The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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I Love It, But Will I Wear It? Black Tweed Pants

November 16, 2022

Black and white tweed. Pull-on waist (which is delightful is you're among those of us who don't tuck in our tops!). LINED TO THE KNEES!!!

Pretty tempting...

Well yes, if you can use a pair of nice but not formal pants, these would be great...

Of course they're perfect with all of the black sweaters in the world:

If you like pattern mixing, tweed is maybe the easiest pattern to include. It's subtle enough not to glaringly clash with other things...

These pants will go with ANY solid color - bright, muted, pastel, neutral:

If you find yourself attending those kinds of events where NOBODY knows quite how dressy things will be, these pants are a great option:

If you like subtle ... View the Post

1 Dress, 100 Days: Days 72, 73, 74, 75 and 76

November 15, 2022

I'm now beginning to feel like this is my permanent uniform! It's colder at the International Headquarters of The Vivienne Files than it is in the rest of the apartment, so I bundle a bit...

Note that all of the tops except the last are worn OVER my dress - the last top is a long-underwear-ish piece that's under my dress!

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Start with Art: A Winter’s Tale by K. Neil Swanson

November 11, 2022

Wouldn't this make a wonderful scarf?

And for those of us who love navy, this is a beautiful inspiration!

Do You Know Someone Like This? Her Christmas tree is decorated with birds. She has bird feeders outside her windows. She just loves birds - she doesn't have to explain this to anybody!

And so when she's assembling a wardrobe for cool weather - especially for a trip! - she turns to her favorites animals for inspiration.

She starts with her essentials:

Her chosen inspiration has a wide variety of possible accents, but these are what she's chosen for this particular wardrobe:

She could probably pull together an outfit that clashes a bit, but generally speaking this is a "Whatever's ... View the Post

Part 3 November 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

November 9, 2022

Let's see what our last 2 heroines are doing...

The first decided to do her shopping at Nordstrom; she figures she's got a ton of choices there! 

Here's where our heroine starts:

With Daylight Savings Time giving our heroine a big dose of gloomy darkness, she decides to get a few tops in lighter, brighter colors...

When she gets her things home and into her wardrobe, she's pretty pleased with how they seem to bring a bit of light to everything:

She's not 100% sure about a pink scarf, but she always can re-gift it to a family member or friend if it really doesn't work out!

Before she starts washing and ironing and putting her new things away, she pulls together a couple of ... View the Post

1 Dress 100 Days: Days 65, 66 and 67

November 6, 2022

I've been in the apartment, or in our building, most of the time. Today we are going out to visit our favorite garden center in the city - looking for our Christmas wreath! (yes, it's wildly early, but we want to get the perfect one!)

I hope everyone is having as wonderful a day as we are!

love,

Janice

 

 

  ... View the Post

Part 2 November 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

November 4, 2022

I think this is my favorite...

This imaginary heroine had the exceptional good luck to wander into Banana Republic to do her shopping this month!

One might say she went a bit overboard, but if she's reasonably careful, she should have some of these things for the rest of her life! (I would buy a black suede shirt...)

Everything she's purchased goes beautifully with her existing wardrobe:

And her accessories are gorgeous:

Camel and black look wonderful together, as do camel and ivory. This heroine is going to love her new pieces:

Let's look at our next scarf:

 

 

 

Today's 2nd heroine had the equally good fortune to be in J.Crew when she decided that it ... View the Post

Part 1 November 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

November 2, 2022

What do you do when you've got a real longing for some new clothes?

What about when you're in a store, and you decide you're going to shop?

That's what I'm thinking about this month... Our first heroine wanders into Boden, and wander out with some interesting things!

Remember, her inspiration is this scarf:

Our heroine was pretty disciplined - she stayed with green and pink accents for her purchases... The sweater, though...

When she brings her new things home (or when they are delivered, more likely!), she can see that the pants blend in perfectly, her green silk top goes with a lot of things, and the paisley sweater... is lovely.

Maybe this is the time for her to remember that her entire ... View the Post

I Love It, But Will I Wear It? Grey (?!?) Twinset

October 31, 2022

It's described as grey on the Boden website, but it really looks more taupe to me, and to the reader who wrote to me with her concern...

What do you do if these sweaters arrive in your home, and they're lovely and fit beautifully and you really like them, but they're a color that is completely new to you?

My first thought is to treat this color like an accent color; if you can find shoes that match, it's a bonus!

The cardigan could be worn over any other color with the same intensity and saturation i.e. any soft, kind of muted pastel...

Of course, you can always wear the 2 pieces with pants or a skirt in your favorite neutral...

Yes, you've seen this skirt before! I've found that my pleated ... View the Post

Start with a Bracelet – Ethereal Lynx Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

October 28, 2022

She's Hard to Describe... For one thing, she's the only woman a lot of them know who can wear a ruana and look like a heroine from a romance novel...

She thinks that she's very low-key and inconspicuous - after all, she wears a lot of grey!

Her accent colors aren't bright, or gaudy...

But still, there's something about her that catches your eye, and doesn't readily let go...

If someone is truly beautiful, the world will see it...

Even if their beauty is entirely inside. Or maybe, ESPECIALLY if their beauty is internal...

love,

Janice

p.s. Nine years ago, I sorted out the "Triple Top Secret." It was something that I'd been doing for years without really seeing the ... View the Post