Navy Blue Archives - Page 29 of 60

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

May 1, 2018

Always my favorite day of the month, for The Vivienne Files! And since today (April 30th) is actually somewhat warm in Chicago, this doesn't feel like an insane outfit to bring into our capsule wardrobes!

If you haven't seen these before, the general idea is that I start the year with 6 Hermes scarves, and for each of the 12 months of the year, I choose an outfit to add to a growing capsule wardrobe. Some of them turn out really well, and others... need some year-end adjusting! But it's a fascinating process...

Let's get started; one of the things that I liked most about this scarf was the juxtaposition of the surprising yellow, green and blue against the black. Not your usual accent colors!

This wardrobe is ... View the Post

Traveling with Children? Pack a “Whatever’s Clean 13” Wardrobe!

Let's see how this new version of The Vivienne Files works, shall we?

It's a question I hear from time to time - I'm traveling with small children, and I want to pack something bright and cheery. I also get questions about packing with printed or patterned pants, skirts and shorts - I'm going to throw that variable into this mix too!

This is a pretty bold way to start a wardrobe! But it will work, if we're intelligent and thoughtful...

First up, let's pull out our "Whatever's Clean 13" template to make sure that this plan stays on track:

It might behoove us to come up with a color scheme, before this goes completely crazy! I'm nominating navy as a neutral for this wardrobe, because navy is a great, classic neutral for ... View the Post

Exciting Stuff Coming Soon…

Well, it will be exciting when we get it all sorted out...

My brilliant consultants at RockFort Media are moving The Vivienne Files off of Google Blogger, and onto Wordpress.

I know, that means virtually nothing to most of you - I'm not really quite sure what's going to happen either. But I do know that The Vivienne Files will be prettier, and a little bit easier to search through, and that moving away from Google makes me look like a real grown-up blogger in the eyes of the big sponsors and advertisers.

So things will be nicer for you, and a better business for me. After I make it up the learning curve, it's going to be wonderful. (I keep telling myself that...)

For the next few days, there won't be any new blog posts, at all. ... View the Post

Study in Verticals by Frantisek Kupka – Revisiting for Spring 2018

She likes facets... and doing difficult, serious work that requires her to be multi-faceted. So it's no surprise that her personal style guideline is this:

She's still wrapping up all of the documentation from a taxing negotiation from back in January... It was fully of drama - slammed doors, pounded fists, raised voices, and all sorts of threats to quit, or to fire people.... At least her travel wardrobe was under control - nothing else was!

She's now taking off just a few days, to sit under the trees, near the beach, and listen to the ocean...

She's sticking with dresses. It's how she feels most comfortable! And she's keeping things simple - she's had quite enough complexity in her life ... View the Post

Shallow Deep by Wassily Kandinsky – Revisiting for Spring 2018

April 9, 2018 She loves simplicity, clarity, things that are explained and can be learned...

So she became a teacher! Her last trip to New York was with a group of her students, and her travel wardrobe reflected her need to be bright, cheerful, mobile and ready for anything!

This time, shes going ALL BY HERSELF! Just for a couple of days, but a couple of days among adults...

She's not taking very much AT ALL with her. She's going to concentrate on spending as much time with a work of art as she wants, without worrying about keeping her class on schedule. She's going to eat, slowly, savoring every bite and not caring one whit about the table manners of anyone around her. She's going to sleep late...

Yes, her ... View the Post

Blue by Kinuko Imai Hoffman – Revisiting for Spring 2018

April 3, 2018

You might remember that back in January I assembled a very simple, but (to my mind) fascinating little Tote Bag Travel capsule based on this work.

The palette suggested by this is very limited, but I think that's part of the challenge/fun - especially for someone who thrives by being creative with constraints:

When we left our heroine visiting classrooms, just after the winter holidays, this was her travel wardrobe:

Her visits continue through the school year, even as the weather warms... And she adheres to her very disciplined wardrobe. Her goal is to be a calming, familiar presence in the classes she visits...

