The Vivienne Files - Page 2 of 213 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

July 2021 – Six Scarves, 12 Months, 12 Outfits

July 2, 2021

I've got a special treat for us today - the kind people at Echo are offering a FREE scarf (of your choice, of course!) to one of you...

How to win? Leave a comment, and I will choose a random number on Monday morning; the reader who left the comment that corresponds to that number will have a new, beautiful scarf!

And if they let me know which one they choose, I will do a travel wardrobe based on it, too!

Pretty nice, eh?

And if you're an Instagram person, DEFINITELY follow Echo Scarves there, too...

Let's get started!

It occurred to me that these wardrobes do not yet have a dress! What is one to wear to the weddings and other festivities of summer?

How about a simple dress, with a sparkly ... View the Post

Chic Sighting, and Rethinking the Role of Linen in my Wardrobe

June 30, 2021

Yesterday was my birthday, and I had to go shopping...

I had my eye on a linen dress from Eileen Fisher...

When I got to the store at Water Tower Place, the lovely young woman who approached me was wearing the EXACT dress I was looking for, but she was wearing it with a much more "cool weather" feel that I would have imagined. The store was very cold, of course...

This is how she wore the dress:

Okay, you wouldn't wear this out into a blizzard, but this outfit would be more than acceptable in the early autumn, or late spring...

It reminded me of the way that women in Paris wear their summer dresses with sweaters, tights and warm shoes or boots - long past the time of year when most of us would have ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #16 – An Accent Color Sleeveless Top

June 28, 2021

Why yes, this is a day early... I'm in a bit of a muddle these days! I'm sorry to have to remind everyone that this means there will NOT be a post on Monday morning. Sorry for the confusion!

Accent colors make everything more fun! And I'm dedicating today's post to those among us who are - very suddenly - being summoned back to offices...

Why yes, you can layer this top under just about anything. And wear it to work out. And sleep in it, if necessary!

Maybe you're finding that some of your work clothes no longer fit quite right, but you can still wear your black shirtdress - wear it EVERY week, with a variety of accent colors:

Maybe work is very casual...

Maybe it's summer in an otherwise ... View the Post

June 2021 Start with a Bracelet: The Tropical Hibiscus Bracelets

June 25, 2021

please note that all sorts of things are selling out at a shocking rate; I literally chose our hat at 11 a.m. and by 1 p.m. they were GONE... Seize the day indeed! She's going to sit under an umbrella...

and watch everyone else get sunburned, and get sand in their creases and crevasses...

Her color palette is easy - bright and summery! (even though cool evenings are always possible...)

It takes about 90 minutes to get there on the bus; she's ready with her mask and something to read!

Once she's there, she can hang up a few things, grab another book, and head down to either the bar, the deck, or the nearest reaches of the beach...

Her friends don't expect her to have a vast wardrobe with her - ... View the Post

Accessories for 2 Spring Weekly Timeless Wardrobes – beige & rust, beige & green

June 23, 2021

As much as I loved these wardrobes, THIS is where the fun starts! Even accessories as simple as earrings and sandals can make SO much difference...

Remember this wardrobe?

We need accessories for this, but I don't want to just jump into things willy-nilly! This isn't a definitive list for every woman alive, but it's a nice start for our purposes:

With this very general guideline in place, I've assembled 4 outfits from this wardrobe, and put accessories with each of them. Of course, I didn't really stick to the shoe suggestions...

I know some of you can't imagine wearing a cardigan AND a scarf right now, but today in Chicago it's going to top out at 70 degree Fahrenheit, so indoors it ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #15 – A Dark Neutral Sleeveless Top

June 21, 2021

The longest day of the year - if we can't think about warm weather clothes NOW, when can we? (unless, of course, we live south of the Equator...)

A dark sleeveless top is one of those things that is always handy...

It's not easy to find these in colors much beyond navy, black, and maybe olive, so if your dark neutral if harder to find, do NOT pass up a top like this in your color if you find one...

If you want to wear your amazing necklace against a different background than your neck/upper torso, a tank top is the answer!

