Start a Capsule Wardrobe With Archives - Page 103 of 133

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Carnation Lily Lily Rose by John Singer Sargent

June 30, 2015 Wow! When I asked for paintings, you all came through with some beautiful suggestions... This John Singer Sargent is so lovely...

In the deepest shadows, I saw navy, although on another day, it could be deepest gray, or maybe something else - really good paintings are wonderful in the way they can have so many different aspects over time.

I'm embarking on a 4 by 4 that's particularly challenging: a casual wardrobe in soft and fluid navy and white. So VERY often, navy and white are crisp, and starched, and nicely pressed and snappy - which is pretty great. And I'm sure that at some point earlier in the fictional day, these lovely white dresses were immaculate and pristine, but NOT by this ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art Version 2: Flaming June by Sir Frederic Leighton

June 29, 2015 So how does the gorgeous, warm palette from last Saturday translate into a much more casual grouping? Beautifully!

In order to keep the feeling of softness and flow, I looked for fabrics like corduroy, which has both depth and softness, moleskin, which has a nice plush texture, and of course silk. Gathers and jacquard fabrics also give us a little bit of grace and detail... (note: I even chosen nail enamels with shimmer, which gives a sense of movement!)

When choosing items to go into this wardrobe, always ask yourself "yes, it goes, but does it have the requisite fluidity and movement that gives me my desired image?" There's lots of brown and orange in the world, but much of it is crisp or static - not right for ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Flaming June by Sir Frederic Leighton

July 27, 2015 Someone particularly special sent me this painting, with a request for a Start With Art - what a wonderful idea! These were the colors that I chose. While there's a ton more orange in this painting than anything else, only the rarest among us will be able to pull together any kind of a wardrobe, no matter how small, with mostly orange. So I gave the warm brown prominence...

I was really thinking about texture and flow here - draping was important!

Just enough to be able to get away for a long weekend - lots of emphasis on dining-out attire! And the budget was unlimited madness for this wardrobe - suede pants and a bank-breaking dress and sweater. But very reasonably priced ... 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

The Kindness of KathKath…

Just a quick update to let you know that my lovely partners at KathKath have EXTENDED their discount offer to readers of The Vivienne Files! Through July 26th, you can get 40% off of any regular-priced scarf using the discount code VIV40.

AND... you can get an additional 10% off of any sale scarf, using the discount code VIV10.

I know that many of you have looked at these scarves repeatedly - now's your time to grab your favorite!

When I'm feeling better, I see a wardrobe based on that elephant scarf (far right, above) colors. Black, beige, dusty mauve, jade and bone.... hmmm....

Yours, recuperating slowly, with lots of love, Janice ... 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

Choosing Accessory Colors; More Accessory Clusters

June 6, 2015

I was thinking a lot about yesterday's winning color scheme, and so I thought it might be productive to put all of that thinking into action! The first thing I did was start browsing around looking at scarves that might be harmonious with the color scheme in question; it's important to bear in mind that things don't always have to be dye-lot matched. If someone gets a big thrill out of noticing that something you're wearing isn't EXACTLY PRECISELY the same color as something else... well, they're easily amused, and you've done the good deed of keeping them entertained. Some people will complain that their ice cream is cold...

So I found this beautiful Hermes scarf:

And I thought I'd monkey around with the ... View the Post

Choosing Accessory Colors, or Accessories in Clusters

June 4, 2015 Woo hoo!!! The absolutely wonderful ladies at Kathkath send me a scarf! (fwiw, I am NOT one of those bloggers who are constantly being sent things to review - I can now count on 2 fingers the number of gifts I've received from designers...) They sent me this beautiful wonder:

It is, in fact, more beautiful in person than it is in the photographs! The size is the same as Hermes scarves - 90cm square (just about a square yard). And the fabric is soft and light without being flimsy; for those of you who find Hermes to be too "crispy" and heavy, definitely look at these. I'm so happy... And so, of course, I'm immediately figuring out what to wear it with. Black clothes - piece ... View the Post

A Winner!!! And my new plan…

Remember that delectable scarf from Kathkath that they offered to us last week?

Well, Lorrie, send me your contact information so that I can forward it to Kathkath - because IT'S YOURS!

Congratulations to Lorrie, and thanks, as always, to all of you who hang around here with me and share my day...

I don't think I've mentioned it before, but Belovedest and I are moving, at the end of June. Just down the hall, but we've been given an irresistible offer on a REALLY irresistible apartment with a spectacular lake view, and so we're going to accept...

The new apartment is a 1 bedroom, which is a big step up for those of us who have always lived in studio apartments! But so far we've been very lucky - someone gave us an absolutely ... View the Post

RED Cowboy Boots – Integrating a Wild Splurge into your Wardrobe

May 21, 2015

We've all done it. Something just CALLS OUT YOUR NAME... and the next thing you know, you get home, and you have a pair of red cowboy boots in your hands. Maybe not cowboy boots, but something that's outside of your normal wardrobe confines...

There's nothing wrong with this, if the item in question has true "whappage" - if it really strikes you, appeals to you, speaks to you on some deep level. Let's just figure out how to incorporate this newly exposed facet of your persona into your existing wardrobe.

These are the culprits in question:

And your normal wardrobe (I know, because you told me...) is grey and camel. Let's grab a couple of simple outfits with which we can work - jeans and sweaters are ... View the Post

A Dusty Pink Jacket: Integrating an Accent Color

May 20, 2015 Ahh, sometimes you receive a gift that's lovely, but... A dusty, soft pink jacket is a wonderful gift - there are few of us who can't wear this color successfully, but what if you've never before owned ANYTHING else in this color? Happily, a coat's a great thing to integrate into the rest of your wardrobe, because you can wear whatever you want under the jacket, add one well-chosen accessory, and everything will look pulled-together and thought out. Here's an example of the coat:

From here, your options are wide open! A beautiful scarf?

A beautiful bag is a great idea!

Lots of other possibilities...

And don't ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Stone: Unakite Jewelry

May 19, 2015 This was an intriguing request - one of you has fallen for jewelry with the stone unakite, and wanted to build their summer work capsule wardrobe (relaxed environment) around their jewelry! This was some of the jewelry I found:

One of the first things that I noted was that the accent color in the stone ranges from dark red and terra cotta to a much lighter and more delicate peach or apricot. While we could certainly go either direction, I opted for the lighter shade, to serve as a background for the design of the jewelry.

We wanted really simple clothes, so I found three "Cores of Four" in the three non-accent colors.

Here's where things got ... View the Post