The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Articles
    • Starting From Scratch
    • Common Wardrobe
    • Packing
    • Start With Art
    • Project 333
    • 4×4 Wardrobes
    • Weekly Timeless Wardrobes
    • Archives by Date
    • Archives by Categories & Tags
  • Support The Vivienne Files
    • Books, Clothes & more
    • Templates & Color Planners
  • Contact
Home » capsule wardrobe » Page 9

capsule wardrobe Archives - Page 9 of 26

How do I Know That I Have Enough Accessories?

February 6, 2018

Our heroine ended yesterday's adventure with a color scheme that felt right, and a spring capsule wardrobe that she found really comfortable; it gave her great pleasure, every time she opened her closet door...

But she still needs to wear shoes! And carry a bag. And maybe wear some earrings, or a bracelet, from time to time. How to plan THAT?

Well, I pondered this for a while, and I think that she should think about what outfits she's going to wear, from her wardrobe, and then make certain that she has the accessories that are right for each of those outfits. What else would she want, if she knew that she had a dozen outfits ready to go?

To keep choices balanced, I'm going to see if I can fill in this ... View the Post

02.06.18 9 Comments

Tags: 6 by 4 Accessory Wardrobe, accessories, bags, capsule wardrobe, casual, jewelry, navy, scarves, shoes

“Fixing” a Wardrobe that Just Doesn’t Feel Right…

She's worn navy forever, and really, legitimately loves it. She also really feels comfortable with bright colors - she doesn't mind the high contrast. But, for some reason she can't quite put her finger on, she's not quite "right" with her wardrobe...

This is what's she's got for spring:

She really doesn't know what to do to feel more comfortable with these pieces, so she just started getting dressed as normal, but changing 2 small things:

She pulls out and wears what she really "feels" like wearing, rather than trying to carefully rotate everything in her wardrobe. If she focuses on what she most likes, it might help her learn something, and She keeps careful track of what she wears.

After three weeks, she sorts ... View the Post

02.05.18 28 Comments

Tags: brights, capsule wardrobe, casual, color palettes, green, khaki, navy, shopping, white, yellow

Build a Capsule Wardrobe in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – February 2018

I'm still not sure why I always add a dress in February - a long-standing affection for Valentine's Day? Or just a desire to make sure that I'm well prepared for dressy spring events?

It's not quite expected to accessorize a classic black dress with bright spring green...

I didn't find a beige dress that appealed, so I thought that this delicious cocoa brown would be perfect with this scarf, or with a grouping of blush pink accessories.

The red is probably the most expected accent color with a navy dress, so I ignored that and chose teal instead!

This green isn't as yellow-ish as the greens used last month, but since it's a dress, it doesn't have to be "dye-lot matched" to the other neutral in this wardrobe... And ... View the Post

02.01.18 19 Comments

Tags: 12 Months - 12 Outfits, beige, black, brown, camel, capsule wardrobe, dresses, grey, Hermes scarf, navy, olive

What Accessories do I Want for a Trip to Bermuda?

January 26, 2018  

Not just a trip to Bermuda, but a trip in March, when the weather is still cool, and the crowds aren't pressing...We're working with this color palette:

And these are the accessories that our heroine has already chosen to pack for her romantic get-away...

And this is her wardrobe that she's planning to have with her - 3 pieces to wear and a lucky 13 to pack:

Here's the accessories that she has included with her two core outfits... With the exception of shoes, she could of course travel with just these pieces and manage just fine. But in the interests of fun, let's expand her options...Please note that I'm not suggesting that this is going to be all of the accessories that one owns - unless ... View the Post

01.26.18 20 Comments

Tags: accessories, beige, blue, boots, capsule wardrobe, casual, jewelry, leisure travel, navy, packing, scarves, travel capsule wardrobe

A 4 by 4 Wardrobe for a Vacation to Bermuda in March

January 25, 2018  

This is similar to the very recent wardrobe about traveling to Italy, but sufficiently different that I thought it was worth a look...First off, I'm going to take a clue from yesterday's thoughts about accent colors and include some muted, pretty colors with the same navy and beige that we've already used... (navy and beige are on purpose - I'm pretty sure that this reader is a navy/beige person; if I'm wrong, I apologize!)

This is the easiest possible way to dress for travel - a "suit" in your dark neutral, with a contrast blouse, shirt or tee shirt, and a pretty scarf to tie everything together! I'm re-using a lot of the accessories from the earlier post to show how versatile they are... I changed the ... View the Post

01.25.18 15 Comments

Tags: 4X4 Wardrobe, beige, blue, capsule wardrobe, casual, color palettes, navy, packing, travel capsule wardrobe

How to Focus and Refine a Pretty Good Wardrobe

I am asked this question more frequently than I might have expected - it goes kind of like this: "I really like my wardrobe, for the most part, but I feel like I don't really have a good focus or defined style...."That's tough to address, but I'm going to give it a try!

Let's start with this wardrobe; frankly, it looks pretty nice just like this!

My first thought is to sort all of the clothes by function, to see if maybe our heroine doesn't have enough pants, or needs a couple of tee shirts - that sort of solution would be pretty straightforward! But this wardrobe seems pretty well-balanced for functionality...

My next thought is to see if we can gain some insights into our heroine's preferences by sorting her wardrobe by ... View the Post

01.23.18 27 Comments

Tags: blue, capsule wardrobe, casual, color palettes, decluttering, hot pink, navy, shopping, signatures

Flowers in a Crystal Vase by Edouard Manet – Inspiration for Tote Bag Travel

January 9, 2018 You're a Soil Conservation Engineer?

