The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: The Shoe Shop, by Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones

Subtle, neutral, graceful...    

Painting: Shoe Shop, by Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones, blazer – Topshop,

 slingbacks – Circa Joan & David, scarf – futabaya, dress – Narciso Rodriguez,

 coat – Rachel Comey, scarf – Tamakiku, boots – Gabriella Rocha  

Painting: Shoe Shop, by Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones, wrap sweater – Stella 

McCartney,  silk tank – Kain Classic, ankle boots – Debenhams, skirt – Donna 

Karan, taupe sweater – Vince, scarf – milleneufcentquatrevingtquatre, 

bracelet – Paige Novick, jeans – Helmut Lang  

Painting: Shoe Shop, by Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones, blazer – Malene Birger, 

brooch – Cara Accessories, pants – Brunello ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Mondrian Composition in Oval

Yes, you CAN combine "warm" and "cool" colors.  If Mondrian can do it, any of us can!  

Painting – Mondrian, sweater – Topshop, jeans – Seven for all Mankind, pink flats – Fitzwell, grey hoodie – L.L.Bean, jeans – Maison Scotch, hi-tops - Converse  

Painting – Mondrian, tweed jacket – Red Valentino, dress – Dorothy Perkins, pumps – Soft Style, tank – Malene Birger, sandals – Kors by Michael Kors, pink capris - DKNY  

Painting – Mondrian, sweater – J. Crew, suede skirt – L’Agence, boots – See by Chloe, trench coat – Calvin Klein, scarf – Scotch-Soda, flats – Pied a Terre  

Painting – Mondrian, sweater – Acne, pink skirt – J. Crew, flats – Ara, blouse – Mauro Grifoni, skirt ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Sonia Delaunay’s Rose des Ventes

Using this painting as the focal inspiration for outfits really demonstrates how you can start with a core of neutrals, and then build out with some unexpected accent colors...

Painting – Sonia Delaunay, hooded sweater – N. Peal, beige jeans – MAJE, blue espadrilles – Boohoo, white jacket & coral dress – Dorothy Perkins, coral espadrilles – Pied a Terre  

Painting – Sonia Delaunay, cardigan – J. Crew, dress – Dorothy Perkins, sandals – Opening Ceremony, scarf – Filippa K., dress – Valentino, coral pumps – Dorothy Perkins  

Painting – Sonia Delaunay, cardigan – Crumpet, tee shirt – Alexander Wang, grey twill pants – Seven for all Mankind, oxfords – Jil Sander, sweater – Maxmara, scarf – ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Mary Cassatt’s Lydia Seated in the Garden

Sweater – Topshop, Pants – The Row, Brogues – John Lewis, hoody – Patagonia, cropped jeans – Acne, boots - Bogs  

Dress – Vanessa Bruno, scarf – All Saints, flats – Carvela, blouse – Givenchy, skirt – J. Crew, pumps - rsvp  

Blue cardigan – Romwe, scarf – Malene Birger, woven flats – Mia, dress – Go Green M by M, cotton shirt – Organic by John Patrick, skirt – Cacharel, pumps – Salvatore Ferragamo  

Aquamarine earrings – Ponponella, silk dress – Issa, nude pumps – Rupert Sanderson, scarf – Faliero Sarti, green coat – Sonia Rykiel, boots – KG by Kurt Geiger   ... View the Post

I didn’t think I liked Roy Lichtenstein

But his popular reputation (you know, the cartoon paintings) doesn't really do justice to his creativity.  There's a big show about his work at the Art Institute of Chicago right now, which I can highly recommend.  My view of his talent has changed completely... ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Monet Water Lilies

Dress – Lela Rose, earrings – Ralph Lauren, slingbacks – John Lewis, chinos – Michael Kors, sweater – Suno, loafers – Roberto del Carlo    

Tee shirt – Vanessa Bruno Athe, Skirt and sandals – J. Crew, bomber jacket – Acne, sundress – Allsaints, espadrilles - Soludos    

Navy sweater – Fatface, Navy skirt – Stella McCartney, navy ankle boots – F-Troupe, tank – Uniqlo, cropped chinos – J Brand, ballet flats - Madewell    

Dress – 3.1 Phillip Lim, cardigan – J. Crew, pumps – Van Dal, sweater and chambray pants – Vanessa Bruno Athe, silver boots - Acne     ... View the Post

I Don’t Own the Eiffel Tower

It happens all the time: you wander into a store, see something ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL, and buy it.

On the face of it, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with this, but do you truly think that every beautiful thing in the world must belong to you? Of course not...

We can easily distinguish between our admiration of a beautiful painting, or structure, or city, and our need to own that object of beauty.

However, when it comes to beautiful things that are available for sale, we often lose our sense of perspective. Just because a garment, scarf, handbag or piece of jewelry is aesthetically pleasing and well-crafted does NOT mean that it's appropriate for us to purchase.

Your closet is not a museum, and you are not responsible for being ... View the Post

Considering colors: a site to savor

Many people struggle with the idea of building a wardrobe in a limited color palette, so I've been nosing about, finding some interesting websites which help train one's eye, and evaluate gut reactions, where colors are concerned.

One of my favorites can be found here; it's a site on which you can upload a favorite photograph, and then build a color palette based on the colors detected in that photograph.  For example, I have always admired Canada geese - they wear the same monochromatic palette every day, but are always the most elegant birds in the city.  Coupled with the stunning photograph above, I knew that I might learn something interesting about my personal color preferences by using the Image to Palette tool.

So ... View the Post

Shopping: The Logical Flaws of the “10 Must-Have Items” lists

If you search on the internet for "2012 must-have items", you get more than three hundred MILLION hits.  Even if you assume that most of these won't, in fact, tell you to buy something, that's still a tremendous number of people bossing you around about how to spend your hard-earned money!

And these lists are full of logical flaws:

If these are truly must-have items, why don't all of the lists agree?  Or at least have a significant degree of overlap?  After looking at the first handful of "top-ten for spring" lists, I saw at least 50 different items I absolutely have to buy if I'm going to be able to show my face in public. Why do all of these lists assume that you can't look around a store and make your own choices? ... View the Post

A Cool, Cool, Style-Defining Tool!

January 16, 2012

Above is a "word cloud" of my core wardrobe.  I absolutely love this, because it sort of puts into a graphic image the key aspects of how I dress most of the time.

Doing this requires that you keep a list of everything that you wear for at least a few weeks...  Or, you could just type out a list of everything you own - it depends on what you're trying to visualize.

Then get thee to wordle.net, and follow the instructions under the heading of "create".  You can choose fonts, color schemes, orientation of the text etc.  I found that my cloud really started to come into focus for me once I had a classic font, and a black and gray color scheme.

An interesting use of this for me might be (1) ... View the Post