March 16, 2016 Always a favorite time of year for me - Pantone finds "new" colors to share with us! Of course, there's no such thing, but I always like to spend some time looking at the colors, and trying to see if I can find them represented anywhere in the world of merchandise. Gone are the days when these colors dominated retail offerings! While a couple of these colors are nothing more than cleverly named neutrals (the grey and the taupe), the other 8 might serve as a fun new accent color for a season or two. With that in mind, I looked at accessories, nail polish, and a few tee shirts, to see if anything was tempting.... And don't forget that canvas shoes are available in about a billion different colors, ... View the Post
Pantone Colors Archives - Page 5 of 8
Pantone 2016 Colors, and an Accessory Refresh
January 13, 2016
This horridly cold weather in Chicago reminds me of the best aspect of writing The Vivienne Files - I don't have to leave the building. (seriously - grocery story, gym, pool, dry cleaner etc. all in the building!) But I begin to crave a change of colors, and something to brighten up my winter clothes, which begin to all look the same.
While we all understand pretty clearly that Pantone colors don't actually rule the world, nor do they actually find "new" colors, they can still be a useful guide to looking at some accessories in colors that we might not otherwise consider.
What could be more fun than a new bottle of nail polish, and maybe an inexpensive ring, to cheer up the end (?!?) of winter? I think things on ... View the Post
Pantone 2016 – Useful Colors, If We See Them!
December 5, 2015
Yes, "new" colors.
Normally, Pantone gives us just one color for a year, but this year we've been given two... (can you imagine the changes in the world if there really WERE two new colors? I dream of these things...)
I like to imagine that there was a huge fight going on at the Pantone offices, and that announcing 2 colors for next year was the only way to settle it. Talk about your 1st world problems. (no, I don't really like that term, but it's a good way to describe any color dispute...)
I debated not even blogging about this, but I think I have to turn in my official blogger eyelash curlers or something if I completely ignore this announcement. I was really undecided.
And then I saw this:
First off, ... View the Post
Eight Color Ideas, from Ma To-Do List: Dressing by Colleuille and Gontier
September 17, 2015
Yes, we're visiting my favorite fashion book yet AGAIN... Frankly, until I've blogged about literally every page of this book, I'm not going to tire of it, nor find it boring - it's really just that good. If you can read French, or are willing to throw yourself into a translation frenzy, you can find it here. The next time I'm in Europe, I'm going to look for a few copies for us, since it's becoming more and more difficult to find...
Today's inspiration was found on a page about figuring out how to work with color in a wardrobe; to one side, they tucked in this little list of garments with the heading "We love, we dare..."
I love some of them. I might even dare a few of them. What do you think?
When ... View the Post
Accent Colors for Fall 2015
August 10, 2015
You remember these guys, right? They're the colors that Pantone assured us would be the BIG colors for this fall and winter.Well, I've seen a lot of Marsala in the windows at Ferragamo. Other than that, I can't say that, in my hours and hours spent each day looking at clothing and accessories, I have seen any of these in large quantities. And for what it's worth, I had to do some serious hard-core digging to find some of the goodies shown below.
I think we can conclude that Pantone's either not as accurate as they would like to be, or that the market is much less dependent upon their advice than they once were. This is a real annoyance if you fell madly in love with one of the colors that was supposed to be ... View the Post
A Four by Four Whatever’s Clean Capsule Wardrobe in Black, Beige, Marsala and Natural
April 18, 2015 As soon as I launched the newest Pantone Spring and Summer 2015 color scheme file, someone asked me to do some work with the color of the year - Marsala. She had honed in on the black and khaki, and after a bit of discussion we agreed that the best 2nd accent color would be an unbleached linen/natural color. This is the palette we finally chose for a capsule wardrobe.
I started with black, of course! Sleeveless and short-sleeved, cropped pants and "normal" pants, and all from 3.1 Phillip Lim, just for ease of matchy-matchedness. You can, of course, find your four pieces from a different, less pricey, company, or mix them from a few different places.
In fact, in order to ... View the Post
A Pantone Spring 2015 Monster File, and taking tomorrow off…
I was toying around with the new Pantone colors for spring, thinking about upcoming posts for The Vivienne Files. The idea of "new" colors is always entertaining to me - I'd LOVE it if our eyes could suddenly be enhanced to see something that we've never seen before!
But some people do find that the Pantone colors are very available through the upcoming season, and like to have an idea about which among them might work best with their existing wardrobe. So by the time I'd finished monkeyed around with all of these colors, I realized that I'd pretty much completely updated the old Color Planner document...
This baby includes all of the combinations of 2 neutrals (from the list of 14 neutrals that I've come up with, so far), and then ... View the Post
Adding a “Pantone” Accent Color to a 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe: Mauve Mist
August 30, 2014
What do you do with a Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe if you want to dabble in a currently trendy accent color? This has been asked a couple of times in the last few days, and I think it's a pretty important thing to think about; we all know that stores will show colors WAAAAAY outside of our plan...
This applies to those of us will well-established Four by Four Wardrobes, and for any of us who are still considering what to use for accent colors. If you have a wardrobe that includes a LOT of your neutrals, sampling a seasonal neutral is a good way to give yourself some variety without breaking the bank.
I actually put together a little (relatively) document that shows all ten of this seasons "new" colors, ... View the Post
Three Neutral Colors – An Amazing Range of Possibilities
Realistically, it's quite easy to work with three neutral colors as a solid wardrobe core. And starting with the fourteen rather arbitrary neutrals that I isolated yesterday, combinations of three start to pile up QUICKLY. Note that these THIRTEEN pages of color combinations are only those that include black as one of the colors...
For reference purposes, these were my fourteen neutral colors...
Interestingly, one of the most popular posts I've ever written was one which I built a wardrobe around six neutral colors (see it here). And I've finally ... View the Post
Avec Style: The 10 Rules of Color Harmony
November 5, 2013 Color is often the first thing to be addressed when fashion and personal style are the subject... The 10 Rules of Color Harmony 1. Limit the number of colors in your outfit to no more than 3. You will in this way create a visual harmony. 2. A print will often include more than 3 colors. In order to create balance, focus on the color which is most prominent in the print when finishing your outfit. Example: A black jacket is a good complement to a dress of multicolored flowers on a black background. 3. To lighten your silhouette, it is preferable to wear lighter/brighter colors on the top half of your body, and darker ones on ... View the Post
Capsule Wardrobe Fall Accent Color: Linden Green
September 21, 2013 I wasn't crazy about this color when I started looking for accent items for our capsule wardrobe, but when I started putting it against the neutral colors it really began to grow on me. And I'm also beginning to see the value in an accent cardigan. I think it's easy to assume that an accent color for a season or two might be best purchased in a blouse, tee shirt or sweater, but upon reflection I can see that a cardigan could be worn more often, and make more of a visible impact... Food for thought.
While I was combing the internet for this color, I noticed that the brand Schumacher had a variety of garments in this color currently available. It's not uncommon for a ... View the Post
Capsule Wardrobe Fall Accent Color: Koi (or Goldfish, for the rest of us)
September 20, 2013 Ah, these color names are always good for a laugh. This is sort of orange, to me. Maybe goldfish. But under any name, this is a radiant color that is PERFECT for autumn and winter...
love, Janice ... View the Post
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