The Vivienne Files - Page 188 of 269 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Common Capsule Wardrobe Colors: Cobalt

August 7, 2014

How maddening.... This is a great shirt. At a great price. And the way Uniqlo shows it on their website (with a superimposed color swatch) makes it look like there's something defective with the left sleeve. Really, do you NEED a swatch, in blue, overlapping a blue shirt. Did we think the shirt was really, surreptitiously, pink?Ahem...

I love this color. I wore it in the '80's, as did many of us. Maybe you can't shake those memories, but I'd encourage you to consider a little bit of bright blue...

Earrings – Dorus Mhor, shirt – Uniqlo, bracelet – George J. Love

I loved this color with brown and beige WAAAY back when...

This is how I wore ... View the Post

Common Capsule Wardrobe Colors: Puce

August 6, 2014 Okay, even the internet can't agree on what, exactly, puce looks like! But one of my favorite color references, Encycolorpedia, calls it puce, and that's good enough for me. This is certainly a color that you could tweak a bit - moving to something warmer, or lighter, as suited your wardrobe, your preferences, and your personal coloring. Never buy a color just because it's the "big" color for the year - that's just an industry device to get you to spend money you don't need to spend on things you don't need to own!

This color has been added here because I've recently read a couple of things that suggest that it's a universally flattering color. I believe that a color that matches your personal blush or lipstick is indeed ... View the Post

The Things One Learns While Traveling

August 5, 2014

I got home last night, or more properly, early this morning. Rain and lightning on both ends of my journey made things... interesting... First off, when I got to my departure airport, I found that it was packed, literally almost shoulder to shoulder. No seats, no place to even LEAN on something, and absolutely no access to any electrical outlets. I'd been using my cell phone all day for contact among the various people taking me to the airport and picking me up, and I listen to music on it while in flight. Dead battery loomed large, and dreadful.

I can't recommend enough these Anker portable chargers. Mine is exactly the same size as my cell phone, and it completely recharged ... View the Post

Another Unexpected Interruption…

I've been called away for another family medical emergency. I'll be away until at least the first week of August... so the color file will be arriving later, and post #1,000 will just have to wait.

Don't have too much fun without me!

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Common Capsule Wardrobe Colors: Teal

July 26, 2014

Sometime very soon I'm going to HAVE to do a capsule wardrobe based on mallards or some other duck that shows this color in a natural palette. I'm beginning to believe that I can't go wrong looking at nature for ideas. In the meantime, this is a great color to transition into the end of summer/hot days of early autumn. As much as we'd all like to start wearing fall clothing the first day of September, it's sort of insane to really consider it (at least in Chicago) until the last week of the month. A color like this at least lets you FEEL a little bit autumn-ish!These earrings are silk, and the bracelet is leather - what WILL they think of next?

By now you of ... View the Post

Common Capsule Wardrobe Colors: Coral

July 25, 2014

Coral comes in a range of tints - there are more "pinkish", less "orangish" versions out there too if those would be more flattering. But any of them will look completely appropriate and attractive with all of our neutral color usual suspects. And as we move into August, and what is for many of us the end of summer (my great-nephew goes back to school IN 10 DAYS!!!), this might be a good wardrobe refresher, as well as a low-commitment way to test drive a new accent color for your wardrobe. Please note - this tunic-length top is going to be "iffy" with some cardigans; I personally can wear a top hanging out below my cardigan without worry, but you might want to bear this conundrum in mind when ... View the Post

Common Capsule Wardrobe Colors: Turquoise

July 24, 2014

As I spend hours each day getting the big color combination document ready, I notice that there are a handful of colors that turn up in almost every color palette. They are colors that you might not like, or that might not look good on you, but they are colors that you might want to consider for a late-season capsule wardrobe refresh, or for an experiment in accent colors.Here, I'm showing a tee shirt and two pieces of jewelry; you could certainly go with only one piece of jewelry, or include a pair of sandals or casual shoes instead. But here, by adding just two or three pieces, you can see how each of the Starting From Scratch wardrobes can be updated.

I like the shirring on the sides of this tee ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: Pigeons

July 23, 2014

I have to confess, I think pigeons are beautiful. Annoying little sky rats, yes, but beautiful; their shades of grey, with iridescent green and purple...

So when I was asked to build a wardrobe based on a photograph of a pigeon, I was happy to do so. But there's no way I'm addressing those red eyes!

I think this makes a lovely wardrobe...

love, Janice

... View the Post

Chic Sightings: Navy Tunic and White Cropped Trousers, times 6

July 22, 2014

It seems to be almost the uniform of the weekend - roll up the sleeves of a navy linen tunic, pull on some white cropped trousers, and accent with brightly colors jewelry and sandals... The jewelry isn't all precious stones, and the sandals are casual, but the effect of the bright accents was very eye-catching.I think you can learn a lot about your personal color preferences based on which of these looks appeal to you, or which you swear you could never wear!

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Slot Machines and Packing

July 21, 2014

Business travel is a conundrum for many of us, so I'm going to try to suggest a few ways, now and then, to approach the packing...Suppose, for example, that at the end of October, you are going to have/get to come to Chicago for a two day sales conference. Literally only a day and a half of meetings, and then back on the plane. You're going to have to bring a briefcase with both your laptop and tablet, so you don't really want a lot more to carry. And being able to NOT check a suit case would be delightful...

Enter this:

So you can choose to wear anything from this little machine for travel - probably a cardigan, tee shirt and jeans, right? And pack the other six garments, as well as ... View the Post

Are You Still Struggling with Color Schemes? Looking for Ideas?

If you can wait a week or two, I'm going to have a GIGANTIC color scheme file available to buy - it will be 191 pages, and contain 1,456 different suggested color schemes. Each suggestion will include two of the neutral colors from the "Combinations of 3 Neutrals" file, plus two additional colors to act as accents. Some of the schemes will be quite bright, some very subtle, and some almost monochromatic. And I think you can assume that there will be some things here that you never expected!

Right now, I'm going back through all 985 posts on The Vivienne Files to make sure that I capture every color combination that I've used here on the blog. I will additionally refer to my collection of color reference books, ... View the Post

How to Build a Summer Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch in Navy and White

July 19, 2014

Someone specifically requested a Starting From Scratch capsule wardrobe in these colors, and many of you have expressed concerns about how to implement this plan if you're dealing with scorching hot summer weather. I really felt like I wanted to go through an entire wardrobe in one post, just to clarify and illustrate one more time how I see this project working. So here you have it! Please note - the white garments here really ARE white - they just show up looking sort of beigy/grungy against the background. I generally don't promote the wearing of mungy clothes...

The first three steps are pretty straightforward: pants and shoes, then a cardigan and tee, then a neutral top and ... View the Post