The Vivienne Files - Page 75 of 269 - Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 42: An Accent Color Sleeveless Top

May 18, 2020

Oh, if ONLY it was warm enough to wear summer clothes! I know, I'll be griping that I have to run the air conditioner too often... But these colors appeal to me right now...

The nice thing about these tops is that you can pretty much always find something in a color that you like, and then you have an easy, inexpensive accent for almost any outfit!

It wasn't tough at all to find tops that look good with our favorite (current favorite?) 6 scarves:

As you probably can assume, by now - I have some ideas, suggestions, thoughts, observations...:

I love navy with bright green; in cooler weather I might turn the green "down a notch" into forest green, but I could still see navy, green and white ... View the Post

Adding Accessories: A Work Wardrobe in Navy, Plum, Teal and Lavender

May 15, 2020

Our heroine from a couple of days ago now has a good work wardrobe for her needs - not terribly dressy, but still serious enough that she will stand out from her former co-workers. If you're in an environment where people wear jeans and very casual clothes for work, it doesn't take a lot to stand out!

My system, such as it is, for most wardrobes, is to assemble a half-dozen outfits, trying to include all of the "bottoms" and as many of the tops as possible. I of course try to include all of the colors, and as broad a range of dressiness as makes sense for the heroine in question.

I'm sure I miss something this way, but I'm still looking for a better approach! Any suggestions?

First, let's start with a serious ... View the Post

Start with Art: Dans la Forêt: Portrait de L. Massine by Natalia Gontcharova

May 14 2020

Remember the accountant? With a man's first name? Well, she's been doing quite well; the last big engagement in which she was immersed resulted in 3 people being charged with financial fraud, and a handful of other officers resigning in the dead of night and vanishing...

She was made partner...

Her color palette for her wardrobe is unusual - just when someone thinks that all she wears is black and shades of beige and brown, she trots out some cobalt blue!

She's got to go back. Yes, during the pandemic. She's assured that nobody is there, and that this is the very best time to take a team in and go through some of the really old "on paper" records that seem to have been... forged? Expense ... View the Post

What Do I Need in My Wardrobe? Navy, Teal, Plum and Lavender

May 13, 2020

It was a sort of urgent email - I get those sometimes! In the middle of quarantining and lots of disruption, SHE GOT A PROMOTION!!!! A big one...

After much back and forth, we settled on the 4 colors in our palette, and she has already isolated these 8 things to launch her work wardrobe:

These are her chosen colors:

She's going to need to travel some, and be on screens for teleconferences a lot, so I'm targeting - eventually - a 20-piece wardrobe for her for these "visible" work activities. I thought maybe this template would help me be organized in making recommendations:

So the first thing we need to do is show her 8 existing garments in this template, so we can see where we have ... View the Post

Rescuing Forgotten Accessories: The Botanical Blossoms Scarf

May 12, 2020

Another heroine decided to dig into her accessories and unearth an under-appreciated beauty!

She knew that, when she bought it, she was thinking of bright, cheerful warm days, when she wanted to be as vivid and happy as the flowers...

So she decided that she would wear this scarf twice a month until the end of the summer. Maybe it would just be tied to the handle of her handbag, or worn in her hair, but she wanted to start using and enjoying it!

It might be warm enough to wear sleeveless tops, if she has her cardigan close at hand:

One would hope that by June, she will be able to wear shorts! At any rate, that's her plan:

By July, she plans to wear dresses fairly often. (yes, she discovered how ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 41: A Dark Neutral, Sleeveless Top

May 11, 2020

Well, a dear friend of mine is currently moving her plants indoors, because the weekend is supposed to bring freezing temperatures, and I'm writing about summer clothes! (I'm writing this on Friday afternoon May 8th)

Getting the best clothes often requires planning ahead; you can't imagine how often I will see something that I think is perfect to share with you, only to find that there are only 2 sizes still available...

So let's plunge into the possibilities of a simple, dark tank top or other sleeveless top!

