The Vivienne Files - Page 163 of 285 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories, 1 at a Time: Navy, Yellow and White

March 9, 2016

I promised you accessories, and I try to always keep my promises! My plan is to take a representative outfit from each step of the wardrobe built earlier (this one is here), and then show a few choices for accessories. It will make more sense once you see it in action, I hope...

This was the "starter outfit" for the wardrobe in question. The first accessory needed, without exception, is shoes! With warmer weather coming, mules could be a fun choice, but there are those among us who are devoted to their driving mocs, or their ballet flats, so those are also possibilities.

For most of us, given the lack of pockets in our clothing, a bag is essential. I was trying to find a mid-sized, classically styled option ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Cobalt, Black and Grey: 1 Piece at a Time

March 8, 2016

I knew that I had more black and grey wardrobe requests, so I thought I'd jump on another one right away and see how much difference a change of accent colors would make.First up, the hypothetical starter outfit:

It's a pretty somber outfit, but when you drape the scarf over the shoulders of the cardigan, or loop it insouciantly under the collar of the shirt, everything changes!

Although this outfit includes an Hermes scarf, I imagined that this was being put together for a woman who really needed some more casual clothes. First up is to consolidate a solid column of black, as well as build a sort of fake twin-set in black.

Here's where we start getting much more ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Grey, Blue, Lilac and Black: 1 Piece at a Time

I thought that this would be challenging, but I really enjoy the options provided by including both black and grey with these soft accent colors:

cardigan – J. Crew; shirt – Uniqlo;

scarf – Ted Baker London; trousers – J. Crew Factory

If you like florals, I can't encourage you enough to look at products from Ted Baker London. While not inexpensive, they are SO beautiful, and you really only need 1 piece to be the starting point, and the lynch pin, of a beautiful wardrobe.

cardigan – J. Crew; shirt – Uniqlo;

scarf – Ted Baker London; trousers – J. Crew Factory

While my first inclination was to buy the sweater to match the cardigan, I thought that instead I'd invest in another ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Madame Paul Escudier by John Singer Sargent

March 5, 2016 This arresting painting lives just down the street from me - I go visit it frequently!

These colors are luscious:

Your Biggest Client Called... And you're pretty fortunate that they complained about the service they were receiving, rather than just pulling the plug on your contract! But you're headed to the service center for a couple of days of... encouragement....

The keywords are calmness and quality.

You have to be careful not to be too much the "Home Office Person" because that will just alienate everyone. But you do want to show them, through every gesture, and every word, that you insist on the best possible work they can do, in a way that's not frantic in any ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Lime, Coral, Beige and Cream: 1 Piece at a Time

March 4, 2016

This is a breath of fresh air:

And the one things that makes it ever "spring-ier" is the addition of clear bright green!

This wardrobe really requires a solid core of neutrals to support and balance these 2 strong accent colors.

With that solid core of cream clothes in place, your can then go just a bit crazy with accent colors!

After that detour through the world of green, it's time to put together a few good options in a darker beige/taupe...

This is one of those colors for which all pieces don't have to match exactly - toning things is all that's required.

I thought this was such a cute sweater, and I'm not one of those people who uses the word cute ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Galaxy by Ibe Kyoko

March 3, 2016 I saw this Sunday at the Art Institute of Chicago, and I knew immediately that I wanted to show it to all of you:

The contrast between the strong, almost wood-like grey top and bottom, and the cloudy and beautifully color center caught my eye and held it for a LONG time...

Career Enrichment? Actually, she really does want to go to the training. After all, it's in New York!

Not just any place in New York, but at the VERY prestigious NYU... Having this on her resume can do nothing but good!

So when her employer offered the chance to go - at their expense - she was filling out the application forms before the email had cooled in her in-box. (metaphorically ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Brown, Camel, Cream and Turquoise: 1 Piece at a Time

March 2, 2016 I decided to pull a scarf into this one, in order to illustrate the color scheme a bit - I think that adding the scarf lends a bit of validity to the possibility that this outfit could be someone's favorite:

Shell – J. Crew; cardigan – J. Crew; scarf – St Petersburg Global Trade; pants – J. Crew

I love the possibilities - dark chocolate, caramel, whipped cream, and.... I do NOT have anything except ugly artificially-colored sprinkles to offer in turquoise!

Shell – J. Crew; cardigan – J. Crew; scarf – St Petersburg Global Trade; pants – J. Crew

Normally, I try to start building a wardrobe with solid garments, because they feel more ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in 6 Capsule Wardrobes: March

March 1, 2016 It's that time again! This month, I have chosen outfits that are the most casual way POSSIBLE to wear a skirt. While you might never feel comfortable wearing a skirt with a pair of Keds, it's a normal outfit for me, and it at least gives you a good laugh at my expense! Just a reminder, these are the scarves around which I'm building each capsule wardrobe. Your choice of focal point does NOT have to be an expensive scarf - it can be any beautiful object or image that resonates with you. If your favorite picture in the world is your computer wallpaper, work with it! But I feel like I should mention that if you really DO love one of these scarves, don't hesitate to get it. Hermes does NOT carry ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: The Toilet of Venus (The Rokeby Venus) by Diego Velazquez

February 29, 2016

"We Don't Have the Funds for Retention Bonuses..." And with that, her heart hit the floor. Working for a company that gets acquired every two years is bad enough, but at least the buyer usually tries to make it worth one's while to stick around...

Her new manager continued...

"But you know that we're headquartered in France?" (uh, yea, the accent sort of gave the secret away...)

"If your partner can get the first week of March off of work, I'd like to send you both to stay in our corporate apartment for a week..." (note that the corporate apartment is on the Rue Montaigne...)

You're not quite sure you heard correctly. Take a deep breath: "Let me check, but I'm sure it ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Brown, Cream, Aqua and Golden Yellow: 1 Piece at a Time

February 27, 2016 Wow, this was much more difficult than I expected it to be!

This is really a great color scheme - the accent colors are sufficiently different from each other that introducing them into an outfit gives you two very different sensibilities...And I didn't set out to find so many pieces from one source, but when I found that they had matching pieces in brown, it didn't seem like a bad idea!

So the matching brown pieces made it impossible to resist getting a brown shell, too. I think of this as a wardrobe that's ideally suited for changeable weather, or for those of us who have hot flashes...

I love this yellow...

Cream and brown together are an ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: The Sea Seen from the Heights of Dieppe by Eugene Delacroix

February 26, 2016 What a gorgeous image, especially in late February, in Chicago!

As much as this painting suggests a wardrobe with a LOT of gold and yellow, I'm going to have to work around that, because those clothes are NOT easy to find! So I'm going to take advantage of the boat in the foreground, the beige clouds and distant sea, and the glimpses of blue sky. Some mother-of-pearl jewelry would be logical, no?

They Met on The Internet Not that it's unusual to date someone you met online - much the contrary. Many of her nieces and nephews dated people they met on the internet, and she even knew of a couple of very successful marriages that started there. It's just not something she ever ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe One Piece at a Time, 3 Accent Colors with Navy and Beige

February 25, 2016 If you want to include 3 accent colors in your wardrobe, this is for you!

Please note that, although there are a lot of accent colors here, I've tried to keep them all in the same range of intensity and saturation, so that they will all "behave" in the same way when paired with neutrals. It's a hard concept to explain, but I find that it makes a lot of different in keeping things versatile and harmonious.(yes, there are 4 accent colors shown here, in keeping with the original request. I didn't have a lot of luck finding the raspberry color...)

Many of these steps will look painfully familiar, as I build a base of neutral colors upon which you can use accents as the embellishment. I know I ... View the Post