The Vivienne Files - Page 52 of 269 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #39: A Dress

December 15, 2021

Yes, many of us don't wear dresses very often, but it's worth keeping in mind how very EASY it is to wear a dress. One garment - DONE... No coordinating separates, no worrying if you tee shirt is too short to tuck in (or too long) etc. etc...

And you can pretend to be all dressed up, even if you dress is made of sweatshirt fabric, or fleece!

This is the dressiest dress I'm sharing today - but this could get dressed down a lot with brown boots, and a brown sweater (or rust, or camel!). This weight of dress could be useful for all but the hottest weather, too.

If you're only going to own one dress, this next one is worth a look. Black ponte knit, short sleeves, modest neckline but beautiful swirl of skirt. ... View the Post

It Was An Unscheduled Break…

December 13, 2021

I have no explanation, and I offer no excuses - I have NOT worked (on The Vivienne Files!) for a couple of days!

I have done a lot of laundry, I've finished cleaning out my mother's old apartment (woo hoo!!!), and I've spent time with her and with my sweetheart...

Which is not to say that I haven't been thinking about you...

Santa wanted me to have this little chat - and YES, even if you don't celebrate Christmas, this chat includes you too!

Of COURSE in my world, Santa wears purple! Actually, this is an antique postcard from about 1916. Postcards were the greeting cards on the early 20th century, and in the Christmas ones, Santa is dressed in LITERALLY any color but black. As far as I've seen...

I ... View the Post

Start with a Sweater: An L.L.Bean Fair Isle Sweater, and a 1 Piece at a Time travel wardrobe

December 10, 2021

I am asked 2 questions pretty often - how do you build a wardrobe around a specific garment, and how do you decide WHAT to pack?

This post is going to try to answer both questions!

First up, let's start with this classic sweater, perfect for this time of year in much of the Northern Hemisphere:

For me, the 1st step is to look, really look CAREFULLY, at the colors in our focus garment. You're looking for the easily seen, visible at a moderate distance colors.

Like these:

By now, you know full well that I'm going to go a bit nuts emphasizing how important your travel outfit is - you could easily have to wear it for 36 hours, so you need to love every stitch of it!

It's an obvious ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #38: A Neutral 2nd Layer

December 8, 2021

Time for another 2nd layer! In honor of all of the gift-giving occasions in the recent past and near future, I'm suggesting cashmere sweaters! (and yes, you can indeed purchase a gift for yourself? Who better to buy, and who better to receive?)

I'm recycling last week's skirts, showing them in a less dressy way. If you're going to own a skirt, you may as well get some mileage from it, right?

A simple, beautiful sweater can be worn with lots of things, and will always elevate your outfit by a notch or two; if I were to only own 1 sweater, it would be a black cashmere cardigan:

The same plaid skirt that you wore for a holiday neighborhood gather can be worn to work too....

The brown toile skirt ... View the Post

6 Scarves, 12 Months: Evaluating the Last 2 Wardrobes

December 6, 2021

Why yes, this is supposed to be the last installment of the Autumn Weekly Timeless Wardrobe. Welcome to my life of confusion!

Frankly, once I was in the groove sorting these wardrobes and looking for additions to each of them, I just kept going. When I was more than halfway through THIS post, I realized that I was too far along to really be able to finish the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe in time!

I know you understand.... Thank heavens!!!

It's time to address the grey and brown outfit - the bane of my blogging existence for the last year:

If I was starting this one over again, the clothing would be grey, a bunch of shades of pink, and white, and the leather accessories would be brown. That would be both ... View the Post

6 Scarves, 12 Months: Evaluating the Second 2 Wardrobes

December 3, 2021

Another session in which we consider the strengths and weaknesses of 2 of our scarf-based wardrobes; I have to believe that if you can get dressed every day, a wardrobe isn't a complete failure!

But if you struggle, and if you feel awkward when you get dressed, then maybe some improvements could be made. This is something that NEVER ends - your life changes every time you take a breath, and with time, your wardrobe needs and preferences will change.

What can we learn, and remember, from knowing this?

