Start a Capsule Wardrobe With Archives - Page 56 of 157

December 2021 Start with a Bracelet: The Resourceful Lynx Bracelets

December 22, 2021

THESE are so lovely:

And these bracelets have given our heroine the perfect inspiration for her upcoming travel:

Probably Gone for Months... They tell her. She's going to visit at least a dozen cities, and depending on who wants to meet with her, she could stay for almost a week in each city! Oh my...

And she really won't have time, nor inclination, to think about getting dressed! Further, she's hopeful that the publicity photographs from this tour will reflect an image of her as consistent, serious, but not grumpy...

So she built herself a uniform! A navy column, five sweaters, and she's ready to go!

The tank tops, tee shirts, and turtlenecks will all pack into 1 packing "sleeve." They go ... View the Post

Start with Art: Southern Window by Louis le Brocquy

December 17, 2021 Not Feeling Festive...

It hasn't been a festive year for her, and she is really struggling to get in the mood for her holiday trip...

But, assuming that she will be able to travel during the health crisis, she knows that she's going to have to pack! Her family doesn't do anything amazing for the holidays - she will spend a lot of days in the house with the older family members, and some time walking outdoors with younger people. Cooking, helping clean up, reminiscing...

She decides to pack mostly neutrals - grey, navy, brown, and ivory - with a couple of pieces in dark green. It will be an interesting challenge to mix things together, and will be somber enough to reflect her state of mind. This is NOT ... View the Post

It Was An Unscheduled Break…

December 13, 2021

I have no explanation, and I offer no excuses - I have NOT worked (on The Vivienne Files!) for a couple of days!

I have done a lot of laundry, I've finished cleaning out my mother's old apartment (woo hoo!!!), and I've spent time with her and with my sweetheart...

Which is not to say that I haven't been thinking about you...

Santa wanted me to have this little chat - and YES, even if you don't celebrate Christmas, this chat includes you too!

Of COURSE in my world, Santa wears purple! Actually, this is an antique postcard from about 1916. Postcards were the greeting cards on the early 20th century, and in the Christmas ones, Santa is dressed in LITERALLY any color but black. As far as I've seen...

I ... View the Post

Start with a Sweater: An L.L.Bean Fair Isle Sweater, and a 1 Piece at a Time travel wardrobe

December 10, 2021

I am asked 2 questions pretty often - how do you build a wardrobe around a specific garment, and how do you decide WHAT to pack?

This post is going to try to answer both questions!

First up, let's start with this classic sweater, perfect for this time of year in much of the Northern Hemisphere:

For me, the 1st step is to look, really look CAREFULLY, at the colors in our focus garment. You're looking for the easily seen, visible at a moderate distance colors.

Like these:

By now, you know full well that I'm going to go a bit nuts emphasizing how important your travel outfit is - you could easily have to wear it for 36 hours, so you need to love every stitch of it!

It's an obvious ... View the Post

6 Scarves, 12 Months: Evaluating the Last 2 Wardrobes

December 6, 2021

Why yes, this is supposed to be the last installment of the Autumn Weekly Timeless Wardrobe. Welcome to my life of confusion!

Frankly, once I was in the groove sorting these wardrobes and looking for additions to each of them, I just kept going. When I was more than halfway through THIS post, I realized that I was too far along to really be able to finish the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe in time!

I know you understand.... Thank heavens!!!

It's time to address the grey and brown outfit - the bane of my blogging existence for the last year:

If I was starting this one over again, the clothing would be grey, a bunch of shades of pink, and white, and the leather accessories would be brown. That would be both ... View the Post

6 Scarves, 12 Months: Evaluating the Second 2 Wardrobes

December 3, 2021

Another session in which we consider the strengths and weaknesses of 2 of our scarf-based wardrobes; I have to believe that if you can get dressed every day, a wardrobe isn't a complete failure!

But if you struggle, and if you feel awkward when you get dressed, then maybe some improvements could be made. This is something that NEVER ends - your life changes every time you take a breath, and with time, your wardrobe needs and preferences will change.

What can we learn, and remember, from knowing this?

