The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

The Vivienne Files - Page 208 of 285 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Start with Art: Lucy Hessel at the Seashore by Edouard Vuillard

June 4, 2014 My readers have the very best taste; this painting was sent to me to consider for a "Start With Art", and I thought the colors were so beautiful!The mood of this painting - languid, soft, dreamy, relaxed - made me think of a honeymoon, or a second honeymoon...

These were my color choices:

 

  If you wanted to pack for a second honeymoon, you could certainly do worse than this!  

  As always, a well-chosen handful of outfits selected with a unifying theme will give you lots of options.  

love, Janice ... View the Post

Start with Flowers: Cherry Blossoms

June 3, 2014  

In an otherwise extremely unremarkable outdoor mall, we found this lovely tree (proving that if you look for beauty, you WILL find it):

I'm pretty certain it was an ornamental cherry tree - I'll check back later this summer to see if, in fact, it produces cherries!  But what really caught my eye was the juxtaposition of the grey/taupe of the tree bark, and the surrounding pavement, with the green, white and yellow of the flowers.  So (you know me) I thought of color schemes for travel and summer...  

 

 

Lots of lovely options available here!  If you have some nice floral photographs, send them on - [email protected].  I'll do what I ... View the Post

The Monday Morning Give-Away #1: The Original French Chic book by Susan Sommers

June 2, 2014

I know I said I wasn't going to post on Mondays, but I think for the next few weeks I'm going to post some things that I want to give away to one of you. (somehow, I managed to have two copies of this book...)

Please leave me a comment (you can definitely comment Anonymously, but make sure you say something sufficiently memorable so that we'll know which "Anonymous" you are - blatant flattery and praise for The Vivienne Files would be great.... ahem....) and by end of day Wednesday, I'll count the comments, generate a random number, and announce Thursday who the lucky recipient will be.

If you've never read the book, it's a hysterical combination of timeless advice and ridiculously dated photographs.  I still ... View the Post

Choosing a Scarf: A Bright Summer Accent

May 31, 2014  

Some of us aren't going to be wearing white all summer long, nor will pastel accessories work really well for everybody.  So I'm going to revisit the idea of buying a summer scarf, but this time working with a base of navy linen clothes...  The idea of picking up a couple of bright accessories to update my summer wardrobe is very tempting!These are the scarves:

Red Cayenne linen blend scarf – Halogen, Blue Blithe linen blend scarf – Halogen, turquoise gem linen scarf – Halogen, gold shine linen blend scarf – Halogen,  pink cyclamen linen blend scarf – Halogen, blue royal linen blend scarf - Halogen And the simple navy garments:

Top – Hobbs, shorts – Dorothy Perkins, dress – ... View the Post

What I Packed for Florida

May 30, 2014 I completely missed the backpacking around Europe experience - I never took a year off of school, and I never even WENT to Europe until I was 35... But I'm still fascinated by the whole experience of being THAT light on your feet - that self-contained.  So when a really nice Patagonia backpack made it into our home, I decided that I was going to give it a try.  At least once, just to know what it's like, I'm going to be a backpacker...

I loved it.  The incredible lightness of putting all of your luggage under the seat in front of you, and being able to walk for miles without wheels, was memorable.  I don't know that I'll ever do it again, but it was wonderful.

There were a few factors that made this ... View the Post

Choosing a Scarf: A Soft Summer Pastel

May 29, 2014  

Even in the warmest weather, a lightweight scarf can be useful - last weekend, in the heat of Florida, I used my simple gauze scarf to keep the frigid breezes off of my neck and shoulders more than once!But what color to choose?  You know you want to wear your new scarf with your white summer clothes, but there are so many options...

  These white clothes have been digitally "tarnished" a bit so that we can actually see them on the screen. In real life, they would be sparkling, crispy white.  

  When you're tempted by a variety of colors, it might help to think about what ELSE you have (or might want to purchase) in that color that would help give your outfit a "planned" look ... View the Post

The Vivienne Files bookshelf: The Lost Art of Dress by Linda Przybyszewski

March 28, 2014  

  It's one of those questions that confounds the observant person - there are more clothes, and often more attractive clothes, in stores than ever before, but you see fewer well-dressed or just generally attractive people about.  Why are all of these appallingly bad clothing choices being made, and why (at least when I was a child) did women seem to be able to avoid making these mistakes and dress themselves flatteringly?

   

Linda Przybyszewski attempts to answer this question in this book - a very well-written and interesting look at the Home Economics teachers, Department of Agriculture Extension employees, and other women who used to help us choose our clothing.  I ... View the Post

Looking Back: May 26th

2011 - A now defunct website called The Burning House caused me to consider An interesting exercise in priorities.

2012 - In another variation on the seminal French Chic wardrobe, I tried Visualizing French Chic: olive, and young, and casual.

2013 - Choosing patterned scarves, and some jewelry, in Part 2, Accessories Step by Step: Khaki and Green. ... View the Post

Looking Back: May 25th

2011 - A wee lesson in a new way to tie a long scarf: Decoding the mysterious "weave knot."

2012 - The weather warms up and I had a bunch of Chic Sightings: three pairs of ideas.

2013 - Getting dressed is hard enough, but choosing accessories?!?!?  Check out Accessories, step by step: Khaki and Green. ... View the Post

Choosing a Scarf: Hermes in Orange

May 24, 2014  

 About a year go, I wrote a pretty popular post about how to isolate the perfect scarf from among a range of similar items. My thesis is that your new purchase should feel as if it's coming home to be among it's relatives...

Someone sent me a question - they love this particular scarf design, and they've got a few orange garments. But how do you make the final choice?

You've got garments kind of like this to wear with the scarf that you finally choose.

 

  Are you fond of the high contrast between the orange and cooler tones of greens and blues?

Or is the base of your wardrobe mostly subtle beige and ivory tones?

  Maybe you love orange because you love ... View the Post

How I’m Currently Storing my Necklaces and Bracelets

I've found that storing my jewelry hidden away just isn't working well for me - I forget what I have, and then I have a really bad habit of buying duplicates.  So I bought myself a couple of dozen pretty taffeta drawstring bags (from here), tucked all of my necklaces into their own bags, and tossed them into a pretty Spode serving dish.  Now they sit on the corner of my desk looking ornamental, and keeping me from doing more shopping... Makes packing jewelry quite simple, and cuts down on tangling and scratching too!

2012 - Sometimes, you want to take a particular garment with you when you travel, and thus I shared Packing: start with a favorite cardigan. 2013 - There is no way to get out of exercising; my method ... View the Post