accessories Archives - Page 3 of 33

Looking for a New Accent Color? Part 1 – Pantone London Fashion Week Spring 2024

April 10, 2024

"New" Colors! Or at least we can say "colors that have been identified as being influential for this spring..."

I'm going to confess right now - I'm in a complete muddle about WHICH of the many Pantone seasons I have and have not covered, and further, I'm not 100% sure that this is the most recent! Neither of these facts is really a big deal, when you get right down to it; the big thing to learn from posts like this is to give yourself some room and some time to consider if a new color in your wardrobe might be fun.

Or might be super-useful.

Or might make you happy. Happy is really the bottom line for getting dressed...

Let's jump in with 5 of the 10 colors from London Fashion Week...

This first color? As ... View the Post

Do You Love Blue? Adding Accessories to a Start with Art Wardrobe – Blue on White, White on Blue by Paolo Quaresima

January 24, 2024

You thought that I forgot! Yes, I can get pretty immersed in those Echo 100 scarves, but there's no way I was going to miss revisiting this painting:

This heroine is going to look at each of her "wardrobe clusters" one at a time, and make certain that she has the accessories that she wants for each cluster...

She's already got her shoes chosen - that's a lot of the thinking out of the way already!

First up, her warmest cluster. There are at least four outfits possible here, if she layers her navy shirt under her navy sweater... If you're summering in a place where evenings can turn cool, this could happen!

And for what it's worth, we have cool summer days in Chicago! The sellers of souvenir ... View the Post

Want to Focus on Accessories? Start with a Scarf – Betty Soldi scarf by Echo

January 19, 2024

Wow. Just plain wow...

Not many colors, but who NEEDS colors when you have this?

I'm sure your not amazed to learn that matching the sepia tone of the image is impossible to find in clothing! But let's think for a moment... if this was a photograph, you wouldn't try to match the color of the frame to the photo, right? So you don't need to match the main color of a scarf - think of it as your outfit serving as the background or frame for the scarf!

This heroine is a BIG fan of accessories that channel her inner Elizabeth I.... so her clothes are simple and classic:

Wearing dress pants, and then packing a skirt and jeans, gives you a wide range of "dressiness" possibilities:

I'm pretty certain that our heroine ... View the Post

In the Mood for Something Pretty? Japanese 24 Seasons: Tōji – Winter Solstice

December 22, 2023

The shortest day of the year certainly puts many of us in the mood for a little treat - just something to brighten up the long, dark night...

You in the Southern Hemisphere - enjoy your long day and warm weather!

So for this post, I just cruised through all of my usual favorites to see what caught my eye...

My favorite place to look for accessories is ALWAYS Wolf & Badger; they represent a ton of small designers, and always have things that won't be seen anywhere else...

It didn't take long for me to spot some lovely pieces:

Of course, it wouldn't be The Vivienne Files without a few things from J.Crew! I had to share this cropped hoodie, in one of everyone's favorite shades of blue... And the ... View the Post

The Finishing Touches: Start with a Bracelet – Fierce Serenity Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

December 20, 2023

One last visit to the navy, grey and Larkspur wardrobe - this heroine needs a few accessories to round out her 4 by 4 Wardrobe...

Remember, this is our basis. I don't know if anybody noticed - I added dark navy borders to the "pie pieces" so that we can visualize our 2nd neutral:

This is the assortment of clothing that our heroine is taking with her. If I were her, I'd be packing long underwear to wear as pajamas, and someone suggested a down vest too!

She also had chosen some lovely accessories - not enough, probably, but still lovely...

She stands. She looks. She thinks.

luggage won't pack itself!

Her idea is to work her way through a bunch of outfits, and make certain that she ... View the Post

Accent Color Ideas! Pantone NYFW 2024 Spring colors – Part 2

December 15, 2023

Have you reached the point in the autumn/winter (or spring/summer, depending on where you are!) when you've worn ALL your clothes for the season, and feel the need for something to brighten up or refresh your wardrobe?

Or maybe you've been thinking that a different accent color in your wardrobe might bring something delightful to your mornings...

