Start a Capsule Wardrobe With Archives - Page 49 of 153

Start with Art: Pink Gladiolus by Jane Peterson

June 15, 2022

Six Days a Month They moved WAY out of the city back in early 2020; if they didn't have to go into the office, it made sense to move someplace more remote... Much safer, back then...

But now, they're telling her that she needs to come into the office six days each month. WHO is going to be keeping track of this, one might wonder.

She doesn't HAVE office clothes, now. What she used to wear doesn't fit, and the way she dresses now on a regular basis will NOT cut it; life on a farm is NOT life at a desk!

So she's going to create the world's smallest work wardrobe (well, close!), based on a painting of her favorite flowers.

She starts with her most serious outfit - the sweater-blazer tends to make ... View the Post

Start with 2 Scarves: The Corgi scarves by PJ Studio Accessories

June 13, 2022 It's Really a Summer-Long Celebration, Right? She couldn't make it to London last week... costs were through the roof, and she had too many conflicts to try to rearrange...

She keeps her feelings about royalty to herself, except for the love of Corgis that she shares with the Queen...

Now, she realizes that she's going to be in London every 2 or 3 weeks - just for a night or 2 - until at least the end of summer. Probably through November...

So she's going to wear navy, and Corgis!

She will barely have to work - she needs to literally drop off documents at the branch office, and then pick up the revisions the next day! Otherwise, she's on her own...

Museums? Galleries? DINNER??? Heck ... View the Post

Start with Art: Miami Day by Andrew Lennon

June 10, 2022

She Knows NOTHING About Packing for a Cruise....

So her plan is to pack a normal suitcase for a trip this long, to the river district of Germany, and then let all of her friends make suggestions!

As always, she's going to travel in her favorite outfit. There's no reason to wear anything else; she might have to wear this outfit for a LONG time, depending on the timely arrival of her luggage!

Before she starts packing any other colors or fabrics or styles, she wants to "finish" her black, dressy cluster. Why NOT bring a pretty ruana?

She's been promised some very warm days - surely shorts will be appropriate for sightseeing somewhere along the way? She loves the way her "deep midnight" clothes contrast ... View the Post

Start with Art: Windows Open Simultaneously by Robert Delaunay

June 6, 2022

Iceland, and Packing in a Different Way

She knows her color palette, she KNOWS she's going somewhere relatively cool, and she knows what she wants to wear on the plane...

Is that enough?

She understands that she's going to be wearing her travel outfit for quite a while on her actual travel day, and she plans to wear all 3 garments frequently while she's there...

So she thinks... what additional garment - just ONE thing - would she bring with her for a cool place and lots of sightseeing?

There's a BIG advantage to packing this way - she remembers immediately that she wants to bring her labradorite earrings, so she grabs them and puts them in her little jewelry bag. And she digs her green socks out ... View the Post

It’s Like Our Own Private Art Gallery!

June 3, 2022

How many paintings do you suppose we've looked at here on The Vivienne Files?

I don't have any idea!

But my lovely friends in Canada (yes, Alison the bracelet goddess!) have pulled together a page for us from which we can browse ALL of The Vivienne Files Start with Art posts...

Not by title, or artist. BY IMAGE!!! For me, it's like wandering through a museum of all of my favorite paintings. (of course, I picked all of them!)

The timing couldn't be better - I'm having a fibromyalgia flare, which makes me tired, sore, and dumb as a stump! So browse away, and I will be back on Monday...

love,

Janice

p.s. Seven years ago, a travel capsule wardrobe in black, white and yellow focused on ... View the Post

June 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

June 1, 2022

Was May the longest month ever?

Finally - the weather got warm! So I think that our heroines are going to need a couple of light tops, and a pair of shorts or cropped pants. Sandals, a bracelet, and a good tote bag will equip them for farmers' market shopping or other errands...

This wardrobe remains coherent and versatile - which is our goal!

And I love these accessories!

Any time you buy ANY piece of clothing, your first project - before you take off any tags! - is to see how many different ways you can wear your new garment. If you can't do at least 2 or 3 different things with a new purchase, you need to think VERY seriously about keeping it...

