The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: The Mountain Lake by Dorrit Black

January 4, 2023

Flexible...

After watching the travel chaos over the Christmas holiday, she decided that she was going to be flexible with her plans...

If her plane doesn't depart in time to get her to her destination for dinner, she's going to go back into the city and take the train...

If she can't get the train for some reason, (it could be full!), or if it doesn't run at all, THEN she's going to go over to the docks and catch a ferry across the Sea...

All she wants is a long weekend away - she's not terribly choosy about exactly WHERE she goes. There are a lot of lovely destinations within an hour or 2 of where she lives!

She can carry her bag wherever she needs to go - she has NO intentions of checking ... View the Post

Six Paintings, 12 Months – January 2023

January 2, 2023

Well THAT was weird to type...

Our six heroines all decided that they wanted to go shopping to augment the TWO garments with which they started our year-long adventure. 

If you have something specific in mind that you want to buy, this is a difficult time of year to shop; lots of stores are sold out of all of the really nice things, and much of what's left is only available in a limited number of sizes.

But our heroines know that places like L.L.Bean will ALWAYS have a good assortment of timeless, classic garments. When you have very few clothes, buying trendy things is silly!

Let's visit our heroines and see what's up!

 

First up she thought that a black jacket would make sense. Being the ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Gabriella by Elizabetta

December 30, 2022

Happy Birthday, you down in Georgia!!!

You Have to Choose...

She's a judge. She has to pick. Every time. 

Now that she's packing for a few winter days away, she will NOT choose between warm and cool colors. She doesn't want to, and she doesn't feel that she needs to either!

She's heard it all - "it's not right to wear gold with grey," "Olive is only for women with a certain coloring," "shades of green can't really be worn together - especially cool greens and warm greens."

Humbug, she says.

It might not always be easy to find the right things.

It might not always look like what others are wearing.

It might draw a 2nd look.

She loves the subtlety and nuance of these colors ... View the Post

Six Paintings, 12 Months – a 2023 Preview!

December 23, 2022

It's like an early Christmas gift! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, it's just a gift, full stop.

This was quite a bit harder than choosing 6 scarves; there's something to be said in defense of any painting, so rejecting any of them was difficult...

Let's get started!

 

I couldn't resist this! Black and white with pink and purple, and just enough blue to include denim in the wardrobe...

Flash back to the wardrobe from when we first saw this painting.

I'm starting each of our heroines with some simple essentials:

Yes, we looked at this painting just recently...

But for those of us clamoring for brown, this is worth looking at some more!

Her basics are pretty lovely, ... View the Post

Oh dear….

COVID has finally arrived at our home - I'm not ill yet, but others are. It's safe to assume that I will be sick sooner than later, given the close quarters of our apartment!

I will keep up with posts as well as I can, but I know that you understand what is most important at these times...

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Start with a Bracelet: Legendary Lynx Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

December 19, 2022

It Was - Literally - Decades Ago... It was her debut novel, and it was a blockbuster. She really never needed to write another book...

Of course, she keeps writing. And winning awards. (oh, she wins awards...)

And appearing at book conferences, and signings, and literary conventions and all that sort of thing!

She tries to keep a pretty low profile. She dresses in her usual "writer who lives in a little house on the edge of a little town near a big city" style, in subtle, neutral colors...

She rather likes her chosen style! Comfortable styles in slightly dressy fabrics...

 

But she's not kidding anybody - her fans will find her!

She has to admit, in her deepest heart, ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Leshy by Ilona Tambor

December 14, 2022

There are six different "Leshy" scarves...

It Happens Every Year, at This Time... Everybody who celebrates one of the "Winter Solstice" traditional holidays starts complaining that we should celebrate on the 21st... or that we should only decorate our trees with things that birds can eat...

And every year, at this time, there's a major academic conference somewhere that is centered around all of the forest deities and Druid-like ceremonies that are in season...

She's one of the world's authorities on Leshy, the legendary forest creature. Sometimes cruel, sometimes kind - he's pretty complicated! And he's NOT a brown bear; she's still going to wear the scarf.

For some reason, these conferences ... View the Post

Analysis: 1 Dress, 100 Days

December 12, 2022

Friday, I wore this:

 

This was interesting, because it was the FIRST time I wore my blue sweater, and also the snowflake scarf. So the first thing that I learned - over and over - was that I have clothes in my closet that I... not exactly forget, but recurringly overlook. Is there a difference?

But let me stop for a moment and think about the most important things that came from this project. First and foremost, if you buy a really great dress and take good care of it, it will indeed withstand 3+ months of constant wear. There's no reason to believe that clothing will only last a short while. If your clothes start falling apart after a dozen wears, you're very hard on clothes, or you're buying things ... View the Post

1 Dress, 100 Days – the Finish

December 10, 2022

It's over; I am no longer wearing my wool terry dress EVERY DAY FOR 100 DAYS.

I miss it. Not horribly, but sometimes I look down at my tan jeans, white shirt and black vest and wonder WHERE DID MY DRESS GO?

That will change soon enough, I'm sure!

Here's how I finished off the project, as well as my first Outfit of the Day for the rest of my life; I think I'm going to OOTD for a while. I find creating the outfit images interesting...

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Part 3 December 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

December 7, 2022

Our last 2 heroines! I grow attached to these projects...

First, let's visit our heroine with the Chrysanthemum scarf:

This heroine isn't planning to dress up much this season - she's more interested in warm and casual!

Her wardrobe of 40 garments looks coherent and very versatile:

And her accessories are wonderful - accessories make so much difference...

Her new garments can be worn more than 2 different ways (each), but she makes certain that she has at LEAST those options...

And now to my favorite heroine - the one who figured out that wearing brown and black together is magical!

THE BLAZER. Oh great shiny chocolate-coated Buddha on a bagel, THE BLAZER...

If I could wear ... View the Post