White Archives - Page 26 of 38

One Sweater, Six Ways

June 16, 2015 Sometimes I get the best surprises! The lovely people at House of Fraser send me the nicest sweater/top... a layered look, with a subtle white and grey underlayer - a great weight to wear on cool summer days, but something that will carry through beautifully into cooler weather. Thanks, House of Fraser people! This is the lovely goodie:

I'm an avowed believer that you should KNOW how you're going to wear something before you buy it, although in this case, since it was a gift, I let myself off the hook. But, of course, as soon as I opened my package, I was scheming... These were a few of my thoughts - everything from the dressiest silk pants or skirt, to grey jeans on weekends, or ... View the Post

Choosing Accessory Colors, or Accessories in Clusters

June 4, 2015 Woo hoo!!! The absolutely wonderful ladies at Kathkath send me a scarf! (fwiw, I am NOT one of those bloggers who are constantly being sent things to review - I can now count on 2 fingers the number of gifts I've received from designers...) They sent me this beautiful wonder:

It is, in fact, more beautiful in person than it is in the photographs! The size is the same as Hermes scarves - 90cm square (just about a square yard). And the fabric is soft and light without being flimsy; for those of you who find Hermes to be too "crispy" and heavy, definitely look at these. I'm so happy... And so, of course, I'm immediately figuring out what to wear it with. Black clothes - piece of cake. ... View the Post

How to Pack Light: Yellow and Black “Whatever’s Clean 13” for warm weather

June 3, 2015 You knew this was coming, didn't you? Some people really LOVE printed skirts and trousers, and they deserve to be able to pack a "Whatever's Clean 13" wardrobe too!

Figuring out what to include in this suitcase mostly requires finding a common "accent" color that's shared by a handful of your skirts and pants, and then building around that. When I was browsing things to get started, I found a few things that shared this glorious yellow, and so I chose that as my accent, and selected the black and white found in these Valentino trousers as my neutrals. First up, a travel outfit with bright, happy trousers, but a simple top and cardigan, all pulled together with yellow earrings and a yellow scarf. You ... View the Post

How to Pack Light: Uncertain Weather, and the “Whatever’s Clean 13”

May 30, 2015

Something everyone struggles with is having to pack when the weather is iffy, or when you're going to be moving around through different weather conditions. So I thought I'd take our "Whatever's Clean 13" template as a guide to making this easier.

I've laid it out this way:

A simple navy, white and turquoise palette is the order of the day. (and starting with the Kathkath scarf, I've loosely adhered to a theme of waves and water...)

No matter what the travel plan is, I like to make sure that I'm traveling with long trousers, closed-toe shoes, and a cardigan. Depending on your mode of travel, you want to be prepared for too much air conditioning, or a rotten heating system. And it's always easier to take off your ... View the Post

A 4-Piece Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Pink, Blue, and Purple

May 18, 2015

You've seen scarves from kathkath.com on The Vivienne Files a LOT in the past: I used a beautiful pink scarf here, a rose printed one here, an amazing blue landscape scarf here, and one of my favorites - a marble printed scarf - here.If you leave me a comment below, telling me what you found on kathkath.com that you loved the most (or telling us anything else kind and loving), you will be entered to win this little (90cm square) beauty:

Yep, this is a 90 centimeter square scarf - same size as Hermes scarves. It's a glorious design - they have a close-up photograph of the pattern, and it's delectable... So of course, I'm using this as the centerpiece of another "no-effort" weekend travel capsule ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Bracelets: Effortless Memorial Day Travel

May 16, 2015

Chicago, and the Chicago area, has some of the greatest companies making beautiful clothes and accessories. Last Saturday, at that absolutely wonderful Fashion Expo in Millennium Park (aka my front yard!), I also had the pleasure of stumbling across She-Beads. Don't be fooled by cheap imitations! (I love that sentence...) These designs and patterns are FORMED IN THE CLAY, and will not rub off, scratch off, or otherwise be diminished in the way that painted or decaled jeweled can be. Their site has a video of them making beads - it's amazing that these crafts can exist and we don't know anything about them. There are creative and skilled people everywhere...

