The Vivienne Files - Page 103 of 269 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Packing a Small Backpack for a Week…

May 14, 2018

If you're making a trip with some specific advantages, you can travel very VERY lightly! I was in Florida last week for a quick visit with my mother, and I had ALL of the factors in my favor:

traveling to a warm-weather destination, with no dressy nor business activities planned, where I can easily purchase or borrow things that I forgot, and where I can do laundry!

Knowing that all of this was working in my favor, and that I had very little time to pack, AND that I had one of those airfares that requires you to pack only what will fit under the seat in front of you, I managed just fine, thank you!

This is what I wore to fly; it was a bit more than I needed when I arrived in Florida, and frankly LESS than ... View the Post

AWOL AGAIN…

I'm dashing off for a family emergency - and will be back early next week. I'll share with you how VERY quickly I was able to pack for a "one bag, that fits under the seat" trip...

love and hugs,

all around!

Janice ... View the Post

Start with an Owl – Adding Accessories to a Capsule Wardrobe

May 9, 2018

As much as it might be delightful to have a carefully curated capsule wardrobe, if you don't have shoes, a bag, and an earring or two, you're going to struggle...

Just as a reminder, this is the inspiration with which we're working:

And this is our heroine's wardrobe, chosen over the last 5 days in a deliberate, step-by-step manner:

Starting From Scratch wardrobes always include some accessories - it only makes sense - so let's see where we stand:

Many of us could function indefinitely with these accessories, but let's add a few more pieces, if only to be able to think through a logical and deliberate process for these purchases. I'm a big fan of relying on a good "coup de coeur" (literally a kick in ... View the Post

Final Phase of Building a Wardrobe, based on an Owl Photograph

May 8, 2018

Our heroine's living with a pretty versatile 25-piece capsule wardrobe for spring and summer:

But she wants to be absolutely certain that she's not missing anything important; it's better to think these things over before you have an upcoming event for which you're ill-prepared...

So let's look at her wardrobe, arranged by color. This might give us a hint or two...

Something that I noticed when I was putting outfits together yesterday - a pair of white (or silver?) shoes or sandals would go a LONG way toward making those white pants more wearable...

And she has all solid-colored garments; well, that 1 tee shirt has a bit of a print on it, but with a core wardrobe that's so complete, a bit of whimsy might ... View the Post

Fourth Phase of Building a Wardrobe, based on an Owl Photograph

May 7, 2018

Our heroine is making great progress with her owl-inspired wardrobe! It's important to remember that if you're doing this process at home, you don't have to accomplish all of this within any specific time frame; don't feel pressured to do a whole bunch of shopping at 1 time. That's a certain way to end up making mistakes and regretting some of your choices...

We left our heroine with this very tidy wardrobe:

As I scan over this wardrobe, and mentally divide it into categories, I see that our heroine has 3 "second layers," but that they're all black and white. It's time to find her an accent cardigan or jacket! And even though white pants are always a way to tempt fate, for warm weather there's just nothing more ... View the Post

Third Phase of Building a Wardrobe, based on an Owl Photograph

May 4, 2018

When we left our heroine yesterday, she had assembled a tidy 9-piece capsule wardrobe, ideal for travel, or for those days when you just don't know what to wear:

In order to give our heroine a bit more variety in her wardrobe, I'm going to add a somewhat dressy blouse (which can worn with any of the pants) and a simple black linen top - perfect with black pants and any of the cardigans. A beautiful, classic pendant in her accent color can be worn with anything from a tee shirt to the loveliest dress...

Our heroine still has only pants in her wardrobe. For many people, that would be just fine, but I'm going to assume that we want to add a skirt, a simple but pretty top, and a pair of sandals... Warm weather ... View the Post

Second Phase of Building a Wardrobe, based on an Owl Photograph

May 3, 2018

So far, so good. While we only have 5 pieces of clothing in this wardrobe, with a pair of shoes, these are important first steps - these are pieces that will be worn a LOT...

While this heroine is in need of some more clothes, let's first get her at least a watch and a handbag! Well okay, a few accessories... You don't really need piles of jewelry, or dozens of scarves, to make a big difference in how your wardrobe works for you.

I've always felt that it was a safe assumption that a wardrobe should include more tops than bottoms - the tops are more visible because they're at eye-level, they're close to your face, and they are more likely to need laundering before a pair of jeans... So let's pick up a couple more ... View the Post

Start with AN OWL! Building a Wardrobe 1 Step at a Time

I haven't done this for AGES, and it always feels like something that I need to think about at the turn of seasons. Now that warm weather seems to have finally arrived in Chicago, this might be what I should do in my own closet so that I have a solid capsule wardrobe ready for the fun to come...

I will never quit believing that every woman (except those who only wear skirts and dresses) needs a good pair of pants. Nothing rarefied, nothing that has to be kept for "special" occasions - just something to wear frequently, in order to dress a notch up from jeans or (heaven forbid) leggings...

If you're really starting from scratch, the 2nd step gives you both a "suit" of sorts, and then a top that gives you a complete outfit. A ... View the Post

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

Lily of the Valley! The Birth Flower for May

April 30, 2018

Well THIS was difficult - as much as it's really easy to find lily of the valley fragrances, and lily of the valley room fragrances, finding garments or accessories with lilies of the valley is pretty difficult. (if you see something, please post a link in the comments!)

But we persevere, right!

Yes, the blouse is absurdly expensive... but the jewelry is winsomely lovely...

So how can we channel our inner "lily of the valley" when we struggle to find something that obviously and specifically shows our flower? Maybe just adding a bit of spring green to our the neutral dresses that we break out at the first hint of warm weather...

The green that you bring into an outfit can be very subtle, and the floral ... 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