The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Home » black » Page 5

black Archives - Page 5 of 59

Looking for Accent Colors? Start With a Bracelet – Symbolist Lynx Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

August 25, 2025

Our heroine loves black. She loves the way it looks, and the way she feels when she wears it.

But she knows full well that it worries people when she wears unrelieved black, day after day. She's decided to break out for fall, and add some accents... and she's starting here:

It doesn't hurt that these bracelets were inspired by one of her favorite paintings!

Her plan for accents is the following. She knows that she wants to add denim to her wardrobe - long-term - because of it's utility and endless appropriateness. She wants to experiment with a couple of pastel colors, because why not? And she's circling back to the red that she wore many, many years ago with black. She dreams about the outfits that she ... View the Post

Build a Wardrobe in 4 Colors? Start With Art – A Forest by Leon Spilliaert

August 20, 2025

Let's take one last look at this lovely painting. I had never heard of Leon Spilliaert until I found this painting; I can't imagine how much wonderful art there is in the world that I haven't seen!

As you very probably already know, the last four posts here at The Vivienne Files have been variations on this painting; let's take a last look at each of the four travel capsule wardrobes that this heroine assembled through the autumn and winter:

It looks like a lot, doesn't it? But when you aggregate it into one place, it starts to look coherent...

The accessories are always so wonderful - a coherent collection of shoes, bags, jewelry and scarves is always going to be lovely!

Getting all of ... View the Post

Avoiding Light Colors? Start With Art – A Forest by Leon Spilliaert

August 18, 2025

Ah, for the winter holidays, our heroine has plans to visit friends and family, with a particular fun twist - all of these families seem to be the ones with small children!

Now, our heroines loves children, and will spend much of her long weekend on the floor, playing with new toys, reading books for the 37th time, and just generally cuddling sleepy, grumpy tots...

But as always, her packing starts here:

She wants soft things. Dark things that show spots a bit less. a necklace or two that can be quickly tucked into a collar, to avoid the inquisitive fingers of the wee babies in the crowd...

She's even packing a pair of shorts; she spends a lot of time on the floor...

This wardrobe is darker than ... View the Post

A Warm Color, Classic Palette for Fall? Start With Art – a Forest by Leon Spilliaert

August 13, 2025

Our ongoing inspiration:

Our heroine from Monday has another trip planned; she's going to her college Homecoming!

She's not planning to attend any of the more formal, dressy activities; her agenda is more the football game, and then hanging out at the home of one of her friends who stayed in the city after graduation. Much sitting around, eating, talking, and laughing is what she has in mind...

But she still wants to look nice, and she really wants to have that autumn feel when she gets dressed. Time for some brown!

Her color palette for the upcoming festivities is this:

She starts with a lovely brown tee shirt, her black cardigan, and a different pair of black pants - somewhat warmer than the linen ... View the Post

Want a Number of Color Palette Possibilities? Start With Art – A Forest by Leon Spilliaert

August 11, 2025

Our heroine travels quite a bit - visiting friends, visiting family, vacationing, working... And she wants to start packing with a plan; she's inspired by this:

She immediately can see a color palette that would pay homage to this painting - three neutrals, with the green as an accent. Or maybe the green can be a neutral too? There are lots of possibilities:

 

As heroines tend to do, she keep thinking! She realizes first off that she's really not in the mood to pack brown right now. Maybe she doesn't own any yet, or maybe her brown clothes are heavier, and not suited to her upcoming trip.

So she can clearly see that she can still assemble a lovely palette without the brown.

And then she thinks ... View the Post

August 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #4: The Swan No. 24 by Hilma Af Klint

August 6, 2025

Today, we're going to play fast and loose with our color palette!

No, we're not going to go completely off the rails, but we are going to make a modest modification to this color palette, in order to better serve the needs of our heroine. (OMG, she split the infinitive!)

As tempting as that rusty brown color is, it's two things that don't work for our heroine. First, it's quite difficult to find! And secondly, it's not always lovely with black - at least to this one particular woman. Always remember, it's YOUR color palette, and if you need to modify it, do it!

