The Vivienne Files - Page 144 of 269 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

A 3-Dress Travel Capsule Wardrobe

April 29, 2016

My 3-dress capsule wardrobe worked so well in Paris that I thought I would experiment with some different ways to pack with dresses as the primary garments...Imagine, if you will, someone who buys a cardigan that they love. Bright colors, a print she adores, and excellent quality. So when she's invited to a wedding weekend out of town, it only makes sense to build EVERYTHING around this sweater:

She knows that there will be a dinner party 2 days before the wedding, and then the rehearsal dinner (to which she is invited), and the the wedding and reception. THREE days of events which have been described to her as "dressy."

She's a bit uneasy about just exactly what is meant by ... View the Post

A 36-Hanger Capsule Wardrobe Plan

It happens every year at this time - you would think that after living through 54 Aprils, I would know better. But we have a couple of warm days, and I start dragging warm-weather clothes out of storage... then the weather returns to normal (i.e. coats and gloves) and my closet looks like a I've lost all control. (because I HAVE let things get out of control...)So I spend quite a bit of time thinking about organizing my closet. You already knew that! And this is my latest thought:

Step 1 Look at everything that's visible, and that I can remember from storage, and pick the 18 garments that I know I will want to wear in the immediate (2 weeks or so?) future. This isn't designed to punish me if the weather changes radically - it's ... View the Post

Part 2: L’Harmonie des Couleurs, and 13 MORE Accessory Families

April 27, 2016

Some of these color names could be debated for WEEKS... and then you can spend even more time trying to find just the right item! But why would you settle for something less than ideal, just because it was the easy choice? We have high standards...Just a suggestion - if you choose to search for these colors, be very creative and open-minded when coming up with words for your search. While the book called the 2nd color turquoise, many of the items that I found here (for Blue-Green) came up under a search for turquoise. And don't get me started on the whole lilac/lavender/light purple/mauve conundrum!

Yes, the royal tote is from Nike; some people NEED a washable nylon ... View the Post

L’Harmonie des Couleurs, and 13 Accessory Families

April 26, 2016

I had never seen this book in the US, although it's been available for years! But I saw it at the Pompidou Center in Paris and grabbed it right away - it's right up my alley...Below are links to the book in both English and French - links at Alibris.com. Alibris is a collective of private, small bookstores; I'd rather keep them in business than give that river in South America more money...

The section of the book that intrigued me first was one that linked a range of colors to certain personal or abstract qualities. I'm showing you the first half of them today, along with some ways that each color could be incorporated into your wardrobe.It's particularly thought-provoking to me that red is a symbol of ... View the Post

How I Pack Light – My Secret Weapons in a Travel Capsule Wardrobe

April 25, 2016

First up, I have to let you all know that the "3 dress" packing experiment worked out beautifully! I felt comfortable and well-dress everywhere we went... I'm going to explore the idea of packing this way quite a bit more in a separate blog post or two, but if you're interested in giving it a whirl, I have 2 important pieces of advice.

Check the weather maniacally up until the very last minute before you leave, and be certain that you're packing the most appropriate dresses possible for the weather you anticipate. Dresses make layering a little bit harder, and nothing could be more miserable than the wrong dress on a beautiful day. (think of wearing a beautiful sweater dress on a day when the temperature ... View the Post

How to Combine 2 Capsule Wardrobes

April 23, 2016

Many of your mentioned that you felt that the capsule wardrobe based on the Sophie Taeuber-Arp painting (see it here) would work beautifully combined with the wardrobe inspired by the composite photograph of a lunar eclipse (see that one here). You're a bright crowd (but I knew that!); this is lovely!

First, the business capsule wardrobe with the soft mustard accent:

And then the more relaxed black and grey capsule wardrobe, spared with shades of terra cotta:

All of the clothes, in 1 place! There's really only 1 small tweak I would make to this - I would make sure that there weren't any "droopy" sleeves or armholes on the tops. Here, I would probably get a grey top that fit a bit ... View the Post

How to Wear A Navy Cardigan for Spring – 8 Outfits!

