The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

The Vivienne Files - Page 6 of 286 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

The Simplest Packing I Can Devise! England March 2026

March 16, 2026

Cross your fingers that I'm in London while you're reading this! We're flying into London, hanging around for a couple of days, then driving around Suffolk for a few days, then returning to London for a last night, and coming home. It's going to be pretty whirlwind - four hotels in 8 days. So I'm not going to be seeing people over and over again, not that this really matters!

One of the towns we're visiting:

Changing subjects: what was your closest friend wearing the last time you saw them? Do you remember? What will you think if they're wearing the same thing the next time you see them?

See? Repeating outfits isn't going to make you a pariah. If you know people for whom this is a "thing," don't cater to their ... View the Post

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

March 13, 2026

If all goes as planned, and I don't take a tumble and break myself, Belovedest and I are on our way to London, and then a couple of small English towns. Cross your fingers that my coordination holds up!

And now, let's visit our sixth painting - modern, angular, unusual colors, and just plain stuck in my mind:

Our heroine - the graphic artist who specialized in mixing fonts - has chosen these colors around which to build her wardrobe:

Let me share a bit about this heroine: she wants to become a reformed impulse shopper, and thus is trying HARD to stay within her chosen palette. She's come to realize that it's time to buy less, buy better, buy things that have a consistent feel and look. She would really ... View the Post

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

March 11, 2026

Let's take a minute away from reality, and think about this exceptional heroine, and her favorite painting:

Someone once mentioned to me that they felt that her wardrobe colors felt too "Christmassy". I suppose if she wore green and red together that might be an issue, but I've never thought of it - what do you think?

At the end of February, our heroine's 12-piece wardrobe was almost perfectly versatile, albeit a little bit more casual than we've come to expect from her. She's trying to not be TOO anachronistic; her work is sufficient to keep her in touch with history. She's worked with women who dressed in full Middle-Ages regalia - not for her!

 

One thing our heroine definitely wanted for ... View the Post

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

March 9, 2026

Wouldn't it be fun to see one of these "in the feathers"?

I imagine that our heroine has seen one at least once; at least she's sufficiently familiar with them to choose to copy their coloring in her wardrobe:

At the end of February, our heroine had this compact but very practical capsule wardrobe - easy to assemble a lot of different outfits from this small number of pieces:

But suddenly, our heroine is finding that people want to interview her! Yes, she always assumes that a local radio show might want to talk for 15 minutes about the shifting "bird demographics" of their area...

Now she's finding that she might even be on television! At a minimum, she's going to be on some videos online; people ... View the Post

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Spirit of Autumn by Albert Pinkham Ryder

March 6, 2026

Isn't this calming? Calming seems wise right now, doesn't it?

Our heroine's profession is to listen and to bring calm, acceptance, and understanding to her clients. So when she was inspired to base her wardrobe on the colors and the mood of this painting, it made good sense!

She loves the colors in her wardrobe - brown and rust to echo her hair, the soft golden tones of her skin, and the changeable aqua of her eyes!

At the end of February, she had a very small 12-piece wardrobe that felt like it had a lot of ivory in it, but that was still almost infinitely versatile. One could get dressed in the dark with this in your closet, and never look truly bad!

Her shopping this month is a mix of useful ... View the Post

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Ruffled Autumn Clouds by Emile Nolde

March 4, 2026

Give me your honest opinion: is there white in this painting - in the yellow areas? This heroine could use some white at some stage - especially when the weather heats up!

This is our ambitious heroine's wardrobe color palette - perfect for fitting in AND standing out, all at the same time:

 

At the end of February, our heroine had assembled a 12-piece wardrobe that wasn't foolproof (mixing her accent colors might get weird!), but that's very versatile. One thing that she discovered is that she really likes getting a shirt AND a sweater AND a tee shirt in the same color, if possible. 

