The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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A Step-by-Step Packing Plan in black and beige (with coral and light blue!)

August 18, 2021 They're FINALLY Going... And she's got to pack smart!

Their destination involves a lot of food and wine, but isn't overall a really dressy destination...

She's had a pretty clear color palette in her wardrobe for a very long time: black, beige, coral and pretty shades of blue, so THAT part of preparing is easy enough!

Her first impulse is to grab her "go-to" hot weather clothes:

And with that, she... is... sort of stuck!

But she starts thinking, and not just pitching clothes into her suitcase. Thinking is always a good way to get out of a packing "stall" like this...

How many pieces of clothing does she want to pack? Well, 7 days feels like at least a dozen garments, doesn't it?

Does she want to ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #24 – A Lightweight 2nd Layer

August 16, 2021

Ah, let's continue to ponder what essentials we might want in our warm weather wardrobes!

Many of us are going back to our offices - reluctantly, I might add. If you're like most women, you find the office to be bitterly cold, and then when you walk outdoors you melt immediately! So a 2nd layer is essential to stay warm indoors, while something relatively light and cool underneath is important to be able to survive the commute, or the walk to lunch...

This might do the trick!

One of the many beauties of the cardigan above is that it could easily be worn through the winter with something heavier underneath...

This next cardigan, on the other hand, is pretty strictly a hot-weather garment:

When you ... View the Post

What does a 13-Piece Weekly Timeless Wardrobe Look Like?

August 9, 2021

Why yes, this is supposed to be the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe...

BUT...

Some week this summer, I completely lost count; I can't believe I missed a number... and I can't face looking for any more sleeveless tops! I'm going to assume that you all have a pretty clear idea of what a sleeveless top looks like, and what it will do in your wardrobe...

So instead, I'm going to address a couple of questions that came up when I showed you a couple of Weekly Timeless Wardrobes last week.

First, the question that I was asked the most was about having lots of prints in the wardrobe - could you actually have 4 of the 13 garments in print and still have some versatility?

In the wardrobe above, I traded out the ... View the Post

Summer Wardrobe Ideas: 2 Weekly Timeless Wardrobes

July 30, 2021

It's a question that's turned up in my mail a few times this last month - "What exactly would a summer Weekly Timeless Wardrobe look like?" "Would this be enough clothing for me if I wear a uniform for work?"

So I offer a couple of possibilities...

First up - navy and white with shades of blue for accent - classic summer colors:

For reference purposes, these are the 13 garments that I have included in my Weekly Timeless Wardrobe list; you can (of course!) adapt these to suit your needs and preferences!

If I only needed "real clothes" for evening and weekends, this would probably be sufficient for me. Of course, you still need gym clothes, and swim wear if that's something you do, but for normal ... View the Post

2 Spring Capsule Wardrobes – Navy and Green, Green and Beige

June 18, 2021

Lots of green! I don't really have a good explanation - I just happened across quite a few pretty things!

I feel like our first heroine must be going back to her office; a wardrobe like this might reconcile me just a little bit to such a fate:

She has choices galore for serious work days, casual work days, and work from home days:

And what will be our last Spring Weekly Timeless Wardrobe is for a heroine who is relaxed, but likes to feel pretty and pulled-together!

I don't think I could be pulled together right now if 2 snow-plows pushed directly at each other, with me in the middle...

This wardrobe gives her the option of outfits that are all green, or subtle beige, or a mix of the ... View the Post

Two Spring Capsule Wardrobes, Using the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe

June 9, 2021

Ah, you would have laughed if you could have seen me starting this post - I thought that I would just open ALL THIRTEEN of the earlier posts, and copy things from there...

Now remember, since the beginning of the pandemic, I've been blogging from a laptop!

Just as well it didn't work out - many of the garments from early weeks are long gone in many sizes...

So I've used quite a few familiar garments, and picked up some new things to fill in the blanks!

I really like to show these wardrobes to reinforce my personal conviction that these classic garments can come together to give you a great travel wardrobe, or the base of a Garde Robe du Mois.

