Navy Blue Archives

June 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Ruffled Autumn Clouds by Emile Nolde

June 1, 2026

I believe that Summer has arrived!

watch, it will snow tomorrow...

Although this painting is of clouds later in the year, I could certainly pretend that the beautiful green landscape is mid-summer. Those are greens vivid enough for Ireland!

At the end of May, our heroine had this wardrobe, shown in two images - one for clothes and one for accessories.

It's well worth looking at these images for a minute, because there is a world full of people who have this much clothing OR LESS. Well-chosen, a small wardrobe can be enough. I know nobody who deliberately tries to keep their wardrobe small, but there could be good reasons...

I could manage with a small number of clothes, so long as I had lots of ... View the Post

An Investment in an Accent Color – I Love It But Will I Wear It?

May 29, 2026

One last look at a bunch of matching garments - unless more things turn up in the next month of clothing "releases."

I remember when pretty much EVERY clothing company released new garments once a month. A few still do - I know that Alex Mill, J.Crew and Eileen Fisher stick to that schedule. Some companies have new releases on their site every day. Literally. Seems excessive...

Anyway!!!! Let's say you're a heroine with a good core wardrobe in navy, camel, beige and white. You're longing for an accent color that's not obvious. For warm weather, you've considered pink, Kelly green, and true red. All of them feel too bright for you, and you think you're just eschew an accent this year.

Then you see Sundried ... View the Post

I Love It – But Will I Wear It? Navy Striped Blazer & Pants

May 25, 2026

I was looking for two-piece dresses - or tops and skirt that match. Two-piece dresses is such an odd term, isn't it?

And I bumped into this:

I often hear that "I don't want to buy a patterned suit" because there's a concern about being able to wear the two pieces frequently enough to make it worth the while.

I have ideas!

This is a relatively easy suit with which to work, because the print is classic; if it were floral, paisley, or a novelty print of tiny chickens, it might be more difficult...

I'm imagining a heroine with green eyes, for what it's worth. The accent color could be pink, yellow, purple, or even red. Red might be too "flag-like" for some of us...

The striped tote and multi-toned shoes ... View the Post

May 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Ruffled Autumn Clouds by Emile Nolde

May 6, 2026

Such a wonderful painting:

Our VERY determined heroine might find that she wants to change her color palette; the blue at the bottom of the sky (yes, the lovely teal/petrol blue) is almost impossible to find in clothing. And frankly, our heroine doesn't want to spend hours and hours looking for clothes - she's far too busy studying for financial certification exams!

She's willing to give it another month, but she may just concentrate more on finding some nice white garments instead...

Right now, this is here wardrobe palette:

At the end of April, this was our heroine's wardrobe. It is very orientated toward looking serious and business-like at work, or online when she works from home.

As much as she ... View the Post

Inspiration is Everywhere! Navy, White, Rose Pink and Deep Lake Blue

April 17, 2026

Our heroine was off to a good start - she was certain that navy is her favorite neutral, and she was equally convinced that white would be her light neutral. That's a LOT more progress than many of us ever make in gaining control of our wardrobe!

She started here - her favorite outfit(s):

So she started building her Spring wardrobe by digging into her closet and dresser, and found all of these things:

At this point, she realizes that her choice of navy and white is really solidly based on her preferences... But what about accent colors?

She looks at art.

She looks at nature.

She looks at brilliant wardrobe blogs...

And THEN, she sits down to watch some European rugby with her best friend, and ... View the Post

April 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Ruffled Autumn Clouds by Emile Nolde

April 1, 2026

No April Fools here... Just a heroine who has her eyes on a bigger office, more responsibility, and a better paycheck!

She's chosen this vivid work of art as her inspiration and source of her disciplined color palette:

Her palette is here; she's decided that she's going to include white in this. White makes a ton of sense for almost every wardrobe, but it's particularly appropriate for an office environment:

At the end of March, our heroine had a 16 piece wardrobe for work. Sixteen garments is barely enough for a week of work, but she's been making it work, so far!