So when March rolls around, she spies the yellow sweater and knows that this month, yellow is the accent color. ... View the Post

March 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Based on Winter Cottonwoods by Georgia O’Keeffe

March 2, 2026

Ah, this is what Chicago has been looking like recently - bare trees, drifts of old snow, sun peeking through at sunset:

Our heroine is very fond of the stems, the roots, and the "unattractive" working parts of plants. Her goal, and her passion, is to make all plants acceptable, and no plant a pariah.

Her very subdued wardrobe is based upon these colors:

At the end of February, she has assembled as 12-piece capsule wardrobe, which is almost completely foolproof. Our heroine doesn't really have a lot of time to spend standing in front of her closet, debating what to wear!

Who among us has that time?

Any person who lives in rhythm with nature knows that you have to deal with what's right in front of ... View the Post

Start With Art – Wall of Light Orange Yellow by Sean Scully

February 27, 2026

True story from my trip to Paris in December: Belovedest and I were walking down a side street near our hotel, and saw art in the distance! The doorway of the gallery was glass, and the entire structure of the building was open so that we could see ALL THE WAY THROUGH to a large room in the back of the building. And facing us, we saw 3 Sean Scully paintings, in shades of blue. We would have had no idea that they were there, had we not been able to see them from the street. A delightful 10 minute detour!

I think my lesson is that looking in all of the doorways is a good idea!

Today's heroine is going to have to visit with us every couple of months for a while, because she has found an intriguing color combination ... View the Post

Fresh Colors – with LOTS of Green! Pantone New York Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2026-27

February 25, 2026

So New York Fashion Week is behind us, and I saw ABSOLUTELY NONE of it... We're not about fashion, we're about personal style! But it's always fun to see what colors Pantone chooses to highlight from the rainbow of things that are shown on the runway...

This year, if you like brown or green, you're going to be happy!

With no further ado (because this post takes quite long enough as it is!) I share with you the anointed colors for next fall, with some suggestions for an accessory splurge. If you already have something in one or more of these colors in your stash, it might be time to build yourself a wee "accessory family" to liven up your neutrals..

If I were adding ... View the Post

Looking for Absolute Simplicity? Start With Art – Les Colombes by Maurice Denis

February 23, 2026

More often than I would expect, I hear from someone who's looking for a foolproof travel capsule wardrobe. Some people want dressier, and other want more relaxed, but everybody seems to be looking for a simple way to pack for a whole BUNCH of trips...

So let's start with a tranquil, simple but arresting work of art:

This offers us a palette for our travel capsule wardrobe that's timeless, and SO easy to find:

Freshly Retired! She's got plans - lots of them! For the next 3 months, she has EIGHT trips planned - most of them relatively close to where she lives. Some travel will be driving, and some by train. She's going to catch up with a couple of friends, visit a couple of old favorite towns, and check ... View the Post

In the Mood for Something Pretty? Start With a Pink Cashmere Cardigan from J.Crew

February 20, 2026

I think that many of us are in the mood for something to both brighten up our wardrobe, and to give us a head-start into spring - do you feel this? It's certainly true for me!

When I saw this sweater, in this color, I was immediately drawn to it. I love cables, I think it's genius that so many cardigans now have a lot of closely-spaced buttons. Wearing something like this without a shirt underneath is much easier when you don't have to worry about the dreaded (and completely unnecessary!) button gap:

I'm sticking with navy as our dark neutral; in fact, I'm keeping the navy garments from Wednesday's post. If nobody learns anything else from The Vivienne Files, I hope that someone grows to understand that buying ... View the Post

Interested in a Bright Accent for Spring? Start With a Yellow Cashmere Cardigan from Alex Mill

February 18, 2026

If you look good in yellow, treating yourself to a truly lovely yellow cardigan could be a wise move. You can wear it pretty much all year (okay, except for the dead heat of the summer!), and it's a color that brings cheer to anything you wear with it!

For today's experiment with this sweater, I've chosen navy (and dark-ish denim) as our neutral, and included both white and stone. And because a chambray shirt is among the most versatile garments you can own, I included it too!

So this is our palette - chambray isn't shown here, but I think we can assume that every wardrobe includes shades of denim blue, eh?

Here's an example of how versatile chambray and stone can be - I don't believe that there's a ... View the Post