Black Archives - Page 4 of 87

Like Unusual Accent Colors with Classic Neutrals? Start With Art – In Vaudeville by Charles Demuth

September 26, 2025

If things go REALLY well, I'm flying back from London to Chicago today. I'm writing this on the 17th, so if things are sold out or if something is haywire here, I apologize! I will fix it next week... xoxo, J

We looked at this painting a long time ago, and I still think of it often. The colors are like nothing else!

This could be quite a complete wardrobe in ivory, taupe and black, of course. But adding yellow and rosy coral is a real departure from what one might expect...

Our heroine's going to a dance competition - having talented children occasionally requires hitting the road for a few days! They're going by train; the dancer in question has a LOT of gear to bring, so packing small is in our ... View the Post

Start With Purple Scarves? I’m Packing to go to London!

September 19, 2025

By the time most of you read this, I should (fingers crossed) be in London. Fingers crossed TWICE that Belovedest makes it with me, and that no family emergencies interfere!

I'm packing simple things. Not a lot of them. But I'm going to take THREE purple scarves with me. You understand of course that my scarves are not these exact ones, because mine are years old. But these give you the right idea:

My travel outfit is simple and classic - I of course won't be CARRYING that jar of hair coloring with me! But I felt like it was important to convey somehow that this outfit isn't quite as monochromatic as it seems, when you include the purple scarf that is a close match for my hair color. The jar looks very ... View the Post

A Complete Cool-Weather Wardrobe? Start With Art – The Dark Lady by A.K.Zinkeisen

September 15, 2025

Let's take one last, lingering and appreciative look at our painting inspiration:

This is the color palette with which we've been working, taken from this painting. You can always add faded denim - there's a glimpse of the sky in the top left corner...

Let's remember too, that we have four possible color palettes using only three colors...

For our first Six-Pack travel capsule wardrobe, our heroine decided to forego wearing black for a few days!

For her second travel capsule wardrobe, our heroine chose to not pack anything ivory - we can all picture this kind of trip!

At the approach of the winter holidays, our heroine focused more on burgundy, and omitted camel for this capsule ... View the Post

Want to Stick to Neutrals? Start With Art – The Dark Lady by Anna Katrina Zinkeisen

September 12, 2025

The last of the four "three-color" wardrobes based on this gorgeous painting:

Our heroine is on her last of four palettes - a perfect calm, neutral color scheme for after the holidays, when one needs to be disciplined and focused for the adventures ahead! Our heroine isn't even quite sure where she will be traveling, but she's pretty confident she will be able to pack without stress...

Warmly bundled up - she could easily wear a camelhair coat, or a black parka, over this outfit...

Of course, if she's packing her long plaid coat/cardigan, then her long coat would make more sense. Unless she won't NEED a coat over her "coatigan". It depends on where she's going, what time of year it is, what she's ... View the Post

Avoid A Warm Neutral? Start With Art – The Dark Lady by Anna Katrina Zinkeisen

September 10, 2025

Back to exploring the possibilities offered to us in this most beautiful painting:

If you have four neutrals colors in your plan, you (by definition!) should have four three-color color schemes that you can use for smaller wardrobes, like a single season, or for travel:

Our heroine is planning ahead to pack for the winter holidays. She wants to stick with lots of red, and some black and white because that feels festive to her! That's really all that matters - pack what you want to pack! (I'm planning my packing for London right now, and I have to keep reminding myself of this...)

As far as she can tell, she's going to have a church service to attend the evening she arrives at her sister's ... View the Post

September 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #3: The Swan No. 24 by Hilma Af Klint

September 3, 2025

Something that's never happened before, in the history of The Vivienne Files...

Let's start by enjoying another look at this painting - enigmatic, a bit mystic, with gorgeous colors.

I've decided - after reading all of your comments - to switch the dark brown that I was using in August for a more rust brown. You were right that it would be interesting, and possibly very lovely!

Her Weekly Timeless Wardrobe plan is proceeding okay, but as with so many heroines, we're going to have issues trying to find all of the warm-weather clothes on her list.

Human error will play a role in anybody's wardrobe, right?