I love the subtle elegance of these colors:

Just imagine this ... View the Post

May 2021 Start with a Bracelet: The Desert Lynx

May 28, 2021

They Might Buy a Camper... But they're renting one for a long weekend first, to see if it's what they're hoping for...

Limited clothing space, for sure! So she's planning carefully...

There's no point in calling just 1 outfit "In Transit," since quite a bit of their time will be on the road! But one must start somewhere, and this is where our heroine is starting:

She's sticking with cropped pants - no shorts because she does NOT want the back of her thighs sticking to the seat!

And driving shoes, because she might get to drive. Maybe...

So for the 3 or 4 days that they're away, our heroine will have this wardrobe from which to choose; frankly, it's difficult to put together a bad outfit ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #11 – neutral lightweight 2nd layer

May 24, 2021

This is timely - this morning when I put on my long linen tank top, and linen cropped pants, I realized that I was going to need a cardigan if I was going to go out for lunch, or to the grocery store, or almost anyplace indoors! Air conditioning around Chicago woke up yesterday, with a VENGANCE...

If the heroine wearing this lovely linen dress hangs around the garden party 'til after the sun sets, she may want her beige cardigan too!

This isn't a category where you have to stock up, so you can go ahead and buy a couple of really NICE cardigans... I have 2 - a black and a white - and they serve me well!

What if you're still occasionally required to look like an adult - at least from the waist up?

Your ... View the Post

Can Accessories Tie Together a Wardrobe? Start with Art – Courtesans Strolling Beneath Cherry Trees by Utamaro

May 7, 2021

Ah, it looks relaxed and pretty, if being a courtesan is your thing!

You may remember the 16-piece Four by Four wardrobe that we assembled, based on the colors in this painting:

The big question from many of you was that I hadn't really mixed the rose with the neutrals in the outfits that I showed last week. I think that those "mixed" outfits felt naked to me without something to blend the rose accent with the neutrals. So that's what I've looked at first!

For example, these sandals that seem to be silver, with a gold buckle, and splotches of color on them, are perfect with this simple tee shirt and shorts:

And these next sandals have rose and black in the striped part! And yes, this is a pretty dressy ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #8 – short-sleeved light neutral shirt

May 3, 2021

It's starting to feel like summer clothes might actually be useful this year!

What we're looking for this week is the "go-to" shirt for warm weather, to be worn either as a shirt on its own, or as a shirt-jacket over a more bare top:

Pink as a neutral is fun, because it looks like an accent color so often!

yes, this is the same black cardigan and pants that we saw last week; being able to wear clothes in lots of different combinations is sort of the point...

If you're wearing a top that's sleeveless and maybe scoop-necked, or open in the back, having a shirt to wear over is good sun protection, air-conditioning protection, and modesty protection!

Maybe your light neutral is warm rather than ... View the Post

Start with Art: Courtesans Strolling Beneath Cherry Trees by Kitawaga Utamaro

April 30, 2021

This post is for those among us who are deeply smitten with a particular color for their spring and summer wardrobe; I think that one can wear quite a bit of their favorite color without sacrificing a coherent wardrobe!

OH, she's got cherry trees...

She's got all KINDS of trees under which she plans to sit; she has a STACK of books that need to be read this summer!

And she has her eye on a particular color that she wants to wear this summer; when she saw this painting she began to formulate her plan:

She eschews the almost green shade of beige, and she chooses to believe that the darkest kimonos are black (while it's possible that they're navy...)

This is what she's starting with:

And this is her ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Revisiting Tiger in the Grass by Echo

March 26, 2021

She's going back for another long weekend, after she set everybody straight back in December...

This is still her favorite scarf - she's not so fickle that she would find a new favorite in just a few months!

But she's changing her color scheme to something softer and more approachable; after her last visit, she doesn't need to be as assertive as before!

For the first meetings when she arrives, she's going to be positively quiet, and let everyone else air their opinions, grievances, and silly ideas:

The balance of the long weekend is going to be casual - informal conversations and projects, so she packs an assortment of relaxed clothes that all still echo the colors of her scarf, albeit in a lighter ... View the Post