I still love this next scarf, ... View the Post

Adding Accessories to a Wardrobe: Start with Art – Sunlight on the Road, Pontoise by Pissarro

May 30, 2022

This is the painting that inspired our heroine:

And this is the wardrobe that she assembled for the upcoming summer months; she lives in a nice mild climate...

Of course she needs accessories! Most women will at least want some shoes, and I suspect that most of us also like a couple of pieces of jewelry, a bag, and possibly a scarf or two...

But there are no rules - if you really AREN'T a jewelry person, or a scarf person, don't force yourself to be someone you're not. There's nothing at all elegant or beautiful about being untrue to yourself!

For the sake of fun, maybe our heroine is going to use this template as a guideline for her summer accessories:

Where does one start? Our heroine decides ... View the Post

May 2022 Start with a Bracelet: The Liberated Lynx Bracelets

May 27, 2022 Every Other Friday...

She packs up her travel wardrobe - the SAME wardrobe - and heads to the train station...

She always has a different destination - she's becoming QUITE the expert on all of the interesting attractions of her area!

When she arrives, she always gets herself a lovely lunch, somewhere that lets her people-watch and get a feel for the town or city. After that - there are all KINDS of possibilities!

Sometimes she goes to a sporting event; you can't get to know a small town better than to sit in the stands with people and help them cheer for the home team...

Or she goes to a museum or other similar place; if the weather is bad, that's the place to be!

Saturday might be the day that ... View the Post

Start with Art: Sunlight on the Road, Pontoise by Camille Pissarro

May 25, 2022

Self-Care

The medication changed her body. She's bigger now. But she's also better!

Now she needs a new wardrobe for the next few months; this is her plan:

She lives in a lovely part of the world, with a VERY temperate climate; it rarely gets below 29 degree F in the winter, and seldom above the mid-70s in the summer! Sounds like heaven to me...

Like all wise women, she start with her dark neutral, in basic but not boring pieces that can be worn and worn and worn...

Lovely light blue - a soft color like the sky full of clouds...

Green pants in the shade she envisioned were hard to find, so she just got another pair of grey pants! Why not...

And green... muted and beautiful...

Our ... View the Post

Things to Remember to Pack When the Weather is Impossible to Predict

May 20, 2022

It happens every year; May is cold cold cold, with high temperatures in the teens Celsius, and then BAM - the temperature goes up to the upper 20s... (For North Americans - we've been from LOW 50s to upper 80s with HIDEOUS humidity, within 12 hours, and then back down again 12 hours later...)

Pity the tourists... they seem to generally be prepared for the hot weather, and then we get down into the 50s and they freeze.

So every year, vendors here in Chicago sell tons of sweatshirts. But still, without other appropriate clothing, knees turn blue, toes lose feeling... It really spoils a vacation.

And of course, this happens to the rest of us who live here; we think that summer is finally here, and we pack away our ... View the Post

Version 4 Start with a Scarf – El Amor Silk Bandana by Lost Pattern NYC

May 18, 2022

There are so many different reasons to love one scarf:

Cerise Yes, her name means cherry! Sometimes, you will indeed see her wearing a cherry-printed dress, or wee cherry earrings...

But for her trip with her 3 friends, she is embracing her love of stripes, and challenging herself to an entirely red and white travel capsule wardrobe!

(okay, except for the blue pants in which she's going to travel; she's taking the bus, and she's NOT willing to sacrifice her good white pants to the whims of mass transit...)

If you're looking for a "weekender" bag that doesn't blend into the crowd, this Vera Bradley bag comes in seven colors...

Cerise is indeed the woman who seized the parrot theme of the scarf and ran ... View the Post

Version 3 Start with a Scarf – El Amor Silk Bandana by Lost Pattern NYC

May 16, 2020

They found a scarf that appealed to all four of them:

Each of them managed to see something quite different in the same scarf...

Celeste Celeste is a personal trainer. She can't conceive of leaving home for 48 hours without both a sweatshirt and a pair of athletic shoes! But she always looks lovely, in her own way...

Her friends convinced her that scarves are MADE for her, because she loves to have her hair tied back when she's working...

And she's proof that you can pack a beautiful travel capsule wardrobe in a backpack:

Talbots called this color blue curacao - they have a lot of things available!

As much as Celeste loves denim, she agrees with her friends that this subtle "vintage indigo" ... View the Post