The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a scarf: Hermès Mosaic au 24

June 19, 2012

Dress – Jarbo, earrings – Tinley Road, pumps – Joan & David, white jeans – Awear, boots - Repetto  

Tank – Patagonia, White skirt – Topshop, orange cord sandals – Debenhams, cream lace dress – Romwe, orange denim jacket – Delias, espadrilles – Fair+True  

Cashmere sweater – J. Crew, Black skirt – Joseph, riding boots – Frye, navy tee – MTWTFSS, capris – Toast, navy sandals – Wallis Fashion  

Silk blouse – Acne, pants – Fenn Wright Manson, belt – Asos, flats – Stuart Weitzman, trench coat - Patagonia, boots - Hunter   ... View the Post

Packing out of the 333 Capsule Wardrobe

June 11, 2012  

For the next few days, I'll be running around the eastern US, and so I got to pull together a quick suitcase out of my new 333.  (for those of you unfamiliar with Project 333, start here). My priorities for this trip are small, light and uncomplicated.  I'm going to be travelling with others, so I wanted the world's smallest piece of luggage, and I wanted to be able to be appropriately, but simply dressed.  My bag is an 18 inch nylon duffle, and it is NOT full...  In fact, my briefcase and my luggage are about the same size!

After you've read the REAL Project 333, you'll see that I'm really cheating by not including my accessories in the "count".  Maybe the NEXT 3 months, I'll ... View the Post

New jobs, the shopping fast, and Capsule Wardrobe Project 333

So the new work environment is "business casual", with jeans on Friday.  Piece of cake...In honor of the Project 333 crew, but NOT in strict adherence with their guidelines, I've whittled down my wardrobe to the following 33 garments, which will be all that I wear for the months of June, July, and August.

Unlike Project 333, I'm going completely, wildly unlimited with accessories...

Outfit updates will follow!

 

 

 

  ... View the Post

Variations on a dress: Black, sleeveless

This started out as a "chic sighting", since I was seeing a lot of women in simple dresses, with great accessory choices.  But I grew to see that there was a bigger lesson here; all this week, you're going to see variations on five different neutral summer dresses.  Enjoy!  

Dress – Mango, hat – Topshop, bag – Marc by Marc Jacobs, sandals – Ralph Lauren, 

earrings – Kenneth Jay Lane, belt – Maxmara, red sandal – Stuart Weitzman    

Dress – Mango, hoop earrings – YooLa, pashmina – Forzieri, gold sandals – Steve Madden, cardigan – See by Chloe, orange sandals – Collection WEEKEND    

Dress – Mango, necklace – Dorothy Perkins, sunglasses – Ray-Ban, brown sandals – ... View the Post

Packing: start with a favorite cardigan

A great question: I KNOW I want to take this cardigan, and use it as my "base" for my packing plan.

This sweater let me branch out in two distinct directions - brights, and black & white.  Lots of choices, and quite a bit of versatility, while still all in one carry-on bag!

Cardigan – Oasis, pearl & ruby earrings – Macy’s, red tote – Lulu Guinness, tee – Debenhams, scarf – Pashmina Art, pants – Donna Karan, loafers – Tod’s  

Tee shirts– Madewell, pearl & red agate necklace – Blue Nile, bracelet – Dream Mullick, teal earrings – Amrita Singh, black and white earrings – Kate Spade, crossbody bag – Marc by Marc Jacobs, cardigan – Mango, flowered tee – Minuet, sunglasses – Ray Ban, White capris – ... View the Post

Visualizing French Chic: 7 in black

May 19, 2012   One of the sections of the book French Chic, by Susan Sommers, which I read repeatedly, was one in which she listed seven items of black clothing, and then set out a little grid of how you could combine these items, and how they would be accessorized.   I could never visualize this.   So I decided to put together her suggestions in images.  Some of the accessories ideas just scream "early '80's", and so I didn't stick to all 12 plans exactly as written...   This is an interesting approach to wardrobe-building, or to packing.  The vest is, to me, a difficult garment, and I would probably be tempted to substitute a leather jacket, denim jacket, or second cardigan.  And if you're not ... View the Post

A dilemma, and a wardrobe math solution

So I've not done the best of jobs in cleaning out my wardrobe, and I think I finally understand what's holding me back.  Somewhere in my heart I hold onto the hope (delusion?) that I'm going to get an office job again some day, and that I therefore won't be wearing an apron non-stop.  Therefore, I think I have to hold onto ALL of my office-worthy business clothes...In order to get past this, I've tried to approach the problem the way Vivienne would.  Basically, what are the available options I have RIGHT NOW, just with the clothes that I've decided to keep in my wardrobe up to this point?

If you remember, I'm at the 32 garment point in my plan:

 

  And from these garments I've decided that the following, ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a scarf: Hermès Les Parisiens in black

Someone asked me to suggest a few outfits to go with the lovely Les Parisiens scarf.  This particular coloring is a perfect opportunity to mix warm beiges or browns with black, so I took that as my motif.Please note that I'd be more than happy to suggest outfits to go with any scarf - it certainly doesn't have to be Hermes.  Just post a comment with a link to a picture of your scarf, or email me a picture at [email protected], and I'll take a look!

Dress – Ralph Lauren, pumps – L.K.Bennett, black sweater – Steven Alan, suede jeans – Current/Elliott, boots – Nicole Ranger    

Brown pants – Burberry London, black silk & cashmere v-neck, two-toned leather flats – Sesto Meucci, black cashmere ... View the Post

my wardrobe: some pattern & texture with my black

These are the eight winter garments that I've chosen to keep, which I wear in order to leverage the all-black core items already chosen to survive the wardrobe purge  (you didn't really think that I wear unrelieved black every day, did you?)

First I show my additions to my edited wardrobe, and then below, I show all of the items that have been specifically chosen (so far) to stay, through the first four stages of the curating and distilling process.

Yes, I really love argyle...

  ... View the Post

A chic sighting, and some thinking

Sweater – Le Mont St. Michel, Flats – Libby Edelman, jeans – J Brand  

This very lovely young lady works in the building where I live.  While the jeans and sweater were very simple, the shoes demonstrated that she had put some thought into what she was wearing, and didn't just throw something together.  At her age, and with her level of natural beauty, she could have been wearing a sack and looked striking.  But with this level of style self-awareness, she's going to be just as elegant in 40 years as she is right now...

As the seasons finally seem to be moving toward warmer weather, I'm starting to go through that semi-annual wardrobe "switch out" that I find so distressing.  Vivienne repeatedly points out ... View the Post