The Vivienne Files - Page 66 of 269 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

A Brief Hiatus….

November 20, 2020

I'm taking today, and possible Monday and Wednesday... Sometimes, there are more important things in life than work and personal style (I know, it's hard to imagine!).

My plan for an upcoming post is to revisit the question of how much clothing we all actually need.

If this is a question that intrigues you, I built an Excel worksheet to help you find a number. It takes into consideration the following variables:

Over what period of time are we planning? How many outfits do you wear in an average day? How many garments are in your average outfit? and How many times within your time period do you want to wear any individual garment?

You can get the worksheet here for a kind $.99 donation to help ... View the Post

Start with Art: Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film by Leopold Survage

November 18, 2020

a question first - does anybody else have ankles that get cold? I was out today, and saw many people appropriately bundled for winter, except they were wearing cropped pants with nothing covering their ankles... Shaking Up the Routine She still has to go to her office - she's often the only person there. But she sits by a window onto the street, and people often stop to read the real estate ads posted very near where she sits. So she feels that she has to dress nicely, even if she's alone!

In the normal world, she wears black and white, with accessories. She likes to mix patterns, and the austere discipline of her wardrobe pleases her.

But THIS year? It's time for some fun!

And this is what inspired her! ... View the Post

Long Weekend Travel Capsule Wardrobe? Start with a Bracelet – Golden Hour by Fierce Lynx Designs

November 16, 2020 Rumor Has It...

...that the elusive "they" are going to install broadband internet access up at The Cottages!

She's off to see if this is true, and more importantly, to take advantage of the cool weather to admire the sky. Away from the lights of the city, everything is different...

The days are so short now that she's awake for both sunrise AND sunset, and intends to take full advantage of those golden hours of the morning and late afternoon...

So off she goes!

Since she's going to be alone for these 3 days, she's going to be wearing a mix of night clothes and "normal" day wear. If there's anything fun in the night sky, she might find that her days and nights turn around...

It seems like a ... View the Post

Start with Art: Adding Accessories – With My Back to the World by Agnes Martin

November 13, 2020

Friday the 13th, what might go wrong?

She's still craving calm, peace and quiet. There's quite enough upheaval in the world right now, without her adding to it!

So she finds a favorite painting, and isolates a color palette she loves:

And then she adds to her core Common Wardrobe of grey garments some accent things in each of the 3 colors; her wardrobe for the month looks like this:

In order to keep the peaceful organization of her closet growing and advancing, she decides to focus now on the accessories that she wants to wear with her wardrobe. So she chooses a number of outfits, accessorizes each of them (sort of like playing with dolls!) and then stores away all of the rest of her things for a few ... View the Post

Start with FICTION? Fulvia Morgana, from Small World by David Lodge

November 11, 2020

I've never tried this before! But when I read this description, I knew I had to share it, and to fantasize about what she might have packed.... So let's meet Fulvia Morgana from the book Small World by David Lodge.

Isn't she fascinating? There's no hint of how old she is, or how she's built, or what her coloring might be!

But I'll warn you, she's not the nicest person in the book...

For our purposes, though, I'm thinking about what she changes into when she arrives at the ghastly literary conference...

note - this character is super-wealthy, so I've completely ignored prices on things in this post; it was interesting...

For the first night, she wants to sit quietly on the sidelines to see who's there, ... View the Post

Start with Art: Adding Accessories – Red Hills, Lake George by Georgia O’Keeffe

November 9, 2020

Remember this lovely work, and our heroine who was so uncertain about including both red and pink accents in her Garde-Robe du Mois?

Her final wardrobe was this lovely, uncommon but very practical assortment:

She's going to whittle down her "visible" accessories for the month too - put a few pieces of jewelry into nice storage bags and give them a vacation. Fold some of her scarves into a storage box... Put some of her shoes away on a shelf... A bit of simplifying for 30 days or so!

So she takes 10 outfits, makes sure she has the perfect accessories for each of them, and then tucks away her other treasures for a different month and a changed Garde-Robe du Mois...

editorial comment: I would ... View the Post

Start with Art: With My Back to the World by Agnes Martin

November 6, 2020 Calm...

