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What I Wore, What I Packed, and What I Bought in Dublin

Packing for unpredictable weather is always tricky... And since it's been snowing CATASTROPHICALLY in Ireland, off and on for the last few weeks, this trip was really a challenge!

But I managed to cobble things together well enough - hallelujah! Of course, knowing that I would have my coat on most of the time makes things much easier.

2 things were really issues, the expected cold weather, and the unexpected moving out of the AirBNB into a hotel. I packed relatively lightly (for 10 days) because we were counting on doing laundry pretty regularly during our stay. Belovedest ran TWO Parkrun 5K's when we were there, so there were gym clothes in need of care...

So, theoretically, I would have been okay with just the clothes on my back when ... View the Post

A Timeless 4 by 4 Wardrobe

While I'm in Ireland, here at The Vivienne Files we're wandering back through some of my most popular posts on Pinterest...

Isn't this wardrobe timeless? I wrote this a year and a half ago - long enough for some people to want to get rid of every stitch and start over! - but I don't see a thing here that I wouldn't cheerfully wear today...

I hope you're all well and happy! If you're interested in where I am, and what I'm doing, come follow me on Instagram....

love, Janice ... View the Post

A Ted Baker Scarf-Based French 5-Piece Wardrobe

You don't have to follow the Pantone colors - make your own very personal "French 5-Piece Wardrobe" by starting with something that has some real "whappage" in your life!

For me, that might often be a lovely Ted Baker London scarf. (No, I have absolutely no business relationship with them... sigh...)

You go shopping - see the scarf - and the path is clear! A couple of simple, timeless garments, classic earrings, and a summery tote, and your spring is ready to start.

Imagine if you were devoted to wearing black and white - you had this lovely 10-piece Common Wardrobe available for spring. (Yes, you've seen this wardrobe before...)

You would already have a wealth of lovely outfits:

But then you bring your new blush-hued pieces ... View the Post

A French 5-Piece Wardrobe in Tomato Red

When the weather gets warm, many of us get the urge to shop! And so let's think about limiting our purchases to whatever essential, core items we need, and then a French 5-Piece Wardrobe to freshen and update our classics...

First, every change of season has me dreaming of tossing out all of my clothes and buying an entirely new wardrobe from Eileen Fisher. (NOT going to happen, but a woman can fantasize, and then use that fantasy to create a better reality, right?)

This is what I'd be buying, if I was going to do such a madcap thing:

Of course, when you look at this wardrobe for a few minutes, you realize that you don't need to buy ALL 10 pieces to get the desired effect - maybe just 2 or 3 of the real signature pieces (that marled ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – February 2018

I'm still not sure why I always add a dress in February - a long-standing affection for Valentine's Day? Or just a desire to make sure that I'm well prepared for dressy spring events?

It's not quite expected to accessorize a classic black dress with bright spring green...

I didn't find a beige dress that appealed, so I thought that this delicious cocoa brown would be perfect with this scarf, or with a grouping of blush pink accessories.

The red is probably the most expected accent color with a navy dress, so I ignored that and chose teal instead!

This green isn't as yellow-ish as the greens used last month, but since it's a dress, it doesn't have to be "dye-lot matched" to the other neutral in this wardrobe... And it's such an easy ... View the Post

Updating a Bone-Deep Glamorous Travel Wardrobe

Remember this heroine? I felt that, with Valentine's Day on the horizon, it might be fun to see what she's been doing...

Well, she was shopping one day and saw these... She was smitten...

She had a casual trip coming up - taking a few students to The Cloisters, outside of New York. She's been doing some work on the symbolic significant of roses in Gothic art and architecture, and they're going to go take a look at a couple of important pieces there...

So it seems only fitting that she embrace roses as a personal trend!

It's also an opportunity to add just a touch of pink to her wardrobe. She's not sure that this will be a long-term addition or just a whim, but it's very much at harmony with much of her existing wardrobe...

