beige Archives - Page 21 of 34

A Warm Summer Common Capsule Wardrobe + Seaglass

August 15, 2015

We have looked at soft and warm accents, and strong warm accents, so now it's time to look at some really beautiful soft, cool touches in a capsule wardrobe. Someone mentioned sea glass as an inspiration, and so I chose a bracelet to anchor my color wanderings, and then went looking!

(I have the very BEST job....)

When I was looking about, I kept in mind that I wanted organic, soft items, that held onto the warmth of the summer sand (I mean the beige neutral clothes...)

As with all accent color purchases, the colors don't have to be perfect matches. If you keep wandering around the same general color(s), you will find that things either match or blend pretty well without a lot of effort. This is supposed to be ... View the Post

Olive, Wine and Gold join A Common Capsule Wardrobe, warm tones for summer

August 13, 2015

In honor of the season (in the Northern Hemisphere) of the ripening of all delicious things, I give you the "Tuscan inspired" capsule wardrobe of wine, olives, and gold that was sent to me a few days ago.This reader really goes all out - she finds photographs and paintings that illustrate the colors that she likes, and builds me a little collage that is my reference material. I need to find out if she'd mind if I showed the illustrations here - they're really beautifully chosen and constructed, and serve as a glorious inspiration to my already hyper-drive imagination!

And yes, I did choose that bracelet because it reminded me of olive trees and grape vines...

For easy reference, here are the original ... View the Post

A Warm Summer Common Capsule Wardrobe, with Seashell Accents

August 12, 2015

Yesterday's comments were wonderful - thanks so much for sharing all of your ideas!

Someone suggested soft pink and peach in a capsule wardrobe, and described it as feeling like being inside a seashell... HOW was I going to resist that idea?

Let's add these accents, shall we?

As a reminder, this was the original Common Wardrobe:

And these were the original accessories. These are still going to be used, and be important!

I think I've paired each new top with each of the bottoms from the original neutral wardrobe. I confess that I was getting a little bit muddled, but you get the general idea - there's everything here from very casual to "nice evening out" dressy. The long cardigan will really ... View the Post

A Summer Common Capsule Wardrobe, In Warm Tones

August 11, 2015

What fun this was - the same general idea as my personal mostly black Common Capsule Wardrobe for warm weather, but in warm tones!

There aren't quite as many accessories here as there were in my wardrobe - but for anyone who is going to wear this wardrobe, you certainly already own LOTS of pieces that will work beautifully here.

So very many different ways to put this together:

And just for reference, the template for Your Common Wardrobe.

What accent colors would you put with this? Peach is the first and most obvious, to me. What else? I'd like to revisit these pieces with some accent colors, if you're interested.

love, Janice ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Portrait of a Girl by Marie Laurencin

July 13, 2015 Why yes, she is my favorite artist! Does it show?

In the Rare Books Department, you have to wear a lab coat... and after years of showing undergrads how to work the copy machines, and shelving books, and fixing microfilm readers, you've been promoted to work there... Rare Books is a department that's always warm, always spotlessly clean, and which has a surprisingly casual dress code.

So you've decided that you're going to indulge your love of pastel colors and focus your work wardrobe on your favorite blush and aqua shades...

Because of the fanatically dust-free environment, most of the staff wears light colors under their lab coats. Some ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Camposanto by J.M.W. Turner

July 7, 2015 To the seaside!!! Everyone told you that you couldn't have purple as your favorite color for your entire life - but YOU know better...

Did you have a favorite color as a child? I never really did, but I always wore my older sister's clothes, so it's maybe just as well that I didn't have strong feelings about it! love, Janice ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Sisyphus by Titian

July 6, 2015

Sometimes you feel like you work and work and don't really make any progress, or go anywhere... Seeing Sisyphus reminds me of business travel that's not really travel!

Your client is Milan is... amused... that there's a blizzard bearing down on Chicago. But not amused enough that they will let you off the hook for having the samples in the hands of the courier by Friday afternoon! This isn't work that can be phoned in - you have to cut fabric, assemble muslins, put together swatch cards and sample cards of the trimmings - your team has to be IN the office for the duration. What do you do? You get everybody into a conference room. Even though you all know full well that the blizzard might not ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Flaming June by Sir Frederic Leighton

July 27, 2015 Someone particularly special sent me this painting, with a request for a Start With Art - what a wonderful idea! These were the colors that I chose. While there's a ton more orange in this painting than anything else, only the rarest among us will be able to pull together any kind of a wardrobe, no matter how small, with mostly orange. So I gave the warm brown prominence...

I was really thinking about texture and flow here - draping was important!

Just enough to be able to get away for a long weekend - lots of emphasis on dining-out attire! And the budget was unlimited madness for this wardrobe - suede pants and a bank-breaking dress and sweater. But very reasonably ... View the Post

“Whatever’s Clean 13” Travel Capsule Wardrobe in Green, Navy and Beige

June 13, 2015

Soft green - not bright, not acid, not kelly. It's a hard color to describe but you know it when you see it! And remember, because your accessories are made of all sorts of different materials, they don't have to be "dye-lot" matched.

I like the looks of this - the change of cardigan really shifts the feel of these capsules, doesn't it?

The green brings a fresh, but gentle, feeling to this grouping.

Have a lovely weekend, love, Janice ... View the Post

“Whatever’s Clean 13” Capsule Wardrobe in Coral, Navy and Beige

June 12, 2015 Oh, this was FUN! It's delightful how much difference the change in accessories makes in the look of the whole capsule. First up, a wonderful scarf, and some classic, inexpensive coral-colored jewelry. (it goes without saying that we don't wear real coral - no reefs will be destroyed to adorn us!)

And then I changed out the shoes, the rest of the jewelry, and tossed in a cute little clutch! The only clothing that I swapped was to substitute a coral cardigan for yesterday's beautiful brown one...

Just the one change in the template makes a difference!

This overview looks VERY different from the one with the leopard accent, to me. Accessories ... View the Post

“Whatever’s Clean 13” in LEOPARD, Navy and Beige

June 11, 2015 You wanted to see this idea "warmed up", and many of you mentioned leopard... here it is!

I swapped out the beige garments for a warmer, more golden shade, and I chose a brown cardigan because it's just lovely! Some leopard accessories, and you're ready to travel...

This is how the template filled up - it looks really coherent, and you can clearly see that everything (including the striped tee shirt) will work together.

And this helps us visualize everything, including accessories. The 2nd tote bag is the kind of thing that you would smash down in your outbound suitcase, and then use to carry purchases on the return. It was SO reasonably priced that I could ... View the Post

“Whatever’s Clean 13” in Navy and Beige, with different accessory “moods”

June 9, 2015 You all send me the best requests! How about a "Whatever's Clean 13" in navy and beige, with the accents and prints/patterns in the accessories? Our starting template:

The "Flower Burst" scarf from KathKath was specifically mentioned, and I thought that a few She-Beads bracelets would work well. I really want to support these designers that have been so generous to The Vivienne Files!

After much pondering and searching, this is what I've chosen to pack. The sandals have jeweled tops in muted, soft shades, and the canvas shoes have clearer pastel flowers. Of course, you also now have your bright pink loafers with you, so you are able to accessorize your ... View the Post