(a) You will never have a perfect wardrobe - quit beating yourself up for trying to get there! (mine's not perfect, believe me!) and

(b) there is no garment, and no group of garments, that will get you to your ... View the Post

6 Scarves, 12 Months: Evaluating the First 2 Wardrobes

December 1, 2021

Don't forget - if you have an Advent Calendar, today's the day to start!

(we have a Bonne Maman jam and jelly Advent Calendar - fun AND sweetness!)

And it's also time to look back at these wardrobes to see where I did well, where I went off the rails, and what we all can learn from this exercise!

First, the black print scarf with accents of pink, gold, and (ha!) purple:

I don't regret choosing this scarf, but I DO regret trying to include purple as an accent color. Purple is never easy to find - generally it shows up around this time of year, briefly. I'm pretty attuned to purple since the highlights in my hair are purple, and I can assure you that you have to be patient if it's a favorite!

This ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #37: A Skirt

November 29, 2021

Ah, skirts... Some of us love them, many of us don't. But this time of year, one well-chosen skirt can get you through lots of dressy occasions, without a massive investment in multiple outfits. Pick a color or fabric that you deeply love, and that looks good with the neutrals in your existing wardrobe, and build around that!

Imagine that you bought this skirt, and each winter holiday season after that, you treat yourself to a piece of pink tourmaline jewelry, or a stunning evening bag, or just a couple of gold "things" to brighten up your winter wardrobe:

the sequined top comes in black, grey and pink, too...

If you love earth tones, this next skirt might be a good one to consider; if the slit is ... View the Post

November 2021 Start with a Bracelet: The Fierce Optimism Bracelets

Robyn! Coordinated Granny Woodstock! Send me your mailing information, because YOU have won the Mumbai Paisley scarf!

November 26, 2021 She Has Complete Confidence...

The weekend is going to be pretty much ALL parties. Well, after almost 2 years, everybody wants to get together. They won't all be full-on "parties" with decorations and centerpieces and such, but they will still be festive gatherings...

There once was a time when this kind of trip would fill her with dread; she would pack 2 big suitcases, and bring a huge chunk of her wardrobe with her. Even then, she never felt that she was dressed appropriately.

It weighed on her mind, on her confidence, and on her self-esteem.

But after ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Understanding by Parscha Mirghawameddin

November 24, 2021

Remember this heroine? Nobody seemed to think that she was beautiful, except her! And possibly someone that she met while traveling....

"Did You HEAR What She Told Her Great-Nieces?!?!"

"You mean the part about moving to the city?"

"NO!!!! The part where that silly frog ring is her engagement ring!"

silly is in the eyes of the beholder - this ring is legitimately very fine jewelry...

"Well, I knew that she met someone while she was there, but I assumed that it was just a platonic thing; what's someone her age doing getting involved romantically?"

What's someone her age doing? Feeling beautiful, feeling loved, having buckets of fun, and treating herself to all sorts of frog ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #36: A Print or Pattern Neutral Top

November 22, 2021

It's getting to be that time of year when you might want to look festive, but not get really DRESSED UP... For those of us who will be celebrating the holidays with only 3 or 4 people in our household, something colorful but not "over the top" might be just the ticket!

I'm a big fan of thermal fabric tee shirts and tops - the texture is casual, but the depth of color in the weave makes them just a bit more interesting than a plain tee shirt...

If it's already quite cool where you are, it's worth considering a turtleneck! (I really wanted to make certain that all of the fans of navy were aware of this top - it's so OBVIOUS to make a dotted turtleneck, isn't it?)

You don't have to wear red and green to be ... View the Post

Start with Art: Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

November 19, 2021

Remember our old friend, the expert in Gothic Architecture iconography?

She's worked from home;

with a wardrobe to which we added lots of accessories!

She also visited a college campus to lecture;

and she took students to The Cloisters in New York;

and she's been working with Paris officials on Notre Dame.

You can tell that she's a favorite heroine of mine!

This is her inspiration:

She Could Work from the Photographs that the church in Dublin sent to her, but she decided to go actually see the carvings in their location within the building. The church members had taken advantage of the pandemic to build scaffolding and climb up to clean decades of candle smoke and incense ... View the Post