The Vivienne Files - Page 148 of 285 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Can I Wear Warm and Cool Colors Together?

November 22, 2016

It came up yesterday - can the capsule wardrobe based on grey be combined with the capsule wardrobe based on beige that I showed back on Friday? The larger question here revolves around combining warm and cool color palettes, so it's well worth addressing.Of course, I believe that it's more than possible! If you have clothing in both of these colors, it's quite desirable that you wear them together if necessary to wear them frequently, with the goal of eventually wearing them out...

Our original painting inspiration combines warm and cool to great effect:

So what if we just try combining the neutrals? As a reminder, these are the two groups of Capsule Wardrobe Building Blocks (aka simple, ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Starts with Art: Little Harbor in Normandy by Georges Braque (Version 2)

November 21, 2016

Oh, this just gets better and better!Remember, we started with this painting:

Today, I've used the top part of the painting, and used silver in place of the gold from Friday's post...

I found new pieces for our Wardrobe Building Blocks, emphasizing grey. This is another small collection of pieces that work without limits - you could, again, literally get dressed in the dark...

Same four pieces - sweater, earrings, tote and scarf - but in silver rather than gold. Equally timeless, but a very different feel...

The only change I made here was the earrings - the others were set in gold... These earrings have a geometric feel to them, and a gorgeous fluidity that I really ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Starts with Art: Little Harbor in Normandy by Georges Braque (Version 1)

November 18, 2016

I've never really accepted the idea that women can, uniformly, only wear warm colors or cool colors. I know that for many of us, it's a great guideline for wardrobe discipline, and helps coordinate things beautifully, but I still wonder why someone who loves black and white as much as I do would have gold and orange highlights in their eyes... Oh well, it's a great subject for conversation...

But I think of these things when I look at this painting, which skews two very different directions, color-wise:

I seriously considered sawing the painting in half (metaphorically, of course) and using the bottom half for today, and the top half on Monday for a study that includes grey... But I think we can all manage to ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Starts with Art: Still Life with Bouquet of Flowers and Plums by Rachel Ruysch

Dear Elizabeth, who's favorite designer is Vionnet - send me an email at [email protected] with your mailing address. You won the Mainbocher exhibit book!So what do you do if you WANT something new, but you really don't need anything? You feel the need for brightening up, for some new ideas and inspiration, for some updated options in your wardrobe... I think it's important to take these feeling seriously, and to act on them deliberately, with a clear plan and established goal. If you just start buying things willy nilly, you risk wasting money, and feeling guilty, and still not satisfying that urge that stems from something vital within you.

How about first find something beautiful to help focus that sort of "all over the ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Start with Art: Poppies and Butterflies by Vincent Van Gogh

November 16, 2016 As the days get shorter, and we spend a LOT more time in the dark (in the Northern Hemisphere, of course!), a painting like this is a cheering thing to study:

For those who worry that a "warm" wardrobe - one that's ideal for those with Autumn or Spring coloring - might be too dark in the cool weather, I offer some ideas!

I love these pieces - you could literally get dressed in the dark with no worries about not matching! A couple of pair of warm brown/tan shoes, some lovely gold jewelry, and you'd be well set for the day.

Cream tee – L.L.Bean; sable sweater – L.L.Bean; shirt – Lands’ End; Sand tee – Lands’ End; cardigan – J.Crew; silk blouse – J. Crew; Camel cords - L.L.Bean; ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Starts with Art: In Vaudeville: Dancer with Chorus by Charles Demuth

November 15, 2016

Yesterday, the accents we used in the so-called French 5-Piece wardrobe were all colors in the same range of intensity and saturation - they were somewhat soft, and very clear.This painting takes us in a couple of rather different directions!

The accent colors suggested by this painting range from a really elegant neutral taupe to quite a vivid yellow/gold, as well as all shades of warm rose pink.