You can sport around all day when it's warm in your sleeveless top, and then slip on your plaid shirt when the sun goes down:

If your favorite shorts are in a color that you ... View the Post

2 Spring Capsule Wardrobes – Navy and Green, Green and Beige

June 18, 2021

Lots of green! I don't really have a good explanation - I just happened across quite a few pretty things!

I feel like our first heroine must be going back to her office; a wardrobe like this might reconcile me just a little bit to such a fate:

She has choices galore for serious work days, casual work days, and work from home days:

And what will be our last Spring Weekly Timeless Wardrobe is for a heroine who is relaxed, but likes to feel pretty and pulled-together!

I don't think I could be pulled together right now if 2 snow-plows pushed directly at each other, with me in the middle...

This wardrobe gives her the option of outfits that are all green, or subtle beige, or a mix of the 2:

I ... View the Post

13-Piece Spring Wardrobes – Rose and Chambray, Grey and shades of Purple

June 16, 2021

Oh, you all are SMART! This turned out well, I think...

Yes, there's only 1 cardigan, because I just never saw a denim-colored one that I liked. But when I saw my mother wearing my denim shirt over her tee shirt, I knew I had the answer!

Even with prints above and below the waist, this wardrobe has lots of possibilities:

Just for reference, here's the garment list. I want to remind us all that this isn't a hard and fast list - it's a guideline, just like everything on The Vivienne Files. Nobody should tell you what to wear...

I discovered something interesting, and sort of weird, when I was putting together this next wardrobe: when I searched for "purple," I got all sorts of shades of pink, and ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #14 – a sleeveless top

June 14, 2021

No, you do NOT have to show your bare arms! But I often find that the most useful garment in my suitcase might be a simple tank top - it can replace a sweaty pajama top, or serve as a layer under something that has too much "show through," or it can bring a sliver of color to an outfit - I've even worn one over a button-front shirt as a vest!

In all modesty, my arms are still pretty glossy, but that doesn't mean that I want to share them with the world...

And sleeveless does not necessarily equal tank top!

I have 2 sleeveless button-front tops that I've had for years - black and white dotted, and black and white striped... I wear them under a light black cardigan and they're just right...

If you want to ... View the Post

13-Piece Spring Wardrobes – Black and White, Olive and Beige

June 11, 2021

I can clearly see that I want to do at least 2 more of these after today! The denim/chambray/soft pink idea MUST be investigated, as well as... what other color?

But today, we look at black, and then at my nemesis, green!

First up - a wardrobe that I could envision buying if I lost every stitch of clothing that I own... the pink skirt would be a real adventure for me, but why the HECK not try it?

This may not qualify as a completely "Whatever's Clean 13" wardrobe - I can see some of us feeling uncomfortable wearing the blue tee shirt with the pink skirt. But if one could find the right scarf, necklace, or bracelet to tie them together, or if one just plain and simply LIKES the 2 colors together, why not? (it's ... View the Post

Two Spring Capsule Wardrobes, Using the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe

June 9, 2021

Ah, you would have laughed if you could have seen me starting this post - I thought that I would just open ALL THIRTEEN of the earlier posts, and copy things from there...

Now remember, since the beginning of the pandemic, I've been blogging from a laptop!

Just as well it didn't work out - many of the garments from early weeks are long gone in many sizes...

So I've used quite a few familiar garments, and picked up some new things to fill in the blanks!

I really like to show these wardrobes to reinforce my personal conviction that these classic garments can come together to give you a great travel wardrobe, or the base of a Garde Robe du Mois.

I love the subtle elegance of these colors:

Just imagine this ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #13 – a summer dress

June 7, 2021

Dresses! I wear a LOT of dresses in the summer time, because they're fast, easy, and modest but still cool...

I know that the list of garments that I wrote years ago specifically says "shirtdress," but we can be flexible... I like shirtdresses because you can wear another top under them, or use them as a swimsuit coverup, or as a duster jacket over another outfit etc.

Let's look at some ideas!

For those of you who are saving the individual garment images, here's the glorious dress all on its own:

I often see women wear button-front dresses with a contrast top underneath, and the dress itself unbutton down to mid-torso. It's a nice look...

And I'm picturing this scarf tied around a pony ... View the Post