April 22, 2016

This started out as a Chic Sighting post, but after I saw the first woman, I didn't see ANYONE else... But I really like the idea of buying a new cardigan for spring and summer wear (counter-intuitive as it seems, a lot of us that are in and out of buildings during the hottest weather have to carry a cardigan or jacket at all times, to keep from freezing to death!).Here I'm working with 4 different possibilities for below the waist - white linen pants, beige linen pants, navy linen pants, and dark-wash denim pants. This gives choices that range from cool-ish spring days, to pretty doggone hot dead of summer!

Cardigan – L.L.Bean; green onyx stud earrings – Alok Jain; green & white top – Phase Eight; ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Hermes Jardins d’Hiver in Navy

April 21, 2016 A friend received this as a gift, and doesn't know where to start... I have some ideas; I ALWAYS have ideas!

The red in this is actually a hair closer to rust, but since we're moving toward warmer weather here, and rust is IMPOSSIBLE to find, I'm working with a more poppy red. These accent colors don't have to be a flawless match to the color in the scarf, nor to each other. Unless you plan to wear pieces together, you needn't be madly rigorous in making the colors perfect in a capsule wardrobe.

Of course, when building around a single accessory, 1 outfit at a time is a good approach:

I reused a skirt in a couple of outfits, ... View the Post

The Power of Accent Colors in the Capsule Wardrobe: Blush and Turquoise

April 20, 2016

When I was working on yesterday's post, with the yellow accent colors my mother commented (quite rightly) that any number of accent colors would work beautifully with the black, white, and tweed pieces of clothing.So...

At a loss as to how to choose the colors to use for my capsule wardrobe experiment, I grabbed my brand new color analysis book that I bought it Paris, and I opened it with my eyes closed. Twice!

First, I found peachy, pinky, blush:

The whole feel of this outfit changes completely, with just a different scarf and earrings! Think of the relatively inexpensive possibilities...

Here, four more pieces are changed: a blouse, a sweater, a scarf and a bracelet. This feels so spring-like to ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Composition a Cercles a Bras et Rectangles by Sophie Taeuber-Arp

April 19, 2016 Another painting that I saw last week in Paris. That vacation seems so long ago now...

At first this seemed like a pretty straightforward color scheme, but there are a LOT of possibilities here:

She Does Modeling...

Square scarf – Isabel Marant; shoulder bag – Allsaints; cardigan – Simply Be; yellow diamond hoops – JCPenney; watch – Isabel Marant; tee shirt – J. Crew; pants – J. Crew; suitcase – Longchamp; loafers – Patricia Green Financial modeling, that is. The hardest work in the office, in many opinions.

Yellow silk shirt – Theory; leather bracelet - Bottega Veneta; silver square earrings – Gurhan; blazer – Nina Ricci; ivory top – ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Marguerite au Chat Noir by Henri Matisse

April 18, 2016

Yes, I saw this in Paris last week!

Aside from the charm and beauty of Marguerite, I was immediately attracted to the colors:

Quietly Rebellious

Cardigan – J. Crew; pants – Boden; tee – J. Crew; skirt - A.P.C.

She seems like the most conventional of women. Very pretty, always very nicely dressed.

Cardigan – Stella McCartney; jeans – L.L.Bean; tee – L.L.Bean; denim skirt – A.P.C.

She's rather quiet, a bit shy, and well-suited to her work in the library...

Blue top – Part Two; ivory shimmer tee – Mint Velvet; soft teal tee – L. L. Bean; salmon sweater – Odeeh

And yes, she owns a cat!

Tie dye tee – ... View the Post

Window Displays and Other Beautiful Things, Paris 2016

This is my last post about our recent trip to Paris, so I'm going to cover a few different areas, and toss in some bizarre, uncategorizable outliers...For B and me, Paris isn't Paris without food! One of the first things we have to do when we get to Paris, (after breakfast, of course) it find some eclairs. Coffee eclairs are a food group during our vacations!

The patisserie windows in Paris are always beautiful, and there are a LOT of them; seldom do we have an "eclair emergency" that can't be assuaged in just a few minutes.

This sugar isn't just refined; it's positive elegant!

I love this - it dumbfounded me that walnut meats could be displayed so elegantly!

And those beauties on the top left are Merveilleux ... View the Post