Art Archives - Page 56 of 85

How to Pack a Foolproof Travel Wardrobe, All in Neutrals

May 24, 2017

If you're in Chicago, you of course must go to the Art Institute of Chicago, our very deservedly famous art museum. But when you're there, make sure not to miss the fabric exhibit. It's small, it's in the basement, it changes every few months, and it NEVER disappoints...

Seen there last weekend, included in a really stunning exhibit of batik fabrics:

This fabric is maybe 9 or 10 feet long, and 4 feet wide. It's really kind of breathtaking...

Seeing these neutral colors working so beautifully together, our mythical heroine was able to solve her packing dilemma...

I've got it all arranged...

We'll just go from city to city by train; I've already purchased the train passes....

Well okay, she ... View the Post

What to Pack for Ireland? Start with Art: Etude de Mademoiselle Pogany by Brancusi

May 19, 2017

Ireland? I used to live there! If you're going there, you're in for a treat... but be warned, much of the year it's a somewhat colder treat than you might be expecting...Let's use a beautiful, simple painting to focus our color choices, and just to treat ourselves, eh?

This is NOT going to be a "Whatever's Clean" wardrobe - it would certainly be possible to do it with this color scheme, but I'm going to recklessly include both pink and red pieces here that will not play nicely together. You don't have to have every last little thing matching, so long as you've got the basic neutrals in place...

You might feel really foolish leaving a fairly warm place and getting onto an airplane while wearing or ... View the Post

What to Pack for Paris? How About Beige and Navy, with Teal and Brown Accents?

May 8, 2017

Remember our heroine who was taking photographs in Paris for a long weekend? Well, she's realized (we're shocked) that she needs to go back for a much longer trip!

She's staying with her original color scheme and her original travel outfit. She's maybe going to see the same people when she checks into her hotel, but it's possible that wearing the same outfit might help them recognize her; that would be good!

After a few days of consideration, she's decided to take everything with her that she took for her first trip. She really wants to dress up a bit more on this trip (because her sweetie is going with her!), but most of these pieces are going to work just as well for that!

Since Sweetie is coming ... View the Post

How to Add an Accent Color for Warm Weather; Start with Art: View of New York by Charles Sheeler

May 4, 2017

This painting couldn't be allowed to fade into the history of The Vivienne Files without another look, right?

Our bird watching, star gazing heroine is going on a much longer trip, but has decided that she doesn't need to make any changes to her travel outfit:

You might remember what she packed for her shorter trip to visit her friends with the veranda - all of these things were perfect, so she'll definitely include them:

These are what she's adding to her suitcase for her longer trip; she's gone a wee bit overboard on her accent color, but summer clothes don't last as long as winter, so she felt a bit like indulging. And no, it's not the exactly precise color that ... View the Post

How to Add Accent Colors to Your Capsule Wardrobe – Hot Pink and Green

Remember this beautiful painting, and intriguing color palette?

And of course you remember this wardrobe from last week...

In and of itself, this is a pretty good assortment of clothes:

But for most of us, for the entire summer, we're going to want more than 16 pieces... So let's have our heroine start out her shopping by adding some hot pink, as well as a bit more black and white. For many of us, these shorts might be a big longer (like capri pant length!), or one could also find a skirt in this color...

This is how her wardrobe now looks with the additional pieces. The hot pink definitely doesn't blend in with everything else, but since it's meant to be an accent color, it really doesn't have to go with everything ... View the Post

A Bit of Immodesty…

May 2, 2017

Yes, The Vivienne Files is one of Feedspot's top 100 Women Fashion Blogs...

This is particularly surprising and delightful for me because The Vivienne Files is pretty thoroughly unlike any other blog - you don't get any photographs of me (trust me, you're happier this way!), and I don't really talk about my own wardrobe and cosmetic choices very much (except when I'm traveling, at which time all rules are broken). These characteristics of The Vivienne Files are deliberate, and I made these choices knowing that writing a blog like this would limit my readership. So it's particularly delightful to have any organization in the world notice me and include me in their list.

