Olive Green Archives - Page 13 of 19

Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette – A Pinch of Plum, with Six Neutrals

September 16, 2016 Depending upon whom you consult, this is NOT plum. However, I like it, and so for now we're going to roll with it... There are going to be more colors in this series, so some other interpretations of plum in a capsule wardrobe are entirely possible!

Purple is an interesting color in shops; a great deal of what's available looks very... goth? Sort of like you're living on the fringes of normal society? Just plain strange? It's such a pity, because purple is a lovely color, and goes so well with all of our neutrals.(I've had a deep fondness for the "stitchworks" L.L.Bean cardigan for years. I'm really happy that I've finally found a good place to show it to you!)

I was REALLY ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette – A Touch of Teal, with Six Neutral Colors

September 15, 2016

Sigh... there are NO teal foods. If a food is teal, it's a genetic mutation, or a scary misuse of food coloring!So we've abandoned my very fun food theme for post titles, but the general concept of accenting neutral outfits holds true. And teal is SO pretty in the capsule wardrobe...

The teal tee shirt has a slightly different neckline than usual, and it's tunic-length. We like to keep some options available!

I wasn't at all sure how olive and teal would be together, but I could cheerfully wear either of these outfits (and olive isn't a good color for me...) Remember, when looking for scarves, to check out the men's departments. Why some scarves are only for men is a mystery to me...

I don't know ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette – A Dash of Cinnamon, with 6 Neutral Colors

September 14, 2016 I found some lovely things in that russet color that was so elusive... And it occurred to me, again, that garments that aren't in the same fabrics don't have to be the precise same color! This tee shirt and cardigan would look gorgeous together in a capsule wardrobe:

This is a great combination:

I wasn't at ALL sure how this would work, but keeping silver metal in the jewelry made all the difference...

These colors worked wonderfully together; I particularly like this scarf. It's more of a blend of close colors than any exact matching.

Here's a case of 2 colors that are opposites on the color wheel, and which are therefore MADE for ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette – A Dab of Mustard, with 6 Neutral Colors

September 13, 2016

I'm still looking for nice pieces in rust (russet? warm red?), so I decided to skip that color for now and head directly into deep gold!What to call this color? When you're searching for things like this online, try gold, yellow, mustard, and saffron, for a start; I'm sure that there are lots of outlandish color names that I missed. Why do companies believe that calling something "burnished autumn" is going to help potential buyers find their stuff?

This isn't an easy color to wear, but it's present in so many school colors that you see it fairly often in the US in the autumn. (if you're from outside the US, please note that many people here take high school and college football - American football - very ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Color Palette – A Drop of Wine, with 6 Neutral Colors

September 12, 2016

Many of you have asked me how to integrate an accent color into a neutral wardrobe; this is my attempt to give you some suggestions, and a gentle bit of guidance.Let's assume, for the sake of conversation, that you have your core ensemble for cooler weather, in your favorite neutral:

Tee – J. Crew; pants – L.L.Bean; cardigan – H&M; boots – Sarto

Some of these are easier to assemble than others; if olive green is your favorite neutral, you're not going to see yourself coming and going on the streets...

Sweater – J. Crew; pants – J. Crew; cardigan – J. Crew; boots – Corso Como

I've put together a few ensembles in more "business-y" looks, and others that ... View the Post

One Navy Dress in a Capsule Wardrobe: 14 Ways to Wear it With Muted Accents

September 2, 2016

One last adventure with this dress - this time, with muted accent colors like olive, burgundy, and mustard! (I have been hungry 24/7 for a week...)

You might notice more or less immediately that I'm reusing a TON of accessories from the recent post with the grey dress. I'm not doing this because I'm lazy, (well...) but because it all fell into place, unexpectedly.

When I put together posts like this, which are variations of previous posts, I reuse the original PowerPoint file. For this, I went through each page, deleted the original grey dress, and pasted in the navy dress. Then I changed the color of the divider stars... It was only when I went to the next step - changing the accessories - that I realized that I ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: September

September 1, 2016

It's really starting to sink in with me how big this file is! 31 pages of images, all but 1 of which gets changed each month... But it's such a fun exercise! As always, let's first look at the scarves around which we are building the 6 capsule wardrobes:

For all six outfits for September, I included a flannel shirt, corduroy pants, shorts boots, gloves, a scarf, and some kind of vest. Within those fairly strict guidelines, I still was able to pull together some wide-ranging looks! And yes, I would wear a plaid scarf with a plaid shirt. In a heartbeat...

Only 21 pieces of clothing, but it just feels like more, doesn't it?

The new additions are going ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: August

August 1, 2016

In August, the stores have VERY little warm-weather apparel, so we'd better be prepared to plan ahead and pick up some things that will be useful in autumn and winter...For reference, the earlier installments of this series can be found here:

January February March April May June July

And for reference purposes, these are the 6 scarves with which we started the capsule wardrobes: (I can't wait to choose NEXT year's 6 scarves - maybe we'll vote?)

Navy– Hermes Voyage en Etoffes; brown – Hermes Tyger Tyger; beige – Hermes Le Voyage de Pytheas; olive – Hermes Cheval Mirage; grey – Hermes Cheval Surprise Remix; black – Hermes Au Pays des Oiseaux Fleurs

This ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Marguerites by Conrad Kiesel

July 14, 2016

I'm in a real navy and olive mode these days; I started this a couple of days ago, before yesterday's navy and green outfits. One of my all-time favorite posts on The Vivienne Files is still this one - navy and gorgeous accent colors.How's this for a glorious painting?

There are of course a variety of ways that colors could be extracted from this, but these are what I've chosen for today:

In honor of all of you who are traveling to colder climes this autumn, I'm thinking about packing that includes a warm coat and waterproof boots. Especially for those of you going to Ireland in the fall, you'll want both sunglasses AND gloves!

Sunglasses – Tory Burch; scarf – Brooks Brothers; boots – ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Owl on Ginko Branch by Ohara Koson

July 9, 2016

Just wonderful:

While the vast majority of this painting is in shadings of beige and black, there are a couple of glorious accents of russet and olive...

She Works Nights Someone has to monitor those data servers - they run HOT, and they have to be watched 24/7. She loves the night sky, so she took the job...

So she works for 5 minutes, and then looks out the window for 5. It keeps her moving around, and she's learned a lot about the night sky.

Now that her company has grown, she's called on to work with people in other offices. Still at night, when the regular staff is at home, and just the emergency teams are in place.

Everyone marvels at how well she does during ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: July

July 1, 2016

In the world of "fashion," summer is pretty much over! It's a good time to grab a couple of tee shirts (which you will of course continue to wear well into the colder weather), as well as another pair of shorts for your capsule wardrobes. A pair of sandals purchased now will definitely be a starter pair for NEXT summer, and a pretty pendant will be useful for years to come...Remember, these are our starting points for the 6 capsule wardrobes we're building:

I just NOW noticed that I chose TWO ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes – a Half-Way Through Bonus

June 11, 2016 I've been thinking about how these capsule wardrobes would work for additional outfits, now that we're up to a dozen pieces of clothing in each wardrobe. So I played around and came up with another six outfits for each grouping. Enjoy!

love, Janice

... View the Post