beige Archives - Page 18 of 35

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Black and Beige: 1 Piece at a Time

July 18, 2016

It seems that there are some among us who are struggling to pull together what they want to pack. This isn't particularly surprising - travel is stressful enough, and the unknown factors of weather and activities can throw almost anyone into a small panic. So I'm going to approach the "1 Piece at a Time" idea with the thought that we're packing a suitcase, rather than assembling a capsule wardrobe.

Let's assume that you know what you want to wear for traveling - you've got a gloriously beautiful cardigan that MUST go with you:

Based on this outfit, it will be really easy to work with a core of black neutrals, and then add in some beige, too. There's enough white in the cardigan to make white ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Owl on Ginko Branch by Ohara Koson

July 9, 2016

Just wonderful:

While the vast majority of this painting is in shadings of beige and black, there are a couple of glorious accents of russet and olive...

She Works Nights Someone has to monitor those data servers - they run HOT, and they have to be watched 24/7. She loves the night sky, so she took the job...

So she works for 5 minutes, and then looks out the window for 5. It keeps her moving around, and she's learned a lot about the night sky.

Now that her company has grown, she's called on to work with people in other offices. Still at night, when the regular staff is at home, and just the emergency teams are in place.

Everyone marvels at how well she does during ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories 1 at a Time: Shades of Beige and Brown

May 23, 2016

These subtle colors in this capsule wardrobe really appeal to me...Remember, this was our first outfit, to which one MUST add some shoes. Unless you live somewhere that doesn't require shoes?

Tee – Uniqlo; pants – Uniqlo; cardigan – L.L. Bean; top shoes – Tamaris; middle shoes – Seychelles; bottom shoes – Robert Zur

And simple earrings! I particularly like that bottom pair because they're simple, but they aren't...

Tank - Uniqlo; pants – Uniqlo; cardigan – L.L. Bean; top earrings – Uno de 50; middle earrings – Lauren Ralph Lauren; bottom earrings –Alexis Bittar

There weren't hundreds of scarves in this very subtle color scheme, ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe 1 Piece at a Time: Beige and Brown, for Leisure

May 21, 2016

You wanted to see a leisure capsule wardrobe in warm colors? Here it is....I found that I could stick exclusively to shades of brown, tan, and cream and put together a really nice, workable capsule wardrobe. The accessories (which will be here on Monday!) are going to have a big impact on this very subtle collection.

I started with a simple beige column (although the tee shirt has a bit of a stripe) and found a cardigan that contained all of the shades that I wanted to consider:

The gold is included here as a very clear hint about accessories:

With warm weather coming (theoretically, where I live!), I thought that a light-colored top would be a good starting point. This top ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Portraits Theatraux by Natalia S. Gontcharova

May 13, 2016

I saw these in Paris, and was immediately captivated!

The color combination here opens up the possibility of lots of unexpected juxtapositions, which is always fun:

It's good to be surprising... She has a man's first name. She's had it her entire life, and she uses it to her advantage, especially when traveling for business...

When she arrives, everyone is already a little bit panicked, because she's an auditor. And then they're expecting a man, so she REALLY catches them off guard...

And this works to her advantage. She's supposed to find the things that they don't want to have found, and when they're busy bustling about coming to grips with the fact ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Around An Art Jacket: 1 Piece at a Time

May 10, 2016

Because one of you asked for my help with something, I'm breaking a long-standing rule here at The Vivienne Files...

Normally, I only show garments that don't include a model; I find that I'd rather see what the clothes look like, without being pinned and taped and yanked around to suit the model. But in this case, the jacket was key...

The request was for a travel capsule wardrobe for a 2 month work trip, over a number of climates, and built around this jacket:

This is a wardrobe that will really come into its own with accessories, I'm sure you can see. But I felt that it was important to start with a very neutral base. It gives us this color scheme:

Sticking with the idea ... View the Post

A 2nd 3-Dress Travel Capsule Wardrobe

May 3, 2016 Unprecedented They were always really nice about it; her nephew always sent her the "Annual Beach House Room Reservation Worksheet," just as if she was going to be there for at least a weekend or two.

But she never went. Until now.

When the email arrived, she took the single room, for the Memorial Day Weekend. Shock waves reverberated around the extended family!

She realized that the things that kept her away weren't really "deal-killers" after all!

It's possible to have a perfectly nice beach vacation without actually swimming...

Nobody is contractually obliged to wear shorts at any time in their life...

And you can walk in the surf while wearing shoes. In fact, one ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: A19 by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

April 6, 2016

I see this painting every week or two - it's a definite favorite, and it creates a clear mood of strength and confidence.

At first glance I thought that this painting was almost monochromatic, but when I started looking at the colors, I saw a pretty nice range of possibilities.

"It's a Good Idea..." "An amazing idea, actually. But you do realize that you're going to have to visit every branch office and show them how to do it..."

Well yes, actually, she did know that. She was PLANNING on it...

"We're going to need to reserve the auditorium closest to each branch, so that the presentation can be made to as many people as possible ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Gulf of Saint Tropez by Claude Matisse

April 4, 2016 Summer's coming...

And some people are embracing the bright colors that come with the warmer weather:

This Year, A Uniform

They can call it a Jitney, but it's really just a bus. A very crowded, and often very overly air-conditioned bus. And she rides it EVERY WEEKEND in the summer, to get to the shore. But this year, she is NOT going to go through a bunch of angst and constant pondering about what to pack into her tiny bag, that she always ends up holding on her lap. This is it:

If her friends get tired of seeing her 2 dresses at brunch, the heck with them.... If she destroys this pair of shorts somehow, she'll buy another one just like them. She's ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories: Denim, Stone, Pink and Soft Blue, 1 at a Time

March 24, 2016

This wardrobe is such a nice mix of casual fabrics with soft and pretty accents, I thought that I would try to continue the theme of femininity in the accessories, without getting too girly or sissy... I love these challenges!The original wardrobe is from yesterday; this is the starter outfit:

While I felt that jeans and a sweatshirt strongly suggested boots, I limited my choices to softer colors or boots with a metallic sheen to them. A lady-like boot might be a stretch, but these at least have a lighter feel to them!For the first bag, I wanted to see something in the stone neutral, but with a bit of softness, or texture, or "pink-ness" to it...

An all-navy outfit strongly suggests a scarf that ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Denim, Stone, Pink and Soft Blue: 1 Piece at a Time

March 23, 2016

This woman is one who really love denim, and a good sweatshirt, but who also has a side that wants a bit of the feminine, and the softly colored...Her starting "favorite" outfit:

shirt – Uniqlo; sweatshirt – H&M; jeans – L.L.Bean; scarf – Hinge

And this is the color scheme she has in mind. This is a really good scheme, in that the two neutrals are both typically available in a variety of casual fabrics, so they're a good "couple" to work together. And since both of the accent colors are equal in intensity and value, they will also be usable in the same situations, and very likely to appear together in prints and patterns. When your chosen colors have a certain "feeling" in common, ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories: Lime, Coral, Beige and Cream, 1 Piece at a Time

March 17, 2016 This wardrobe cried out for a bright floral tote bag... I managed to avoid the temptation and look for things a little bit more restrained. The original wardrobe step by step can be seen here; this was where we started:

Take care of the essentials first thing - shoes and a bag!

The coral color put me in the mood for some rose gold...

Some of these shoes you've seen before, but I like them, and I think they're terribly versatile!

The overall warm feeling of this wardrobe suggested GOLD to me.

Three choices here: (1) ornate, (2) small and simple, or (3) statement, but still streamlined. Choices are a good way to isolate what ... View the Post