The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Accessories Can Make ALL the Difference! Monet Water Lilies…

December 26, 2017

Our heroine has this lovely wardrobe...

But she's really going to need some accessories! She already has 1 scarf, but because so MUCH of this wardrobe is solid navy, more than 1 scarf can come in handy...

Please understand that any (or ALL) of the accessory suggestions that I make would be great with this wardrobe - this isn't some sort of "guess the "best" accessory" game... I personally could easily make a case for this heroine to own at least a handful of scarves!

I wanted a pretty, floral pendant for her now - something that echoed both the floral motifs of her original painting, and also had a "water-ish" feeling. (no, that's not really a word, but you know what I mean...)

And a bracelet - I ... View the Post

Can You Build a Casual Wardrobe from a “Dressy” Work of Art? Water Lilies by Monet

As much as the dressy wardrobe based on Monet's Water Lilies was a lot of fun, most of us don't dress quite like that on a regular basis!

So our heroine, who was so overwhelmed with invitations through the holiday season, decided to build an entire 4 by 4 Wardrobe around her favorite art inspiration, to take her through the rest of the winter...

One day when she was racing around shopping for holiday gifts, she realized that the outfit that she was wearing would fit perfectly into her "dream" color scheme; it has the right colors, as well as a floral watch and scarf, and some very "fluid" earrings:

She had been really organized when she built her holiday party wardrobe, so she thought that staying with a plan would make ... View the Post

Evaluating a Wardrobe – How do the “12 Months, 12 Outfits” Wardrobes Do?

December 15, 2017

 

What makes a wardrobe work? And how can you tell if a wardrobe is going to be functional and versatile? Not the headiest questions in life, but still important, if you like to get dressed and enjoy the process (as well as the results!).

Ultimately, your wardrobe works if you can get dressed every day with ease and pleasure. It doesn't matter what's in there, how tidy or messy it is, or how many different colors and/or styles of things you own. It's the most subjective thing in the world...

That said, if you're struggling, I have a few ideas that you might want to consider!

First up, let's start with the black, white, grey and rust wardrobe that I finished up on December 1st:

Since I built more ... View the Post

Can I Use Monet’s Water Lilies as an Inspiration for my Evening Wardrobe?

Shall we do some fantasy shopping?

She wanted to feel like this when she went out in the evenings:

Right after Thanksgiving, she received a couple of invitations, and so she assembled a simple capsule wardrobe to wear to those evenings. She gave herself options from relatively casual to kind of frilly and dressy:

Well... One morning she woke up to an In-Box FULL of invitations... So she looked back to her inspiration, and added four more pieces to her little "evening" wardrobe:

Somehow, she had completely forgotten that she was ALSO going to have to make at least a couple of appearances as the "better half" of her household... She could have been reminded by someone, but NOOOO.....

With 4 pairs of pants in hand, ... View the Post

Will Winter White Dress Up Navy? Let’s See…

November 29, 2017

Winter White (aka cream or ivory) is such a pretty option in cold weather! You of course have to be very cautious about street splashing on your lovely pants, but that's well worth the bright change of pace that this color brings to classic navy (or any other color!).

Two of these pieces are deliberately and obviously dressy, and two are more timelessly classic. Yes, I have an abiding passion for cabled sweaters; in cashmere, in an unexpected color, they can be absolutely lovely!

As I always do, I'm starting with a few classic pieces in navy, and navy with off-white. With just these 9 pieces you could travel long and far...

The cardigan can be pretty "grounded" with paired with a solid navy core, or go ... View the Post

Revisiting A Casual Summer Wardrobe – Seascape by Van Gogh

Almost FOUR YEARS AGO I built a casual summer wardrobe around this painting - you can see that my brain was at that time beginning to come up with the "4 by 4 Wardrobe" concept upon which I now often rely!I was asked to revisit this painting, and I thought that it would be interesting to use the 4 by 4 system, and then to carefully analyze the results in a variety of ways...

I'm always a big fan of making sure that every wardrobe has a solid core of dark neutral garments. If your choose to forego this step, make sure that you have a good alternative plan! Many of us would struggle to get dressed without these core pieces:

Even though this isn't particularly illuminating at this point, I'm still going to put these garments into the ... View the Post

Teal for the Holidays? Three Different Approaches!

