The Vivienne Files - Page 139 of 269 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Packing Light – a Six-Pack Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Grey, Peach and Light Blue

August 3, 2016 "Dress Yourself" She's been hearing this her entire life - she remember it as a small child. She interpreted it as wearing clothes that look like her! So her grey hair, blue eyes, and blushed cheeks are her color scheme:

Cashmere cardigan – L.L.Bean; sweatpants – L.L.Bean; earrings – Nyoman Rena; scarf – Zadig & Voltaire; watch – Skagen; sweater – Uniqlo; socks – Uniqlo; bag – Le Parmentier; loafers – Tod’s; suitcase – Delsey

(yes, she flies in sweatpants; she irons them, and conceals the drawstring, and nobody seems to be the wiser...)She always gets sent on the "48 hours in some remote country" kinds of trips, because she seems to always be able to get things working better than they had ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Mariana by John Everett Millais

August 2, 2016

Deceptive But not in any damaging way; she doesn't meant to mislead anyone...

But in her heart, she longs for castles, and brocade hangings on stone walls...

In reality, her life is casual. Relaxed. No need for ANY dress - certainly not a fluid, draped, swinging and swaying swath of velvet in a rich, luscious color... But she keeps these feelings in mind when she's shopping: rich colors, intricate prints, and indulgent details and trims.

The boldest thing she might do is mix a pair of deep, saturated colors. She does dare to wear a velvet hoodie, as well as one in cashmere. They are small rebellions, but essential for her well-being.

Her jewelry ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: August

August 1, 2016

In August, the stores have VERY little warm-weather apparel, so we'd better be prepared to plan ahead and pick up some things that will be useful in autumn and winter...For reference, the earlier installments of this series can be found here:

January February March April May June July

And for reference purposes, these are the 6 scarves with which we started the capsule wardrobes: (I can't wait to choose NEXT year's 6 scarves - maybe we'll vote?)

Navy– Hermes Voyage en Etoffes; brown – Hermes Tyger Tyger; beige – Hermes Le Voyage de Pytheas; olive – Hermes Cheval Mirage; grey – Hermes Cheval Surprise Remix; black – Hermes Au Pays des Oiseaux Fleurs

This ... View the Post

A Winter Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Black, Red and White

July 29, 2016

After yesterday's fun with packing capsule wardrobes, I couldn't resist changing the accent color, just to see how it would look! So let's revisit the first outfit, and change the shirt color from blue to red (as well as swapping out a different scarf and socks).

I've changed the earrings for something more round, so that we can look at softer or rounded shapes for prints and accent items. This, of course, will change our color scheme, too:

The 2nd outfit only sees a change of shirt and earrings - as much as I was considering a softer print for the shirt, the idea of a flannel shirt in Ireland and England just makes TOO much sense to abandon!

The 3rd outfit - our indoor ... View the Post

A Winter Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Black, Blue and White

July 28, 2016

Someone out there's going to Northern Ireland, and then over to England. Envy.... sigh....I know a couple of garments that are on the packing list, so I'm going to do some imagining around those few things.

For starters, let's say that this is the travel outfit in question, and thus our color scheme is set:

In addition to having a chosen color scheme, I've decided to focus on the tile-like pattern of the scarf, as well as the woven detail of the tweed jacket as our focal motif - a woven handbag, square earrings, etc. You'll see this detail in more pieces of jewelry, as well as the nice squared plaid of the flannel shirt, too!Knowing that it can be cold, wet, windy and changeable in both locations, a nice ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Brown, Khaki and Pink – Additions for Fall and Winter

July 27, 2016 You asked; you get! What does the woman with the "chocolate box" wardrobe buy for cooler weather in fall and winter? First off, let's remember that we left her (here) with this capsule wardrobe:

By the time August rolls around, even if you don't NEED warmer clothing, you're certainly thinking about it! A long-sleeved shirt can layer under anything, warm socks in pink are just plain fun, and a sweater that combines all of the chocolate, caramel and cream colors can be worn A TON...

For illustrative purposes, here are a few new outfits that result from the modest shopping excursion show above; There are certainly more combinations than these:

Next up, the weather takes a ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Avenue in the Park by Gustav Klimt

July 26, 2016

Don't you want to walk down this avenue? I'm hoping that there's a lovely person with some iced coffee down there in that intriguing yellow building...

