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How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch: Personalizing the Basics, based on Lightning over Colorado by Joe Randall

December 28, 2016

When we left this wardrobe yesterday, we had nine pieces of clothing - a small assortment, but sufficient for two dozen outfits. And the wardrobe has a nice coherent look that's beginning to take shape:

Time to bring some more color into this wardrobe! The photograph from which we're working gives us options for a wide range of shades of purple, from the lightest pastel to the deepest violet blue. The differences between these 2 colors means that you will have outfits that "feel" two very different ways.And a bit more gold metal jewelry, as suggested by the clouds in the upper left corner of the photograph. The grey stones still anchor this necklace well within a grey-based wardrobe. (I hope!) Botkier has ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch: Introducing Accent Colors and Accessories, based on Lightning over Colorado by Joe Randall

December 27, 2016

When we left this wardrobe, it was very neutral, and very simple - but this is the way to start a really functional wardrobe! If you get these building blocks in place early, your later additions will be effortless to wear, and you'll have lots of options...

Cardigan – Pure Cashmere; tee shirt – L.L.Bean; shirt– J.Crew; pants – L.L.Bean; Jeans – L.L.Bean; loafers - Donald J. Pliner

One of the joys of working with this photograph is the wide range of accent colors available. All sorts of pink, lavender, lilac and deep purple colors can be taken from this image. It's so beautiful...And in observance of the strong warm coloring in the top left color of the photo, I'm going to see if we ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch: The Core Pieces, based on Lightning over Colorado by Joe Randall

Join me on this adventure! Someone wrote to me last week, after I showed this amazing storm photograph, asking if these colors could work as accents for a capsule wardrobe that is mostly grey.Well... maybe. I'm going to give it a try, to see how it works. But I have a real concern: all of the shades of pink and purple will be glorious accents to the grey wardrobe, and would be madly flattered by black leather goods and silver jewelry with pink, lavender or purple beads, stones or pearls. HOWEVER... introducing the warm browns and tans into the mix immediately makes me think that I need to use gold, rather than silver, jewelry. And I'm not at all sure where the leather pieces will fit in....

Nonetheless, we shall endeavor to make ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in a Grey Capsule Wardrobe: An Evaluation

December 6, 2016 Back on the first of November (which seems like it was YEARS ago...) we left this capsule wardrobe looking this way:

If you need to track back and catch up on how we got to this point, the earlier posts can be found here: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November.

I had a hunch that this wardrobe was in pretty good shape, and this is borne out by the way that the Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe fell into place so easily:

I noticed something sort of interesting when I graphed the garments on the basis of season and dressiness - the cooler weather clothes were more casual, and the warmer weather items skewed a bit more dressy.

This makes sense, when ... View the Post

How Much Can Accessories Affect Your Capsule Wardrobe?

November 30, 2016

Someone sent me this painting a few days ago, and the first thing that I noticed (after just generally admiring the lovely art) was the touches of teal and cool brown accent:

And I have to let you know that this painting set a record last week for the highest auction price EVER for a Canadian painting. Well worth it, in my opinion...

I was intrigued with the idea of a very conservative, mostly navy and grey wardrobe, accented with those two surprising accent colors. So I started with a few pieces, including a navy pantsuit. If you're looking for suit separates, I highly recommend Talbots - they have a variety of colors and fabrics.

Let's start with these basics - this is literally a Wardrobe Slot ... View the Post

Can I Wear Warm and Cool Colors Together?

November 22, 2016

It came up yesterday - can the capsule wardrobe based on grey be combined with the capsule wardrobe based on beige that I showed back on Friday? The larger question here revolves around combining warm and cool color palettes, so it's well worth addressing.Of course, I believe that it's more than possible! If you have clothing in both of these colors, it's quite desirable that you wear them together if necessary to wear them frequently, with the goal of eventually wearing them out...