The base pieces for this wardrobe might rely more than usual on black, as suggested by the tuxedo on the central dancer:

I love taupe, and it's terribly difficult to find. But this cardigan is EXACTLY what I was hoping to find - fluid, soft, with ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe – Start with Art: Sure Violet by Helen Frankethaler

November 14, 2016

Of course, we all know that the French don't really just buy 5 pieces of clothes a year - that's sort of silly. But there is some truth to the idea that they buy five major accent pieces twice a year. So let's think about taking a really simple, basic capsule wardrobe and seeing what we can do with adding 5 new pieces (and some accessories, of course!)

First up, let's start with a really lovely work of art:

Today we're just looking at accent colors, and this painting is perfect for that! If we wanted to build a summer wardrobe around this, could you imagine using off-white silk and linen as the neutral, and then these four colors? Mmmm....

This is the core wardrobe that I'm suggesting - I ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch, Stage 5

November 11, 2016

It's tempting to say we've reached the home stretch of building this capsule wardrobe, but in reality, you're never finished building your wardrobe. Things wear out, or suddenly shrink, or you just plain can't stand the sight of that tee shirt EVER AGAIN... (after travel, you might need to find something new just to retain your sanity!)But for people who don't put all that much worry and fuss into clothing, this wardrobe is at a pretty good stage for a long time:

Here's where I like to stop and lay things out in an orderly fashion, to see where I've gone awry, and what needs to be supplemented, and what needs to be avoided, for the last little bit of shopping:

It's important to me to ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch, Stage 4 – I MUST Have a Winter Coat

November 10, 2016

The capsule wardrobe we finished with yesterday would make a GREAT travel wardrobe; you could wear 3 pieces, and pack the other 12. With our new silk pants (and the silk blouse from the first steps) you could be prepared for a dressy event, and obviously the rest of the wardrobe is ideally suited for... wandering Chicago in November? New York? Montreal? The choices... sigh...

At this step, I always plan for a complete outfit. This time, I thought that some brightness and a real emphasis on our accent colors would be a good idea!

Flannel shirt – Patagonia; cardigan – L.L.Bean; cords - Patagonia Even though we haven't (in Chicago) see anything that resembles cold weather, we ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch, Stage 3 – Do I Have to Own a Dress?

November 9, 2016 Ah, this capsule wardrobe is starting to have some personality! Here's where we left off:

As always, this would be a good point in wardrobe-building to pause, especially if you're purchasing all of these items. Wear all your new goodies in every possible combination (which will take quite a while!) and make ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that you're comfortable with the styles, the colors, and the overall mood. It's not a dreadful thing to stop at this point, if you feel that it's the right thing for you. It WOULD be dreadful if you kept on shopping and consuming and spending money without being certain!As I look at these 9 pieces, I clearly see that we'd better get some teal into this picture soon! And the ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch, Stage 2

November 8, 2016 When we paused at the end of yesterday's capsule wardrobe building, we had five pieces of clothing - not a ton, but still enough for a tidy handful of outfits:

Clearly, this wardrobe is going to take on some real depth of color with the addition of some accessories. I'm sticking with this gorgeous rich brown leather for as many things as I can manage, including a really nice bracelet!

watch - Kapten and Son; bracelet - Colana; scarf – Santorus; earrings – Lagos; bag – Frye

Generally speaking, a well-balanced wardrobe should have more "tops" than "bottoms." Jeans and trousers don't need to be laundered as frequently, and because they're worn below the waist, they're ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: Starting From Scratch, First Steps

November 7, 2016

Another step by step, starting from scratch Capsule Wardrobe exercise! This week, I'm tackling olive and beige as the neutrals, with teal, rust and ivory as the accent colors. Our primary emphasis is going to be on the "very casual, lots of jeans and corduroy" sort of style. Many of you have told me that you have very little need for dressy clothes in your wardrobe, so let's see what can be done with that in mind.

And fear not, when I do this in December, it's going to be conservative-office dressy!

First up, let's visualize the colors:

Since these colors are definitely pretty warm, with the exception of the teal, my current plan is to use warm deep brown leather goods, and gold jewelry. Our heroine's style is ... View the Post