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Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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camel Archives - Page 9 of 14

Four Pack Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Green and Camel

December 20, 2014   One last look at this idea - substituting green for the burgundy with which this travel capsule wardrobe was originally presented. Other colors that would work well with camel would include rust, coral, peach, other shades of green, pretty much a whole bunch of shades of blue... lots of choices!  

 

I think by now we've all figured out that these four garments would get you through 3 or 4 days pretty easily...

 

love,

Janice     Looking back:2013: From Desk to Dinner Party: Incorporating a Gem Tone into Neutrals 2012: Two sides of the whole "color" system question ... View the Post

Four Pack Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Camel and Burgundy

December 18, 2014   Many of us are preparing for holiday trips of varying lengths, so today I felt like putting together something that just oozed luxury and subtlety. These rich, beautiful colors, fabrics and textures make a quietly elegant statement, without gaudy logos or overdone ornamentation.  

love, Janice ... View the Post

How to Wear Black and Brown Together, or How to Incorporate an Expensive Garment into A Common Capsule Wardrobe

November 18, 2014   It could happen to anyone of us - you're minding your own business, and then... you see it. The garment that makes your heart sing. Something that you admire aesthetically, that looks perfect on you, that is beautifully made, from gorgeous materials, and that will last the rest of your life... But OWWWW... it's expensive.   The biggest question to answer: can I wear this wondrous garment frequently enough to make it worth the purchase price? I'm NOT going to say it's an investment, because only in a few cases will you be able to sell something for more than the purchase price, which is the technical definition of an investment. But in a way, if you get more joy from something, and it enhances your image, ... View the Post

How to Choose an Etro Paisley Scarf

November 15, 2014   If you're looking for a scarf investment that can rival Hermes, don't overlook the beauty that comes from Etro. I bought an Etro scarf for my honeymoon (in pink and black chiffon...) and I will treasure it forever. Etro pretty much OWNS the idea of paisley, and they make them in as many color combinations as you can imagine... So how do you choose? Maybe take a look at the sweaters or shirts with which you would hope to wear your scarf, and work backward from there.  

This scarf is particularly well suited for autumn, and for the winter holidays. You can wear the muted green (or brown, or tan, or black), or you could bust out with a bright red. The earrings just sort of felt like they wanted to be ... View the Post

How to Choose an Hermes Scarf: Le Songe a la Licorne

November 11, 2014  

This isn't a question I get every day: a reader has decided that she wants to buy this particular design of Hermes scarf - Le Songe a la Licorne. (it means the dream of the unicorn - I have no idea why...) She stated that she wears a lot of camel/tan/beige, and was leaning toward a winter coat in either blue or rose. Whew...  

  But this is really an interesting question - how DO you choose from among a variety of colors (for anything, not just an Hermes scarf), when there's a wide variety available?   My suggestion is that you think about what the other items AROUND the potential purchase might look like. Do you already own the jewelry, or shoes, or whatever, that will make the outfit ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe + A Common Capsule Wardrobe: One Special Outfit

October 17, 2014

This is a plan for someone who has the Common Capsule Wardrobe in grey and off-white, with a camel sweater, because they're moving away from wearing black. (more on this idea another day).  This someone has a special occasion coming up, and they want to expend their ENTIRE French 5-Piece Wardrobe on a new dress and some accessories:

 

These purchases aren't "single-use", of course; the scarf and jewelry could be worn with almost any of the outfits in The Common Wardrobe.  The pumps will go nicely with our grey skirt (or with the jeans, if that's a preference). And the dress is simple enough that it can be worn more casually, after the special occasion.  Dark tights and flats or ankle ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Teal, Wine, Olive and Camel

September 8, 2014  

Camel and olive are pretty versatile - here's a much more subtle use of these two neutrals, compared to the vivid gold and red from last week.   But let's talk teal for a second:  If you look around for things which claim to be "teal" in color, you get a range anywhere from an almost emerald green, all the way over to an almost navy blue.  That's annoying when we're trying to describe colors, but in the case of this capsule wardrobe, this flexibility was useful for me.   When I initially started working with a couple of tops closer to green than blue, I found that I had all kinds of clashing nastiness when putting the teal garments next to olive.  It was basically trying to blend ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Bright Gold, Tomato Red, Olive and Camel

September 5, 2014

Looking for the right items in this color combination caused me to hit the wall - at some juncture, I was at a loss to find more camel garments that were suitable for this capsule wardrobe!But then I thought about you all for a moment (as I think about you all constantly when I'm working on The Vivienne Files!), and I realized that if I was having trouble finding garments, then you must have the same experience, right?  I spend hours a day working on this - you certainly don't have the time to devote to shopping that I do to my full-time job of blog creation.  So rather than throw the towel in on this wardrobe, I figured out what a reasonable approach might be, and I'm sharing it with you all.

The ... View the Post

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe in Black, Grey, Camel and Cream

August 14, 2014

Yesterday, someone asked if it was possible to change the colors in the Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe.  

Well, yes, I plan to show a whole BUNCH of these so that we can see some of the color schemes from The Vivienne Files Color Planner in action. (that's why I asked which combinations are your favorites; so I can work specifically with them)

All of yesterday's grey garments are still here, but the other three colors have been switched. If I were building this wardrobe for myself, I would ABSOLUTELY buy the scarf first and then very gradually build around it. This is a scarf that would be an ideal long-term focal object for all purchases; the colors and the design are just that perfect!

This is the capsule ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Slot Machines and Packing

July 21, 2014  

Business travel is a conundrum for many of us, so I'm going to try to suggest a few ways, now and then, to approach the packing...Suppose, for example, that at the end of October, you are going to have/get to come to Chicago for a two day sales conference.  Literally only a day and a half of meetings, and then back on the plane.  You're going to have to bring a briefcase with both your laptop and tablet, so you don't really want a lot more to carry.  And being able to NOT check a suit case would be delightful...

Enter this:

So you can choose to wear anything from this little machine for travel - probably a cardigan, tee shirt and jeans, right? And pack the other six garments, as well as ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch – The Wardrobes, Finished (for now…)

July 17, 2014

Remind me, when trench coats are back in stores, that we want to revisit these capsule wardrobes and make some additions. If you think of anything else we should address (December holiday attire?), send me a note at theviviennefiles at gmail dot com.

I broke everything out into two pages; I might have been able to fit everything on one page, but we wouldn't have been able to see anything - the earrings would have been teeny little dots on the page!

And I think the links are working - let me know if you find some that are broken and I'll look into it...

thanks, as always!

love, Janice

PS - For more color inspiration, you can find the latest Pantone Color Planner ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch Step 17: A Few Finishing Touches, for now…

July 15, 2014

Many of you have written to me to ask how this capsule wardrobe compares with my earlier 24-piece wardrobe - excellent question!Just as in the 24-piece wardrobe, this Starting From Scratch includes to two core "Four by Four" assortments in your neutrals, it works with two accent colors and a light neutral, and it includes the concept of the "bridge" garment, which is something that incorporates both of your neutral colors and allows you to wear piece from both neutrals seamlessly.

So I decided to look at each wardrobe one last time (for now - I'm sure we'll be back to revisit this concept when trench coats hits the stores, and when there are other requests/needs), and see how things stacked up in terms of a 24-piece ... View the Post