The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Clothing Archives - Page 10 of 20

How to Wear A Navy Cardigan for Spring – 8 Outfits!

April 22, 2016  

This started out as a Chic Sighting post, but after I saw the first woman, I didn't see ANYONE else... But I really like the idea of buying a new cardigan for spring and summer wear (counter-intuitive as it seems, a lot of us that are in and out of buildings during the hottest weather have to carry a cardigan or jacket at all times, to keep from freezing to death!).Here I'm working with 4 different possibilities for below the waist - white linen pants, beige linen pants, navy linen pants, and dark-wash denim pants. This gives choices that range from cool-ish spring days, to pretty doggone hot dead of summer!

Cardigan – L.L.Bean; green onyx stud earrings – Alok Jain; green & white top – Phase Eight; ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Turquoise, Coral, Black, and Grey: 1 Piece at a Time

April 7, 2016

What beautiful summer colors, and what exciting accessory possibilities!

Coral was a specific request...

  Normally, I would build solid columns and suits, but just to show you a different way to go about building a wardrobe, I'm adding an accent tee shirt first. This can be a wonderful idea if you're still "on the fence" about a color scheme; if you buy an accent piece and find that you don't reach for it every couple of days, it might mean that you need to rethink your choice of colors.

  Okay, NOW we're putting together the black suit. These kinds of monochromatic outfits really come into their own when the accessories show up!

  Since we're fast moving into summer, I thought ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories: Denim, Stone, Pink and Soft Blue, 1 at a Time

March 24, 2016  

This wardrobe is such a nice mix of casual fabrics with soft and pretty accents, I thought that I would try to continue the theme of femininity in the accessories, without getting too girly or sissy... I love these challenges!The original wardrobe is from yesterday; this is the starter outfit:

While I felt that jeans and a sweatshirt strongly suggested boots, I limited my choices to softer colors or boots with a metallic sheen to them. A lady-like boot might be a stretch, but these at least have a lighter feel to them!For the first bag, I wanted to see something in the stone neutral, but with a bit of softness, or texture, or "pink-ness" to it...

An all-navy outfit strongly suggests a scarf that ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Denim, Stone, Pink and Soft Blue: 1 Piece at a Time

March 23, 2016  

This woman is one who really love denim, and a good sweatshirt, but who also has a side that wants a bit of the feminine, and the softly colored...Her starting "favorite" outfit:

shirt – Uniqlo; sweatshirt – H&M;  jeans – L.L.Bean; scarf – Hinge  

And this is the color scheme she has in mind. This is a really good scheme, in that the two neutrals are both typically available in a variety of casual fabrics, so they're a good "couple" to work together. And since both of the accent colors are equal in intensity and value, they will also be usable in the same situations, and very likely to appear together in prints and patterns. When your chosen colors have a certain "feeling" in common, ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Brown, Cream, Aqua and Golden Yellow: 1 Piece at a Time

February 27, 2016   Wow, this was much more difficult than I expected it to be!  

Tee – J. Crew; cardigan – J. Crew; pants – J. Crew  

This is really a great color scheme - the accent colors are sufficiently different from each other that introducing them into an outfit gives you two very different sensibilities...And I didn't set out to find so many pieces from one source, but when I found that they had matching pieces in brown, it didn't seem like a bad idea!

Tee – J. Crew; cardigan – J. Crew; pants – J. Crew  

So the matching brown pieces made it impossible to resist getting a brown shell, too. I think of this as a wardrobe that's ideally suited for changeable weather, or for those of us who have ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe One Piece at a Time, 3 Accent Colors with Navy and Beige

February 25, 2016   If you want to include 3 accent colors in your wardrobe, this is for you!  

Please note that, although there are a lot of accent colors here, I've tried to keep them all in the same range of intensity and saturation, so that they will all "behave" in the same way when paired with neutrals. It's a hard concept to explain, but I find that it makes a lot of different in keeping things versatile and harmonious.(yes, there are 4 accent colors shown here, in keeping with the original request. I didn't have a lot of luck finding the raspberry color...)

