Gray Archives - Page 17 of 49

A 10-Piece Packing Plan, and a Wardrobe for a Week in Chicago in the Autumn

September 28, 2018

I'm still out of town, and working on a laptop - if the images here need some work, please let me know!

love,

Janice A 10-Piece Packing Template Let's imagine that our heroine is coming to Chicago for a week, and is planning to pack 10 pieces of clothing. She doesn't necessarily know why, except maybe the idea of having 13 total garments feel about right to her... It's the way she's packed for years, and she has a pretty clear plan!

First, she chooses what she's going to wear for travel. It seems rather monotone, but a pretty scarf makes a lot of difference!

Next, she pulls out her template for the 10 garments to pack:

Because grey has been her wardrobe signature neutral for a long time, and ... View the Post

Another “Gentle” Project 333 Wardrobe – 30 Garments based on Navy & Grey

September 19, 2018

Our heroine works in an office, where she is the real power behind... well, everything! She works from home part of the time; she only has to go into the office 2, maybe 3 times a week, in order to kick boxes and take names...

So she wants to strike a balance of authoritative, approachable (sometimes), and beautiful (she does have a private life!).

This is her template:

She likes to this of her first cluster as The Navy with a Twist Cluster

Yes, if she was feeling particularly full of beans she would indeed wear the striped tee shirt with the printed skirt!

Next, she wants something a little bit less assertive - something she could wear on Casual Friday. (hers is one of the offices that observes ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – September 2018

September 3, 2018

No holidays at The Vivienne Files! I would never miss the chance to share one of these "6 outfit" posts...

Even though very few of us are seeing cool/cold weather, I firmly believe that it's smart to get your cold-weather clothes ready in advance. Nobody's going to give us 3 days warning that autumn is about to smack us down!

I loved the gold scarf with this otherwise monochromatic outfit...

We are far enough into the year that I now need to have a separate page for clothing and for accessories! Admittedly, a heroine who owned this wardrobe might not have NINE pairs of shoes for 9 months...

While the accent colors here are very unexpected for a "black-focused" wardrobe, I think that this wardrobe is ... View the Post

How to Decide – Should You Buy This Cardigan? (or anything else that tempts you…)

August 31, 2018

The entire purpose of the garment industry is to tempt you to buy things that you don't need. I think we can agree that we are far past the point of saying that they exist to make sure that we're all appropriate attired for the weather and our social environment. Most people have far more clothes that they'll ever need!

But sometimes, you do want to buy something new. Maybe just a refresh to your existing wardrobe, or a treat because you deserve one. There's nothing wrong with this thinking, in moderation - so long as it IS thinking, and not just an emotional response.

So how to know?

Let's say that you've seen a cardigan that you really love. REALLY love...

First thing is to determine if the colors of the ... View the Post

Poppies! The Birth Flower for August

August 17, 2018

Why yes, I did INDEED loose track of the beginning of August... At least the rent got paid on time!

This is a banner month for flowers - poppies!!! There are LOTS of poppies in garments and jewelry, as well as "poppy" being a great color for both nail and lip colors. So if you like poppies, or a clear, vivid red, you're in luck! Topshop has some sleepwear with poppies on them, and Dorothy Perkins has tops, pants, skirts and dresses in a poppy print. It's a veritable treasure trove of flowers...

So what did I find?

Really LOTS of beautiful goodies this month... This brooch cries out to me... but then brooches often do!

One of the great things about any shade of red is that it can be worn - really easily ... View the Post

Paysage de Neige by Renoir, Revisited for Summer 2018

August 6, 2018

She first got in the habit of going up to the resort in the winter... She went by herself, but ended up making... a friend... In April she went back - partly to see spring flowers, and partly to spend more time with her new friend...

Our heroine is a very informal, relaxed woman. She loves nature, and quiet, and peace... She draws her style inspirations and color palette from a favorite Renoir painting:

I'm Off After 5 Every Day This Weekend... And so she's headed back to the lake resort... beautiful days by the lake, and evenings with her new friend!