Pantone's ALWAYS got ideas - I'm finishing our look at their New York Fashion Week colors today, but in the next week or so, I will visit the London colors too! I'm never quite sure how they choose these colors, and I certainly can't explain how they name them. But I can find lovely things to give us inspiration, and ideas:

I think this Watercress green is lovely, ... View the Post

Fresh Accent Colors! Pantone NYFW 2024 Spring colors

December 13, 2023

So, Pantone decided that Peach is going to be next year's color. I'm not sure how that will work out - generally speaking, I never see the "color of the year" show up in the urban wilderness any more often than any other color!

But their choices of colors always give us an opportunity to consider adding a new accent color to our wardrobes...

I've divided their 10 "New York Fashion Week" Spring/Summer colors into 2 posts, because they take a while to find!

editorial note - I'm VERY fussy about getting these colors to match as closely as possible, because I know that you're going to view them on a relatively small screen; items that are only a few inches apart need to look good together! In real life, on a ... View the Post

Three Capsule Wardrobes: First Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – September 2023

September 1, 2023

It seems as if ALL of the children in the Northern Hemisphere are back to school! This time of year always makes me want to pull on a sweater and corduroy pants, some short boots and a lovely wool scarf...

Soon enough for cool weather!

Let's get started...

This heroine found herself last month with a 26-piece wardrobe; most of us could manage for quite a long time with that many clothes, if they were for the right weather...

Our heroine clearly understands that she should grab yellow things when she sees something just right. She loves her navy cotton skirt so much that she would like to find another navy skirt to start to dress up for longer evenings ahead... She could certainly get a narrow skirt, ... View the Post

A Cool Weather Wardrobe Accent – 10 Sweaters, with Accessories

August 28, 2023

Let's assume, for the sake of fun, that we know what our core neutral wardrobe color will be for upcoming cool weather (in the Northern Hemisphere, of course!).

But most of us are going to want to add something to accent our wardrobes for the upcoming 6+ months of sweater weather...

I've already found mine - I bought the Lands' End Velvet Plum Heather cashmere cardigan THE MINUTE it was available. I didn't wait for it to go on sale, because it had real, serious whappage, and that means grab it now!

I could have purchased the crewneck, but I already have a purple crewneck sweater - in a different purple! - so this filled a wardrobe gap, and also sang sweet songs of cashmere to my heart...

But there are ... View the Post

3 Capsule Wardrobes: Second Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – August 2023

August 4, 2023

Let's see what our other 3 heroines have going on in their wardrobes...

Our first heroine's wardrobe from last month was 23 pieces that gave her a good range of options...

This heroine was thinking of another skirt; as much as she loves her navy one, she would like one in olive! And while she's at it, she just wants to fill in some more olive in her wardrobe.

And she knows that if she wants olive tall boots, she'd better get on it!

I know that it seems really early to look at tall boots, but if you need a pair, don't delay! You'd be amazed at how many pairs of boots I almost added to these wardrobes, only to find that they're already sold out in a lot of sizes... sheesh!

This is what our heroine ... View the Post

Accenting Olive Green with Other Neutrals

July 31, 2023

Olive! Oh, do I have advice...

If you really want to build a core wardrobe in olive green, be prepared to work with colors that blend, rather than match perfectly. Couple the difficulty of even FINDING olive clothes, with the way that different companies call all sorts of different colors "olive," and you've got a project on your hands!

My approach would be to buy a couple of rolls of packing tape, and then mail order a BUNCH of olive garments, and then return anything that didn't work.

And get some paint swatches, or lengths of embroidery floss, and keep them with you at all times! You never know when the unexpected craft show will offer up the perfect scarf, or necklace...

But I finally managed to get some ... View the Post

Accenting Black with Your Favorite Color

July 27, 2023

So after we determined on Wednesday that it's possible to accent black with just about any other neutral, I want to see if it's possible to accent black with your favorite color...

There are, of course, lots of colors that I'm not including here! All colors are not easily found in this current "in between" season of clothing - not enough summer clothes, and not enough fall clothes... sigh...

But I always feel confident that a pretty shade of blue will look great!

Burgundy isn't a color that one expects with black, but the scarf makes ALL the difference... And adding a 2nd accent color with turquoise earrings... why not?

Hot pink? This scarf is irresistible! You don't have to have the earrings AND the ... View the Post