Our heroine looked (and LOOKED!!!) for her petrol blue accent color, and wasn't able to find anything she loved. So she decided that it ... View the Post

Three Ideas for Two Dresses

March 18, 2026

I'm sitting here right now in a dress and a velvet jacket, with black "sneakerinas." For no good reason - I'm not going anywhere, and I'm not going to see anybody outside of my building. (which is not to say that my doormen aren't tremendously important to me!)

So I'm in a rebelliously "wear whatever you blinkin' well please" mood. And I think that almost every woman should have a fun dress..

How about something like this?

(I know, it's sleeveless. Your arms aren't perfect. YOU HAVE LIVED YOUR LIFE, AND YOUR ARMS REFLECT THIS. IT'S OKAY!)

I'm really on a rant...

First, it's easy to wear this dress with a classic cardigan and the normal accessories. This is the kind of outfit you ... View the Post

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Ruffled Autumn Clouds by Emile Nolde

March 4, 2026

Give me your honest opinion: is there white in this painting - in the yellow areas? This heroine could use some white at some stage - especially when the weather heats up!

This is our ambitious heroine's wardrobe color palette - perfect for fitting in AND standing out, all at the same time:

At the end of February, our heroine had assembled a 12-piece wardrobe that wasn't foolproof (mixing her accent colors might get weird!), but that's very versatile. One thing that she discovered is that she really likes getting a shirt AND a sweater AND a tee shirt in the same color, if possible.

So when March rolls around, she spies the yellow sweater and knows that this month, yellow is the accent color. ... View the Post

In the Mood for Something Pretty? Start With a Pink Cashmere Cardigan from J.Crew

February 20, 2026

I think that many of us are in the mood for something to both brighten up our wardrobe, and to give us a head-start into spring - do you feel this? It's certainly true for me!

When I saw this sweater, in this color, I was immediately drawn to it. I love cables, I think it's genius that so many cardigans now have a lot of closely-spaced buttons. Wearing something like this without a shirt underneath is much easier when you don't have to worry about the dreaded (and completely unnecessary!) button gap:

I'm sticking with navy as our dark neutral; in fact, I'm keeping the navy garments from Wednesday's post. If nobody learns anything else from The Vivienne Files, I hope that someone grows to understand that buying ... View the Post

Interested in a Bright Accent for Spring? Start With a Yellow Cashmere Cardigan from Alex Mill

February 18, 2026

If you look good in yellow, treating yourself to a truly lovely yellow cardigan could be a wise move. You can wear it pretty much all year (okay, except for the dead heat of the summer!), and it's a color that brings cheer to anything you wear with it!

For today's experiment with this sweater, I've chosen navy (and dark-ish denim) as our neutral, and included both white and stone. And because a chambray shirt is among the most versatile garments you can own, I included it too!

So this is our palette - chambray isn't shown here, but I think we can assume that every wardrobe includes shades of denim blue, eh?

Here's an example of how versatile chambray and stone can be - I don't believe that there's a ... View the Post

February 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Ruffled Autumn Clouds by Emile Nolde

February 6, 2026

Let's see what our heroine with her eye on the corporate ladder is doing!

First, her inspirational painting:

Our heroine made a big decision this month - upon looking more closely at her painting, she's accepted that she can include lighter shades of her four accent colors in her wardrobe. While the idea of nothing but strong, bright accents appealed to her, she realized that it was going to be a LOT easier to find clothes if she gave herself wider choices...

It's sort of difficult to see on her color wheel, but when she started shopping for clothes, she realized the difference immediately!

And this is something we all can learn - our wardrobe plans and choices don't have to be carved in stone!

For ... View the Post

January 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Ruffled Autumn Clouds by Emile Nolde

January 9, 2026

She doesn't have to wear a uniform anymore! She didn't really mind - it's a good job - but it does get tiring to wear Oxford grey, pale pink and pale yellow ALL THE TIME.

Not to mention that everyone on the street knows where she works...

But she's been promoted to back-office support and auditing, and she can wear pretty much whatever she wants! And this is where she's going to focus:

She really wants to have navy as her wardrobe core; she's noticed that ALL of the top executives wear navy a lot. Since she's pretty ambitious, she figures that she may as well accustom herself to owning and loving classic navy.

But she's going to give herself the choice of four accent colors! One for each season - more or ... View the Post