French 5-Piece Archives

Thinking About Accents? Six Scarves, with “French 5-Piece Accessory Wardrobes”

June 11, 2025

It's been ages since we've really taken a long look at a stack of scarves! When I saw that The Met Store had a few new scarves in, I thought that this was a good time to think about accessories and accent colors.

First up, I chose these six scarves upon which we could focus:

Even if you're not buying a scarf these days - heck, even if you NEVER buy scarves - this exercise might help you focus on what your favorite accent colors are. When you're confronted with a number of items in different colors, even if they're spatulas (!), it's always interesting to see what draws your attention first, and if that initial attention translates into affection or admiration.

I still waffle back and forth between purple, brown ... View the Post

Five Final Colors from Autumn/Winter 2025/26

April 18, 2025

The last five colors, until the next batch of colors appears!

I'm thinking of assembling all of the Pantone images that I've ever done - well, all the ones that I can find - and putting them into a big file that you could download. My ideas it that being able to see a LOT of these colors all together would give us all a broad base for figuring out favorites...

Let's (very carefully!) jump in:

Who doesn't look good in teal? I remember that it was always one of the four accent colors that were suggested when you needed a color that was at least neutral on most people. (the other three were coral, true royal purple, and a clear pink)

I'm becoming a big fan of Chili Oil - I could break down and buy ALL of ... View the Post

Five More Colors from Pantone – Some of Them Are Repeats…

April 14, 2025

Big confession here - I've lost ALL TRACK of what colors came from New York Fashion Week (capitalized, of course!), and which came from London Fashion Week.

I'm not sure that it matters to us, frankly. I got to the point where I had so many files and tabs open that I despaired of my limited sanity, so I've just decided to carry on as if I know what I'm doing!

And yes, some colors appear on both lists. It's interesting going BACK to a color after I thought I was quite finished with it...

But these are interesting, and all are lovely, depending on your taste. There's someone for every color, I'm convinced!

I rather love this green; I see it with brown all year. The brown buttons on the cardigan help that thought. ... View the Post

Another Five New Pantone Colors (Red and Brown!), and Five “French Five-Piece” Wardrobes”

April 11, 2025

Why yes, all five of these are some sort of red or brown. I don't know what Pantone's got in mind here, but I think anybody with some red or brown in their wardrobe is going to be very "on trend." As if we ever cared about trends - those are for people who don't know their own style!

Some of these colors are lovely; I'm eager to know which of these you like:

I'm quite smitten with brown these days - is this just finally embracing having brown eyes?

Chili Oil seems to be like a color that will look good any time of year...

And I clearly see this color more suiting autumn rather than summer, but what do you think?

This color is wonderful....

What's your favorite, if any? I think I'm ... View the Post

Five New Pantone Colors, and Five “French Five-Piece” Wardrobes”

April 9, 2025

Pantone has graciously shared with us their color choices for the upcoming Autumn and Winter, taken from what they saw at the London Fashion Week. There are also colors from the New York week - I will look at them all...

There are a couple of reasons that I always like to visit these colors:

We all want to at least consider new accent colors from time to time, and this gives us a good opportunity to visualize what a new color might look like in a range of items - shoes, bag, earrings etc. For all of us who know our accent colors, there's often a color in these lists that very close to what we've already chosen. These posts give us a chance to see some new items in our favorite colors!

So I'm showing you five ... View the Post

Can I Wear Toast Brown With My Current Clothes?

August 19, 2024

Starting very early last Friday morning, I was asked repeatedly if the "toast brown" cashmere sweater in this post could be worn with neutrals other than black...

This is the post, just to make it easy for you to see it again!

So I thought that I would pull together a little "French 5-Piece Wardrobe" in that lovely brown/taupe. It's a great color - sort of warm, but not yellowish - at least on my computer screen!

Maybe you weren't convinced that this colors goes with black, so I will show it again...

Honestly, if I didn't already have both a brown cardigan and TWO brown crewneck sweaters, I'd buy this one... I love the way these colors look together!

I think it's logical, and maybe obvious, ... View the Post

Do You Love Larkspur? Are You Passionate About Periwinkle?

