The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing more navy, with two other “warm” colors

December 30, 2011

As soon as I posted yesterday's illustrations, I received some questions about using other colors with navy. So here are two additional ways to work with the core of navy garments and brown accessories...

My next plan is to show THE SAME navy garments, only with accent clothing and accessories in cool colors. A core (a "Not so Crazy Eights") of a neutral color has a lot of potential for serving as a base for any favorite color you might want to wear!

love, Janice ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing in Navy, with brown accessories & warm colors

I've been receiving LOTS of questions about wearing navy clothing with brown shoes, and "warm" colors.  This seems like it could be tricky, since navy is pretty much a cool color, but men have been making this combination of cool and warm work for decades, and it always looks great!  My suggestions:

make sure your "navies" go together - navy can vary widely.  Either buy all pieces at one time (ambitious, to be sure!), buy them from the same designer (equally ambitious), or plan to carry or wear a couple of navy items when you shop, so that you can be certain that your current garments will work with new purchases. feel free to experiment with any warm color as an accent. Green, gold, every shade of rust, persimmon, and ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing the Last-Minute Suitcase

Someday, the call will come:

Your Aunt Trudi is in the hospital, and nobody else can get there to be with her! or The data servers are all down in Edinburgh - get there NOW and fix them, or The Excel trainer broke her leg - you've got to go to New York tonight to teach the seminar, or Honey!  We're going to Paris TONIGHT for a long weekend!  (this is a dream we share, eh?)

  So somewhere in the back of my mind, every three or four months, I consider what I would do if I got this call.  The best defense, of course, is to have a carefully curated and deliberately distilled wardrobe, so that you just just stick your hand in the closet and grab a handful of things and you'll probably be okay.  And if ... View the Post

Ten trivial travel thoughts

in no particular order....

Leggings are not pants.  I don't care WHO told you that you looked fine in them.  You don't. Pearls do not set off metal detectors - yet another reason to wear them! I have never come back from a trip and wished that I had packed more. That said, it's never a bad idea to be prepared for the whims of weather.  Snow on October 29th is a rude shock. Blister bandages.  Yes, they're expensive.  Buy them anyway, put them in your bag, and at the first sign of a "hot spot" on your feet, apply said bandages to the clean and dry foot.  Make a mental note that you should send me flowers. Mom jeans.  Just get rid of them.  Yes, they're comfortable, but they look atrocious. Safety ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe – Packing for two weeks in Europe

One of the stranger joys of keeping a laptop for a REALLY long time is that you stumble across files that you completely forgot existed.  To wit, I found my old travel planning file from 2003/2004!  And thus I can tell you with a great deal of certainty what I wore on a combination business and leisure trip I took to Copenhagen and Berlin in late August and early September 2004.  What a blast from my wardrobe past it was to find this. 

 

 

 

As with all business trips I take, I grew to roundly detest all of these clothes by the time I got home.  But this trip required only a carry-on bag, and I always consider that a success!

  ... View the Post

A Travel Capsule Wardrobe with two suits

Gray blazer – Chloé, Striped cardigan – Aubin & Wills, Pink sweater – Ralph Lauren, Henley top – Dolce & Gabbana, Black sleeveless dress – The Row, Gray crewneck – The Row, Black & gray tweedy crewneck – The Row, Cream long-sleeved tee – The Row, Tweedy skirt – Markus Lupfer, Gray flannel skirt – Vionnet, Gray pants – Donna Karan, Black lace-trimmed tee shirt – Jason Wu, Black blazer – The Row, Black pants - Gucci

 

Square scarves - Hermes, Sequined muffler – John Lewis, Bracelet – Blu Bijoux, Black and silver balls necklace – Kenneth Jay Lane, Silver hammered disc earrings – Dorothy ... View the Post

Back to the roots of the Vivienne Files – part 8: Vivienne’s Valise, continued

I've been asked how I managed for almost 6 weeks with the very limited amount of clothing that I took with me on that trip that will live in infamy. I had a plan, believe me!

Just for reference, remember that these are the clothes that I had with me.

For flying, I pretty much always wore jeans, with the black v-neck sweater. Usually I would put either the white tee shirt or the striped tee shirt under the sweater, depending on how warm it was where I was leaving, what the weather would be where I was arriving, and what was clean!

First thing I did in the door of every new hotel in every new city/country was to give some clothing to the in-house laundry. This is always risky, because you never know when someone's going to ... View the Post

What my French friend wears to work: The roots of the Vivienne Files

Vivienne and I first got to be friends because of packing - she works in a hotel in Paris and was helping me pull together a training session I was running - and after the first or second day, she said something like "you got dressed in my closet this morning" and then we wound up having drinks, and THEN she came up to my room to eat room service (Gratis, since she works for the hotel) and hanging out with me while I did my ironing.

Bottom line, I know the girl's packing philosophy cold, since she and I have the same approach.

Start with a base of 5 garments, no matter how long or how short the trip:

Jacket or cardigan Pants that match Skirt that matches Top that goes with the above Another top that ... View the Post

The Voyages of Vivienne: sleeping in airports

 

July 15, 2011

I have traveled a lot, and I have had to sleep in airports more times than I care to remember. It's an acquired skill; perhaps you can benefit from my experience. (and the insights of the hysterically fun and useful http://blog.sleepinginairports.com/)

Worst case, without doubt, was late summer at the Norfolk Virginia airport.  We were informed, in rapid succession, that (1) no more flights would be leaving on the night in question (it's about 10 pm when we're told this), (2) there are no hotel rooms available in town, (3) TSA has gone home for the night, so if we leave the airport, we have to stay OUTSIDE all night, and (4) all concessionaires are closed for the night.

So here's the choice - sit ... View the Post

Back to the roots of the Vivienne Files – part 4

the following is a direct quote from the original Je Ne Sais Quoi discussion group postings I made regarding my friend Vivienne:

Someone asked me what Vivienne thinks of my wardrobe - to put it mildly she thinks I'm crazy! Admittedly, she has never actually been in my apartment and seen the beautiful arrangement (by color) of my bounty, and I HAVE seen her apartment (but not her closet) but she assures me that she has about 4 linear feet of hanging space. (Well okay, slightly more than a meter) But she thinks that I'm a genius packer - the last 2 trips I've made to Paris on business, she has come over to my hotel with me and hung out while I unpacked, pressed and otherwise got my act together. She ... View the Post