While green is the dominant color in this painting, there's no way to build even the smallest of capsule wardrobes around that shade of green, unless you make the garments yourself. So I've chosen the lovely grey of the tree trunks and branches as our neutral.

Life List She's taking just a short break, but with a very specific purpose in mind...

Earrings – Alexis Bittar; blazer – Uniqlo; watch – Skagen; tee – Uniqlo; scarf – Nordstrom; backpack – LoefflerRandall; pants – L.L.Bean; shoes – Keds; suitcase – Hartmann

She's ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories 1 at a Time: Brown, Khaki and Pink

July 25, 2016

She was enjoying the shopping...Of course, she had to start with shoes. There are women in the world who don't need shoes, but that's not the general rule. So she started with something in her favorite dark chocolate brown:

Shirt – Lands’ End; pants – Lands’ End; sweater – Uniqlo; scarf – Givenchy; top shoes – OluKai; boots – Pikolinos; bottom shoes – Born

She couldn't WAIT to get some earrings - she'd been wearing demure, tiny studs for years, and she wanted something more fun. And something PINK!

Tee – L.L.Bean; pants – Lands’ End; sweater – Uniqlo; top earrings – Charriol; middle earrings – Matta; bottom earrings – Latelita London

And a scarf, ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe 1 Piece at a Time: Brown, Khaki and Pink

July 22, 2016 No More "Dress For Success" Every day, every year, the same....

Navy suit, white shirt. Grey suit, white shirt. Navy grey white navy grey white....

It served her well - she was very successful. She worked 7 days a week; she really didn't have a leisure life - her idea of being dressed down was to wear an old work shirt with old pants from a pantsuit. Jeans? Not in her vocabulary. A cardigan? Would get you a visit from the chairman of the firm...

But now that she was leaving the office world, her heart cried out for brown. The color of dirt. The color of chocolate. And khaki - sand, and stones, and natural things....

And PINK. Because she would never have dared to wear pink in her old, very conservative, work ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: Tarantula Nebula by Gendler and Colombari

July 21, 2016 Insomnia Part 2 - Version 2 see first installment here, and Part 2 Version 1 here)

Our sleepless protagonist is browsing in a bookstore - immediately drawn to photo books of space phenomena - when she sees this:

She admires it, registers it somewhere in her brain, and goes on about her day/night.Later that morning, she's wandering in a department store, and sees the Image Consultant area. The staff seems to be at loose ends, so she plucks up her tired courage and asks if she can meet with the consultant...

An hour later, her universe has been rocked. While she's told that her neutral navy is perfect for her, she's encouraged to add warmer accent colors to her wardrobe! Part of her recommended palette looks sort ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: Great Nebula in Carina by Damian Peach

July 20, 2016 Insomnia, Part 2 (see part 1 here) So she's walking around Paris late one afternoon, and sees this:

Oh. My. Her favorite night sky, with one point two million different shades of pink and rose... sigh....

Let's remember, when she took off on this "night walker" vacation, this is what she packed:

Moon & star earrings – Marc Jacobs; striped top – L.L.Bean; bracelet – Les Interchangeables; cardigan – J. Crew; small square scarf – Treasure&Bond; shirt – Uniqlo; flats – SoftWalk; skirt – J. Crew; henley – L.L.Bean; loafers – Coach; pants – Uniqlo; socks – Topshop; clutch – Rebecca Minkoff; astrology scarf - Antagoniste

But the image sticks in her head, and when she's ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories 1 at a Time: Black and Beige

July 19, 2016

Ah, let's add some accessories to yesterday's black and beige travel capsule wardrobe, shall we?Remember, we started with this outfit, to which we MUST add shoes. There aren't a lot of wardrobe essentials in the world, but shoes, when traveling, might qualify:

And I always like earrings for travel - they can be out of your way, but still add a nice touch of ornamentation to your outfit, and draw some attention to your smiling face.

Oh yes, and a scarf can be very handy if you're going to be on an airplane or train which might be freezing cold!

Some people never wear watches, and many of us wear some sort of step-measurement device. But I think watches look ... View the Post