And WHAT a list - it includes some of our ... View the Post

How to Pack for a Long Weekend (in Paris?)? Start with Art: Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay

April 28, 2017

This painting just makes me sigh...

This color scheme has so many possibilities:

More and more I find that brown leather is a great way to incorporate brown into almost any outfit!

I know that it's possible to just go to Paris for a long weekend (I've done it - it was insane...) if you live much closer than those of us in North America. Imagine that our heroine is going there, to spend some time outdoors - maybe photographing sculptures in the many parks?

I'm assuming that for this trip, she's going to neither climb nor crawl, so she doesn't have to wear absolutely hard-core work clothes. Just a handful (+1) of nice things that will look attractive during the day and not leave her ... View the Post

How to Pack Light for a Long Weekend? Start with Art: View of New York by Charles Sheeler

April, 26, 2017

Do you remember one of my very favorite all-time posts, where a woman went to visit friends to look at the stars? Her wardrobe colors were inspired by the colors of the common shelduck - brown, black, and white...Well, she's found a painting that she really likes, so this year, when she's going back to visit her friends again, she's in the same color scheme. The weather is warmer, but you might recognize a few of her accessories from last winter's trip...

Her color scheme expands to include cream and grey (earlier, she was pretty strictly black and white with brown leather accessories), and some day she's going to try something in sky blue. Some day...

She knows that it's going to be warmer in April ... View the Post

How to Build a Warm Weather Travel Four by Four Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Palimpsest 46 by Kamrooz Aram

April 25, 2017

Let's revisit yesterday's painting - I don't feel like we've nearly exhausted the possibilities of these colors! My hypothesis is that yesterday's heroine has been invited to... a wedding, let's say, out of town far enough that she's going to stay for a week or so. Except for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding itself, she won't have to get madly dressed up, but she can reasonably expect at least another dinner or two out with relatives and old friends.

So we start here:

And we remind ourselves of what our color scheme is going to be for this travel capsule wardrobe:

Our heroine was really happy with her travel outfit when she took her long lazy weekend break, so she's not changing a thing ... View the Post

Build a Warm Weather Travel Six-Pack by Starting with Art: Palimpsest 46 by Kamrooz Aram

April 24, 2017

I'm smitten with this artist, Kamrooz Aram - you're going to see more from him:

I love these colors - especially those little touches of brightness! I didn't use them in this Six-Pack, but in a larger wardrobe, you would definitely see them... I also don't have any grey garments included here, but for a trip that would last a few more days, a nice grey summer dress, and certainly a tee shirt and shorts, would be such simple things to add.

And while I don't have style notes here, I'm definitely thinking that this is a woman who loves flowers, but who also appreciates the compelling power of large patches of solid colors, arranged in a way understood only by the artist.

My heroine is traveling ... View the Post

Build An Overnight Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Before the Parachute Opens, Version 2

April 21, 2017

After I looked at this painting again, on a different computer, I realized that I just HAD to consider the possibility that the "jumper" here really is more olive than brown...

Today's heroine is drawn to this painting by the angularity of it - she's the woman who really admires a good right angle, straight lines, clean structural joints and elegantly well-executed welds. She does have a bit of a hidden soft spot though...

Her tote bag is solidly squared off, and easily holds her gear for an overnight trip - maybe she's an architect going to visit a site and then dine with some of the people working there?

I'm no miser when it comes to buying pajamas, but these are pretty extravagant!

And I have to ... View the Post

Build an Overnight Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Before the Parachute Opens by Tullio Crali

April 20, 2017

Such an amazing painting - from such an unusual and compelling point of view!And I've noticed that the central color of the jumper is dark brown on my main computer, but that she is more olive green on my laptop! No wonder we have so much trouble talking about colors - we're not even necessarily seeing the same things...

But since I've found a few nice brown pieces, I thought that I'd stick with my initial impression that she's mostly brown. Maybe I'll re-visit this painting and use olive instead - what do you think?

My only style thoughts were of a strong respect for the sky, space, flying, and birds! But this color scheme could really work for a long time, although it would take a long time to find ... View the Post