The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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May 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

May 2, 2022

Let's visit our gradually growing wardrobes, based on beautiful scarves from PJ Studio Accessories!

This month, it was SO easy to shop for this wardrobe! I can't imagine how I personally would get through the summer without a shirtdress in a light fabric...

Each of these wardrobes now includes 19 garments - pretty much enough to get through the summer! If you're inclined to participate in the "21 Garments, 21 Days" challenges, any of these wardrobe plus a couple of tops would get you through the next 21 days pretty easily. Yes, some of these garments are skewed a bit toward cooler weather; some substitutions might be needed...

All the shoes you might need - from boots to sandals! 

How might ... View the Post

April 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

April 1, 2022

I SO wanted to put dresses into these wardrobes, but (1) we've looked at lots of dresses recently, and (2) I sort of feel like skirts are more versatile. I should think about that, huh?

Let's start with golden leaves against a bright blue sky! (since it's snowing in Chicago as I write this - talk about April fools...)

After much searching, I found the perfect silk skirt! This could be worn a ton of different ways...

Each wardrobe now has 16 garments - I suspect we could pull together a pretty tidy "4 by 4" wardrobe from these...

And each wardrobe now has 12 accessories - this is SO INCREDIBLY WRONG in my world... I suspect that lots of accessories will be showing up in the next few months!

As ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Understanding by Parscha Mirghawameddin

 

November 24, 2021

Remember this heroine? Nobody seemed to think that she was beautiful, except her! And possibly someone that she met while traveling....

"Did You HEAR What She Told Her Great-Nieces?!?!"

"You mean the part about moving to the city?"

"NO!!!! The part where that silly frog ring is her engagement ring!"

silly is in the eyes of the beholder - this ring is legitimately very fine jewelry...

"Well, I knew that she met someone while she was there, but I assumed that it was just a platonic thing; what's someone her age doing getting involved romantically?"

What's someone her age doing? Feeling beautiful, feeling loved, having buckets of fun, and treating herself to all sorts of frog ... View the Post

13-Piece Spring Wardrobes – Black and White, Olive and Beige

June 11, 2021

I can clearly see that I want to do at least 2 more of these after today! The denim/chambray/soft pink idea MUST be investigated, as well as... what other color?

But today, we look at black, and then at my nemesis, green!

First up - a wardrobe that I could envision buying if I lost every stitch of clothing that I own... the pink skirt would be a real adventure for me, but why the HECK not try it?

This may not qualify as a completely "Whatever's Clean 13" wardrobe - I can see some of us feeling uncomfortable wearing the blue tee shirt with the pink skirt. But if one could find the right scarf, necklace, or bracelet to tie them together, or if one just plain and simply LIKES the 2 colors together, why not? (it's ... View the Post

Start with Art: Girl with a Tinsel Scarf by William John Leech

May 19, 2021 She Knew It... As soon as she handed her 2 (very large) suitcases to the airline staff, she knew she wasn't going to see them again ANY time soon...

But she's an inspired woman!

Because she's taking SO much stuff with her, she doesn't really have a clear palette for her entire travel wardrobe, but for her carry-on, she has ideas...

After she thought about it for a few days, she realized that she could, in her carry-on bag, bring along enough clothes to get her through a few days if (when?) the rest of her bags go roaming without her...

So she started by establishing a color palette for this segment of her overall travel gear, and chose lightweight clothes and flat shoes to pack more easily.

This ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #2 – Dark Neutral Tee Shirt

March 22, 2021

Hurrah! I love these posts...

And I've been really disciplined about NOT showing you yet another black tee shirt. While in my world, a stack of black tee shirts is a necessity - almost as important as coffee! - I know that for many of you, black is anathema...

So let's go olive!

Just for reference purposes, here's the master list. I'm going to try to replicate the 13 items for Spring in my own wardrobe, soon...

This is a great color - hard to find, but lovely, warm and rich:

This is a perfect color with beige...

If you feel like your skirt's a little bit dressy, a simple tee shirt will bring down the dressiness quotient a lot!

