books Archives - Page 2 of 4

One of My Favorite Books – for You!

When you read this, I will be away from home for a long New Year weekend, so talking about travel seems timely...

Alain de Botton is a great writer. Period. He makes the most mundane things interesting, and he expresses feelings that we've all had in such a way that they seem fresh, meaningful and important. If I could have any skill in the world (aside from speaking fluent French!), it would be to be able to write with his kind of clarity and insight.

I've read this book a couple of times, and I want to give my current copy of it to one of you!

Leave a comment, and tell us all about your favorite writer and/or book. I could use some ideas for the upcoming year...

(Anybody mentioning Robertson Davies or A.S. Byatt gets ... View the Post

How to Create Your Capsule Wardrobe – a Vivienne Files Bookshelf Excerpt

September 5, 2015 Taken from one of my very favorite reference books for The Vivienne Files: Ma To-Do List by Jeanne-Aurore Colleuille and Laure Gontier. I'm going to quote directly from their book...

The 3 Secrets for Creating your “Capsule Wardrobe”

“My style is the result of distillation. I have accepted my grey hair. I only wear black and white. Each year, I buy three or four dresses which I wear in rotation. I own a pair of jeans.” – Jamie Lee Curtis

"This barbaric Anglo-Saxon concept, adored by fashion magazines and women of style across the Atlantic, doesn’t have a real French equivalent.The word that they use to describe this concept is barbarisme... is doesn't translate with quite the ... View the Post

Monday Morning Giveaway: How to be Pretty, Though Plain

It's been a while since I found a book I thought worthy of you all, but FINALLY...

It's amusing, if painfully dated. But the thing that I have to say I liked most about it is the ongoing emphasis that the author places on health and good attitude as the true keys to an appealing appearance. It resonates so much with what I see on the streets of Chicago every day - unhealthy, scowling, slouching... No WONDER you're not turning heads, eh?

A good attitude is worth thousands of dollars in cosmetic surgery, at least according to Alexander Smith!

So leave me a comment about the best beauty advice you've ever received, and next Monday I'll draw a random number and send out this little gem to the winner.

The best beauty advice I ... View the Post

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

Just one quote, which I thought was worth the price of the book (emphasis mine):

"When you come across something that's hard to discard, consider carefully why you have that specific item in the first place. When did you get it and what meaning did it have for you then? Reassess the role it plays in your life. If, for example, you have some clothes that you bought but never wear, examine them one at a time. Where dd you buy that particular outfit and why? If you bought it because you thought it looked cool in the shop, it has fulfilled the function of giving you a thrill when you bought it. Then why did you never wear it? Was it because you realized that it didn't suit you when you tried it on at home? If so, and if you no longer buy ... View the Post

Monday Morning Giveaway: L’Armoire Ideale des Paresseuses

I suspect that I've given this away before - I know I've written about it! It's a funny little guide (in fairly easy French) about building an ideal closet if you're lazy - who can't enjoy that? Copies of this float in and out of my library without explanation; I suspect they might reproduce...

The "Paresseuses" is a series of books, and a blog. Check them out; there are fewer more entertaining ways to improve your French language skills!

So leave me a comment, and please let me know what your biggest wardrobe challenge is as we move toward the "winter" holidays. (Winter in the Northern Hemisphere, but I always REALLY want to hear from those of you in other climates, please!) Sunday evening when I'm working on next Monday's ... View the Post

How to Be a Parisian (or not…)

October 11, 2014

I grabbed this book when I was in the middle of a mad shopping spree at Athaeneum bookstore in Amsterdam. If you read Dutch, French or English, this is a wonderful place to wile away the time and the Euros. Of course, I'm a little weird about bookstores now that Chicago has very few in the entire city... Frankly, either this book is terrible, or it is so tongue-in-cheek that the authors must have disfigured themselves writing it. It makes Parisian women (and yes, it's ONLY about women) into a caricature of reckless sexual conduct, adolescent romantic sensibilities, and an overall casual disregard for their work, significant others, and family members. That said, there were, as always, some ... View the Post

Monday Morning Giveaway #5: “What Shall I Wear?” by Claire McCardell

June 30, 2014

So leave me a comment about what clothing from the '50's and '60's you miss the most (for me, I wish we all still wore hats...) and I'll draw a random number next Sunday afternoon and announce the winner next Monday morning.

