The Vivienne Files - Page 166 of 285 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting with Art – The Second Buddhist Kesa

Such lovely colors:

Perfect for spring travel!

A "Miles" 2nd Honeymoon They agreed that it was the most cost-effective thing to do, so they immediately started using their airline credit cards for EVERYTHING possible...

After a few months, they totaled up their miles, and called the airline.

Long-sleeved tee – Uniqlo; tank – Uniqlo; jersey jacket – Uniqlo;

henley – Uniqlo; dress – Uniqlo; capris – Uniqlo; jeans – L.L.Bean;

wide-leg pants – Uniqlo

The woman on the other end of the phone was lovely. She didn't mind being on a speaker phone, and she just laughed when they talked over each other. Finally, they decided to see what the longest trip possible was ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting with Art: a Buddhist Kesa

January 23, 2016

This was a little bit more challenging than I expected it to be! Finding these colors was surprisingly difficult...

It's just a small exhibit - maybe 28 items? - but if you have a chance to come to Chicago, to the Art Institute, before February 14th, you won't be disappointed. The exhibit displays only a few of their collection of Buddhist kesa, but they're beautiful. And because this is a "minor" exhibit, in the basement area of the museum, it's usually quiet, and uncrowded (bordering on empty). Very restful, very inspiring, very wonderful way to spend an hour!

I considered using the burgundy as the first neutral, but I think that this olive/sage green is more readily available through ... View the Post

How Are Designers and Consumers Alike? or How SHOULD They be Alike?

January 22, 2016

When I go to Paris, I always try to find a new book or two that discusses some aspect of personal style, fashion, clothing history - just anything that interests me, and that might in turn interest you!

Right now, I'm reading this:

The second of the 101 "little secrets" tells us that "designers create collections, not simply isolated garments..."

Isolated garments - that's a pretty thought-provoking phrase! But I think that's the results from how a lot of us shop - we see something fabulous, we buy it, and we don't necessarily stop to think about the degree to which said gorgeous object will work with the rest of our wardrobe.

That's why I'm always hammering home the idea of having a plan; if ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Blocks and Circles by Paul Klee

January 21, 2016 I can so easily picture the woman who wears these colors - freckles had better be in the picture!

Just in case nobody else has ever told you this, it's pronounced Klee as in Clay. There was once a book with that title, that taught one how to pronounce all sorts of art names; I wonder if it's still around....

Yep, lots of color possibilities. I chose the beige/camel neutral for our upcoming spring dressy events, but if you wanted to segue this wardrobe into cooler weather, olive and fir green could definitely becomes neutrals, as could a deep rust, or a russet brown...

This is another one of those dresses that has a LOT of potential, for the entire year. And while the culottes were a bit ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Cheval Surprise Remix Version 2

January 20, 2016 You wanted to see some purple? I found purple, and hot pink!

You could certainly do worse than to use all five bright colors, plus black and white, as the basis of your wardrobe...

How many horses have you found in the scarf? I think I can see seven...

This is SUCH a great dress - you could literally wear it all 12 months, with a range of accessories that would keep it fresh. If I needed a dress, this one could easily vault to the top of the list!

Many have mentioned their preference for white shorts, so I honor your preference. And while the paisley top isn't exactly "cleaning out the basement" casual, I thought it was too irresistible ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Toasting Friends Version 2

January 19, 2016

Many people wanted me to revisit this painting, and many of you are interested in seeing posts with warmer colors, and many of you are looking for lower-contrast wardrobes. I'm tackling a lot of ideas in one lovely painting!

One of the fun things about this painting is the range of lovely colors included. I've madly exaggerated the amount of camel included in the painting, but I'm going to use shades of camel, beige and coppery brown as neutrals...

The most difficult thing about writing The Vivienne Files (well, except for having dozens of ideas, and not enough time!) is choosing a color scheme and then realizing that the colors I love and want to use aren't necessarily available in ... View the Post

Kesa and Color Schemes

Kesa are Japanese Buddhist Monk Vestments, which have been worn for thousands of years. Currently, the Art Institute of Chicago has a small portion of their collection of kesa on display (through February 14th). I tried to photograph details of the fabrics - the distance, and my shaky hands, make my photographs less than stellar. But I think you can still appreciate the beauty here, and the amazing color schemes that come to my mind when I look at these.

If you can get to the Art Institute in the next month, I urge you to do so, to see these "in the fabric." More information about kesa, and about this ... View the Post

A New Color Tool….

I just built a file that shows all of the combinations of two neutrals (using the 14 neutrals that we've used for a while: black, dark gray, light gray, navy, petrol, taupe, olive, denim, natural, cordovan, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, khaki and camel), juxtaposed with all 10 of the Pantone 2016 colors.Every year, I do this because, for me, these files are a very useful and inspiring source of color combinations with which to work. You might see some beautiful ideas, too!

It's $3.99, which helps me pay to have the (rather large) file hosted and "downloadable" 24 hours a day.

If you choose to grab this lovely thing, make sure to let me know what color combination(s) are your favorites. I will definitely be building wardrobes ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Hermes Cheval Surprise Remix

January 16, 2016

Today's travel wardrobe is very much like yesterday's, but in a slightly altered color palette. This was a special request for an upcoming Bar Mitzvah, and I think it's great fun!

I chose this scarf as our leitmotif for the color scheme, because these scarves are marvelously interesting. You'll be seeing this design again, because there are a couple of color scheme available that are just striking, and I want to see what I can do with them...

look for the horses hidden in the design...

As I mentioned yesterday, this Diane von Furstenberg dress is available in a variety of colors - I just changed out for the color requested! And in place of a hat, a pretty headband. (some of us ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Toasting Friends

January 15, 2016 So many of us have these events coming up this spring or summer - a wedding, graduation, bar mitzvah, baptism, or other celebratory event. What a nice excuse to travel!

But it does require a bit of planning, because in just a few days, you might well span the full gamut of activities from a very dressy event or two, to things like cleaning out a dorm room, or playing frisbee with nieces and nephews. Barbecues, picnics, and more relaxed family activities require a completely different wardrobe from what you'll wear to the actual event itself.What to do? Just plan to take more! A normal long weekend is a great time for a 6-Pack or an 8-Pack, but for these very special weekends, I think 13 pieces is perfectly ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: The Common Shelduck

January 14, 2016 When I say there's inspiration everywhere, I'm really NOT exaggerating! My recent trip to Florida is a good example - I saw these lovely guys all over the place (although they are not, in fact, indigenous to the area I was visiting - someone imported them! Someone with good taste....)

The color scheme was so easy!

Come Sit on the Veranda... Well, the invitation was a little bit more fleshed-out than that! It went more like "we have great internet down here, so you can work during the day, and then in the evenings, we'll sit on the veranda with a bottle or two of wine, and watch the birds on the lake until it gets dark. Then after dinner, we can come back out and look at ... View the Post

Pantone 2016 Colors, and an Accessory Refresh

January 13, 2016

This horridly cold weather in Chicago reminds me of the best aspect of writing The Vivienne Files - I don't have to leave the building. (seriously - grocery story, gym, pool, dry cleaner etc. all in the building!) But I begin to crave a change of colors, and something to brighten up my winter clothes, which begin to all look the same.

While we all understand pretty clearly that Pantone colors don't actually rule the world, nor do they actually find "new" colors, they can still be a useful guide to looking at some accessories in colors that we might not otherwise consider.

What could be more fun than a new bottle of nail polish, and maybe an inexpensive ring, to cheer up the end (?!?) of winter? I think things on ... View the Post