The Vivienne Files - Page 11 of 269 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

September 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Part 1

September 2, 2024

This month feels like a new start for many of us - back to school and all that. In France, they call it "la rentrée" - the re-entry. Everybody's back from vacation and ready for the return of autumn...

So I'm going to look at these wardrobe with a few minutes of simple analysis, before I just tear off shopping with our various heroines!

Let's start with this most difficult (for me) wardrobe, based on a cheery and always interesting painting:

Five accent colors! Pastels AND brights! So not my style... which is great, right?

Just looking at this, I feel like this heroine might want to look for more green, orange or pink...

And let's see what she has, separated by function:

She ... View the Post

August 2024 Start with a Bracelet – Fierce Healing Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

August 30, 2024

"Let's Go Away... for the weekend to the spa up in the next state. It's not a long drive, and we can spend the weekend sitting in a pool in our room, or walking around the grounds, or getting massages..."

She's not handling grief nearly as well as she thought she would; a break might be nice...

She's pretty sure she knows what she will wear for the ride, and she has every intention of wearing the robe provided by the spa much of the time. Still, she will need something to wear to at least get back and forth to the treatment rooms or to walk around.

She thinks that planning her wardrobe around the bracelets gifted to her by a dear friend might be just the ticket. She will wear her bracelets every ... View the Post

Not Sure HOW Dressy? Start With Art – Mont Alba by Charles Rennie Mackintosh

August 28, 2024

I didn't know that Charles Rennie Mackintosh painted! I knew lots of others things that he did, but not this kind of lovely thing:

Such lovely colors...

Suddenly, many heroines among us are traveling to events - weddings, christenings, graduations, reunions - and are NOT being given a whole lot of guidance about appropriate attire!

Maddening. And inconsiderate. But we shall rise above, right?

First, try to get better information. Still, that's not always possible, so what else can one do?

I picture a heroine traveling in a casual outfit, with a cardigan jacket that has all kinds of possibilities:

She doesn't want to pack a whole ton of things - although that's a possible solution!

But ... View the Post

Can’t Wear Wool? Start With a Fleece Shirt Jacket from Lands’ End

August 26, 2024

It might be any kind of caregiving opportunity... but you've got to go somewhere legitimately cold (and with short days!), and you can't wear any kind of wool. Dear oh dear...

But trust me, there are solutions!

Fleece is wonderful. Warm, soft, washable...

but don't wash too often - this stuff sheds the microplastics that are found in every organ of your body now! Maybe try to find a good filter for your washer output hose...

These colors are particularly pretty, and would be cheery in a place with long cold nights:

I don't know if "shirt jacket" is one word, two words, or hyphenated. I'm going with two separate words for now...

One of the many joys of a shirt jacket is that you can wear it both ... View the Post

Need a Step-by-Step Six-Pack Travel Capsule Wardrobe? Start With a Scarf – The Scott Schuman scarf from Echo

August 23, 2024

It's just a long weekend. She's tired, and she's only going because it's a very important occasion, and a low-key party that she wouldn't miss. But she's determined to make things as easy and fool-proof as she can...

So she looks long and hard at her new favorite scarf:

She realizes that she can just wear and pack her favorite black and white, and then include pretty much any accent color she wants! Yes, toast brown would be perfect here, but she's going to opt for a couple of brighter colors - this time!

First, she chooses her all-important travel outfit. Even if you're only driving for an hour, you can never go wrong by choosing a travel outfit that can stand up to a LONG day. Things go wrong. There are ... View the Post

Can I Wear Toast Brown With My Current Clothes?

August 19, 2024

Starting very early last Friday morning, I was asked repeatedly if the "toast brown" cashmere sweater in this post could be worn with neutrals other than black...

This is the post, just to make it easy for you to see it again!

So I thought that I would pull together a little "French 5-Piece Wardrobe" in that lovely brown/taupe. It's a great color - sort of warm, but not yellowish - at least on my computer screen!

Maybe you weren't convinced that this colors goes with black, so I will show it again...

Honestly, if I didn't already have both a brown cardigan and TWO brown crewneck sweaters, I'd buy this one... I love the way these colors look together!