Do you think that the burgeoning numbers of skin cancer cases might lead to a resurgence in the popularity of hats?

love, Janice

And the winner of last week's toiletry kits? The very last comment left - Sharon! Dear Sharon - send me an email to theviviennefiles at gmail dot com with your address and I'll ship them right off! ... View the Post

The Monday Morning Giveaway #3: Le Monde d’Hermes Automne-Hiver 2012

Twice a year, Hermes comes out with the most COOL magazine/advertising vehicle/objet d'art... And for a year or two I've had this idea that I needed to keep them. In all fairness, you can flog these on ebay for a bit of money, but it's not worth accumulating a big stack of them! I'd much rather share this with you. These magazines combine a bit of poetry, some exceptional fashion photography, and a general aesthetic of tranquility and beauty that's hard to match...

Same as before - leave me a comment - I don't care WHERE in the world you are, I'll figure out a way to ship it to you. Thursday night I'll generate a random number and announce the winner.

On ... View the Post

A Little Bit of Travel Math

June 13, 2014

So this morning when I woke up (late...) I decided, for no apparent reason, to check prices on plane tickets to Paris... (my next trip, in September, is already booked, but I like to see what's available!)Then, just for the sake of comparison, I looked for one amazing personal style purchase that cost almost exactly the same amount:

This is a bag that would last the rest of your life, even if you're a newborn infant...

But Paris... sigh...

These are the kinds of decisions that define our lives.

Love, Janice ... View the Post

The Monday Morning Giveaway #2: Hot Tips by Frances Patiky Stein

Any book that recommends this kind of travel wardrobe is going to be a fun read! Today I'm parting with one of my copies of Hot Tips - in paperback, with the iconic Gia Carangi cover. (it was her only book cover, and some big fans of her absolutely covet this photograph...)

As with so many of the style books written in the 80's, this one is a combination of timeless advice and laughably dated ideas. This is entirely illustrated with pencil sketches that aren't terribly dated, and which in many cases make it clear that a timeless garment from this era could still be chic.

Just leave me a comment - anonymous is fine - and Thursday I'll draw a random number and let you know who the winner is. I'll keep you ... View the Post

Who Won “French Chic”? And a great quote…

June 6, 2014

I've spent a lot of my life hanging around statistics; I used to teach people from around the world how to use Excel, and to use statistical data in market research. So I was dumbfounded when I used my random number generator...

and the answer was THIS:

Proof that it was truly random - unexpected by anybody!

Yep, everybody's favorite lovely Pam, from Over 50 Feeling 40.

Who wouldn't love this face?

And I've held onto my copy of "The Lost Art of Dress" by Linda Przybyszewski, for a while, and in re-browsing it I found this gem:

"Like home economics, dressmaking is a traditionally womanly endeavor that can explode gender stereotypes. Scientists say that the average man has a better capacity to ... View the Post

The Monday Morning Give-Away #1: The Original French Chic book by Susan Sommers

June 2, 2014

I know I said I wasn't going to post on Mondays, but I think for the next few weeks I'm going to post some things that I want to give away to one of you. (somehow, I managed to have two copies of this book...)

Please leave me a comment (you can definitely comment Anonymously, but make sure you say something sufficiently memorable so that we'll know which "Anonymous" you are - blatant flattery and praise for The Vivienne Files would be great.... ahem....) and by end of day Wednesday, I'll count the comments, generate a random number, and announce Thursday who the lucky recipient will be.

If you've never read the book, it's a hysterical combination of timeless advice and ridiculously dated photographs. I still ... View the Post