And don't miss this handbag; it costs as much as a rent ... View the Post

Stress Dressing Mini-Wardrobes for Changing Spring Weather

March 10, 2021

The weather is impossible right now - in the best way! After literally weeks of single-digit temperatures and mounds of snow, we're now experiencing lovely afternoons, with sun and noticeable warmth!

But what to wear? Especially if you've got your hands full and don't want to think too hard...

I'm sure you will notice that I changed a few things, but left some from our earlier adventures in Stress Dressing for cold weather. There's nothing like the stress of having to find ALL NEW THINGS for your emergency wardrobe, eh?

I gave some thought to what my general guidelines might be for choosing these pieces, although I'm pretty confident that you could sort this for yourself pretty easily:

These wardrobes ... View the Post

Stress Dressing Mini-Wardrobes for Cool Weather

February 12, 2021

 

We've looked back at the original Stress Dressing post, and quite a few of us realized that this might be worth revisiting in our wardrobes for this "dead of winter, middle of pandemic" situation...

I didn't include dresses this time - I think that the probability that one of us is going to need a dress isn't all that high! And since so many of us are still spending so much time at home, I didn't include a bag either...

My goals were warm, comfortable, somewhat versatile, and uncomplicated. Let's look!

Loosely speaking, this is a list of what I might look for when I build this for myself:

Even though we're home most of the time, there's still no guarantee that our wardrobes will be ... View the Post

Start with Art: Portrait de Greta Prozor by Henri Matisse

April 23, 2020

She's been sitting for a REALLY long time...

She's taking her favorite painting, distilling it down to the essential colors, and then PACKING!

Black, denim, olive, and BRIGHT golden yellow! She doesn't want to work very hard getting dressed, but she's okay with people noticing her...

It's just for a long weekend... She's going to plan outfits for each day, although she won't necessarily wear every outfit. She just doesn't want to have to work; she's done quite enough work, spending so much time indoors...

Her travel wardrobe is dark, and a bit intense. That's just exactly what she wants - no worry about spilling things, no worry about putting together outfits "on the fly," and no having to shop ... View the Post

Adding Pastel Wardrobe Accents! Expanding a Beige & Olive Weekly Timeless Wardrobe

April 22, 2020

She, too, has a wardrobe core of olive and beige, just like that of her friend from Monday's post. But her inspirations for accent colors of quite different!

She saw this painting in Paris, years ago, and took a photograph of it. She has, since then, found a poster of the painting, and hung it in her bathroom! Why not... It reminds her, and keeps her focused.

While there are quite a few possible accent colors hidden in this wonderful work of art, our heroine made her choices:

Of course, she's going to start with her Weekly Timeless Wardrobe 13 core garments, in her 2 neutrals:

She knew in her heart that she was craving light, and softness, and prettiness. She decided to listen to her heart, and ... View the Post

Adding Wardrobe Accents! Expanding a Beige & Olive Weekly Timeless Wardrobe

April 20, 2020

After being indoors for AGES (I'm in my 6th week...), I find that paintings full of "nature" colors really appeal...

Today's heroine realizes that she's going to need to move toward some navy, maybe by the time summer rolls in... Her current Weekly Timeless Wardrobe for Spring is lovely beige and green, but she understands that the green is just too difficult to find.

This is her inspiration:

She's going to indulge in some accent colors, before she starts gradually working on her 3rd neutral...

Here's where she's starting:

For so long, she's been comfortable with muted colors. But now that she's free to be out and about, she is really in the mood for something bolder and brighter!

After much ... View the Post

How to Plan What Accessories to Pack – Cloud Rainforest scarf by Klements

April 9, 2020

Bright colors tomorrow, I promise! But I've got this scarf and it's colors on the brain right now, so I wanted to think about how I would accessorize this heroine's wardrobe for a longer trip...

First up, let's remember that she's starting with this scarf. It's SO intriguing...

Packing isn't easy - you want to be prepared for everything possible, while at the same time not lugging your entire home with you in 37 suitcases! You can't "get away from it all" if you take it all with you...

I've tried to think of a relatively logical, methodical way to look at what accessories to pack:

Let's start with the accessories that our heroine is already accustomed to packing for her long weekend trips; I'm assuming ... View the Post