Many of these steps will look painfully familiar, as I build a base of neutral colors upon which you can use accents as the embellishment. I know I ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bag: Marimekko Clover Bag

January 29, 2016  

This bag is much closer to the one that my friend wanted to see on The Vivienne Files - I'm really happy that she persisted in finding just the right bag for us!  This is quite the color scheme: black and white, punched up about a million notches with red, hot pink, and coral. 

  She Doesn't Mind the Attention... Yes, lots of people share in the credit for everything that's been accomplished, but someone has to be the spokesperson, the one in the center of the photographs, the one who accepts the diplomas, certificates, trophies, statuettes, and other detritus of hard work.

So she's accepted, for years, that since she's comfortable being photographed, and making "off the cuff" ... View the Post

Start with a Tote Bag – Navy Floral

January 27, 2016   It started with a request from a long-time reader... but the bag she loved is no longer available. So I started working with this one. It's not EXACTLY what she had in mind, but she's such a lovely woman, I'm sure she'll forgive me!  

I'm assuming that this is navy, although it could easily pass for black. The lining is blue, and that's where I took my cue.

 

Imagine that you've been searching for a "defining" style image for a long time. You'll know it when you see it - that painting, or sculpture, or other objet d'art that really captures your favorite colors, your favorites lines, just that certain something that really resonates in your "style soul."And it's a tote bag!

No ... View the Post

Down Vests: Eight Outfits

October 27, 2015  

For us in Chicago, it's that time of year when you haven't a clue how to dress for the weather - absolutely cold mornings turn into beautiful afternoons.. A down vest can be a useful, and fairly modestly priced, option.I've seen a few really well styled outfits, so I copied them as best I could, and then I built on the core ideas to show a few additional options. Please note that these vests are pretty trim in cut, and have a very clever elastic inset at the waist, in the back. There are not your mother's puffer vests! (although I still wear mine...)

This was the outfit that got me started thinking about vests; what really elevated the elegance factor here was the cashmere tee, the gorgeous scarf, and the ... View the Post

Prints, no Stripes, nor Flowers, nor Animal Prints

July 18, 2015

 

It can feel some days like there are no printed garments in the world that aren't striped, flowered, or animal printed - I know that I feel like I have to be careful not to inundate you all with tops from those categories. So today, I decided that I was going to commit my work day to find shirts, blouses and tee shirts that were printed, but that had a different take on the idea.

You do understand that I will not, EVER, try to convince you to wear any garment with something written on it? Good... I'm sick beyond belief of shirts with silly phrases written across one's bosom...

This might be a good way to add a little something to your current season wardrobe in order to get through the rest of the season, or ... View the Post

One Skirt, Six Ways

June 25, 2015

Sometimes, I buy something with great enthusiasm and completely confidence that I'm going to wear it A TON, but instead it just sort of... hangs there...

This has happened with my really cool black and white dotted skirt from Uniqlo (no longer available, I'm sorry to say). There's NOBODY in the world that should be able to wear a black and white skirt like this more often than I can, but it just wasn't happening.

So I decided to apply myself to planning outfits including said skirt, and I discovered that this sweetie is, in fact, a true seasonless wonder. I paid particular attention to those core tops that I try to keep in my wardrobe all the time - the Eileen Fisher tops that can be the timeless workhorses of a ... View the Post

One Sweater, Six Ways

June 16, 2015   Sometimes I get the best surprises! The lovely people at House of Fraser send me the nicest sweater/top... a layered look, with a subtle white and grey underlayer - a great weight to wear on cool summer days, but something that will carry through beautifully into cooler weather. Thanks, House of Fraser people!   This is the lovely goodie:  

I'm an avowed believer that you should KNOW how you're going to wear something before you buy it, although in this case, since it was a gift, I let myself off the hook. But, of course, as soon as I opened my package, I was scheming... These were a few of my thoughts - everything from the dressiest silk pants or skirt, to grey jeans on weekends, or ... View the Post