The Vivienne Files - Page 216 of 285 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Warm Weather in Navy and Pink: A Long Weekend, or a Week?

February 8, 2014 Ooh, it's nice to dream of summer clothes and warmer destinations! Some of you are headed out with family for vacations that suggest shorts, capris, and flowing summer skirts and dresses, and the colors navy and pink are ALWAYS requested! So here's a plan that starts with a long weekend, and then adds key garments if your trip is longer than that. Always, for travel, I will recommend long pants, real shoes with toes and heels, and a cardigan - I always find airplanes are cold... This outfit has the added benefit of giving you two core garments in navy around which you can work throughout your vacation.

A couple of pretty skirts, a pair of shorts, a dress (that will ... View the Post

Six Days of a Navy Suit

February 7, 2014 Many people ask me about what to do with their interview suit after they've interviewed... so I'm going to show a week of work attire that uses your suit as separates. Just as the daily crossword puzzles become more difficult during the week, these outfits become progressive more casual... Two notes: (1) I'm working with a palette of navy, grey, beige, pink and white. (2) I'm going to show the same shoes repeatedly, just to emphasize the utility of a few pair of good shoes, rather than my usual unique shoes for each outfit. Monday is our dressiest option - use your suit jacket over a contrasting dress, or use your skirt as a base for a tweed jacket and silk ... View the Post

Wearing a Celtic Knot Scarf – July through December

February 6, 2014 As is usual in the hottest weather, you might only be able to use your scarf to tie up your hair, or to decorate the handle of your bag, but the colors can still be the guiding inspiration for your wardrobe choices. These four garments clearly give you four outfits for the summer months.

Even though September is still warm, it always puts me in the mood for a sweater - and warm gold seems so perfect for autumn. For October, olive is a perfect neutral for a jacket, and a suede skirt in deep russet will have lots of mileage through the colder months.

Many of us need a dress during the winter months for family and holiday events. If you wear warm colors well, ... View the Post

Wearing a Celtic Knot Scarf – January through June

February 5, 2014 One of my dearest readers sent me a couple of photographs of this scarf, and asked me for some suggestions... This scarf has great possibilities - the gold, turquoise, carnelian and olive drab colors, with some white, offer tons of possibilities. If anybody can tell me who designed this scarf, or where it's available, please let me know ASAP - I hate showing something this beautiful without giving credit where credit is due!

Cold weather requires sweaters and boots - and olive and carnelian are both exceptional colors for this. All of the major colors in this scarf go really well together, so you can combine them pretty much at will and the scarf will pull everything ... View the Post

Still Dreaming about Paris, and Packing…

February 4, 2014 Really, we're not leaving until mid-March! But I always do this - start planning weeks ahead of time. I rationalize it that (1) anticipation is a substantial part of the fun, and (2) if I plan carefully, I won't have to pack so much, and I can catch garments that need mended, or shoes that need tended, before it's too late to make the necessary fixes. When I left off planning, it was Tuesday morning - and I'm sure we're going to go to the Musee Guimet. It's Asian art, it's beautiful, and it's usually quite empty. We go there almost every time we go to Paris, and we're never disappointed. Our plan for this day might include taking the train out to La Defense, the business development in the west of Paris. ... View the Post

The Detritus of a Crowded Mind…

February 3, 2014

1. There's a great Calder exhibit right now at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. We love the MCA - although the building looks like a government bunker from West Germany circa 1960, the inside is light and bright and often full of amazing things. Sometimes full of troubling things, but that's what you get with contemporary art - you can't always fully grasp it first time through. AND, they have one of the best gift shops in the known universe. Particularly their choices of children's books and toys. I do much of my gift shopping there... 2. I had my first experience mailing clothes to Thredup.com, and this part of the equation is beautifully ... View the Post

Start With… a Plate? A Great Blue, Green and Beige Idea!

February 1, 2014 One of the best questions I've ever received... One of my friends really loves this plate, and wondered if it would be a good basis upon which to choose clothes. Heck, if you can use a painting, you can surely use a beautiful piece of pottery... Look for beautiful shades of blue and green, with beautiful soft white (or brown) neutrals...

love, Janice

... View the Post

From Dream to Suitcase

January 31, 2014 We'll be in Paris soon, and I'm already daydreaming about what we'll do while we're there... First off, I'm trying really hard to look upon the whole flying process as positively as possible. I can sit for 8 hours without a whole lot of trouble - I've done it at work for decades, so being on an airplane isn't that big an adjustment. I can hold hands with Belovedest, relax, and listen to music or some of my favorite apps on my phone. I've recently downloaded Insight Timer, which has dozens of guided meditations that are grand for relaxing... and then I can switch to one of the many apps that is just one long soundtrack of thunderstorms. A bottle of water, some skin serum, and I'm good ... View the Post

Start With Art: The Breakfast Room by Childe Hassam

January 30, 2014 My life - wardrobe-wise - is now an interesting contrast between being in gym clothes, or leisure clothes, for much of my time, and then every now and then I have to look like I belong in a business meeting or a dinner party... Apparently I'm not at all alone, because many people have asked me about how to have a coherent wardrobe strategy when you dress for such a wide variety of activities. So I chose one of the very beautiful paintings suggested to me, and went to work. This painting is an innovative combination of accent colors, some interesting asymmetry, and a wide range of grey through beige and taupe neutrals. First up - the gym! Being able to use grey as a neutral is ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting With a Scarf: Navy and Burgundy

January 29, 2014 What if you bought a new scarf, and you liked it so much that you decided to make EVERY clothing purchase, for a year, based on the colors of the scarf?

I get lots of questions about red, white and blue wardrobes, so when I was asked to address this scarf specifically, I thought it could be great fun. This looks like a tremendous amount of shopping, but do bear in mind that the average American purchases 68 garments and 7 pair of shoes per year, and that it's entirely possible that you already own a few of these items... This budget is pretty extreme, but I'm pretty confident that you can find beautiful items for just a bit less ... View the Post

Some Winter Thoughts

January 28, 2014

I grew up in a very snowy and cold place, so these Polar Vortexes don't completely overwhelm me, although they're pretty doggone dreadful... My parents were particularly adept at handling the cold, and so I have a few ideas and insights that might be useful.

Cover your head - at least your ears. It seems really obvious, but lots of people manage to skip this part. If your hair absolutely won't sustain a hat, at least put on some earmuffs - those bare ears sticking out of the side of your head are a freeze magnet.

And you should avoid wearing big earrings, necklaces next to your skin, or anything metallic that touches you directly. Metal gets ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting With a “Difficult” Scarf: Liberty London Ianthe Scarf

January 27, 2014 Yes, I was going to take the day off, but I had this post finished... Liberty London makes this scarf is a variety of colors, some assorted sizes, and at least two different fabrics that I know of, but no matter how it's done, the Ianthe scarf is a popular classic. But this scarf is subtle, understated, and challenging... I really honed in on the subtlety of the coloring, and determined that very muted, dusty or milky colors would blend best. The overall curved patterns combine to form a starburst feeling, which I wanted to hold in the back of my mind, and the very fine detailing meant that I was going to be watching for small stones in jewelry, fine but visible textures in fabric, and ... View the Post