Black Archives

Where I’m Going, What I’m Packing – Paris June 2026

June 17, 2026

Next Friday, the 26th, I'm going to Paris! Unless the weather is going to be unbearable hot, in which case I'm just going to CANCEL. My hotel expense might be a sunk cost, but I'm pretty sure I can do some kind of exchange things with my plane tickets.

But this is a good time for everybody to fully grasp the meaning of "sunk cost." Going to Paris and being miserable, or just being unable to do much of anything, isn't fun. On top of the expenses that I've already incurred, I would have transportation back and forth to the airport, and lots of meals, and any other incidental goodies I buy.

I literally do not have to decide until I'm about to hand over my suitcase to be checked. I don't carry a suitcase onto an ... View the Post

June 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

June 10, 2026

Lonely indeed! Thanks to a brilliant reader, we all know that the German word "einsam" is (not tremendously well) hidden in this painting. The Vivienne Files community is the best!

Our heroine is a pro with typefaces, fonts, and constructing documents with a combination of legibility and creativity. Sounds perfect - clear, but fun!

Sort of like her wardrobe at the end of May:

While her garments are all simple and classic (albeit with some snappy color), her accessories are where things get interesting. It's easy for all of us to wear similar clothes, so long as we have accessories to put our personal touch on things...

This month, our heroine's shopping was a bit of this and a bit of that!

She ... View the Post

June 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

June 8, 2026

So what is our glamorous Gothic researcher up to?

Let's enjoy her favorite painting for a moment; it's easy to just skip right past the paintings to get to the wardrobes, and that's a pity. I take AGES to choose these paintings, and they all have something to offer us each time we look again...

At the end of May, our heroine had a 24-piece capsule wardrobe that definitely leans toward the dressy! But she also has a pair of jeans, so she's not entirely a princess... If I had the joy of a trip for weeks and weeks, to all kinds of different weather conditions, I would try to pack something along these lines:

Her accessories at the end of May are pretty nice...

Although this particular heroine marches to ... View the Post

June 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

June 5, 2026

Our bird-data expert is back, and she has travel plans...

Remember, she takes her wardrobe inspiration from this handsome guy:

At the end of May, our heroine had a pretty lovely 24-piece wardrobe:

And her accessories were pretty nifty too! I have to share with you that I've started loving these narrow silk scarves; enough time has passed since we HAD TO WEAR THEM in the office, with our white shirts, dark suits and sensible pumps...

Later in June, our heroine will be leaving for six weeks on a college campus in VERY rural New England. The campus is going to be completely cleared of anybody except essential support staff (cafeteria workers are ESSENTIAL...) and a band of avian ... View the Post

Revisiting Start With Art – Wall of Light Orange Yellow by Sean Scully

May 18, 2026

We first visited this painting, and this heroine, back in February. I think my plan is to look at this painting four times over a year, and see what happens...

If you used a painting like this for your wardrobe, there are at least eight colors here to inspire you. Enough to have abundant neutrals, and a couple of snappy accent colors too...

This is the current color wheel - I need to update it! There yellow to be included, and gold, and a true grey, and a great shade of putty taupe...

Our heroine's first travel wardrobe, back in February, was muted, warm and versatile:

Our heroine is anticipating warm but not scorching hot weather for her next trip. And, inspired by her jewelry from ... View the Post

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

May 15, 2026

Our last painting in our "Six Paintings" series - an enigmatic image, with maybe a message inside? It's certainly one of the most interesting color palettes we've ever seen:

Three timeless neutrals, and two accents that are unexpected, and sometimes difficult to find. The best things can require some patience...

At the end of April, our heroine's 20-piece wardrobe took her to work with ease, as well as lots of other places! Since our heroine works at home a lot, jeans and tops can go a long way...

Even though the weather still isn't delightful and warm, our heroine decided that she was going to dress as if spring had truly arrived:

If our heroine is going to be faithful to her wardrobe template, ... View the Post

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

May 13, 2026

A favorite of so many of us, and such a rich and striking painting:

And a bright, cheerful palette:

Our heroine came into the month of May with this 20-piece wardrobe; I could live with this for months...

This is a DRESSY heroine! And she started her May shopping with the idea that she would find a pretty floral dress...

Only to realize that she can grab the skirt that matches her printed blouse, and have her dress and separates, too! The rest of her purchases are relatively simple and classic - although green shoes and a green handbag aren't on just everybody's shopping list:

Of course, she didn't add a second layer to her wardrobe this month - that might be something she needs to address next ... View the Post

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

May 11, 2026

I wonder how many different birds could inspire how many different wardrobes?

This is such an easy and classic color palette. If you absolutely couldn't live without blue denim (I bet you can, but you do you!) you've always got the water to give you shades of blue...

One of the many things hanging on the GIGANTIC pin board in front of my computer is a photograph of a magpie. Black, white and blue... We don't see magpies in Chicago!

At the end of April, our heroine had this wardrobe. To my mind, the outfits just jump off of the page:

Our heroine was seriously thinking about red when she started browsing, but when she saw this linen jacket and tweedy pants, she changed direction. Slightly - still plenty ... View the Post

April 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

April 10, 2026

Our heroine is pleased with her wardrobe, and MORE pleased with her bank balance! She's trying to give up impulse clothes buying - there are many more important things in the world that she wants - like plane tickets.

Her wardrobe inspiration is this painting - of course it has letters in it! She is an expert in the combination of multiple type faces.

Her color palette includes three neutrals and two lovely, vivid accents:

At the end of March, her very disciplined wardrobe included 16 garments, and dozens of outfit options:

Our heroine gave a lot of thought to her April purchases. She knew that it would be really sensible to add a summer "column" to her wardrobe, thus she immediately chose the ... View the Post

April 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

April 8, 2026

It's a very good thing that our heroine loves all things medieval... Her favorite painting is this beauty:

Her color palette is thus:

At the end of March, our heroine has this 16-piece wardrobe. Versatile, elegant and a touch on the dressy side of life. Maybe still a touch dark...

Early in April, our heroine sat through some VERY long meetings with a group of people dedicated to the renovation of a very famous historic church near Paris. Included in the amusingly eclectic group of attendees was one woman dressed as a medieval nun, and another woman wearing a wimple...

As soon as she got out of there, she was determined to do some very 21st century shopping!

yes, there are people who dress in ... View the Post

April 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

April 6, 2026

I saw one of these in England! I think - it was at a distance, and I might have been dreaming... does it count if one sees something in a dream?

I'm quite sure that our heroine has seen one of these. Although she's not the person actually sitting out in a blind somewhere counting birds, she IS the person who takes all of those essential numbers and compiles and analyzes them. She must get out once in a while to actually LOOK at birds. I hope!

For whatever reason, she has chosen this bird as her style model, and is building her wardrobe around these simple but striking colors:

At the end of March, our heroine had 16 garments in her wardrobe. That's not a lot - all of this would fit in a medium-sized ... View the Post

Report From England, March 2026

March 25, 2026

The jet leg always gets you on the second day...

England was a delightful spring-like wonderland compared to the cold that greeted us when we got back to Chicago!

There were flowers everywhere:

We weren't in London for all that long; we bracketed our rural driving adventures with time in London, but not nearly ENOUGH time. I think London is like Paris (or New York, or Chicago...) in that you can spend a lifetime getting to know the city, and you'll still fall short!

Everything I'm sharing today is kind of random stream of sleepiness, as opposed to stream of consciousness; I'm not completely awake, so my stream of consciousness might just drop off...zzz...

First up, I did very little shopping, and bought ... View the Post