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Common Capsule Wardrobe Colors: Cobalt

August 7, 2014  

How maddening....  This is a great shirt.  At a great price.  And the way Uniqlo shows it on their website (with a superimposed color swatch) makes it look like there's something defective with the left sleeve.  Really, do you NEED a swatch, in blue, overlapping a blue shirt.  Did we think the shirt was really, surreptitiously, pink?Ahem...

I love this color.  I wore it in the '80's, as did many of us.  Maybe you can't shake those memories, but I'd encourage you to consider a little bit of bright blue...

Earrings – Dorus Mhor, shirt – Uniqlo, bracelet – George J. Love

  I loved this color with brown and beige WAAAY back when...

  This is how I wore ... View the Post

Common Capsule Wardrobe Colors: Puce

August 6, 2014 Okay, even the internet can't agree on what, exactly, puce looks like! But one of my favorite color references, Encycolorpedia, calls it puce, and that's good enough for me. This is certainly a color that you could tweak a bit - moving to something warmer, or lighter, as suited your wardrobe, your preferences, and your personal coloring. Never buy a color just because it's the "big" color for the year - that's just an industry device to get you to spend money you don't need to spend on things you don't need to own!

This color has been added here because I've recently read a couple of things that suggest that it's a universally flattering color. I believe that a color that matches your personal blush or lipstick is indeed ... View the Post

Common Capsule Wardrobe Colors: Coral

July 25, 2014  

Coral comes in a range of tints - there are more "pinkish", less "orangish" versions out there too if those would be more flattering.  But any of them will look completely appropriate and attractive with all of our neutral color usual suspects.  And as we move into August, and what is for many of us the end of summer (my great-nephew goes back to school IN 10 DAYS!!!), this might be a good wardrobe refresher, as well as a low-commitment way to test drive a new accent color for your wardrobe.   Please note - this tunic-length top is going to be "iffy" with some cardigans; I personally can wear a top hanging out below my cardigan without worry, but you might want to bear this conundrum in mind when ... View the Post

A Floral Blouse in A Common Capsule Wardrobe

June 11, 2014   Floral garments are everywhere this summer - any sort of skirt, blouse, tee shirt or dress your heart may desire is out there somewhere...   But I receive emails every day asking how a floral garment can be incorporated into The Common Capsule Wardrobe.  Let's look at this problem in some detail.   First off - the gorgeous blouse with which you fall in love - is it in colors that bear at least a passing resemblance to the rest of your wardrobe? Or does it include a substantial portion of a neutral (or two)? This blouse might be the first glimpse of rose/dark pink that your wardrobe has seen in decades, but at least it has a lot of neutral khaki in it, and enough black details that it can be worn ... View the Post

My Version of Une Annee de Style – A Common Capsule Wardrobe

May 20, 2014  

After thinking a while about last week's book (Une Annee de Style), I realized that this book was basically just a variation of my old standard Common Capsule Wardrobe - a small collection of neutral, simple garments upon which one can build all kinds of personalized styles and outfits.Let's say that you get a wild inclination to buy a fantastic tee shirt...  You find some pretty outrageous sandals that go with your tee shirt, and also a beautiful, solid scarf...

  If you start with that simple core of garments that we all should own (in some variation or another)...  

You have all of these ways to wear the fabulous new tee shirt, as well as the cool green sandals and the beautiful ... View the Post

How to get “stress dressed”…

May 14 2014   I am asked this question often - is there anything I can do to be prepared when I have one of those mornings and I just can't get dressed?   Today's a particularly appropriate day for me to write this, because I'm wearing my version of this today - head to toe black with accessories...   For me, the best way to be prepared for this is to have ten items - six garments and four accessories - specifically assigned (in my mind, at least) for these days when everything feels like it's falling apart.  You can work this in any color scheme, and the garments in question are an excellent base for both a travel wardrobe or a new simpler closet.   You have to accept that you're going to wear a very simple ... View the Post

Leveraging the Floral Trend: 1= 20

April 22, 2014

Once more, let's visit this beige and navy spring and summer wardrobe.   You're happy with this wardrobe - it provides appropriate and attractive options for pretty much every event in your life.  But you decide that you WANT something floral, just to participate in a current trend.  You love flowers.  You want a new tee shirt.  You just plain want to shop!   Keeping your color scheme in mind - either through carrying around some skeins of embroidery floss, or a photograph of your closet, or whatever mnemonic works best for you:  

  You stumble across this beauty in your shopping:  

    All your colors.  Floral.  It seems perfect... ... View the Post

More Wardrobe Leverage: 3 = 30

April 19, 2014  

Let's say that you are the happy owner of the 24 piece wardrobe in navy and beige that we've looked at for the last two days...  And you decide that you want a little bit of brightness for spring!The only real thing you want to keep in mind while shopping is the degree to which anything new that you choose can be worn with your core pants and sweaters.  A scarf that includes your core colors, along with a couple of pretty accent colors, is a good place to start.  Pick up a pair of tee shirts in the accent colors, and you're on your way!

At first, these don't see to be a particularly compatible choice for your original wardrobe:

  But in ... View the Post

2 dozen = 12 dozen, at least

April 18, 2014  

I'm always intrigued by how many outfits you can pull together from a well-chosen capsule wardrobe, so after I built yesterday's ensemble, I started pulling together outfits, just out of curiosity...Remember, these were the 24 garments with which I started:

  There are almost certainly more possibilities here; I threw in the towel after I passed twelve dozen...  

love, Janice ... View the Post

A “Two Suit” Wardrobe in Navy and Beige

April 17, 2014   Another visit to this concept, keeping the beige linen (I'm SO lazy...) and using navy as our other neutral. I'm going to try to explain the steps for choosing these items in more detail, so that you can recreate what I do in your own closet.

 

Also, I want to address the question of having multiple pairs of dark neutral pants. Often, we're told that "you shouldn't own three pair of navy pants", but I heartily disagree, because of the wide variety of navy pants that you might own. In this particular example, I've included very narrow navy capris in a cotton fabric, a wide-legged trouser (full-length), and a silk-like palazzo pant. My feeling is that these three pants give three very different outfits when ... View the Post

Can Chanel Guide Us to a Workable Casual Wardrobe?

April 16, 2014   One of the most popular posts I've ever written was asking if Coco Chanel was right when she told us that a woman only needs two suits to be well dressed.  (find it here)  I'm often asked how this idea translates for those among us who wear mostly casual clothing, and who don't really have any use for a suit.  So these are my thoughts:   First off - the equivalent of the black suit - a cardigan, capris, pants, and a dress:  

  and then a similar approach in beige - another cardigan, linen pants, a pair of shorts and another:  

  First add-on is a couple of "twin-sets" in accent colors.  But only one cardigan, and a linen shirt to take the place of the ... View the Post

The Vivienne Files FAQ: Are Accessories Necessary?

March 4, 2014   Do you have to buy and wear accessories?  Absolutely not - except most of us will have to wear shoes... But I very strongly feel that just a few well-chosen accessories can make a world of difference in how the simplest of garments come together into ensembles.   If you're not comfortable wearing scarves, find a way to just throw one around your neck one day and then do your utmost to ignore it for as long as possible.  Make sure your first scarf isn't anything floaty or filmy that's going to blow up into your face at the first opportunity.  Maybe something quite small, tied up and out of the way so that you won't even really see it...   Jewelry is also pretty useful - earrings especially ... View the Post