"I can't imagine spending all of my time working with dirt!"

It's SOIL, not dirt...

"It just doesn't seem like there would be that much to do - it's dirt! It's all over the ground! What else is there to know?"

Well, keeping it all from washing away into rivers, and thus into the ocean, is a good start...

"And you're going on a business trip? What can there possibly be to talk about? Dirt isn't really that interesting..."

But new ways to conserve and enrich soil can be fascinating, and it's always great to be able to spend some time with people who share you passion for the SOIL...

"Something that's really hard for me to understand - this just doesn't ... View the Post

01.09.18 18 Comments

Tags: brown, capsule wardrobe, cream, ivory, jeans, pink, Start with Art, Tote Bag Travel

Build a Capsule Wardrobe in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – January 2018

January 1, 2018

It's that time again! I looked and LOOKED at the Hermes scarves for this year - I wanted to find some unique color combinations... I kept changing my mind until literally the last possible minute!

This year's focal points for gradual wardrobe building are these lovelies:

A word to the wise - these scarves are selling FAST this year - I had to go to the sites for 3 different countries to find these colors, literally just 3 days after I started working on this post! Your best option for finding a fast-selling scarf is to call an Hermes store and ask THEM to find it and send it to you. Their staff is usually delightfully helpful and nice, and it will save you the legwork of trying to mail-order a scarf from a ... View the Post

01.01.18 19 Comments

Tags: 12 Months - 12 Outfits, beige, black, brown, camel, capsule wardrobe, cardigans, grey, Hermes scarf, navy, olive

Traveling from Cold to Warm?

She has no explanation, nor does she feel that she needs one. She loves her denim culottes, and she wants to wear them as much as possible...

Thus, she is wearing this when she leaves, from her snowy home:

But she realized that she didn't want to pack very much - she's really only going to be there for 5 days! But how to take her travel outfit and translate it into a travel wardrobe?

How about breaking out the colors, and working around that? She's not really sure about how the final wardrobe proportions will be, so she just assigns each of the 3 colors an equal share of the palette...

First up, what does she do when she lands, and the temperature is in the 70s rather than the 20s? Duck into the restroom, peel off ... View the Post

12.21.17 7 Comments

Tags: capsule wardrobe, casual, cream, denim, ivory, packing, peach, Six-Packs

Does Your Wardrobe Work for You? Some Ideas for Figuring Out What You Need…

December 18, 2017

 

Friday we looked at the first three of the "12 Months, 12 Outfits" final wardrobes, and found some interesting "holes" in the wardrobes... I'm interested to see how the second 3 wardrobes look, when evaluated through a series of arbitrary, but not worthless, criteria.

This was the 4th wardrobe - a pretty challenging one to assemble, because olive green isn't the most common color in the world, and orange is every bit as difficult to find!

 

As has been true for all of the wardrobes, this wardrobe has a LOT of bottoms - an issue inherent in building a wardrobe through outfits. The learning here might be that a few more tops, and maybe another 2nd layer, would be useful additions...

This ... View the Post

12.18.17 14 Comments

Tags: 12 Months - 12 Outfits, beige, brown, capsule wardrobe, economy, grey, khaki, olive, orange, red

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

12.15.17 18 Comments

Tags: 12 Months - 12 Outfits, beige, black, blue, capsule wardrobe, color palettes, decluttering, economy, navy, Start With a Scarf, tan

Can You Really Travel with Only SIX Pieces of Clothing? I’m Going to Find Out…

November 8, 2017

Yes, I am going back to Paris on Tuesday...It's a combination of a free plane ticket, a really inexpensive hotel (I'll tell you all about that when I'm back!) and a bone-deep yearning to see holiday decorations in another country.

But more than anything, I'm really eager to see how completely... unfettered? light? I can feel while traveling. Normally, there's the suitcase and the carry-on, and maybe a handbag, and while I know that this is necessary, I don't feel relaxed when I have these things to corral and transport. I want to be focused on external things - other people, mostly, and be able to put my own "stuff" out of my mind.

This isn't impossible - one could, in theory, go almost any place that has similar ... View the Post

12.08.17 44 Comments

Tags: black, capsule wardrobe, casual, cool weather, Hermes scarf, leisure travel, my wardrobe, packing, red, signatures, Six-Packs, travel wardrobe
  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • …
  • 26
  • Next Page »
logo
The Vivienne Files is a unique personal style blog with carefully-selected capsule wardrobes based on color palettes drawn from works of art, nature, and more. It helps women buy less clothing, and to love what they buy. Read more...
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS

STAY UP TO DATE

Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

  • Love Black & White, but Crave Nature Start With Art - Green Forest by Natalia GoncharovaLove Black & White, but Crave Nature? Start With Art – Green Forest by Natalia Goncharova
  • Unsure of the Weather Start With Art - The Silbury Owl by Catherine HydeUnsure of the Weather? Start With Art – The Silbury Owl by Catherine Hyde
  • Like a Base of Black and White Start With Art - Variation on a Lighthouse Theme IV by Ida O'KeeffeLike a Base of Black and White? Start With Art – Variation on a Lighthouse Theme IV by Ida O’Keeffe
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 The Vivienne Files | All Rights Reserved - Built with ♥ by RockFort Media

THE VIVIENNE FILES IS A PARTICIPANT IN THE AMAZON SERVICES LLC ASSOCIATES PROGRAM, AN AFFILIATE ADVERTISING PROGRAM DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A MEANS FOR US TO EARN FEES BY LINKING TO AMAZON.COM AND AFFILIATED SITES.