The Vivienne Files - Page 189 of 269 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Before You Shop, Consider Rekindling the Romance with Your Closet

As we get well and truly entrenched in summer, many of us find our minds wandering longingly toward autumn clothing. There's something about that whole image of snuggling in front of the fireplace in a big squishy sweater, cup of tea in hand, Golden Retriever at our feet, book of poetry in our lap... (I'm only missing the fireplace and the dog!)

Retailers know perfectly well how we're feeling - in Chicago, autumn clothing is already beginning to hit the stores thick and fast. It would be terribly easy to wander into a store and pick up a sweater, or a snuggly wool dress, or boots. OOOOOhhhh, boots....

(I'm sorry, Southern Hemisphere, it's not lost on me that all of this is backwards for you!)

Let me toss out ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch – The Wardrobes, Finished (for now…)

July 17, 2014

Remind me, when trench coats are back in stores, that we want to revisit these capsule wardrobes and make some additions. If you think of anything else we should address (December holiday attire?), send me a note at theviviennefiles at gmail dot com.

I broke everything out into two pages; I might have been able to fit everything on one page, but we wouldn't have been able to see anything - the earrings would have been teeny little dots on the page!

And I think the links are working - let me know if you find some that are broken and I'll look into it...

thanks, as always!

love, Janice

PS - For more color inspiration, you can find the latest Pantone Color Planner ... View the Post

Excel and LARGE PRINT version of Starting From Scratch Wardrobe Worksheets available!

Just because I can, and because I know some of you love to tinker in Excel, I'm made the Excel file available here:

and because I know that a larger print version will be handy if you want to do a lot of note taking, I made an eight-page, landscape layout version of the original worksheets, available here:

As with all things here at The Vivienne Files, if I can do anything to make your life easier, please let me know.

And thanks for reading my work - I appreciate it more than you can imagine!

hugs all around, Janice ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch Step 18: One last review, considering Whatever’s Clean, and A Common Wardrobe

July 16, 2014

Many of you have been following the concepts of A Common Wardrobe, or a Whatever's Clean wardrobe, and you've expressed great curiosity about how those ideas work with this much larger capsule wardrobe-building concept. So let's see if we need to make any last tweaks to our wardrobe to be as inclusive and versatile as possible...First off, remember this bad boy? This was the original Common Wardrobe - garments that I saw day after day on my co-workers from international advertising agencies. These garments and accent items were combined in all sorts of different ways, and accessorized like mad:

I threw my analytic brain at this, and defined each of these garments functionally, i.e., the first is ... View the Post

I built us another worksheet…

It's actually 3 worksheets in one:

First page lists each item step by step, just as we saw them in the Starting From Scratch Wardrobe posts here on The Vivienne Files. The 2nd page sorts items out by color- Neutral #1, Neutral #2 etc. and the 3rd page sorts the garments in one table, and the accessories in a 2nd table. Both of these fit on one page.

You can buy them - $1.99 - here: I have to pay to have them hosted... If you find errors, please let me know and I'll fix things pronto pronto... and thanks, so very much, for reading The Vivienne Files, love, Janice ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch Step 17: A Few Finishing Touches, for now…

July 15, 2014

Many of you have written to me to ask how this capsule wardrobe compares with my earlier 24-piece wardrobe - excellent question!Just as in the 24-piece wardrobe, this Starting From Scratch includes to two core "Four by Four" assortments in your neutrals, it works with two accent colors and a light neutral, and it includes the concept of the "bridge" garment, which is something that incorporates both of your neutral colors and allows you to wear piece from both neutrals seamlessly.

So I decided to look at each wardrobe one last time (for now - I'm sure we'll be back to revisit this concept when trench coats hits the stores, and when there are other requests/needs), and see how things stacked up in terms of a 24-piece ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch Step 16: Evaluating and Balancing our Neutrals

July 14, 2014 BIG BIG BIG EDIT: THIS IS ONLY STEP SIXTEEN... If you are going to make a typo, make a really big one! I had medical tests this a.m., and have been asleep all afternoon; I am so sorry for the delay in fixing this inexcusable error! We're very close to wrapping up our capsule wardrobes, but there are a couple more things we need to do to make sure that our choices will work as well for us as possible. So far, we've added pieces within our color scheme, but we've not been particularly rigorous in making sure that we have a balance between our neutrals. To address this, I've looked at each wardrobe and tried to find the "Core of Four" (two tops and two bottoms, that will ... View the Post

Agnes, or a Work Wardrobe from the ’80’s

July 12, 2014

Back in the early 1980's, I was in graduate school, and I was the manager of one of the departments in a large department store. (I'm still catching up on my sleep!) One of the more interesting and educational responsibilities I had was to "ring up" all purchases made by staff in my department.

I'm telling you this story, because I want to tell you about someone named Agnes. I'm not sure what we can learn from her example, but I still remember her so vividly after 30 years, and I'm quite sure that she was nobody's dummy... Agnes was probably in her mid 50's, employed 40 hours a week (remember the days when retail could be a career?), qualified for 3 weeks of vacation, health insurance, life ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch Step 15: A Versatile Dress and an Accent Cardigan

July 11, 2014

Many of you have pointed out that we really need something dressy in the capsule wardrobe that can be worn in warmer weather, and many of you have asked specifically for a dress, so that's what we're doing today! These dresses are paired with accent cardigans, which dramatically pull together all sorts of looks... Very neutral, comfortable sandals will be wardrobe workhorses - make sure that they're appropriate for more than just one dressy occasion...Can you see turquoise jewelry here? And this dress with the simple beige cardigan and gold necklace would be lovely.

If you're not mad for sleeveless, just look for a dress with an elbow or bracelet sleeve.

No, this dress and ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch Step 14: Leisure Wear

July 10, 2014 As much as it's fun to dress up and go out into the world, sometimes we just want to stay close to home. This does NOT mean that we shouldn't still be elegant, comfortable and beautiful... Please, if you choose to wear leggings (and don't get me wrong, I wear leggings very often and adore them), bear in mind the extremely revealing nature of such garments around your... more... private... areas. (ahem...) Easily the most shocking and unattractive things that I see on my daily city hikes involve inappropriate and immodest ensembles including leggings. You know what I mean...

As with everything else that goes into your well-considered wardrobe, your leisure apparel will be ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch Step 13: More Accessories!

July 9, 2014

In my one-woman crusade to encourage the wearing of jewelry, today we'll look at some possible additions to various Starting From Scratch capsule wardrobes.

This addition doesn't necessarily mean shopping; it's entirely possible that these beauties are already lurking in jewelry boxes or dresser drawers. Let's bring them into the light!

And you all know that I'm a firm opponent of the "it bag" phenomenon, but I do believe that having more than one bag is entirely reasonable. A bag in one of your accent colors, or in each of your neutrals, isn't outrageous, especially if the bags serve different purposes, or if they make you really happy! (which, after all, is the whole point of your ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch Step 12: A Winter Coat, Boots and Scarf

July 8, 2015 For many of us, a really SERIOUS winter coat is a necessity in the capsule wardrobe. Realistically, I couldn't get through the winter without my parka that sort of resembles a cross between a sleeping bag and a wee portable padded room... But let's focus on getting a more attractive, more widely useful winter coat. I've chosen a mixture of accent colors and neutrals, and tossed in yet another scarf because it's difficult to have too many scarves! My friend in black and brights wants a statement coat to stand out in the crowd of black - and this blue should do the trick, eh?

My lady in navy is looking for a dark neutral coat, but some pretty flowers for an ... View the Post