The Vivienne Files - Page 45 of 269 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Shōsho, Small Heat

July 6, 2022

It's not the worst of the summer heat, not yet! But it's quite hot enough during the day that shorts and tee shirts are essential...

So she's headed to the lake, alone. She's rented the world's tiniest lake house. She can only be in 1 place at a time, so a 1-room house (let's be frank and call it a cabin, eh?) is perfect for her...

She might run into other people - it's not as if she's renting the entire lake! But she's going to dress for herself - cool shorts and tops for the day, and a sweatshirt for sitting outside after dark, watching fireflies...

There's a certain calmness that comes from being able to lie in bed at night and see EVERY SQUARE INCH of your cabin... She's seriously considering ... View the Post

July 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

July 4, 2022

My emails tend to come in waves, topic-wise. Recently, it seems that a great many people are concerned about having to return to "real life," be that an office, or lunch dates that used to be regularly scheduled, or other social gatherings that have been cancelled for the last 2 years.

So this month I think that our heroines are going to all look for a dressy-ish outfit that resembles either a suit or includes a skirt... Good for work, good for social events, good for worship services...

First up, if you have to go to an office, you can pretend that you're wearing a suit, if your pants and shirt-jacket are made of the same fabric!

Our heroine now has a 25-piece wardrobe, which makes getting dressed pretty ... View the Post

Another Way to Think About Closet Cleaning

June 29, 2022 Today's my birthday - I'm 62!!! The only certain treat today is a yellow cake with maple frosting, from Sweet Mandy B's... Sadly, I will NOT be able to have a blog post ready for Friday; between my birthday and other utterly unrelated errands I have to run on Thursday, it's just not possible! I will of course be back on Monday...

But on to more practical things - clearing out a wardrobe that's just plain and simply too full. More clothing than you need is confusing, distracting clutter, and clothing that you can donate could be a wonderful gift to a total stranger...

Here's our starting point:

I'm working (gradually and haltingly!) toward Project 333 for myself, and I'm trying to be sensible, by keeping clothing ... View the Post

June 2022 Start with a Bracelet: The Surprising Lynx Bracelets

June 27, 2022 They Never Know What to Expect...

Some years their more... eccentric aunt can't make it up to the lake for a weekend with them. They understand; she travels a lot and is often busy with work...

So when they got a call asking if there was room for her this coming weekend, they were all pretty excited to see her, for all kinds of reasons!

Her current car is a convertible. Electric. Very sleek... And she looked quite elegant...

They weren't expecting purple socks, but they weren't exactly surprised...

It was the next morning, when she turned up for breakfast wearing a swim-dress, a matching hoodie, and water shoes, that they were gobsmacked...

"Yea, I was stuck in the Maldives for a few days on a ... View the Post

Start with Art: The Golden Stairs by Sir Edward Coley Burney-Jones

June 24, 2022

Yes, you saw this painting a long time ago! That heroine was also traveling for a family celebration...

Let's take a close-up look at a bunch of these lovely ladies, and enjoy the color palette...

Our heroine is off for a quick weekend trip to a family wedding! She's taking Friday off of work, so that she will arrive early in the afternoon - certainly early enough for lunch with relatives, and possibly early enough for a quick nap:

Because the partying starts tonight, with the rehearsal and the following dinner, and then of course the wedding on Saturday! By Sunday, she just needs to drag herself to brunch before they run out of coffee, and then sleep on the train on the way home!

She wants to ... View the Post

One Way to Get to Project 333

June 22, 2022

By this time of year, most of us should be easily able to whittle down our warm-weather wardrobe to a tidy 33 pieces. While this is NOT what Courtney Carver suggests for her Project 333, I'm pretty confident that she wouldn't be too upset with us starting at this point. So long as we look seriously at our wardrobes from time to time, she will probably approve!

buy her book and read it; trust me!

How to minimize what's in one's closet is a question that I am asked almost every day, and thus I keep thinking of different ways that someone could go about eliminating a big chunk of their wardrobe... Let me share one idea!