She wants to be careful not to be too dressy, but this is a special weekend, in her mind - worth packing a couple of dresses, and her prettiest tops and ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – August 2018

August 1, 2018

Oh, THIS caught me off-guard! Somehow, I managed to forget that a new month was coming... But I did manage to get this done in time - taking care of my readers are a really important part of my life! Still, if these links are a complete hash, or if this just doesn't make any sense at all, let me know and I'll work on it some more...

This is the time of year to look for the perfect outfit for the upcoming cooler weather. Maybe it's that "back to school" feeling that I get this time of year, but I like looking for a nice skirt outfit for each of our 6 wardrobes...

While this outfit might feel a little bit "Pittsburgh Pirates" to some, putting the scarf on with these pieces breaks up the black and gold, and brings ... View the Post

Instruments de Musique by Picasso, Revisiting for Summer 2018

July 6, 2018

Remember this beauty, from January and April?

WHEN is the Signing?

She's leaving on vacation - literally leaving tomorrow - when the call comes...

"Can you go to the signing, and then to the banquet?"

Sure, heck, why not...

"It's the day you get back from vacation... We will pay for you to take an extra suitcase, and for your flight change to fly directly there..."

Well, THAT'S sweet of them...

So she plans to fly back in an outfit that will be acceptable no matter WHO she runs into in the airport, or the hotel:

No exposed knees, nor toes...

Her suitcase contains serious clothes for the contract signings, a frivolous top to wear with a skirt to the dinner later that day, and an ... View the Post

Can Accessories Tie Together Clashing Colors?

July 4, 2018

Some of us felt pretty uncomfortable with the grey Common Wardrobe paired with warm citrus-hued accent colors. That's okay - everybody is NOT going to like every color combination in the world!

So I thought that I would try to bring the colors closer together visually by choosing accessories with that goal in mind...

This is the color scheme with which we are working, based on this really cool painting:

While the first wardrobe from this painting - with brown and beige neutrals - looked great with gold jewelry, now that we've changed our core neutrals to cool grey, I'm thinking that silver jewelry is the direction to take...

It's always reasonable and smart to have a plan when you're pulling together ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – July 2018

July 2, 2018

It's hard to believe that these wardrobes are more than halfway completely - where does the time go?

For July, I'm going to assume that summer is in full swing, and that our heroine could use a couple of easy outfits to wear in the heat. Of course, if you don't wear shorts, a skirt, capris or a pair of lightweight pants could easily be here instead!

And I love simple tee shirts. It's fine to get something with writing, or with lots of bells and whistles and geegaws and thingamahoochies, but that kind of top isn't going to be as versatile as a plain round or v-neck tee shirt. I particularly liked finding these 2 unusual accent colors, which are clearly present in our scarf inspiration:

This is her wardrobe, so ... View the Post

What if I Really Don’t Like Beige? Wasp & Pear by Gerald Murphy

June 27, 2018

As soon as I published the first wardrobe based on this great painting, I heard from readers who really loved it except... they don't like, or look good in, beige.

This isn't really a problem; this painting includes a few shades of grey! They're admittedly not as prominent as the beige, but that's okay. Let's see how this might play out, with the same 4 accent garments and a different scarf...

All I did for the color palette was change the beige to grey, and change the borders of each of the colors from brown to grey.

So this means that we need to start with A Common Wardrobe (i.e. classic garments that many of us might own) in grey:

As is always true with A Common Wardrobe, there are lots of possible ... View the Post

Planning Your Accessory Travel Capsule Wardrobe

June 18, 2018

Let's look back at another recent travel wardrobe, and choose some accessories to be packed along with the clothes...

This wardrobe was all about colors of sky and sea; here's the original clothing color palette:

It's never necessary to have a plan for anything you do, but I think when you're packing, having some structure and some limits in mind can help a lot. If I don't set some clear guidelines when I'm packing, I'm likely to just toss in everything that I like (which is just about all of my wardrobe!) and then get somewhere and struggle to make sense of things...

Silver would be the obvious metallic choice for navy and shades of blue... but since we're talking about warmth and sun and summer, I thought ... View the Post