Our original painting inspiration combines warm and cool to great effect:

So what if we just try combining the neutrals? As a reminder, these are the two groups of Capsule Wardrobe Building Blocks (aka simple, ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Starts with Art: Little Harbor in Normandy by Georges Braque (Version 2)

November 21, 2016

Oh, this just gets better and better!Remember, we started with this painting:

Today, I've used the top part of the painting, and used silver in place of the gold from Friday's post...

I found new pieces for our Wardrobe Building Blocks, emphasizing grey. This is another small collection of pieces that work without limits - you could, again, literally get dressed in the dark...

Same four pieces - sweater, earrings, tote and scarf - but in silver rather than gold. Equally timeless, but a very different feel...

The only change I made here was the earrings - the others were set in gold... These earrings have a geometric feel to them, and a gorgeous fluidity that I really ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Starts with Art: In Vaudeville: Dancer with Chorus by Charles Demuth

November 15, 2016

Yesterday, the accents we used in the so-called French 5-Piece wardrobe were all colors in the same range of intensity and saturation - they were somewhat soft, and very clear.This painting takes us in a couple of rather different directions!

The accent colors suggested by this painting range from a really elegant neutral taupe to quite a vivid yellow/gold, as well as all shades of warm rose pink.

The base pieces for this wardrobe might rely more than usual on black, as suggested by the tuxedo on the central dancer:

I love taupe, and it's terribly difficult to find. But this cardigan is EXACTLY what I was hoping to find - fluid, soft, with ... View the Post

Expanding a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Night Study of Flowers by Maurice Prendergast

November 4, 2016

When you're looking for color and style ideas for updating a capsule wardrobe, always remember that the world is FULL of beautiful paintings:

Even though I'm pretty certain that I'm going to struggle to find green garments of this soft, subtle tone, I have to include it in the color palette! But when you encounter real road-blocks in find things that are perfect in your wardrobe, you just have to be patient, or learn to sew/knit. Worse hobbies exist!

A reminder that these are the capsule wardrobe "essentials" around which we're building:

tee – L.L.Bean; turtleneck – L.L.Bean; shirt – L.L.Bean; tee – L.L.Bean; cardigan – Lands’ End; chambray shirt – Topshop; pants – L.L.Bean; pants – ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: El Trovador by Claudio Bravo

October 7, 2016

Every time I see this artist's name, I think of the Manchester City soccer goalkeeper of the same name....But this is so serene and lovely, with a beautiful muted palette:

Since this week we're talking about small wardrobe updates , I focused these colors into a simple mauve and grey, and accents of warm, light golden brown.

As we have done all week, I'm starting with this minimal, classic assortment of pieces:

Just a reminder - 9 pieces, carefully chosen, can give you quite a few outfits, before you've incorporated any updates or refreshers!

Yes, I broke one of the BIG rules of The Vivienne Files - but I looked and looked and LOOKED for items in just the right shade of ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Untitled by Wilfredo Lam

October 6, 2016 How cool is this?

Sleek and calm, but with that tiny little pop of gold eye shadow, and those hot pink lines...

As has been the theme so far this week, I'm starting with a very small, very neutral capsule wardrobe that might be found in almost anyone's closet, and then I'm adding just a few accent items. This gives you the opportunity to test-drive a new color in your wardrobe without going crazy...

As before, these few pieces give you a fair number of ways to get dressed:

This is basically the "French 5-Piece Wardrobe" idea- adding a handful of pieces each season to your core wardrobe. It's a simple way to try out a new accent color, or just to ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: October

October 3, 2016

For October, I decided to be really, really practical; I looked at the capsule wardrobes as they are currently assembled, and tried to think of what I would be missing, right now, if this were my wardrobe. First off, there are NO JEANS!!! 2 other basics that I also felt would be useful were a v-neck sweater, and another button-front shirt, in a light neutral color if it's not already present.So let's plunge in!

(The previous months of this lovely project can be seen here: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September)

First off, as always, the scarves upon which we are basing our color schemes and thus our capsule wardrobes:

Navy– Hermès Voyage en Etoffes; brown – Hermès ... View the Post