Start a Capsule Wardrobe With Archives - Page 100 of 153

Timeless: Some of My Favorite Posts from the Past, Capsule Wardrobes Based on Nature

Yes, I'm in Italy, but the Internet never sleeps! I thought that while I'm away, you might like to see some older posts from The Vivienne Files. One of the things that I try to accomplish with work here is to show that true style is timeless; when I look back at some of these posts, I feel comfortable having you look at them now, and I am pretty certain that they will still look good in 5, 10, or 20 years.

If you click on the dates, below the images, you will be taken back to the entire original post...

This first one is one of my all-time favorites; from the over 1,500 posts that I've done, it would be in the top 10 for sure!

This striking photograph gave us a story which continued into the NEXT wardrobe, below.

After the ... View the Post

Timeless: Some of My Favorite Posts from the Past, Based on Portraits of Women

Ah, artists seem to do some of their very best work when painting women and girls...

Marie Laurencin is one of my very favorite artists; were I ever to branch out from a back and white wardrobe, this color scheme would be perfect for me..

I think this post might have been one of my first forays into the idea of a story to accompany the wardrobe; it all just seemed to work together so well!

Working with wardrobes in brown might be the most difficult task of The Vivienne Files. But this came together nicely, with an attention to detail that pleased me tremendously!

A wardrobe of warm-weather, soft pastel colors, based on another work from my favorite:

This glorious painting served as the basis of a casual, but ... View the Post

How Much Can Accessories Affect Your Capsule Wardrobe?

November 30, 2016

Someone sent me this painting a few days ago, and the first thing that I noticed (after just generally admiring the lovely art) was the touches of teal and cool brown accent:

And I have to let you know that this painting set a record last week for the highest auction price EVER for a Canadian painting. Well worth it, in my opinion...

I was intrigued with the idea of a very conservative, mostly navy and grey wardrobe, accented with those two surprising accent colors. So I started with a few pieces, including a navy pantsuit. If you're looking for suit separates, I highly recommend Talbots - they have a variety of colors and fabrics.

Let's start with these basics - this is literally a Wardrobe Slot ... View the Post

Timeless: Some of My Favorite Posts from the Past, in subtle colors

Subtle colors are always harder for me, because I'm such a dyed in the wool black and white wearer. But these works of art are so beautiful, and the wardrobes are always so delightful (once I get them finished to my satisfaction!)

Click on the date below each image to go to the original post...

This painting is so gorgeous; I had to work quite a while on these wardrobes in order to do it justice!

Such beautiful colors here, too! These are difficult to find in our very enormous, but very limited, clothing world. What has happened that there is more clothing than ever, and fewer real options?

This is the lovely painting that launched THREE wardrobes:

The painting is so beautiful, and the subject is just so... evocative? exotic? ... View the Post

Timeless: Some of My Favorite Posts from the Past, Based on Scarves

You've long since known that I love scarves, and I believe that they're an excellent basis upon which to build a beautiful wardrobe. Here are some of my favorites!This scarf is so lovely - crisp, but soft colors, gently blended:

If you have a fondness for flowers, you MUST get to know Ted Baker London. You don't have to buy; you can just admire, and glean ideas... This scarf generated 2 color combinations and two wardrobes:

Don't forget to check museum shops in your quest for the perfect accessory; museums get things that you'll never see in any other place... And this shawl is still available here!

Kathkath makes some of the most beautiful scarves, and this is a perfect example. You could build a wardrobe ... View the Post

Can I Wear Warm and Cool Colors Together?

November 22, 2016

It came up yesterday - can the capsule wardrobe based on grey be combined with the capsule wardrobe based on beige that I showed back on Friday? The larger question here revolves around combining warm and cool color palettes, so it's well worth addressing.Of course, I believe that it's more than possible! If you have clothing in both of these colors, it's quite desirable that you wear them together if necessary to wear them frequently, with the goal of eventually wearing them out...

