The Vivienne Files - Page 168 of 285 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Wearing Unflattering Colors: Olive

December 29, 2015

Wow, I had no idea that olive was such a controversial color! But I guess since there are different colored olives, there are going to be different search results when you start looking for olive green...This is sort of what I expected to find when I started searching. The boots that have the black elastic inset in the side sort of subtly hold all of this together pretty well.

(if someone gave you this ring for the holidays, kiss them repeatedly...)

This was the other sort of shade that I expected to find, while hunting down all things olive. When you see a bag that you like, in the color you want, with leather details in YOUR neutral, you know you're in good shape! I wouldn't usually include a ... View the Post

Wearing Unflattering Colors: Purple

I adore purple - I could easier become a really nutty "wears nothing but purple" person... There's a woman here in Chicago who wears EVERY shade of purple, and nothing BUT purple, every day. She combines the shades and nuances with reckless abandon, and carries it off with panache. I don't always like it, but I always notice it. And she seems very happy....Frankly, I'm not convinced that all of these combinations work - certainly they wouldn't work for me. But everybody gets to decide for themselves, and if you love it, go with it!

This grouping all started with the very cool purple shoes...

Bag – Jimmy Choo; trainers – Fratelli Rossetti; tee shirt – Uniqlo; crop knit pants – Helmut Lang; Night Creature nail polish ... View the Post

Wearing Unflattering Colors: Pink

December 26, 2015

While the right shade of pink is flattering to most women, what do you do if your favorite pink ISN'T the really flattering one? Move it away from your face, and indulge!

Some commenters specifically said that really bright, intense fuchsia is hard to wear, and I can agree with that! But nail polish, or a pair of snazzy flats? That could be just perfect....

I looked for a pink that was just a touch softer and warmer to wear with brown. And now I absolutely long for this nail polish... (the name is hysterical...)

This is a kind of bubble gum color, which looks great with grey. Something to consider, as warmer weather approaches: if you've got a color you'd like to have around the ... View the Post

Wearing Unflattering Colors: Yellow

December 25, 2015

A very Happy Christmas to all of you celebrating today, and a joyous and wonderful day for everyone else! Let's all remember what's most important, and remember to share love, patience, and endless care to everyone around us. We are strong; we can do this!The more I work with "unflattering" colors, the more I find that there are some really lovely items available in the world that might, at first glance, seem difficult to wear. But I think if we keep these kinds of colors away from our faces, there's no reason in the world to avoid them, if they really speak to your heart.

Yellow and black can be REALLY difficult to wear - threats of the nickname "Bumblebee" are always present. But I think this shade is ... View the Post

Wearing Unflattering Colors: Orange

December 24, 2015

I think a lot of us find orange challenging, because of its associations with Halloween, or fast food. That's too bad, because it's really quite nice, and there are a lot of gorgeous accessories in the world that just happen to be orange...

Hardest of all is combining orange and black, but I think using prints, or defiantly non-Halloween details, helps a lot. Using accessories from other cultures, who DON'T think have the same associations with colors that we have, can make a big difference, too.

Orange and brown feel like a match made in heaven, don't they? I think it's important to break this combination out of the "only wear it in the autumn" category and use it more of the year...

One of the benefits of ... View the Post

Wearing Unflattering Colors: Green

December 23, 2015

It's a frequent question: "I really love ______, but it looks terrible on me!"

Well, first, let's answer 2 questions:

Does it REALLY look terrible on you, or were you told that once, about 40 years ago, and it's stuck with you since then? Are you sure that you want to wear this color, or is there some other way to solace your longing? Towels, thrown cushions, table wear, a cell phone cover - there are lots of ways to inject a color into your life without putting in on your person.

Okay, you really DO want to wear this color, and it really DOES make you look ghastly. Maybe it's one of those "local high school" things, or college homecoming, or.... YOU JUST LOVE THE COLOR. You don't have to ... View the Post

Paris 2015: Food, My Hotel, and more about What They Were Wearing

December 22, 2015 First up: food!!!