June 28, 2024

OMG, tomorrow is my birthday! I will be 64... although I feel like I'm somewhere at the crossroads of 21 and 90. My brain is young, my knees are past retirement age!

What do I want for my birthday? For you to recommend The Vivienne Files to anyone who might enjoy our community, and my ideas...

Speaking of community - many of you - MANY OF YOU - really love the color "Larkspur" offered by L.L.Bean. They currently have THIRTY-THREE items available, so it's pretty easy to find something you can wear frequently. That said, many of these things are marked down, and therefore might just rush into retail oblivion...

I assembled this French 5-Piece Wardrobe in Larkspur to help me focus on how this color might be ... View the Post

Want a Simple Blue & White Summer Wardrobe? Start with Art – Mirage by Max Ernst

June 14, 2024

She loves the painting. She REALLY loves the colors - she believes that the top section is brown, and who are we to disagree?

This is an important thing for us all to remember - just because our painting of inspiration and motivation includes (in this case) four colors doesn't mean that every wardrobe we assemble MUST include all four colors...

So while our heroine has a "shades of pink" and brown wardrobe in her dreams for the upcoming cool weather, right now, she's liking blue and white...

She's found a dress she loves, as well as a handbag that's gorgeous...

She already had lots of white clothes, so this year, she found new sneakers with blue trim, as well as a bracelet, and a new band for her ... View the Post

Want to Embrace the Pantone Color of the Year? Start with Art – Untitled Watercolor 1946 by Mark Rothko

June 12, 2024

For those who don't pay attention to such things, the Pantone 2024 "Color of the Year" is Peach Fuzz. Very pretty, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we can find clothing in this color!

Our heroine is smitten with this painting, and she just knew that someone, somewhere, would eventually introduce clothing that would be perfect...

She knows full well that taupe is a miserably difficult color to find in clothing, so she's prepared to wear white with her new accent color, if necessary. And she's also willing to be persistent, and patient, in the hunt for taupe!

These are the colors she wants for her new wardrobe accent:

She's not entirely sure how much of this new color she will purchase - she's going ... View the Post

Want to Try Warm Accents with Black? Start with a Scarf – The Juan Delcan Scarf by Echo

May 27, 2024

While some of us are loyal to the color palettes given to us - sometimes years ago - by color consultants, some of us are out there experimenting...

This scarf inspires experimentation:

At first, I thought I would tackle something with the light blue background - faded denim and chambray would both be ideal.

But then I really focused on the juxtaposition of black with the warm gold, green and orange creatures on this most whimsical of scarves:

Our heroine, who has a fondness for lacy and textured cardigans, is off and running!

Her wardrobe has many of the same classic black garments as that of her friend from Friday's post, but things look very different with these colors!

Even though ... View the Post

Are You Just Now Adding Accent Colors? Start With a Scarf – The Helena Christensen Silk Scarf by Echo

May 22, 2024

She's never worn accent colors - there are a ton of neutrals, and she's always been just fine with them!

But she saw this scarf...

Immediately, she saw colors that she loves. It's not that she's never liked accent colors, but until now, none of them really felt like her. Who are we to question?

Her Common Wardrobe is migrating slowly toward spring - a black top with ruffled sleeves is about as racy as she's ever really gone! But she does have summer tops and a pair of shorts, so she's off to a good start:

Then one day, she decided to just jump in and shop! She's still not made the move to wearing earrings - THAT feels like too much a change... (yes, I have two friends who NEVER wear earrings ... View the Post

Is Your Wardrobe Very Basic? Start with a Scarf – Krista Kim Silk Scarf by Echo

May 20, 2024

What do you do about accents and accessories when your wardrobe is very neutral and practical? I've been asked this quite a bit, recently...

Say you're smitten with this scarf:

You can easily see that there are tons of colors possible to emphasize in this scarf, but you isolate this color palette:

Yes, it's entirely possible that the border of this scarf is navy, rather than black. I'm not quite certain...

Here's where your questions seem to arise - this is what your day-to-day wardrobe looks like:

Yes, these 12 garments are what I refer to as A Common Wardrobe, or "clothes that most of us own in one variation or another." Years ago, I spent an evening observing a large gathering of advertising ... View the Post