She wants accents for her wardrobe this month to be calm, relaxed and gentle - like this:

Her core wardrobe is grey - she loves it. She looks good in it, she likes the way it looks in her closet, and it just feels like her!

But this year, she wants a little bit of gentle color! And so she starts with yellow, including a skirt that might not be a perfect fit in her wardrobe, but which she chooses NOT to resist...

Sometimes, you have to break out a little bit!

The next color isn't at all easy to find! It doesn't make it any easier when it's called all KINDS of names - mineral blue, light turquoise, silver blue, aqua...

But she persists and is delighted:

She originally thought ... View the Post

Can A Garde-Robe du Mois Include Red AND Pink? Start with Art: Red Hills, Lake George by Georgia O’Keeffe

November 4, 2020

She wants to be able to dress with a soothing softness. She ALSO wants to dress with invigorating brightness. And she wants to do this within the structure of a 21-piece Garde-Robe du Mois...

What a heroine to do?

Start with art, I suggest...

She looked at how beautiful these colors are together, and took heart!

Here accent color palette looks like this:

First, since she's not going outdoors much at all, she's going to wear ALL of her light-colored neutrals - no slush to splash on her pant legs if she's always at her desk at home!

When she starts to add things to her Common Wardrobe, she first of all craves a bit of pattern, and maybe 1 last pair of pants:

Then she turns with a warm ... View the Post

November 2020 Six Scarves, Twelve Months, Twelve Outfits

November 2, 2020

Oh my, THIS is massive...

Our heroines collectively looked over their growing wardrobes and realized that, if they continued to accumulate clothing 1 outfit at a time, their wardrobes would become more and more unbalanced.

So they went sweater shopping! And for some other tops too...

And some fun socks, because as cold weather sets in in the Northern Hemisphere, we will all be wearing socks frequently. Some of us see our toes only while in the shower for months on end...

This heroine went for 3 well-planned neutral choices, and then a wild-card floral shirt! Heavens yes...

It all fits in well:

And she already has new outfits planned:

This heroine has all kinds of choices right now! I ... View the Post

Is It Time for a Wardrobe Brightener? Pantone 2021 Spring Colors

October 30, 2020

Most of us are being very disciplined with our wardrobes right now, but I think that we (and those around us) might benefit from the occasion cheerful update. With that in mind, I tackled the "newest" colors from Pantone.

First up - if you can wear yellow, DO IT. Many of us look like a Halloween decoration when we wear it, and that's too bad. Nothing is more eye-catching and smile-prompting.

And this gingham sweatshirt comes in 4 colors, including pink. I AM tempted...

This shade of blue might be an accent for some of us, or for many it will just be some pretty new additions. I wasn't able to exactly match the Pantone color (heck, I wasn't able to match ANY of the colors exactly!) but I tried to ... View the Post

Start with Nature: Inside the Orion Nebula by Drudis and Goldman

October 28, 2020 Star-Gazing for a Living! There's an opening at the observatory complex, and it's her turn to spend a month working on her research...

The complex is a combination of labs, residential and dining areas, meeting rooms, and of course the telescope. There are laundry facilities, so she doesn't need to pack clothes for 30 days. Her wardrobe is built around the navy of the night sky, and this is her chosen accent inspiration:

She ses the colors this way:

She starts with the core of her cool-weather wardrobe - her "Common Wardrobe" of timeless, versatile pieces:

She hesitates.... for a good LONG while. But then she remembers that she's going to be up there with a bunch of scientists, who won't ... View the Post

A Great Book, and a Fun New Wardrobe Idea!

October 26, 2020

If you're not familiar with Fiona Ferris and her books, I strongly recommend that you click on the link below and get to know her!

She's lovely, wise and lady-like, with so much good advice it's amazing. I'm currently working my way through a workshop that she did on writing books, and I get to hear her talk her way through everything - her voice is charming, modulated to an elegant tone, with a New Zealand accent! What's not to love...

But what caught my eye right away in her new book was her idea about organizing a new capsule wardrobe each month to help focus, edit, and enjoy our wardrobes. Her target number is TWENTY-ONE!!!!

(I had to write to her immediately and ask permission to use her idea - and she ... View the Post