I personally find it pretty difficult to eat badly in Paris; if you go someplace where you only understand a fraction of what's going on, and where there are lots of people from the neighborhood, the food is bound to be at least acceptable.My last day, I was wandering pretty aimlessly near the Marais, and I spotted a nice looking restaurant, so I decided (since it was nearing 1 p.m., and I was peckish), to stop in for lunch. The formule (set price menu) looked interesting...

A lovely woman seated me, and gave me directions to the toilet. When I wandered back, bemused, she explained that the door slid rather than swung! On such small details swings (or slides?) many a ... View the Post

Paris 2015: Street Things, and What People Were Wearing (part 1)

December 21, 2015 Something I lose sight of, between visits to Paris, is the fact that there is so much really great art on the streets. This trip, I was enjoying the various lions I saw ornamenting and guarding the buildings!

While there were a lot of Christmas decorations all over Paris, they weren't as ubiquitous as they are here in Chicago. But some of them were really spectacular - worth the trip just to see them...

I saw some decorations that I thought were in questionable taste. I'm not crazy about fake snow under any circumstances, so flocked trees have never been my preference. But this just felt over the top:

And I took a couple of pictures that really ... View the Post

Mixing Metallics: She-Beads Holiday 2015 “Peace”

December 19, 2015

For this season, the lovely Alexandra worked with white, gold, copper and a little touch of black, to give us a collection with some gleam and a touch of sparkle - I think she's really talented...The range of ways that you can wear this jewelry is nearly infinite - there's nary a color that won't look cool with these. I like the way they bring an unexpected warmth to colors that don't usually get warmth...

If you're going to wear snazzy jewelry, you might as well have a stand-out manicure. While I have really conflicting feelings about nail polish, there are some times when it's very difficult to resist!

I love all of the textures and patterns in the first outfit, and I think the jewelry gives ... View the Post

Paris Store Windows, December 2015

December 18, 2015

Oh, did I window shop....But before I get to that, I have to answer a question someone asked, before I forget: What about my hair care needs when I travel?

This is it. I shower in the evenings, and then untangle my hair again the morning, re-dampen it, and scrunch it with my hands. Stick in a headband, and I'm done! I haven't got a lot of patience for primping; if I had to blow dry my hair every day, I'd shave my head....

Makeup = lipgloss, and of course I'm wearing sunscreen. Done.

I have to suggest an very small, empty spray bottle to almost anybody who's going to fly. Yes, you can buy those Evian spray bottles that are going to outlive us all in a landfill, or you can get one of these and ... View the Post

Choosing an Hermes Scarf, using handbags, shoes, Chanel brooches…

December 18, 2015

Yes, I'm absolutely going to write more about Paris, probably later today, but this was sort of a rush, emergency request...A chance to choose a scarf for a holiday gift... and you wanted to see how they paired with Chanel brooches??!?!?!??!?! Chanel brooches aren't in my usual repertoire, but why not take a look?

She's narrowed it down to these:

This looks a lot like my friend: smoothly coiffed hair, always in immaculate taste. Plus I like the oval pearls that echo the tiny faces in the scarf!

Sometimes, there's nothing more fun than the juxtaposition of a Chico's necklace with a Chanel brooch. Coco would flip...Although I could easily see her in this also, the sheer ... View the Post

The Streets of Paris, December 2015

December 17, 2015

I had a wonderful time, no hesitations, and no conditions or qualifications apply.

Were things in Paris a little bit different? Yes, a little bit. As I said yesterday, my flight was very "uncrowded", so I anticipated smaller crowds, which was indeed the case. Maybe the thing that I noticed first was that there were French flags on display in unexpected places, including quite a few hanging from the windows of apartments in the city. In some cases, the flag was just a sheet of paper with the flag printed on it, taped to the window. I didn't see thousands of them - this wasn't something organized - but that made it all the more striking and moving when it was ... View the Post