The weather's getting warmer, but it's still cool enough for a long-sleeved ... View the Post

Revisiting a Start With Art: Edith and the Kingpin by Jack Vettriano

March 30, 2018 When we left Edith, she was deeply smitten with a gentleman that she had... encountered... at the resort to which she had been sent to recuperate from a recent illness...So when one of her friends wrote to her that the resort was looking for a new hostess for the luncheon salon, she determined that she was going to get the job!"You're going to do what?"

"Well, it's only 5 hours of work (10 to 3) five days a week, AND I get a room at the resort for the season, and I get all of my meals provided, AND I get paid. It will be almost like being a guest there, except that I'll get to meet everyone, and I'll get paid to get a bit of exercise..."

Her parents are not convinced, but they recognize that expression on her ... View the Post

How to Pack Just Enough Accessories

March 26, 2018 So, while Friday's travel capsule wardrobe looked pretty good, it's really not complete! Without at least shoes (and maybe a bag) you're not probably going very far... (and yes, some people don't ever wear shoes; there are ALWAYS exceptions...)

Let's do some planning, before we add accessories to that wardrobe - first, by remembering and building on our color palette.

It's worth considering if these colors will give you sufficient guidance for your choice of accessories. I like to - at a minimum - add a metal color, so that I don't just willy-nilly toss all of my jewelry into my bag! You might want to also be certain that you've got a dark neutral that's going to work for things like shoes ... View the Post

I Want to Pack ALL of my Clothes!

March 23, 2018

All of my clothes are lovely - why can't I take EVERYTHING with me on vacation?Well... of course this isn't going to work, but it's a legitimate question that I think about every time I'm going out of town - if I take everything that I own that I really love, I'm just going to end up moving away. (don't tempt me - I LOVE to move...)But let's be adults about this for a few minutes; choices are hard, but must be made. Let's walk through an example to see 1 way to make these decisions rational, if not any easier!

Start with the spring into summer wardrobe:

The first thing you want to do is get EVERYTHING out in front of you, or at least on a list. Visibility is really key to see where redundancies ... View the Post

Lovet Green! A Great French 5-Piece Wardrobe, with navy and white

March 9, 2018 I haven't a clue what a lovet is... any ideas? But when I saw this color I knew that we had to look at it a bit - it really calls out to me...

So if you're starting out with this lovely, and very versatile, classic wardrobe for spring... (which we saw last Friday...)

Without adding any accents at all, you're already pretty well-equipped for most of the occasions that you might encounter during the spring (or on a lovely spring break vacation!).

But adding on the green accents gives you some lovely possibilities.... And this is the kind of accent color that would be equally beautiful and useful in the autumn - always a ... View the Post

A French 5-Piece Wardrobe in Ultra Violet

March 2, 2018

I can't explain it, but I'm really fascinated by (bordering on obsessed with) navy and ultra violet together... I don't own a STITCH of navy clothing - I haven't since the late 80s - and I'm not about to start buying it now! But I just find it beautiful and... gratifying... in a way that I can't explain.

How about another 90% Eileen Fisher dream wardrobe, this time in navy? I could NOT find a good photo of a skirt in her navy - which she calls midnight - so I grabbed one from Lands' End. Remember that different fabrics don't have to be "dye-lot" matched to be worn together. They should look like they're from the same family, but not necessarily like they're identical twins!

As should always be the case with a ... View the Post

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

March 1, 2018

Who couldn't be happy that it's finally March? (I swear, I think February might have been the longest month of my life!) Let's buy some sweaters and skirts, if only in our imaginations...

For some reason it's become a tradition for me to include canvas shoes or espadrilles with the outfits in March. Some of them are a stretch, I'll admit!

This wardrobe is unlike anything else I've ever assembled!

Seriously, couldn't someone get married in this outfit?

I think this is become really pretty...

There's something about stripes with dots... especially in navy! (and the espadrilles have little round perforations...)

I'm loving this one too... It all feels very easy to wear...

There was ... View the Post