blue Archives - Page 3 of 35

Version 1 Start with a Scarf – El Amor Silk Bandana by Lost Pattern NYC

May 11, 2022

All 4 of them loved the scarf, for very different reasons!

They all decided to treat themselves to it!

Their next weekend together was interesting... Sunny Yes, Sunny has lots of friends!

As soon as she saw the vivid gold in her new scarf, she was smitten. Packing for her weekend get-together with her friends was so easy:

This is a VERY casual weekend - a lot of time outdoors...

It doesn't look like a lot of clothes, but she won't lack for what to wear, in cool weather or warm!

I suspect that her friends will all have a bit of beige or indigo in their travel capsule wardrobes, but their accent will be QUITE different from each other!

love,

Janice

p.s. Three years ... View the Post

Start with Art: Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber by Paul Klee, and French 5-Piece Wardrobes

April 20, 2022

We visited this fascinating painting a few years ago, and I've never forgotten about it!

So when someone asked me about having a couple of accent colors for summer, and after we looked at the possibilities of 1 scarf for 4 women, I got to thinking.... (as my mother would say - "we knew you were thinking; we smelled the smoke...")

The last time we looked at this painting, I only isolated 3 accent colors, but today I'm choosing four!

So my plan is this - I'm going to start us out with a core summer wardrobe in light colors - white and beige. Then I'm going to scare up four French 5-Piece Wardrobes - one in each of the accent colors...

Let's start here:

I'm not going to run through how many outfits ... View the Post

Building on a Successful Travel Wardrobe: Start with a Scarf from Jessie Zhao New York

March 11, 2022

The travel wardrobe worked well...

When she got home, she decided that it would make good sense to assemble a small but versatile summer capsule wardrobe in the same colors!

Here's what she has when she went away for the weekend...

Being a fond reader of The Vivienne Files, our heroine decided to be somewhat organized as she planned her warm weather wardrobe, so she assembled all of her garments (so far!) into a 20-piece grid. There's no labels here; she's using it for visibility and to keep from being distracted by her accessories!

The first thing she sees is that she does NOT have any navy; can a woman live through the entire summer without a dark neutral in her wardrobe?

So she starts with ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Blue Rural Landscape by Jessie Zhao New York

March 8, 2022 It Just Felt Right...

She knew that she wanted a fresh color palette for spring and summer this year - this year when she was finally going to be able to get out and do some things...

When she saw the scarf, she knew that THIS was what she wanted!

She and her sweetheart are going away for a weekend, and she thinks that this will be the perfect opportunity to try out her new color palette...

Their activities will be mostly city-type things - museums, window-shopping, café-sitting and DINING... Nothing insanely dressy, but she wants to look pretty!

When she takes a look at her travel capsule wardrobe, she just feels happy; these colors are built for happiness!

But of course, because she's a ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Sunflowers by PJ Studio Accessories

March 4, 2022

Those of you looking for a bright yellow and blue sunflower scarf to wear as a visible sign of your support of Ukraine - get thee to Etsy.com and search - they have TONS of them. But make sure that you're looking at vendors based in your home country - specify in the filters where you want your items to be located!

Love, Janice A Small Gesture...

She would be a lot more comfortable staying home to watch the news, but she really needs to go on this little trip...

So she grabs her Sunflower scarf to get her started with her packing. It doesn't really look like what one expects from a sunflower - nothing big and bright gold.

But it's the thought that counts...

She's been pretty ... View the Post

A Long Trip to Europe – in Navy, Beige and shades of blue

January 19, 2022

Some of you are planning travel, even though you might still be keeping a low profile to avoid viruses... Lucky people!

A few quite long trips are being organized, and at least 1 trip that I know of is from the Southern Hemisphere (in 4 or 5 months, which will be autumn?) to Europe. How exciting, after being kept close to home for so long...

A color scheme that has been requested TWICE is this general idea - navy and beige as neutrals, and any shade of blue to accent. I picture it like this:

My dying breath might be spent telling everyone how important their travel outfit is! But it's true; you're going to spend hours and hours and HOURS wearing it, and it will be the first impression that you make when you ... View the Post

How Can I Find My Own, Personal, Basic Wardrobe?