Dividing our heroine's wardrobe into dark and light gives us the following; please ... View the Post

Avoiding Wearing Light Colors? Start with Art – The Dark Lady by Anna Katrine Zinkeisen

August 30, 2025

Back to visit our heroine from Wednesday, and her most alluring and engaging favorite painting:

When our heroine knew that she was going to help out at her high school's Homecoming weekend, she knew that she was going to need a darker-hued travel capsule wardrobe! Setting things up (and tearing them down) for the entertainment of teenagers is NOT for the faint of heart...

She looked over her options, and chose the palette that omitted ivory. Smart lady!

I have a hunch that almost all of us look at least passably good in burgundy. What say thee, my friends?

And yes, these palazzo pants might look like pants here, but in person, they're more like a longish split skirt. Talk about useful!

She knows ... View the Post

Looking for Accent Colors? Start With a Bracelet – Symbolist Lynx Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

August 25, 2025

Our heroine loves black. She loves the way it looks, and the way she feels when she wears it.

But she knows full well that it worries people when she wears unrelieved black, day after day. She's decided to break out for fall, and add some accents... and she's starting here:

It doesn't hurt that these bracelets were inspired by one of her favorite paintings!

Her plan for accents is the following. She knows that she wants to add denim to her wardrobe - long-term - because of it's utility and endless appropriateness. She wants to experiment with a couple of pastel colors, because why not? And she's circling back to the red that she wore many, many years ago with black. She dreams about the outfits that she ... View the Post

Build a Wardrobe in 4 Colors? Start With Art – A Forest by Leon Spilliaert

August 20, 2025

Let's take one last look at this lovely painting. I had never heard of Leon Spilliaert until I found this painting; I can't imagine how much wonderful art there is in the world that I haven't seen!

As you very probably already know, the last four posts here at The Vivienne Files have been variations on this painting; let's take a last look at each of the four travel capsule wardrobes that this heroine assembled through the autumn and winter:

It looks like a lot, doesn't it? But when you aggregate it into one place, it starts to look coherent...

The accessories are always so wonderful - a coherent collection of shoes, bags, jewelry and scarves is always going to be lovely!

Getting all of ... View the Post

Avoiding Light Colors? Start With Art – A Forest by Leon Spilliaert

August 18, 2025

Ah, for the winter holidays, our heroine has plans to visit friends and family, with a particular fun twist - all of these families seem to be the ones with small children!

Now, our heroines loves children, and will spend much of her long weekend on the floor, playing with new toys, reading books for the 37th time, and just generally cuddling sleepy, grumpy tots...

But as always, her packing starts here:

She wants soft things. Dark things that show spots a bit less. a necklace or two that can be quickly tucked into a collar, to avoid the inquisitive fingers of the wee babies in the crowd...

She's even packing a pair of shorts; she spends a lot of time on the floor...

This wardrobe is darker than ... View the Post

A Warm Color, Classic Palette for Fall? Start With Art – a Forest by Leon Spilliaert

August 13, 2025

Our ongoing inspiration:

Our heroine from Monday has another trip planned; she's going to her college Homecoming!

She's not planning to attend any of the more formal, dressy activities; her agenda is more the football game, and then hanging out at the home of one of her friends who stayed in the city after graduation. Much sitting around, eating, talking, and laughing is what she has in mind...

But she still wants to look nice, and she really wants to have that autumn feel when she gets dressed. Time for some brown!

Her color palette for the upcoming festivities is this:

She starts with a lovely brown tee shirt, her black cardigan, and a different pair of black pants - somewhat warmer than the linen ... View the Post

Want a Number of Color Palette Possibilities? Start With Art – A Forest by Leon Spilliaert

August 11, 2025

Our heroine travels quite a bit - visiting friends, visiting family, vacationing, working... And she wants to start packing with a plan; she's inspired by this:

She immediately can see a color palette that would pay homage to this painting - three neutrals, with the green as an accent. Or maybe the green can be a neutral too? There are lots of possibilities:

As heroines tend to do, she keep thinking! She realizes first off that she's really not in the mood to pack brown right now. Maybe she doesn't own any yet, or maybe her brown clothes are heavier, and not suited to her upcoming trip.

So she can clearly see that she can still assemble a lovely palette without the brown.

And then she thinks ... View the Post