Let's start here - I think (but am by no means sure!) that there are 69 garments here... If all of ... View the Post

Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Geshi, Summer Solstice

June 20, 2022

I'm finding it hard to believe (okay, maybe hard to ACCEPT) that tomorrow will be the longest day of the year. It feels like the weather here in Chicago just "hotted up" in the last 2 weeks...

But let's think of the Solstice as a chance for celebrating our extreme daylight (or darkness, if that's your hemisphere!). And that means a chance to treat ourselves!

I think many of us worry about our clothes quite a bit, at the expense of paying good attention to our accessories. Maybe, for balance, we should celebrate the Solstice with a self-gift of something beautiful? For those among us who wear a lot of earth tones, this might be a palette to consider:

I'm not sure what neutrals are best ... View the Post

Packing (or just being prepared) for a Heat-Wave

June 17, 2022

If you're not living through record heat where you are, just be patient...

I recently heard from a friend who is just back from a long trip to Italy, and she talked at length about how the heat affected everything on her trip!

And I was once in Paris - relatively early in the spring - and was completely caught off-guard by some unseasonably warm temperatures; I had to scramble and make a couple of purchases!

It can happen anywhere on the planet, I'm afraid...

So what to do?

At a minimum, I think I will probably always pack at least a couple of sleeveless tops for almost any trip; they make great bottom layers when the weather is cold (almost like long underwear!), but of course might save you if the heat ... View the Post

Start with Art: Pink Gladiolus by Jane Peterson

June 15, 2022

Six Days a Month They moved WAY out of the city back in early 2020; if they didn't have to go into the office, it made sense to move someplace more remote... Much safer, back then...

But now, they're telling her that she needs to come into the office six days each month. WHO is going to be keeping track of this, one might wonder.

She doesn't HAVE office clothes, now. What she used to wear doesn't fit, and the way she dresses now on a regular basis will NOT cut it; life on a farm is NOT life at a desk!

So she's going to create the world's smallest work wardrobe (well, close!), based on a painting of her favorite flowers.

She starts with her most serious outfit - the sweater-blazer tends to make ... View the Post

Start with 2 Scarves: The Corgi scarves by PJ Studio Accessories

June 13, 2022 It's Really a Summer-Long Celebration, Right? She couldn't make it to London last week... costs were through the roof, and she had too many conflicts to try to rearrange...

She keeps her feelings about royalty to herself, except for the love of Corgis that she shares with the Queen...

Now, she realizes that she's going to be in London every 2 or 3 weeks - just for a night or 2 - until at least the end of summer. Probably through November...

So she's going to wear navy, and Corgis!

She will barely have to work - she needs to literally drop off documents at the branch office, and then pick up the revisions the next day! Otherwise, she's on her own...

Museums? Galleries? DINNER??? Heck ... View the Post

Start with Art: Miami Day by Andrew Lennon

June 10, 2022

She Knows NOTHING About Packing for a Cruise....

So her plan is to pack a normal suitcase for a trip this long, to the river district of Germany, and then let all of her friends make suggestions!

As always, she's going to travel in her favorite outfit. There's no reason to wear anything else; she might have to wear this outfit for a LONG time, depending on the timely arrival of her luggage!

Before she starts packing any other colors or fabrics or styles, she wants to "finish" her black, dressy cluster. Why NOT bring a pretty ruana?

She's been promised some very warm days - surely shorts will be appropriate for sightseeing somewhere along the way? She loves the way her "deep midnight" clothes contrast ... View the Post

Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Bōshu, Grain in Ear

June 8, 2022

Time flies when the weather is lovely!

These Are NOT Gardening Clothes... These are sitting on the back porch admiring your garden clothes...

These are clothes for walking around your neighborhood, admiring other gardens...

These are clothes to wear while sitting on the porch swing, discussing how many raised garden beds you can fit on your lot...

These are clothes to wear when you're watching your friends and family play sports...

These are clothes for the backyard barbecue, picnic, fire pit, marshmallow toasting...

These are clothes for sitting under the trees, snipping the ends off of green beans...

These are clothes to wear when taking baskets of fresh vegetables to your ... View the Post