Our original painting inspiration combines warm and cool to great effect:

So what if we just try combining the neutrals? As a reminder, these are the two groups of Capsule Wardrobe Building Blocks (aka simple, ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Starts with Art: Little Harbor in Normandy by Georges Braque (Version 2)

November 21, 2016

Oh, this just gets better and better!Remember, we started with this painting:

Today, I've used the top part of the painting, and used silver in place of the gold from Friday's post...

I found new pieces for our Wardrobe Building Blocks, emphasizing grey. This is another small collection of pieces that work without limits - you could, again, literally get dressed in the dark...

Same four pieces - sweater, earrings, tote and scarf - but in silver rather than gold. Equally timeless, but a very different feel...

The only change I made here was the earrings - the others were set in gold... These earrings have a geometric feel to them, and a gorgeous fluidity that I really ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Starts with Art: Little Harbor in Normandy by Georges Braque (Version 1)

November 18, 2016

I've never really accepted the idea that women can, uniformly, only wear warm colors or cool colors. I know that for many of us, it's a great guideline for wardrobe discipline, and helps coordinate things beautifully, but I still wonder why someone who loves black and white as much as I do would have gold and orange highlights in their eyes... Oh well, it's a great subject for conversation...

But I think of these things when I look at this painting, which skews two very different directions, color-wise:

I seriously considered sawing the painting in half (metaphorically, of course) and using the bottom half for today, and the top half on Monday for a study that includes grey... But I think we can all manage to ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Starts with Art: Still Life with Bouquet of Flowers and Plums by Rachel Ruysch

Dear Elizabeth, who's favorite designer is Vionnet - send me an email at [email protected] with your mailing address. You won the Mainbocher exhibit book!So what do you do if you WANT something new, but you really don't need anything? You feel the need for brightening up, for some new ideas and inspiration, for some updated options in your wardrobe... I think it's important to take these feeling seriously, and to act on them deliberately, with a clear plan and established goal. If you just start buying things willy nilly, you risk wasting money, and feeling guilty, and still not satisfying that urge that stems from something vital within you.

How about first find something beautiful to help focus that sort of "all over the ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Start with Art: Poppies and Butterflies by Vincent Van Gogh

November 16, 2016 As the days get shorter, and we spend a LOT more time in the dark (in the Northern Hemisphere, of course!), a painting like this is a cheering thing to study:

For those who worry that a "warm" wardrobe - one that's ideal for those with Autumn or Spring coloring - might be too dark in the cool weather, I offer some ideas!

I love these pieces - you could literally get dressed in the dark with no worries about not matching! A couple of pair of warm brown/tan shoes, some lovely gold jewelry, and you'd be well set for the day.

Cream tee – L.L.Bean; sable sweater – L.L.Bean; shirt – Lands’ End; Sand tee – Lands’ End; cardigan – J.Crew; silk blouse – J. Crew; Camel cords - L.L.Bean; ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Starts with Art: In Vaudeville: Dancer with Chorus by Charles Demuth

November 15, 2016

Yesterday, the accents we used in the so-called French 5-Piece wardrobe were all colors in the same range of intensity and saturation - they were somewhat soft, and very clear.This painting takes us in a couple of rather different directions!

The accent colors suggested by this painting range from a really elegant neutral taupe to quite a vivid yellow/gold, as well as all shades of warm rose pink.

The base pieces for this wardrobe might rely more than usual on black, as suggested by the tuxedo on the central dancer:

I love taupe, and it's terribly difficult to find. But this cardigan is EXACTLY what I was hoping to find - fluid, soft, with ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe – Start with Art: Sure Violet by Helen Frankethaler

November 14, 2016

Of course, we all know that the French don't really just buy 5 pieces of clothes a year - that's sort of silly. But there is some truth to the idea that they buy five major accent pieces twice a year. So let's think about taking a really simple, basic capsule wardrobe and seeing what we can do with adding 5 new pieces (and some accessories, of course!)

First up, let's start with a really lovely work of art:

Today we're just looking at accent colors, and this painting is perfect for that! If we wanted to build a summer wardrobe around this, could you imagine using off-white silk and linen as the neutral, and then these four colors? Mmmm....

This is the core wardrobe that I'm suggesting - I ... View the Post