So we're going to incorporate a more classic, traditional coffee brown into this wardrobe. It's pretty, it looks really chic with black, and many of us ... View the Post

Black & Brights? Start With Art: Stained Glass Window by Harry Clarke

July 9, 2025

Yes, this is the image that I had made into a scarf!

There aren't a million colors here; I chose turquoise, purple and red...

Our heroine today travels frequently for work, and doesn't visit the same destinations more than ever six months. This is fortunate for her, and makes packing easy; she starts with a core wardrobe and works around it through the autumn and winter:

Purple is her favorite color, so she really stocks up here. You can get a look at the one-of-a-kind scarf!

Packing just one sweater and a couple of accessories in an accent color can give you all kinds of options; you look different, and you don't get bored with your wardrobe. (although I have to admit that I have never been bored ... View the Post

July 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #5: The Swan No. 24 by Hilma Af Klint

July 7, 2025

I need to get a biography of Hilma Af Klint... She's got to be an interesting person, don't you think?

Our heroine is smack in the middle of hot weather, and was luck to be able to find things that are perfect for right now. And I think this might be one of our heroines who doesn't wear dresses or skirts very often; she chose white jeans in place of a denim skirt! I don't blame her a bit...

This is what her Weekly Timeless Wardrobe looks like now; I've taken the liberty of making the change where she substituted jeans for a skirt.

You do know that this template is a guideline, and not a law? For example, if you abhor cotton turtlenecks, I would NEVER force you to own one...

This wardrobe has lots of ... View the Post

Like the Idea of Your Painting, But Having Trouble With the Colors? Start With Art – Pink and Black by Ed Clark

June 23, 2025

Another conference? (She did this before.) As the trailing spouse? What an absolutely horrible term...

But she's going, and she will be beautiful. She has the best inspiration; this is one of her favorite paintings, by her favorite artist:

But she's feeling uncertain... her favorite pink clothes are NOT this shade of pink. Does this matter?

After thinking for a few minutes, our heroine realized that unless she carried a big reproduction of the painting around with her and pointed out to people how badly the shades of pink clashed, nobody would ever know. She can put it out of her mind, if she tries!

So she's preparing for the "weird meet and greet/maybe go out to dinner with people they know" arrival. The ... View the Post

June 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #6 – The Swan No. 24 by Hilma Af Klint

June 9, 2025

Our last painting for June - this enigmatic, entrancing, beautifully-colored masterpiece:

This heroine's wardrobe is interesting - nothing much at all for WINTER????

You could die in Chicago...

But that's not what we'll work on right now.

This heroine has decided to toss in just a couple more pure white garments; for hot weather, there's not much better. A couple of pretty sleeveless tops, some gold accessories, and summer's here!

Focused shopping for the season!

This is another wardrobe that would be useful and appropriate for just about any time and place:

And I love her accessories! I'm keeping my eyes peeled for more scarves, and she really could use a necklace or two, and a ... View the Post

Like to Change Your Colors With the Seasons? Start With Art – Blue Level by Lee Krasner

May 23, 2025

You often tell me that you don't much want to wear brown in the summer time, but conversely you're not really comfortable wearing bright colors in the winter. (it feels too '80s, for many of us!)

So what if your favorite painting offered you options?

You can assemble your color palette (I could have certainly included a touch of orange in here, couldn't I?), but just plain and simply ignore one or more of your colors when you plan for a season!

These are the obvious colors that come from this painting - I can't decide if the three vertical stripes are a shade of brown, or maybe plum...

This heroine is packing for an event - I believe she told me it was a first communion, followed by a church picnic. Great ... View the Post

Love Black & White, but Crave Nature? Start With Art – Green Forest by Natalia Goncharova

May 19, 2025

Maybe you're like today's heroine - you love your black and white, but in the warm weather you want to wear the colors of plants, and water, and the sky!

Our heroine has a wide range of accent colors available. Always remember that you don't have to match all of your accent colors to each other. I like to have them look nice together so that the images here look good, but in real life, you can be much more wide-ranging in your choices!

Our heroine is leaving from work, so she's wearing things that will be useful when she gets to her warm destination:

I'm going to pack this heroine's suitcase one piece at a time. The first thing I always start with is a top that can be switched out for whatever one is ... View the Post