For those who are following along with the "6 Scarves, 12 Months" series of posts, these are the tops that I would suggest for a wardrobe based on each of the scarves:

As always, I've got ... View the Post

Accessories! Start with Art – The Visit by Marie Laurencin

May 8 2020

I couldn't resist coming back to this painting, and to the wardrobe based on these colors!

First, let's look back at the spring wardrobe with a core of grey and white garments, and then a few accents in blue and pink (including that blue cardigan that keeps catching my eye!):

I'm looking for accessories that are somewhat "soft" in feel, to compliment the softness of the colors here, and also for things that will look good with more than one outfit...

For our blue dress, I wanted a scarf that our heroine could wear around her shoulders (although of course she has her white cardigan that will be perfect for that!), and some earrings that also were organic in theme. Silver sandals will be useful with pretty much ... View the Post

Start with Art: My favorite puppy’s Life by Fiona Rae

May 7, 2020

The capitalization of the painting is the artist's; artists see things in ways we hope to learn, some day...

While there are quite a few really fun colors in this painting, any heroine worth her salt knows that you've got to limit yourself a bit, at least at the start of a wardrobe "build."

First up, our wise heroine decides to make certain that she has a solid base for her wardrobe in navy and white:

Her heart was SET on hot pink and purple... but the marketplace of clothing didn't really help her out much!

This is one of the hardest parts of putting together any wardrobe - deciding that you KNOW what you want, but then finding that your lovely dreams are not readily available in the retail ... View the Post

Start with Art: Yellow Calla by Georgia O’Keeffe

May 6, 2020 The Need for Zest... She's doing fine, really. But she does acknowledge that only being able to go outdoors every few days, in a mask, hurrying to get errands completely and back to the safety of her home, has caused her to feel... muted.

Not that she doesn't love her grey and white core wardrobe! But the need for a bit of zing, a touch of excitement, or the jolt of an unexpected color, is beginning to be felt in her heart.

So when she saw this, she was smitten!

It wasn't too difficult to distill her spring and summer color palette from this gorgeous painting:

She's going to indulge for warm weather, this year. She still has to be on a camera conference call at least once a week, and she often has to stand ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 40: A Light Neutral, Sleeveless Top

May 5, 2020

Yesterday felt like summer; does that count?

Today feels like autumn... sigh...

But lets prepare for warm weather - we all know that it's going to get here eventually!

Every summer, I buy at least 1 or 2 of these, to take the place of the ones that I wore to PIECES the previous year; I keep these in my closet all year, because they are great under winter clothes too!

As always, I've thought of a few things to keep in mind as you consider your summer supply of tops:

These outfits all appeal to me right now; maybe it's because I'm inside, and maybe it's because we've only had intermittent 1 day periods of nice weather!

And as always, accessories seem to make a LOT of difference! I know you're ... View the Post

May 2020 Six Scarves, Twelve Months, Twelve Outfits

May 4, 2020

Holy handbags of Buddha, it feels like a MONTH since I've done a post like this! Give that it rained about 72 days in April, I'm ready to start thinking about the possibilities of warmer weather...

So today (and tomorrow!) I'm going to look at tank tops, which I think might be unsung heroes in some wardrobes. They add a dash of color, and a bit of coverage, when it's often needed...

Let's go!

Remember this timeless scarf, and palette?

For May, this heroine needs shorts! And the turquoise tank top and bracelet are perfect accents for an overall "navy suit-like" outfit. (yes, linen cardigans are insanely useful in warm weather - I have one at my mother's home, and one here!)

The turquoise is a new accent ... View the Post

I Love It, But Will I Wear It? Blue Cotton Cardigan

May 1, 2020

It catches her eye every time she's on the website. She has wondered how she might wear it, if she were to treat herself...

Finally, she decides to actually try to PLAN an outfit or 2, from current garments and some possible other lovely things she's seen. She does want to buy something for spring, and starting with this cardigan might make sense. If you keep daydreaming about a piece of clothing after you've seen an image of it, you might want to think seriously about how much you're attracted to it, right?

She is fond of a wide range of neutral colors, so there are plenty of possibilities...

First off, there's no reason that you can't just wear a cardigan in a different color over anything neutral and ... View the Post