I think it's logical, and maybe obvious, ... View the Post

A Small, Basic Travel Capsule Wardrobe? Start with Art – Portrait of Woman in Green Hat by Picasso

August 16, 2024

She remembered the post - right here on The Vivienne Files - and was thinking of something a little bit different with the same painting!

I think every reader of The Vivienne Files thinks up their own versions of these wardrobes; that's kind of the point! Put your own preferences in place of mine, or those of our heroine...

Her wardrobe is black and white. She's just now starting to add a bit of taupe/brown to things. But she could see the merit of a blue shirt, or a green sweater, along with a scarf or two...

So for a trip - a fairly long trip - she decides to pack VERY light, but to give herself the feeling of a "bigger than it really is" travel capsule wardrobe. Three accent colors might do ... View the Post

MUST. HAVE. DENIM? Start With a Scarf – The Alexandra Kleeman silk scarf by Echo

August 14, 2024

Our heroine loved Monday's wardrobe, except she just can't imagine traveling to her kinds of destinations without denim. Lots of denim... So Echo releases another Echo 100 scarf, in perfect colors for her!

(true story, what are the chances?)

This is the color palette that she really wants!

She loves to travel wearing her denim jacket. She can't explain it, and she doesn't have to!

I agree with our heroine on this - there are very few people who can't find a good use for a denim shirt:

JEANS!!!! Along with a favorite tee, a nifty hat, warm sweater, and water-resistant sneakers...

She's going to pack her denim dress, because it generally happens that they find something to do in which ... View the Post

Need a Foolproof Travel Capsule Wardrobe? Start With a Scarf – the Kendra Scott scarf by Echo

August 12, 2024

For a heroine who loves ivory and shades of brown, who loves turquoise and coral accessories, who wants to just pack four outfits and then not think too much about clothes...

For autumn travel, she immediately sees her color palette:

She will probably travel in this outfit - these are the darkest pants that she's taking with her, so it might be a good idea!

She doesn't have much turquoise clothing, but for travel, she doesn't need more than just a sweater that goes with everything:

Her vacation isn't going to be particularly dressy, but she's not going to want blue jeans... IVORY jeans, on the other hand, might be just right!

They don't have any very formal plans, but a casual skirt ... View the Post

Love a Little Black Dress? Start With a Scarf – The Bryan Yambao scarf by Echo

August 9, 2024

One of our heroines fell instantly in love with a scarf, and had a business week travel vision...

She has a closet full of black dresses, but she's never dared to pack JUST black dresses for a business trip!

Why not? She's going to meet different groups each day she's away, and she doesn't care if she's known as the woman who wears lots of black...

Here's her color palette:

Her first dress is a mid-calf shirtdress... perfect with her suede belt, a red cardigan, and some other bits that pull everything together:

Her second dress is shorter, and has a small "moc" neckline. As much as she loves her golden yellow cardigan, she MUST have a brooch, so that she can conceal that annoying ... View the Post

A Dignified Travel Wardrobe? Start With a Scarf – the Chun Wai Chan silk scarf by Echo

August 7, 2024

The first thing I saw in this scarf was a upside-down Ukraine flag...

"Your Costumes Will Of Course Be Transported For You... but you will have to carry your warm-up gear, as well as your personal attire."

Ballet dancers might travel with a lot of personal gear - she's seen it before. But NOT her... First, she chooses a classic palette that she found in her favorite new scarf:

"And I'm going to remind you again - we expect you to dress like ballet stars - NOT shabby teenagers. No jeans, nothing torn, cropped, or otherwise sloppy. People should know immediately that you are an artist..."

Well... OKAY.

She starts with her favorite dress:

They are allowed to wear pants; she picks out her ... View the Post

August 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Part 2

August 5, 2024

Thanks for all of the kind and loving comments on Friday; these kinds of things keep me going...

I'm coming to realize, as I look at the 32-piece wardrobes with which we start this month, that 32 pieces of clothing is really quite a lot! I don't believe that I've worn 32 things so far this summer! These wardrobe will very neatly finish up with 52 pieces of clothing; does that seem like plenty, just right, or far too few?

Let's get to it!

Here's the 32 piece wardrobe with which our heroine starts August. Next month, I'm going to break these images out into at least two different ones, so that we can see things more clearly! This is akin to having a messy closet, or having clothes stored in a couple of different ... View the Post