The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Home » Gray » Page 35

Gray Archives - Page 35 of 49

Packing: A 5-Pack Would Have Worked…

September 30, 2014  

Or, in my world, 8 = 42...You might remember my excellent travel outfit:

 

I had this outfit on for an eternity of time, and I don't regret a thing!  It was ideal, and I will almost certainly wear something very similar for future trips.  But my suitcase was TOO MUCH STUFF...  I'd have been well-served to have just packed this:

  I understand that this seems like amazingly little, but I need to remember something really critical about my trips to Europe - especially my trips to Paris:

I SHOP!!!

I shop a lot.  I start shopping the second or third day, and I tend to wear my purchases almost immediately.  Thus, I leave things in my suitcase unworn, and I ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Coral, Turquoise, Black and Grey

September 25, 2014  

Please bear in mind that I prepared this post before I left for my vacation, so some of the links might be dated...This is a great, unique, way to accent black and grey; coral and turquoise are often found together, and there's some AMAZING jewelry available (usually in warmer weather) that combines these two colors.  But of course we don't wear real coral anymore - it's pretty endangered...

  In both of these Cores of Four, I chose high-necked tee shirts to go with v-neck sweaters.  This way, if you want to layer the grey tee under the black sweater, (or vice versa) it will show nicely.  These little details can make a lot of difference in how versatile your clothes can ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Bright Plum, Smoky Blue, Navy and Grey

September 22, 2014   I don't want everybody to feel like I've beaten the "navy and grey" horse to death, but I had a lot of requests for variations of those colors, and they all take on their own feel...  Please remember that I prepared these posts back in August, so you'd have pretty things to read while I'm on vacation; if the hyperlinks don't work, or an item is sold out, I sincerely apologize!   This is the color scheme - three of the colors we've worked with before, but this bright plum color changes everything.  What once was a soft and muted palette takes on a brightness and life that can be included in an outfit on a day that feels right, or you can always stick with the softer colors when that's what you ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Lavender, Jade, Denim and Grey

September 13, 2014

 

One more visit to the denim and grey Core of Four - this time, with accent colors of lavender and jade. All of the shades are cool - some are soft and gentle, and others are almost vivid. Lots of options here!

One of the nicest things with the shades of lavender - they can easily be blended so long as you have the same basic tone.

Once you find someone who's selling a color that you love, it makes some sense to stock up!

I looked for moonstone jewelry for this collection. Moonstone has such a lovely iridescent, almost colorless quality that picks up the colors that you wear. I think it's beautiful (and it's one of the three birthstones for those of us born in ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Pink, Rose, Denim and Grey

September 12, 2014  

This color palette felt to me like it was giving you permission to indulge in a variety of shades of pink, and so that's sort of what I did. I also took this opportunity to pretend that the person choosing this capsule wardrobe had a deep and abiding passion for stripes. That sort of fondness/obsession is great in a wardrobe, if it's deeply and truly felt. You should definitely wear your heart on your literal sleeve if you know what you like, and you're happy sharing it with the world. It certainly makes shopping more focused, and you project a clear point of view to everyone around you! 

 

  Why yes, the grey and blue shirts are the same, except for the color. When you ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Denim, Wine, Grey and… (AWOL)

September 9, 2014

One of the unstated goals of The Vivienne Files is for all of us to benefit from the mistakes that I make or the problems that I encounter.  That was brought painfully home to me today when, after HOURS of looking in all of my secret stashes of garments for sale, I could NOT find anything in leaf green. Well, I'm pretty sure Target has some things, but they didn't have good photographs, so that puts them out of the literal picture for me...

I think it's safe to assume that someone out there right now is thinking about working on a color scheme for which one of the colors is very scarce in the market. Like completely missing. So how do you handle that - what do you do?

This was the capsule wardrobe that I ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Project 333 Autumn 2014 – I’m IN!

September 6, 2014  

No, it's nowhere NEAR cool enough to wear autumn clothes in Chicago - I think right now the temperature could be around 90, the humidity nears 3 digits (I swear it goes over 100% - it's like swimming in a bathtub...) and we're going to get thunderstorms any time now.  But I am travelling very soon to cooler climes, and it's only reasonable to be prepared when the weather whiplashes us into cold, as it will...My clothing requirements become more and more simple; after I spend eight hours a day looking at thousands of garments and accessories for The Vivienne Files, I only want to wear black or grey.  Maybe some pearl jewelry.  Maybe a scarf!  I now understand why some fashion designers wear ... View the Post

Start With Art: The Magpie by Claude Monet

September 4, 2014   In our mythical leisure, Belovedest and I watch art courses from The Great Courses. Our current course is The World's Greatest Paintings, in which we studied at some length the beauties of this:

 

 

Talk about mixing warm and cool colors to great effect!  I was irresistibly drawn to use this as a Start With Art subject. Note one really interesting innovation that I'm trying: rather than attempt to nail down two specific browns and greys, or one color to represent the damp and frozen branches, slats on the gate, and branches in the fence, I'm working with a spectrum of brown to darkest grey. Doing this frees you up to build a wardrobe around any color that might be found in the ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Burgundy, Pearl Grey, Black and Petrol Blue

September 3, 2014   I love burgundy - it has subtlety and richness, while still maintaining the complexion-flattering qualities that it shares with red, pink, peach, and all of those rosy-ish shades.  For those of us gradually migrating away from black, and toward grey in our capsule wardrobes, I could see that burgundy would be a very wise accent color to consider for those days when we're feeling a bit pale.  

  This is a pretty casual wardrobe - no skirts...

In my mind, this color is distinctly different from the color of denim - it has more grey to it. It's a very difficult color to find - if you're a fan of petrol, definitely also look for slate blue, smoky blue, and dusky blue.

This ... View the Post

Adding a “Pantone” Accent Color to a 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe: Mauve Mist

August 30, 2014

What do you do with a Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe if you want to dabble in a currently trendy accent color?  This has been asked a couple of times in the last few days, and I think it's a pretty important thing to think about; we all know that stores will show colors WAAAAAY outside of our plan...

This applies to those of us will well-established Four by Four Wardrobes, and for any of us who are still considering what to use for accent colors.  If you have a wardrobe that includes a LOT of your neutrals, sampling a seasonal neutral is a good way to give yourself some variety without breaking the bank.

I actually put together a little (relatively) document that shows all ten of this seasons "new" colors, ... View the Post