business travel Archives - Page 4 of 10

A Favorite TV Show, and a Favorite Business Travel Capsule Wardrobe

June 29, 2017

It's my birthday! I'm such a child when it comes to celebrating birthdays...

Today, I'm taking you back 2 years, to a travel wardrobe for which our heroine had essentially no clue what awaited her. In order to make sure that she was ready for (almost) anything, I somewhat loaded up her suitcase - 13 pieces total for a trip that might be only 3 days...

And there's a shout-out to one of the funniest TV shows I've ever watched. Much of it is silly, but if you've ever worked in a big corporation, there will be moments that will make you laugh until you're in pain. How bad can that be?

There are still times when I wish that I was traveling for business...

love, Janice

... View the Post

Can You Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe Around a Piece of Jewelry?

June 21, 2017

I'm thinking that these kinds of posts could be known as "Wildly-Extravagant Wednesday..." A Ridiculous Business Trip She loved the ring from the moment she saw it, and now she wears it every day...

So when they told her that she had to fly to headquarters on Friday JUST TO DELIVER A FOLDER... she decided that she was going to stay through the weekend and go all-out. See an opera, do some serious dining, and people-watch...

She's got to go straight to the office when she lands, so she's going to fly in "grown-up" clothes. The flight's not all that long, so this will be fine - not a lot different from sitting at her desk for the morning. (except she doesn't have to do anything any more taxing than ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Portrait of a Young Woman by Henri Regnault Part 2

September 19, 2016

Remember her? Of course you do - we first saw her as the inspiration for this six-pack capsule wardrobe in black and blue.

The CEO Travels

When she left her reunion, this was her travel capsule wardrobe:

black and white tee – Rag & Bone; bracelet – Nest;brooch – One Kings Lane; watch – Movado; necklace – Natasha Accessories; cardigan – L.L.Bean; clutch – Urban Expressions; earrings – Irene Neuwirth; square scarf – Talbots; rectangle scarf – Fraas; turquoise tee – Lands’ End; turtleneck – Armani; dress – Lands’ End; jeans – L.L.Bean; pants – L.L.Bean; skirt – Lands’ End; pumps – Cole Haan; boots – Munro; flats – Vaneli; briefcase - Eddie

She ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Arlequin et Femme au Collier by Picasso

August 15, 2016 Ever since I saw this in the Centre Pompidou, I knew that it was going to be on The Vivienne Files. This is really just a combinations of neutrals - faded denim for the blue, and then black, white, and grey.

Note the very round details of "la femme." Some angularity, of course - it's Picasso - but the circles are key!

Always Nobody notices for months, if ever...

When she was a very small child, someone once complimented her on her necklace. That remark stuck with her forever, and wearing a necklace became her signature.

Small, large, fancy or simple, she always wore one. Even when swimming, she would wear a simple, inexpensive little ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories 1 at a Time: Black, Ivory and Russet Business Wardrobe

May 11, 2016

This capsule wardrobe looks so much more interesting with just a few simple additions!

Remember, we started with this gorgeous jacket, and I put a simple black column of clothing under it. So shoes will be an essential first step:

Tee – Lands’ End; pants – L.L.Bean; jacket – Babette; top shoes – Robert Clergerie; middle shoes – Frye; bottom shoes – Kate Spade Since the jacket pattern is so striking, I thought that a simple, solid scarf would be a good choice: Shell – J. Crew; pants – L.L.Bean; jacket – Babette; top scarf – Jimmy Choo; middle scarf – Gucci; bottom scarf – Nordstrom

And I can never go too long without earrings; to me, they give a touch of shine and a feeling of polish ... View the Post

3-Dress Packing for a Business Trip

May 9, 2016 You asked, you get!

Pants – J. Crew; blouse – Carven; earrings – Ippolita; briefcase – Lodis; shoes – Patricia Green; cardigan – L.L.Bean; scarf – Nordstrom; watch – Movado; carry-on garment bag – Travelpro I Felt Like the Secret Weapon...