I was thinking about what sorts ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Project 333: Combining 2 Color Schemes from the Capri Scarf

May 9, 2015

SOMEONE had a brilliant insight, in yesterday's comments - why not combine these two wardrobes from the last 2 days? This is a perfect Project 333 - it actually comes in well below 33 items...

And a long summer travel wardrobe? Perfect. The two neutrals give you plenty of "non-white" core pieces for travel days, and the neutrals play quite nicely together, too.

Here's our expanded color scheme:

And you recognize all of the clothes and accessories from earlier posts:

But here's where the fun really starts - LOOK at this wardrobe!!! You might need to toss in a pair of shorts (grey sweats, or white linen?), but otherwise, I can't think of much for which you ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Capri, again, with a different color palette

May 8, 2015 You ask, I deliver! This very beautiful scarf, from the company Radical Chic, with a color scheme that emphasizes the rosy tones, and the grey base:

Today's core of neutral is quite a bit dressier than the light brown from yesterday; maybe you have more work on your agenda, or the tone of the vacation is dressier. I would think that the Orient Express could justify a skirt...

I kept yesterday's white linen separates - most because I'm smitten with the dress! And while white trousers can never be true workhorses of your trip, they do bring a summery beauty to a travel wardrobe.

Of course, here's where the fun is! But I think we can all agree that finding subtle ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Capri Scarf from Radical Chic

May 7, 2015 Nobody wrote to me asking to have this scarf included in a post - but I was browsing Boticca recently (as I do every day, looking for gorgeous things for you), and I saw this, and I was completely SMITTEN. If this scarf bore any vague resemblance to my wardrobe, I would buy it in a New York minute!

sadly, Bottica is long gone... but the scarf is still available directly from Radical Chic! But I get to do this next best thing, which is to build an imaginary summer wardrobe that uses these colors are the starting point. One could, of course, include some beautiful crimson rose, or hydrangea purple, or burnished gold, if one was so inclined...

I'm using a nice warm light ... View the Post

Start with Art: White Ship by John Singer Sargent

April 23, 2015 That time of year is fast approaching when the lucky ones among us get all kinds of great invitations for weekends. If you have friends with a lake house, you know what I mean - lots of time in the water - in a canoe, a kayak, or an inner tube! Chilly evenings, cooking out, laughing 'til your sides hurt... The last thing you want to worry about is what to pack!

Sargent's painting put me very much in the right mood for this scenario:

Maybe you're driving to the lake, taking the train and being met, or taking the Jitney, but under any circumstances, you want to look nice - casual, but still pretty, with attention to detail.

Two swimsuits might seem like overdoing it, ... View the Post

Color and Proportion – Step 4: Some Printed Blouses and Tee Shirts

April 8, 2015

Here's where a really amazing variety of possibilities begins. I'm starting with the simplest of stripes, but even with stripes there can be all sorts of variations. Imagine, for example, a mostly beige tee shirt with the thinnest white stripe, or conversely, a mostly white top with a very subtle beige stripe. The balance of color WITHIN the top will also influence how the balance of the entire outfit works. You could get really obsessive about this if you let yourself...

One thing I hear that many of you find challenging is the "dumpy" or "square" proportions of the jeans and cardigans. Frankly, I chose these items partly with that in mind - I really wanted the colors of the garments to be what we noticed - especially ... View the Post

Color and Proportion – Step 3: Adding Print Scarves and 2-Tone Shoes to Solid Garments

April 7, 2015

Here's where the fun starts, for me! As an avowed fan of scarves and what they can accomplish to balance, accent, and just generally jazz up, I was happy when we get to the patterned scarf part of our experiment..

I've owned these black and white loafers a COUPLE of times in the past (literally, I believe they've been making these since the '80's) and I always wear them to death. And I'm embarrassed to confess that the Trotters loafers are, in fact, beige and dark brown. On my monitor, the trim looks black! I truly didn't know the "real" colors until I was almost finished.... sigh...

And you can always find deck shoes in a ton of color combinations...

I personally now really like the first two outfits, but ... View the Post