She ... View the Post

Violets! The “Birth Flower” for February

My favorite flowers, possibly... (in the real world, I refuse to choose!) While violets weren't as easy to find as carnations, and while the actual COLOR violet is subject to massive dispute, there are still lovely and tempting things for those celebrating birthdays in February - or for those of us who just simple love violets!

I need a dressy blouse like a bad headache, but that black blouse could be just LOVELY with my velvet pants...

Does violet go well with various neutrals? I've chosen a dead-plain, classic tee shirt to use for our illustrations. And yes, I've kept the same pants from last month, and many of the same accessories - just to show how versatile a core of neutral items can be.

Van Gogh socks and green-eyed cats? This ... View the Post

Do All of Your Accent Colors have to Work Together?

Until the last year or so, this is something that I wouldn't have brought to the blog - it would have just been something that was floating around in my brain, bugging me. But knowing how thoughtful and intelligent you are, I thought I'd share...

Yesterday, I was looking at the jerseys worn by the rugby team Stade Francais (yes, they're from Paris) and the colors in them got me to thinking...

It's important (at least my opinion!) to have a core wardrobe neutral color, and a handful of accent colors - typically including a light color for tee shirts and blouses. Having this palette of 5 (approximately) colors makes shopping and coordinating your wardrobe a ton easier.

But should your accent colors ALSO work together? Do they have ... View the Post

Fonds Marins by Lee Ungno – Inspiring a Start with Art Tote Bag Travel Wardrobe

They Keep Telling Her That She's an Iconoclast... But she likes to think that she just knows what she likes!

She likes black and white, and she likes pastels...

She likes linen shirts, untucked!

She loves scarves, and bracelets...

She likes to travel light...

She likes to carry a handbag in an unexpected color!

She's comfortable mixing pastel colors...

She's comfortable wearing multiple shades of blue...

But she would NEVER break an icon - they're works of art!

love, Janice ... View the Post

Trojan Gates by Helen Frankenthaler – Start with Art for Tote Bag Travel

Le Mot Juste* They never give awards to the translator...

Yes, it had been a particularly difficult project...

And as always, she took great pride in putting in the time and effort necessary to find the perfect word - the one that conveyed not just the meaning, but also... the nuance. The subtlety. The suggestions, and hints, and overtones that were apparent in the original language.

That's just the way she is. Others can settle for what falls to hand quickly and easily, for the "it will do fine" way of working. That's not her style...

(a close look at her travel earrings will show you just HOW much she looks for subtleties...)

She was surprised to be invited to the awards dinner; it's a quite informal evening, but it's still an ... View the Post

L’Oiseau Forestier by Max Ernst – Starting a Wardrobe with a Tote Bag Travel Capsule

Assertiveness, Channeled

"Why is SHE going?"

"Well, she was just named chief negotiator - didn't you hear?"

"She IS? She always seems so... ladylike... I don't see her as the arm-wrestling for the last dime kind of negotiator..."

"Don't get me wrong - I know that she's as smart as a whip..."

"Shouldn't she be wearing some serious pantsuit with shoulders out to HERE?"

"She doesn't even wear blazers!!!"

always trust the jealous rivals to focus on how you dress, eh?

As in all things, the details matter...

If anybody ever troubled to look, they would see that her jewelry looks like the weapons and body-armor of a Barbie-sized warrior race... Even her oh-so-trendy flower brooch is black! She channels her aggression ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – January 2018

It's that time again! I looked and LOOKED at the Hermes scarves for this year - I wanted to find some unique color combinations... I kept changing my mind until literally the last possible minute!

This year's focal points for gradual wardrobe building are these lovelies:

A word to the wise - these scarves are selling FAST this year - I had to go to the sites for 3 different countries to find these colors, literally just 3 days after I started working on this post! Your best option for finding a fast-selling scarf is to call an Hermes store and ask THEM to find it and send it to you. Their staff is usually delightfully helpful and nice, and it will save you the legwork of trying to mail-order a scarf from a country for which you don't ... View the Post