November 23, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving in the United States! (well, heck, Happy Thanksgiving to everybody...) I know that I should be plying you with news about "Black Friday" sales, and lots of gifty stuff, but you will get quite enough of that kind of information without The Vivienne Files piling on, right?

So I'm going to respond to the overwhelming demand for teal for the holidays by looking at it with 3 different neutrals partners... Nothing like a bit of excess for today (says the woman who fully intend to have at least 2 desserts, and then work it off tomorrow in the gym...)

First up, three gorgeous teal pieces, paired with a core of black silk:

The blazer is shown with velvet shorts at Nordstrom, if that ... View the Post

What if I Like Unusual Color Combinations? Start with a Scarf: Calm Scarf by KathKath

November 9, 2017  

She's sort of the human embodiment of Peace and Reconciliation...

When there are quarrels, disagreements, or flat out fights, corporate headquarters send her in...

 

She delights in studying both sides of a conflict and finding the common ground that makes the beginning of compromise possible. She believes that there is more to unite than to divide...

 

(yes, if you find a bag in the right color, it's okay to have 2 bags from the same brand...)She knows that she needs a good dinner before she throws herself into the fray - self-care is a very important part of taking care of others!

If, for some reason, she has to stay over for a 2nd day, she can always wear her ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: The Topographic Scarf from KathKath

We might as well take advantage of the 30% discount that the lovely women at KathKath have offered us, right? The code is vivkath30... their site is kathkath.com.

If you browse about at all on their site, you will find this gorgeous scarf, which is available in both square and rectangle, AND in both silk and modal/cashmere:

There are so many colors available here, but I settled on these, for now. What a rich wealth of beauty...

It was specifically requested that I work with this scarf and a grey base, so I'm going to use these pieces. Just to amp up the dressiness a bit, I've included a pretty blouse and a tweed skirt...

If someone were to really commit to this palette, jewelry in sea glass and mother of pearl would ... View the Post

Start with a GORGEOUS Scarf – The Hope Scarf by KathKath

November 2, 2017

 

Remember an absolutely amazingly beautiful rose scarf that I used here back in November of 2015 from a company called Kathkath? Well... I'm delighted to be able to tell you that the scarf is now available in a modal and cashmere blend, as well as in a rectangular shape!

And they have new scarves available - oh, do they have some gorgeous things!

The first scarf that caught my eye (but not the only one!) was this - the Hope Scarf. One of my dearest friends loves pansies, and this reminds me of her... and these colors are so ideal as a change of accent color for black; many of us would like a change from using red as our accent color.

Looking for these colors in clothing can drive you mad (there's a ... View the Post

Can I Wear Warm Accent Colors with my Cool Favorites? Start with a Scarf! Berlin Graffiti 2 from ImageDiary

October 27, 2017

The questions around color combinations can go in all sorts of directions... She Fell in Love with the Scarf...

She loved the story, the print, the colors... but her core wardrobe was grey and white! Is this going to work? She's going to honor her impulses and make it work...

She's starting here - comfortable and very versatile, but very grey, too... Not to worry, she has an idea!  

  The scarf will of course tie outfits together, but so will warm stones or faux stones like tortoise or amber, set in silver. And then she found another scarf that mixed some warm and cool...(yes, "5-Piece" is an approximation, not a law!)

  The blue sweater is simple - blue and grey are both ... View the Post

How do you Choose a “French 5-Piece Wardrobe?” Start with Art: Portrait de Greta Prozor by Henri Matisse

October 20, 2017

A short and sweet post today, because I've lost ALL track of time...

Let's say that you've got a well-established core wardrobe of the essentials, in mostly black. So you decide, this fall, you're going to use this amazing painting as the inspiration for your purchases - your "French 5-Piece Wardrobe" for this season:

You think for a few days, and decide that this is going to be your guideline:

This is your starting point - more than enough essentials to keep you reasonably well-dressed for most casual to medium-dressy events through the season:

And after some careful, deliberate shopping, this is what you add to your wardrobe for the upcoming cooler weather:

In addition to the myriad ... View the Post