The Vivienne Files - Page 163 of 269 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: Northern Flicker

August 4, 2015 When your wardrobe plan gets difficult When I received a note about building a wardrobe around the coloring of a Northern Flicker, I was really excited; taupe and black, with accents of orange? What's not to love?

But as most of us have found, it's one thing to choose and truly commit to a color scheme, and quite another to actually FIND the items that you envision. These beautiful shades of taupe are pretty straightforward to find in winter clothing, but to find them for summer was quite another story!

I specifically chose this photograph because it gives us two really great, and complementary, accent colors to mix in with the taupe and black. At this point in this project, I was filled with enthusiasm, and ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Hermes Cavaliers du Caucase

August 3, 2015 She never thought she'd be a mom of teenagers in her sixties. But life intervened in the form of two precious and adoptable kids. She has a more casual lifestyle now, but she still loves beautiful clothes. Call her style casual luxe. Her life is all about her children, but she does allow herself a few treasured indulgences...

Every plan she ever had for her life has fallen completely apart.

She's never been happier....

This, by the way, is a true story; the first 4 sentences are a direct quote from the wonderful woman herself!

love, Janice

... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting With Art: The Boating Party, by Mary Cassatt

August 1, 2015 "Mom wants us all to come down for the Regatta... I know we said that after the kids quit sailing we wouldn't go, but I think it would really mean a lot to my mother." Well, that's a loaded invitation, isn't it? But that's okay, you know she misses her only child, and that she cherishes her memories of Regattas from years past... "Of course we can go. I'm assuming that we'll be there for the entire week?"

yes, you're a saint...

While navy isn't the color that covers the most area of this painting, it's definitely the "anchor" ***cough, cough*** color here.

Same thing with white - especially when you're ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Silk Robe by Johanna Harmon

July 31, 2015 "Are you feeling okay? You seem to have been tired lately," her sweetheart asked her last night.

"Now that you mention it, between all of the stress at work, and the heat this summer, I do feel a little bit... wilted, I think you could say. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I've been thinking that we could use a long weekend away at The Spa in The Mountains; do you think you could get a Thursday and Friday off sometime in late September?"

Can she get a couple of days off??? She would QUIT her very irritating job in order to get away to go to the spa. Does she enjoy days wearing nothing but a bathrobe (or maybe nothing), being pampered, and then spending the evening eating gourmet ... View the Post

A New Scarf from Ananda Design! or How to Wear One Item All Year

July 30, 2015

As you well know, I'm not the blogger who gets buried in gifts from designers, so when I do receive something, it's a special day chez nous! And not many days get more special than this for me - can you imagine a scarf better suited to the woman who lives in black, and who's favorite accent color is red??? This scarf, from Ananda Design; is cotton, which is unusual for me, and it has tassels on the corners, which is REALLY not something I have in my closet. But I've had it wrapped around me and played with it a lot, and it's pretty wonderful. The cotton is of course a great fabric for a scarf that you use in warm weather to ward off over-enthusiastic air conditioning, ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Rose Garden by Ute Laum

July 29, 2015

I am really glad that I asked you all to send me painting suggestions - otherwise, I would never have seen this gorgeous thing!

The Rose Garden by Ute Laum is an example of a painting in which the camel/cognac plays a very small, but absolutely essential, role. None of the other colors would have nearly the same impact if the golden touches were missing.

Today, I'm sorry there's no story, but I've received so many requests for travel wardrobes that I feel like I should address the overall logic or philosophy of putting together a travel capsule wardrobe. There's probably no way that I'm ever going to be able to answer all of the travel questions I receive, so I think an overview of how I think about travel ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Edith and the Kingpin by Jack Vettriano

July 28, 2015

"Edith," they told me, "make sure you rest when you're at that beach resort, and get your health back."

"Uh huh..."

I never go swimming within an hour of having a meal, so when the luncheon salon closed, I went over to sit on the window seat in the lounge, to watch the activities outdoors. I hadn't been there more than a minute when he sat down next to me.

He was really quite familiar, especially since we hadn't been introduced! But he knew the names of absolutely everyone staying at the resort, and he told the funniest little stories about each of them...

His conduct was far from gentlemanly; he kept his hat on (Father would have been appalled) and he was wearing those funny two-toned shoes that ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Untitled, 1953 by Mark Rothko (revisiting navy and cognac)

July 27, 2015 Wow! When I ask for help finding art, you all jump right to the rescue! And isn't this a great version of navy and cognac, with a striking pink accent?

I snuck in a touch of white... and if you look really closely, our celadon green from last week is present, just a slight touch, along the bottom of the painting.

I kept the navy garments, but changed out everything else here. In honor of the block-like angularity of the Rothko painting, our accessories are now going to be square, or include a square motif if possible. (even the tote bag here has an embossed texture with a square feeling to it...) I took the cognac accessories down a notch darker, to show the options that are available ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Mulberry Tree by Vincent Van Gogh (revisiting Navy and Cognac)

July 25, 2015 I thought this would be pretty easy - take yesterday's navy, cognac and light green wardrobe, and just substitute yellow as the accent color. But I wanted to use some sort of art or craft as a focal point - to keep us honest, and to help focus the color palette. I didn't really think through the project of looking for a painting that included navy and cognac, as well as a pronounced accent color! Happily, I found this glorious work!

The color scheme is very straightforward - substitute a range of shades of yellow for the green from yesterday.

I got really lucky with tee shirts - my friends at L.L.Bean make beautiful butter ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Vase: A Qianlong Vase, and packing for China

July 24, 2015 One of you is taking off soon for a trip to China, and you have asked me for some ideas about what to pack. I did quite a bit of reading about travel to China, and one thing that was stated repeatedly was that it's important not to take too many clothes, because (a) it's extremely easy and inexpensive to get laundry done in China, and (b) there are quite a few non-clothing items that you need to pack, so you want to reserve space for those kinds of items. (OTC medicines etc. - PLEASE do some research before a trip like this, to be certain that you have with you all of the recommended necessities.) Now, for some aesthetic inspiration. Sotheby's assessed this vase at around ... View the Post

A Scarf Winner, and an idea for tying scarves in hot weather

So, for the giveaway for the Yuh Okano blue scarf, there were 161 comments! (A new Vivienne Files record, by the way. Thanks!)

I generated a random number between 0 and 162:

I love functions in Excel... It's not a normal kind of love, but it's one I can't deny...

Then I counted counted counted, and found that the winner is!!! Beffyann!

Dear Beffyann, send me your mailing address to [email protected], and I will pronto get this beauty out to you...

Yesterday, in a fit of youthful folly, I went rock climbing. There are climbing walls in the park very near my home - I literally can see them from our windows. Among many interesting discoveries (like climbing walls in direct sunlight can be literally blisteringly ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Amethyst by Alfons Mucha

July 22, 2015 I always love Mucha; what an idealistic view of women he had! And a master of colors.... sigh....

Clearly I will have to revisit this painting, because it was almost impossible to find anything in this shade of green.

President of the Association, FINALLY They used to say that no woman would ever be President of your association. Then they said that if you wanted to be President, you had to "man up", and not wear feminine stuff - no pretty colors, no amazing jewelry, no unruly curly hairstyles. You always thought that was nonsense. Members of your profession are able to see past personal style to the essence of competence and character.

So tomorrow you fly ... View the Post