November 12, 2021

Ah, I'm going to need a second to remind you of the origins of The Common Wardrobe, and why I was so taken with the idea...

I'm sitting on the sidelines of a big party - about 200 people. These lovely young people (mostly) are my co-workers at an international advertising agency. We are in Madrid, or Berlin, or Chicago - it doesn't matter.

These people are creative. In big bright letters, they are the brightest, most imaginative people I've ever known. And when you look at them, you can tell; they wear sweaters that they knit in their spare time, or shoes made by a friend, or a jacket covered with wee patches that they did to cover holes...

But under all of this amazing color, pattern and print, they were ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Butterfly Classic Silk Scarf by Debbie Millington

October 29, 2021 You're a WHAT?

First graders. Teaching them to pronounce lepidopterist is quite fun...

Explaining that you don't study leopards is also amusing...

She's actually on her way to a solar energy conference, but she was invited to visit an elementary school to explain her work, in the same city (just an hour away from home), so she's doubling up!

As hard as it might be for her to be bright and stand out, she's wearing bright blue for her young audience:

They all talk about how important butterflies are, and how they grow, and what we can learn from them. She actually gets very good ideas from small children...

But NOW, she gets to (has to?) explain to a bunch of solar types how the structure and ... View the Post

October 2021 Start with a Bracelet: The Fierce Clarity Bracelets

October 22, 2021 She Knows Why She's Going...

She hasn't traveled in forever. Well, almost 2 years. And her friends are surprised that her first choice destination is a "retreat spa..."

There's meditation. There's massage. There's long walks in an undeveloped woodland area. There's excellent food...

There's NO getting up at dawn for 5 hour meditation sessions.

There's NO limit on how much you may speak, or to whom.

There's NO requirement that you spend an hour a day every day in the kitchen peeling turnips, or other such things...

Yes, she's spent a lot of time alone, but she hasn't really taken time to pay attention to herself. NOW, that's her plan...

She's not at all sure what to pack - she's heard that ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Our Echo giveaway winner!

July 9, 2021

Sharon was our winner! And her choice of scarf was...

But we're going to be looking at VERY different colors than normal with this scarf!

Sharon is dreaming of a wardrobe for a getaway to Italy! Her dream includes ALL of the good stuff: museums, churches, shopping, a boat tour, lounging in cafes, romantic dinners, and maybe an alfresco concert!

Where's my ticket?

Sharon was thinking of a short getaway because she lives in the UK, but I went a little bit overboard with her packing! Summer clothes pack small...

I was trying to be careful about modesty - I can't count on both hands (and feet!) the number of people I've seen turned away from churches in Italy because they weren't appropriately dressed. ... View the Post

Introducing A New Accent Color into an Established Wardrobe – The Visit by Marie Laurencin

January 6, 2021

A new year, and our heroine has decided to incorporate a new accent color into her (already pretty lovely, I'd say!) wardrobe:

If you'd like to look back at the earlier posts based upon this painting, they are:

April 29, 2020

May 8, 2020

September 11, 2020

January 4, 2021

Before she impulsively wanders off into the world of all things green, she pauses to collect and sort her current wardrobe. First up, her cardigans, dresses, and "bottoms." (I just don't love the term bottoms - someone suggest a useful alternative, please!)

Frankly, although this looks like the motherlode of grey pants, they're all very different fabrics, and at least a few different silhouettes...

Now, her ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting (AGAIN!) The Visit by Marie Laurencin

January 4, 2021

I get happy just TYPING 2021...

We've visited this lovely heroine a couple of times already, last Spring in the early days of working from home, and then later in the autumn when she had to take a road trip to sign some legal documents...

Now, she knows that she's going to be working from home for the rest of the winter (at least), and she wants to be organized. Spending time each morning thinking about what to wear is SUCH a waste of time, and she wants to stop doing it!

This is such an enigmatic painting, when you look at it - why is the woman on the wee balcony handing keys to the woman on the horse? Is she coming in to visit them? What is going on here? Can't she just get off her horse and come in? Or is she ... View the Post