Blue print dress – Austin Reed; pumps – Calvin Klein; necklace – Majorica; earrings – Jude Frances; black dress – Lands’ End; black print dress – Austin Reed; star earrings – Salvador Jouhayerk; clutch bag – Whiting and Davis; strap pumps – Trotters; cardigan – Lands’ End; tee shirt – Uniqlo

Everybody else traveling for the presentation was male. Wearing a suit, white shirt, and a tie... I felt a little bit conspicuous, but since I ... View the Post

The Power of Accent Colors in the Capsule Wardrobe: Blush and Turquoise

April 20, 2016

When I was working on yesterday's post, with the yellow accent colors my mother commented (quite rightly) that any number of accent colors would work beautifully with the black, white, and tweed pieces of clothing.

So...

At a loss as to how to choose the colors to use for my capsule wardrobe experiment, I grabbed my brand new color analysis book that I bought it Paris, and I opened it with my eyes closed. Twice!

First, I found peachy, pinky, blush:

The whole feel of this outfit changes completely, with just a different scarf and earrings! Think of the relatively inexpensive possibilities...

Here, four more pieces are changed: a blouse, a sweater, a scarf and a bracelet. This feels so ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Composition a Cercles a Bras et Rectangles by Sophie Taeuber-Arp

April 19, 2016 Another painting that I saw last week in Paris. That vacation seems so long ago now...

At first this seemed like a pretty straightforward color scheme, but there are a LOT of possibilities here:

She Does Modeling...

Square scarf – Isabel Marant; shoulder bag – Allsaints; cardigan – Simply Be; yellow diamond hoops – JCPenney; watch – Isabel Marant; tee shirt – J. Crew; pants – J. Crew; suitcase – Longchamp; loafers – Patricia Green Financial modeling, that is. The hardest work in the office, in many opinions.

Yellow silk shirt – Theory; leather bracelet - Bottega Veneta; silver square earrings – Gurhan; blazer – Nina Ricci; ivory top – ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: A19 by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

April 6, 2016

I see this painting every week or two - it's a definite favorite, and it creates a clear mood of strength and confidence.

At first glance I thought that this painting was almost monochromatic, but when I started looking at the colors, I saw a pretty nice range of possibilities.

"It's a Good Idea..." "An amazing idea, actually. But you do realize that you're going to have to visit every branch office and show them how to do it..."

Well yes, actually, she did know that. She was PLANNING on it...

"We're going to need to reserve the auditorium closest to each branch, so that the presentation can be made to as many people as possible ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Madame Paul Escudier by John Singer Sargent

March 5, 2016 This arresting painting lives just down the street from me - I go visit it frequently!

These colors are luscious:

Your Biggest Client Called... And you're pretty fortunate that they complained about the service they were receiving, rather than just pulling the plug on your contract! But you're headed to the service center for a couple of days of... encouragement....

The keywords are calmness and quality.

You have to be careful not to be too much the "Home Office Person" because that will just alienate everyone. But you do want to show them, through every gesture, and every word, that you insist on the best possible work they can do, in a way that's not frantic in any ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting With Art: A Porcelain Figurine

January 9, 2016

Part of this request was rather standard - someone returning to the workforce, and wanting a 4 by 4 capsule wardrobe based on a navy suit, with grey accents. Very sensible, and something that many of us can find useful, or at least fun to admire.But the real zinger: She drew her inspiration for the colors from a figurine in her bedroom! This clearly means something very special to her, eh?

I stuck with the color scheme she suggested - a lot of navy, accents of the deep red/burgundy, and gray, shading to soft blue:

While many jobs no longer require a suit, it's worth remember that there are still places that REQUIRE them. In order to get the most mileage possible from purchases, I found (after quite a bit ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Arrival of the Normandy Train by Claude Monet Version 2

November 10, 2015

We're back to visit our friend who made the long train trip!

This was her inspiration - the soft colors, and the strong sense of the grid patterns in the ceiling of the train station. Very beautiful!

She DID have to do some shopping when she was on the road! It was bound to rain, but it wasn't bound to stop her...

And these were the clothes that she took with her on her trip. It was a wonderful trip - well planned, and thoroughly enjoyed. If only her return to "real life" had been so pleasant...

Utter Chaos Reigns... She returned to a madhouse. Drinking at lunch, crying in the bathrooms, shouting in the halls - it had all of the elements of a bad soap opera, without the ... View the Post