
She start her autumn wardrobe planning with A Common Wardrobe. It's not called "common" because the clothes are cheap or run of the mill - it's called common because these are clothes that a LOT of people have in common!
That's a good thing - you can easily find them, they fit in easily when you're not sure what to wear, but best of all, the serve as a neutral background for whatever accents you wish to ... View the Post
July 15, 2022
I'm long overdue to spend some time looking in detail at how one can choose a 13-piece "Whatever's Clean" wardrobe; you can't just grab a baker's dozen pieces of clothing and stuff them in a suitcase!
If you've been visiting The Vivienne Files for a few years, you certain recognize the idea of 13 garments for a travel capsule wardrobe - 3 to wear and 10 to pack.
But let's think about a specific travel situation that one of us is confronting week after week; packing for the weekend plus the Monday work day...
First - what items of clothing do you need?
You can always "right-click" on this template, and print it out, and then jot down notes about what you're considering...
Secondly, you need to make ... View the Post
July 11, 2022
The Best Laid Plans... She was planning to spend the autumn photographing leaves, and hiking, and enjoying the brisk air...
But instead, she's going to be touring with a political candidate whom she supports. It's a long story!
She doesn't want to pack much; she frankly doesn't want to think about clothing at all once she closes her suitcase. She's going to have quite enough on her mind!
So she's thinking that she will have room to pack 10 garments in her medium suitcase... Maybe a "Whatever's Clean 13" Wardrobe is what she needs, eh?
Realistically, she might be able to stop at home from time to time, but she wants to be as self-sufficient as possible when they're driving from small town to ... View the Post
July 8, 2022
As soon as she saw the painting, so many things became clearer...
It includes all of her favorite colors, but it's the title that really grabs her...
This is what she wants - after two and a half years of staying home and being careful - she wants to be a passenger!
And so she's leaving. As soon as the summer's over, she's going to buy a train pass and just GO...
She will choose destinations based on things like sporting events, or art exhibits, or other museum-type stuff... or maybe weather. Or something else!
She starts to plan her foolproof wardrobe now; anticipation is a big part of the travel fun, for her:
She loves the idea of a wardrobe based in black, and punctuated with bright colors. ... View the Post
June 29, 2022 Today's my birthday - I'm 62!!! The only certain treat today is a yellow cake with maple frosting, from Sweet Mandy B's... Sadly, I will NOT be able to have a blog post ready for Friday; between my birthday and other utterly unrelated errands I have to run on Thursday, it's just not possible! I will of course be back on Monday...
But on to more practical things - clearing out a wardrobe that's just plain and simply too full. More clothing than you need is confusing, distracting clutter, and clothing that you can donate could be a wonderful gift to a total stranger...
Here's our starting point:
I'm working (gradually and haltingly!) toward Project 333 for myself, and I'm trying to be sensible, by keeping clothing ... View the Post
