The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Travel Capsule Wardrobe for a Long Weekend: Cavaliers de l’Hiver by André Brasilier

June 28, 2023

She's smitten with this...

So when her sweetheart invited her to a mystery weekend away, she has an idea...

They're calling it a mystery weekend, but she knows that they're traveling by train, so she can narrow down their destination to a couple of dozen cities...

They've agreed that they will DEFINITELY dine out somewhere nice, but not "over the top." And other than that, they will do the things that they always do when they're in a "new to them" city - walk, window-shop, visit museums and historical sites...

Her sweetheart has reminded her a couple of times to bring a sweater, because evenings will be cool. She could use this fact to try to figure out where they're going, but she's just going ... View the Post

Wardrobe of the Week: June 11 – 17, 2023

June 18, 2023

This was a challenging week - I'm still wearing a brace on my right wrist 24/7, on my left wrist at night, AND I got a cortisone shot in my left foot! I was left unable to put on any sort of shoe over the top of my foot for the entire week; it was cool enough that I would have preferred sneakers or loafers...

Also, I'm sharing a snippet of the fabric of my 2 pairs of pants - they're both black and white, but quite different. Note that my black and white dress is made of the same tic-weave fabric as one pair of pants. In that fabric, I also have the tunic, and the sleeveless top, and a dress... When something is just exactly what you love, you stock up, right?

Maybe the most interesting thing about looking at what I ... View the Post

Wardrobe of the Week: June 4 – 10, 2023

June 11, 2023

I think that warm weather is here - today it's legitimately over 80 degree Fahrenheit for the 2nd or 3rd time this year! A few days this week, when I was frequenting doctors, I wore jeans and a jacket over a tee shirt or top - NOT early summer...

And note the lovely purple-strapped arm brace that I'm wearing every day! I wear my amethyst earrings most days now, and my purple Converse high-tops, just to tie together my wardrobe with my orthopedic!

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Start with Art: Pattern Design from New Ocean of Art by Kōrin Furuya

June 7, 2023

I must remember to re-visit this art when the weather cools, and I can put our heroine in an Oxford grey outfit...

But today, our heroine is sticking with black & white, and 2 vivid accent colors!

I don't know where she's going! Clearly she's only going for a few days, because her bag is what we call a "weekender." And I assume she's going somewhere warm-ish, because she's wearing sandals...

We might be able to learn more about her upcoming adventure if we peek into her bag?

Well, we can conclude that she likes black and white. And that she's going somewhere warm, and relatively casual. She won't be gone for too long...

And there's NO wrong way to put together an outfit from this travel ... View the Post

First Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – June 2023

June 2, 2023

One of my favorite days!

I thought that before our heroines went shopping today, they should each take a good look at what they currently own. This might direct their shopping in some way...

First, let's look at this heroine's wardrobe by showing all of her garments arranged by function:

I frankly don't know that any heroine will see too many gaps in her wardrobe when arranged this way, because she's been really careful to be certain that anything she has purchased so far can be worn in a variety of ways.

Maybe let's see how things look when arranged by color:

This is actually pretty great, but I think maybe she wants something else in denim blue? Yes, it's not a color in her palette, but I think ... View the Post

Wardrobe of the Week: May 21 – 27, 2023

May 28, 2023

It's STILL not particularly warm in Chicago - it may get up into the 70s by Monday!

Thus, I am still wearing long-sleeved shirts (in linen, though!) and sweaters or sweatshirts.

Note - I bought my linen shirts from J.Jill at LEAST 10 years ago, and they're still going strong. Linen is tough...

Happily, our apartment is like a wee greenhouse, and warms up tremendously in the morning, when the sun streams in over the lake and into our huge windows! A great view, AND heat...

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Part 2: Pantone London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2023-24

May 24, 2023

Finally, I'm getting around to sharing the 2nd 5 of the London Fashion Week colors!

I've been thinking a lot about how one chooses their core neutral color - what if you chose it based on your favorite accent colors? Maybe you're really drawn to black, but your favorite accent color looks... wrong with black, to you.

Would it be wrong to put the accent colors cart(s) before the neutral color horse(s)?

Let's look at each of these 5 colors with black:

and with navy - almost identical garments, and I'm going to show them in the same positions etc....

Yellow and black? One either really likes it, or hates it!

And yellow and navy will forever feel like high school to me!

I couldn't find ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: The Iridescent Hummingbird Silk Scarf by Emily Carter

May 19, 2023

A Wedding at the Lake She's not convinced that she would want to drag a long white dress across the lawns, boat ramps, errant piles of discarded bait etc., but it's not her wedding!

But she will be beautiful, and just dressy enough to be festive!

She's one of those women who would be happy wearing all black, all day, every day, but of course you can't do that for most weddings - especially one that's immersed in nature!

So she focuses on her favorite scarf, and chooses her wedding outfit (and other garments) accordingly...

She looks lovely in green and blue - her family will be beyond thrilled to see her in a dress, and a green dress at that!

And an off-the-shoulder top for the rehearsal ... View the Post

Year 2 – Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Rikka – Beginning of Summer

May 12, 2023

Is it beginning to feel like summer where you are? (assuming Northern Hemisphere, of course; I know that some of you are moving headlong into autumn and winter!)

Chicago has finally warmed up; now that I have looked at warm weather clothing for a few days, I think we need to consider adding accents - maybe prints? - to our wardrobes...

The first interesting accent that caught my eye was this cognac sparkle tee. Sparkle! Cognac! What's not to love?

for all of us who are short-waisted (i.e. the distance from our neckline to our waist is shorter than the distance from our waist to our hipline), cropped tops might be just the right length!

the leaves on trees around here seem to have appeared ... View the Post