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September 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

September 2, 2026

Our typography expert has some travel in her future; she's been tapped to redesign the colophons and other graphic signatures for a group of publishes owned by one company. What fun! New York in the autumn...

First up, let's re-visit the painting which inspires and informs our heroine's wardrobe:

At the end of August, our heroine had added black garments to her wardrobe, and now things look pretty balanced:

Her accessories are delectable...

After last month's dive into the black clothes in her wardrobe, our heroine thought that it might make sense to examine her light neutral clothes too!

She calls this color - depending on what comes to mind first - natural, ivory, bone, or off-white. Maybe ... View the Post

August 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

August 14, 2026

It's a good thing that our heroine bought cotton gauze clothes last month; it's still screeching hot in Paris.

At least her tiny short-term apartment rental has air conditioning....

But our heroine knows that she's going to be traveling this fall, and she wants to be prepared. This is one VERY organized woman!

First, some time spent with her favorite painting:

A couple of basics, a couple of more interesting things... and some delightful accessories!

Yes, if she loves this lace blouse as much as she expects to, she may well buy the white one too. There's no reason to avoid buying duplicates when they're perfect wardrobe workhorses, for you.

Why yes, her brooch does echo the gold banding ... View the Post

August 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

August 12, 2026

Let's visit the duck, shall we? I think she's like a lot of us these days - calm on the surface, paddling like mad underneath...

Our heroine - the wildlife research statistician - is finishing up her stint at the very rural Vermont college...

At the beginning of August, this is the wardrobe our heroine has assembled:

And these are her most delectable accessories:

Maybe she's exaggerating, but she feels like EVERY person working with her right now puts on white pants or white jeans after work! She decides that she's going to look at how much white clothing she owns, and to think about making a bold wardrobe addition...

This is what she has right now, in white:

The other white thing that ... View the Post

August 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

August 3, 2026

Time to drop in on our graphic and typography expert. You just have to imagine that she has a clear view of how things look on paper or on screen; that doesn't necessarily translate into a crispy-edited wardrobe! But we are doing our best for her...

First, her beautiful painting inspiration:

By the end of July, we had migrated her wardrobe onto a 56-piece wardrobe template:

This is how it looks in a color-sorted, more relaxed view. Sometimes the grid is the most helpful, and at other times you need the more "mixey" look at things:

There's no grid for accessories! I've been thinking about a plan for accessories for at least 15 years, and I still conclude that they're the really personal part of a ... View the Post

Unpacking after Dublin, or The Most Boring Travel Capsule Wardrobe Possible

July 29, 2026

I'm actually back from Ireland since Friday, but it takes a while to get caught up!

I debated about even sharing this wardrobe with you, because it's just not that fascinating or creative. But I get tired of coordinating outfits and accessories and all that stuff, so I gave myself a brain break and packed a fool-proof assortment...

But first, I highly recommend our wonderful hotel:

Interestingly, the hotel belongs to someone who ALSO owns one of the coolest little museums in Chicago - the Driehaus Museum!

The location of our hotel couldn't have been better:

In the summer, a measurable portion of the Dublin population is sitting on the grass or the benches in St. Stephen's Green. It's a ... View the Post

Can There Be a Template for Wardrobe Color Schemes?

July 20, 2026

I should be in Dublin when you read this. Yes. Back to Europe. Sometimes my plans aren't the most efficient, or the most restful. But packing repeatedly makes me think of planning, and being organized...

Just over two years ago, I introduced you to this painting and this palette. I think it's safe to say that for at least the current while, this is my signature palette:

I've been thinking for a while that pretty much any wardrobe could "come together" around a color palette that included two neutrals, two accents and denim. (your definition of neutral and accent is up to you - if pink and purple are your neutrals, I'm not going to tell you it's wrong!)

So I put denim blue at the base, literally, of this graph, ... View the Post

July 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

July 13, 2026

Let's pause for a moment and admire the amazing details in this painting - the marbled, denim-colored areas, the subtle letters that spell out "einsam", the little flashes of green and blue. It all looks simple at first, but you and I both know that it's a lot harder than it seems:

Halfway through the year, our heroine the text design specialist had this wardrobe. I love that we can clearly see her fondness for button-front shirt and tee shirts. All of our wardrobes should reflect our strong preferences!

These are her accessories, coming into July. The green shoes keep catching my eye, in a good way:

As with so many of us, our heroine has cool clothes in mind this month. Finding the tote bag was a ... View the Post

July 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

July 10, 2026

Our researcher of all things Gothic architectural detail is in Paris. Melting. Loving her small borrowed apartment with air conditioning...

First up, let's savor her signature work of art - the painting from which she draws her color palette, and the serene grace that she tries to emulate in her life:

some day I'm going to be in a pub quiz in which they hold up photographs of paintings and ask "who's the artist". I'm going to OWN that pub....

At the end of June, our heroine had this wardrobe. She clearly has some great things to wear in hot weather, which is a good thing!

This was her accessory collection. So bright, so pretty, so useful!

She's looking for another outfit that she can wear in the ... View the Post

July 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

July 8, 2026

Our heroine is spending this month, and part of next month, hanging out at a small rural college in Vermont, where fervent bird-counting is underway! Happily, her responsibility is tallying numbers, and NOT sitting out in a concealed shelter for hours and hours...

She takes her inspiration, and finds her discipline, in this photograph:

Coming into the month of July, this was our heroine's 28-piece wardrobe. She didn't bring all of this with her to Vermont...

Neither did she bring all of her accessories. I could easily justify ONE pair of boots for any trip at any time, but two pairs of boots, in July, in North America?

This month's wardrobe additions reflect our heroine's rural, hot ... View the Post

June 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Lonely Erika Giovanna Klien

June 10, 2026

Lonely indeed! Thanks to a brilliant reader, we all know that the German word "einsam" is (not tremendously well) hidden in this painting. The Vivienne Files community is the best!

Our heroine is a pro with typefaces, fonts, and constructing documents with a combination of legibility and creativity. Sounds perfect - clear, but fun!

Sort of like her wardrobe at the end of May:

While her garments are all simple and classic (albeit with some snappy color), her accessories are where things get interesting. It's easy for all of us to wear similar clothes, so long as we have accessories to put our personal touch on things...

This month, our heroine's shopping was a bit of this and a bit of that!

She ... View the Post

June 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

June 8, 2026

So what is our glamorous Gothic researcher up to?

Let's enjoy her favorite painting for a moment; it's easy to just skip right past the paintings to get to the wardrobes, and that's a pity. I take AGES to choose these paintings, and they all have something to offer us each time we look again...

At the end of May, our heroine had a 24-piece capsule wardrobe that definitely leans toward the dressy! But she also has a pair of jeans, so she's not entirely a princess... If I had the joy of a trip for weeks and weeks, to all kinds of different weather conditions, I would try to pack something along these lines:

Her accessories at the end of May are pretty nice...

Although this particular heroine marches to ... View the Post

June 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

June 5, 2026

Our bird-data expert is back, and she has travel plans...

Remember, she takes her wardrobe inspiration from this handsome guy:

At the end of May, our heroine had a pretty lovely 24-piece wardrobe:

And her accessories were pretty nifty too! I have to share with you that I've started loving these narrow silk scarves; enough time has passed since we HAD TO WEAR THEM in the office, with our white shirts, dark suits and sensible pumps...

Later in June, our heroine will be leaving for six weeks on a college campus in VERY rural New England. The campus is going to be completely cleared of anybody except essential support staff (cafeteria workers are ESSENTIAL...) and a band of avian ... View the Post