Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature
August 22, 2025
And I have it. This is the third time this month I've had the particularly nasty sore throat; apparently the current COVID is one that fades, and then returns, and then fades, and then...
Be smart, be careful!
love,
Janice ... View the Post
August 20, 2025
Let's take one last look at this lovely painting. I had never heard of Leon Spilliaert until I found this painting; I can't imagine how much wonderful art there is in the world that I haven't seen!
As you very probably already know, the last four posts here at The Vivienne Files have been variations on this painting; let's take a last look at each of the four travel capsule wardrobes that this heroine assembled through the autumn and winter:
It looks like a lot, doesn't it? But when you aggregate it into one place, it starts to look coherent...
The accessories are always so wonderful - a coherent collection of shoes, bags, jewelry and scarves is always going to be lovely!
Getting all of ... View the Post
August 18, 2025
Ah, for the winter holidays, our heroine has plans to visit friends and family, with a particular fun twist - all of these families seem to be the ones with small children!
Now, our heroines loves children, and will spend much of her long weekend on the floor, playing with new toys, reading books for the 37th time, and just generally cuddling sleepy, grumpy tots...
But as always, her packing starts here:
She wants soft things. Dark things that show spots a bit less. a necklace or two that can be quickly tucked into a collar, to avoid the inquisitive fingers of the wee babies in the crowd...
She's even packing a pair of shorts; she spends a lot of time on the floor...
This wardrobe is darker than ... View the Post
August 15, 2025
Back with our heroine and her multi-faceted wardrobe, based upon this painting. Today's color palette is the one shown here, in which she eschews black and concentrates on the other colors.
Maybe your family thinks your wear too much black? Maybe it just doesn't feel right for a particular holiday, like Thanksgiving? Maybe you just want to try something different?
Of course you're not going to quit wearing black just because it bugs your sister, but you can be a bit flexible just to keep the peace. Especially if you get to wear this luscious shade of green!
Packing in this wardrobe is always so easy - enough ivory to dress up if the occasion warrants (maybe take everyone out for dinner some night, so you ... View the Post
August 13, 2025
Our ongoing inspiration:
Our heroine from Monday has another trip planned; she's going to her college Homecoming!
She's not planning to attend any of the more formal, dressy activities; her agenda is more the football game, and then hanging out at the home of one of her friends who stayed in the city after graduation. Much sitting around, eating, talking, and laughing is what she has in mind...
But she still wants to look nice, and she really wants to have that autumn feel when she gets dressed. Time for some brown!
Her color palette for the upcoming festivities is this:
She starts with a lovely brown tee shirt, her black cardigan, and a different pair of black pants - somewhat warmer than the linen ... View the Post
August 11, 2025
Our heroine travels quite a bit - visiting friends, visiting family, vacationing, working... And she wants to start packing with a plan; she's inspired by this:
She immediately can see a color palette that would pay homage to this painting - three neutrals, with the green as an accent. Or maybe the green can be a neutral too? There are lots of possibilities:
As heroines tend to do, she keep thinking! She realizes first off that she's really not in the mood to pack brown right now. Maybe she doesn't own any yet, or maybe her brown clothes are heavier, and not suited to her upcoming trip.
So she can clearly see that she can still assemble a lovely palette without the brown.
And then she thinks ... View the Post
August 8, 2025
Such a wonderful, simple painting, and it gives us the easiest of wardrobes! Navy just makes things better, I swear...
Today's heroine took a good hard look at her Weekly Timeless Wardrobe template, and decided that it was past time to grab a couple of dresses and a good pair of jeans!
She's making nice progress - not that this is important. Always remember that things like this template are only guidelines; nobody can tell you what you need in your closet!
She has much more clothing in the darker blues and greens than she has in beige; she may address this in the future. Or she may leave things as they are, and be thrilled that she has such a lovely and function wardrobe. Technically, the O'Keeffe ... View the Post
August 7, 2025
I love this painting, and I'm quite smitten with the colors, but I'm starting to see how hard it can be to have a wardrobe this disciplined:
I really love the way this heroine has such a strong signature look. But her shopping can be difficult... Maybe that's not all bad - if everything you see appeals to you AND would look good with your wardrobe, you're living with a ton of temptation. Hmm...
This month, she found another crewneck sweater in a quite different shade of plum from her other crewneck. The shirt is just cool - smocked cuffs? A plum tee shirt and classic grey pants round out her shopping:
The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe template is difficult for this heroine - does she really HAVE an accent ... View the Post
August 6, 2025
Today, we're going to play fast and loose with our color palette!
No, we're not going to go completely off the rails, but we are going to make a modest modification to this color palette, in order to better serve the needs of our heroine. (OMG, she split the infinitive!)
As tempting as that rusty brown color is, it's two things that don't work for our heroine. First, it's quite difficult to find! And secondly, it's not always lovely with black - at least to this one particular woman. Always remember, it's YOUR color palette, and if you need to modify it, do it!
So we're going to incorporate a more classic, traditional coffee brown into this wardrobe. It's pretty, it looks really chic with black, and many of us ... View the Post
August 5, 2025
I'm so excited - I just booked my annual December trip to Paris! I went crazy - I'm staying at a hotel that used to be a bakery (seriously!) and was decorated by Christian Lacroix. I've reached the point that flying over an ocean is sufficiently exhausting that I want to be pampered when I arrive!
If you go to their website, note that I've also stayed at the Pavillon des Lettres (same management company), and it was amazing...
Speaking of Paris:
Our heroine has a wonderful wardrobe in these colors, and she has the fun of balancing brown and navy - two excellent, very compatible neutrals. This month, she found a wonderful brown sweater in a style that's just a little bit unusual, and she was off to the ... View the Post
August 4, 2025
For years, my family insisted that I was really an "autumn," and dressed me in shades of brown, green and gold. It didn't really work, but looking at this painting makes me wish that I really could have that kind of warm coloring!
Our heroine for this wardrobe actually started by looking at her Weekly Timeless Wardrobe list, to see what she needed! She realized that she wanted to pick up a couple of print tops...
From there, it was so easy. She stumbled across these Dijon yellow pieces, and made the very smart decision to get all three of them. Having the solid fleece top to wear over her stripes makes getting dressed so easy...
She's looking very organized!
I'm quite certain that next month I will ... View the Post
August 1, 2025
It delights me that we're into August - it just gets us that much closer to the weather that I like the most! Bring on autumn...
But now, for our first wardrobe, let's start with this soft, graceful and flawlessly balanced beauty:
This month's offerings in the retail space are pretty sparse; I'm hopefully that next week things won't all be selling out! But our heroine had some excellent shopping luck - she found a trove of really nice chambray. It's endlessly frustrating that during the hottest part of the summer, one struggles to find a nice pair of shorts or a pretty top...
This month, I've chosen to divide our heroine's wardrobe by color - another month, I might divide things by style.
I find it ... View the Post