(a) You will never have a perfect wardrobe - quit beating yourself up for trying to get there! (mine's not perfect, believe me!) and

(b) there is no garment, and no group of garments, that will get you to your ... View the Post

6 Scarves, 12 Months: Evaluating the First 2 Wardrobes

December 1, 2021

Don't forget - if you have an Advent Calendar, today's the day to start!

(we have a Bonne Maman jam and jelly Advent Calendar - fun AND sweetness!)

And it's also time to look back at these wardrobes to see where I did well, where I went off the rails, and what we all can learn from this exercise!

First, the black print scarf with accents of pink, gold, and (ha!) purple:

I don't regret choosing this scarf, but I DO regret trying to include purple as an accent color. Purple is never easy to find - generally it shows up around this time of year, briefly. I'm pretty attuned to purple since the highlights in my hair are purple, and I can assure you that you have to be patient if it's a favorite!

This ... View the Post

November 2021 Start with a Bracelet: The Fierce Optimism Bracelets

Robyn! Coordinated Granny Woodstock! Send me your mailing information, because YOU have won the Mumbai Paisley scarf!

November 26, 2021 She Has Complete Confidence...

The weekend is going to be pretty much ALL parties. Well, after almost 2 years, everybody wants to get together. They won't all be full-on "parties" with decorations and centerpieces and such, but they will still be festive gatherings...

There once was a time when this kind of trip would fill her with dread; she would pack 2 big suitcases, and bring a huge chunk of her wardrobe with her. Even then, she never felt that she was dressed appropriately.

It weighed on her mind, on her confidence, and on her self-esteem.

But after ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Understanding by Parscha Mirghawameddin

November 24, 2021

Remember this heroine? Nobody seemed to think that she was beautiful, except her! And possibly someone that she met while traveling....

"Did You HEAR What She Told Her Great-Nieces?!?!"

"You mean the part about moving to the city?"

"NO!!!! The part where that silly frog ring is her engagement ring!"

silly is in the eyes of the beholder - this ring is legitimately very fine jewelry...

"Well, I knew that she met someone while she was there, but I assumed that it was just a platonic thing; what's someone her age doing getting involved romantically?"

What's someone her age doing? Feeling beautiful, feeling loved, having buckets of fun, and treating herself to all sorts of frog ... View the Post

Start with Art: Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

November 19, 2021

Remember our old friend, the expert in Gothic Architecture iconography?

She's worked from home;

with a wardrobe to which we added lots of accessories!

She also visited a college campus to lecture;

and she took students to The Cloisters in New York;

and she's been working with Paris officials on Notre Dame.

You can tell that she's a favorite heroine of mine!

This is her inspiration:

She Could Work from the Photographs that the church in Dublin sent to her, but she decided to go actually see the carvings in their location within the building. The church members had taken advantage of the pandemic to build scaffolding and climb up to clean decades of candle smoke and incense ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Mumbai Paisley silk scarf – Echo

November 17, 2021

Yes - ANOTHER SCARF GIVE-AWAY!

This lovely object is 36 inches square, and SO lovely... Leave a comment and it might be yours! Creativity Requires Discipline At least that's what she believes. Years ago, when she committed to designing jewelry, she made the very startling choice to limit her work to silver, gold, black onyx and pearls. Well, she will use mother-of-pearl if it is truly ivory...

Over time, her wardrobe came to reflect the same colors that she cherished in her work...

When it's time to go to the annual One of a Kind show in Chicago, she knows exactly how she will pack!

She deliberately packs a column of charcoal grey, as well as wears her black column. These small choices can make ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Garden Party by Echo

November 10, 2021

Big Important Notice!!! If you leave a comment today, you will be entered into a drawing to WIN THIS SCARF!!! The lovely people at Echo gave me one, and I'm giving it to one of you...

It's a huge silk square - I think 50 inches - and it's soft and fluid, so that it's easy to wear. I don't have any photographs of the full scarf; if the weather clears up here I will try to take one, but just trust me (and Echo) on this!

And OH YEAH, it's sold out...

It's normal where she lives to wear black all of the time, but when she goes to visit her family, she knows they worry about it...

So she's worked out a system! Whenever she is going to visit family, she focuses on black columns, and accent 2nd ... View the Post