cool weather Archives - Page 3 of 49

One Heather Beige Cashmere Sweater – A Dozen Ideas

November 26, 2025 Please note, I'm NOT going to suggest gifts for you - I have no clue what your partner/child/best friend might want! And further, I'm NOT going to tell you where there are sales this weekend; assume that everybody in the world is marking things down...

If you wish to support The Vivienne Files as I refuse to play the Black Friday/Cyber Monday game, you can always click on the "Support The Vivienne Files" link at the top of each page (under the tiny clothes hanger!) and find links to retailers who will pay me a wee commission if you click and make a purchase. I won't get rich, but I am always grateful!

love, Janice

Okay!!! Many of you were interested in the possibility of adding a new sweater to your wardrobe, but ... View the Post

One Red Sweater – a Dozen Ideas

November 24, 2025

Many of you are wondering what - if anything - you want to purchase to wear through this holiday season. I'm fortunate, in that I never have to do anything even remotely dressy at any point in the holidays...

But if this was my dilemma, and I wanted to treat myself to one REALLY nice item that I could keep and wear for the rest of my life, it might be this:

There are quite a few different colors that go well with red, but for this iteration, I'm starting with black, white, and accents of gold:

If you're in a cold but dry spell, don't forget that your white jeans are still fabulous in the late autumn...

If you are called-upon to show up with the full dressy thing working, a matching skirt is the ... View the Post

Want a Complete Capsule Wardrobe? Start With Art – Red Rotation by Victor Servranckx

November 21, 2025

After all of this traveling, our heroine is starting to realize that she has a LOT more clothing than she needs. She's already quite disciplined, in that she makes all of her purchases within this color palette:

Our heroine's first trip this fall was to see her alma mater play women's basketball:

Her second trip was to an office that she'd never visited before! It's always a challenge to pack for these kinds of unknowns...

Her third trip was also for work. For many of us, the majority of our travel is for work - at least mine was, for years! It gets to the point that if you're in the office for too long, you feel like something's gone wrong.

And her final trip this year was for the THREE ... View the Post

Want to Pack Only Neutrals? Start With Art – Red Rotation by Victor Servranckx

November 19, 2025

Our last travel capsule wardrobe for this heroine - although I am going to accumulate all of her wardrobes together on Friday to see where she finds herself, clothing-wise. I may even see some additions that she could use...

Here's the painting with which she always starts her planning:

Her overall wardrobe palette includes four core colors:

Her recent numerous travel adventures have included travel capsule wardrobes based on these four related, but all slightly different, palettes:

A Dressy Long Weekend It happens every few years - ALL of the work-related holiday parties to which they are invited fall within a few days of each other!

Their solution is to find a hotel room that's centrally ... View the Post

Want to Skip Brown? Start With Art – Red Rotation by Victor Servranckx

November 17, 2025

Our heroine is back to business travel... but no matter why she's packing, or where she's going, she always stick with her inspiration:

Her complete wardrobe is mostly these four colors:

And she has realized that if she omits one color from these four, she has four ADDITIONAL palettes that are ideally suited for small travel capsule wardrobes:

It's business travel again, but to an office that she knows pretty well. This trip is not particularly dressy, but there are excellent restaurants near them, so she still wants to be able to dress appropriately for that!

And her last trip, when she wore her velvet blazer, was full of excellent customer service. Thus she's wearing it again! Get ... View the Post

Want to Pack Dark Colors? Start With Art – Red Rotation by Victor Servranckx

November 14, 2025

Monday's heroine has to travel for business - it's surprising to me how many people STILL have to show up in person, press the proverbial flesh, and breathe the same air as the people from another office...

But of course, sometimes the in-person touch is essential. You hear the whispers in the ladies room, and glances from the corner of the room in a meeting, the strange phobias about using a particular printer - office life is weird and can be illuminating!

Her inspiration? This fascinating piece:

Her "master" color palette includes four neutrals; she does include the other colors in the painting in her wardrobe, in tiny amounts - there's a whole range of interesting beige to greenish bronze ... View the Post

Ready for Leafy Autumn Colors? Start With Art – Red Rotation by Victor Servranckx

November 12, 2025

Another heroine who is going to experiment with her neutral colors, to try to change the... feel? the mood? of her travel capsule wardrobes by omitting one of her neutral colors. Let's see how this works!

First up is her wardrobe inspiration, by an artist with a name that CAN'T be typed quickly:

The core of our heroine's wardrobe is black and ivory, with definite accents of brown and rust...

After getting dressed with mostly these colors for years and years, our heroine realized that she can take one color out of her four-color palette and have FOUR new, smaller color schemes:

Women's Basketball Home Opener! She and many of her friends played basketball when they were in college; it was VERY ... View the Post

November 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #6: Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay

November 10, 2025

Our last installment for this month - one of my favorite paintings!

This heroine gave some serious thought to what her holiday seasons promises to bring, and came to the conclusion that silky pants and a pretty blouse will be more than adequate for her festive needs. A couple of cardigans that can be dressed up, and some fun star and moon accessories, finish up her November shopping:

please note that "silky" does NOT equal "silk." Neither does "satin." There's a lot of... confusing clothing descriptions in the world...

When she brings home her new things, she finds that everything blends in pretty much perfectly! There is always that satisfaction when you are disciplined with your ... View the Post

November 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #5: Street Lights by Stefan Johansson

November 7, 2025

These aren't really the colors that we think of for the winter holidays, but there's more than enough red and holly green in the world...

If one is patient, and disciplined, it is possible to find lovely dressy things that are perfect with this wardrobe:

Remember that if you're looking for a holiday brooch, Talbots is where you want to look first!

The gold sequins blend pretty well into this wardrobe, and the two sweaters are just right:

This heroine has some of the BEST scarves!

And our heroine already had a gold handbag and gold sandals; in warmer weather she can wear her gold sequined garments with sandals rather than ballet flats. Choices are nice to have!

Our heroine ... View the Post

November 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #4: Pines by the Sea by Bertha Lum

November 6, 2025 Breaking the Rules - Sometimes You Just Want To! Our heroine has this lovely painting to inspire her wardrobe choices:

Our heroine needs a dressy outfit for a VERY special occasion. She looked and looked at her "usual" colors - especially teal. But she came back, and back again, to these two (very expensive!) pieces in sequined taupish brown. And she finally caved...

Now, her wardrobe doesn't look a lot different, except she now has these two sequined garments that sort of stick out...

As always, are we smitten with her jewelry and scarves?

The shoes and bag that she bought for her event don't really blend in with everything else. This is okay; imagine the flats and bag worn with denim, or with ... View the Post

November 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #3: Sun, Water Maine by O’Keeffe

November 5, 2025

I love this painting - it's not unlike the view from my window...

Our heroine's preparation for the holiday season is pretty simple - she buys a simple sweater that has sequins knitted into it! (I confess, I have a black cabled cashmere sweater with sequins, and I wear it a LOT more than I ever imagined...)

She adds in a pair of winter white wool pants, a classic Aran-style crewneck, and a navy turtleneck. Some gold accessories, and she's ready for anything her schedule might thrown at her!

She has fewer beige/ivory clothes than she has navy and green. This makes sense to me; the lighter colors aren't as versatile for many of us.

The time that I'm always tempted by a wardrobe is when I look at ... View the Post

November 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #2: Of by Elizabeth Magill

November 4, 2025

I'm still able to find lovely clothes for this VERY limited color palette. Can you imagine wearing only two colors?

Years ago, when I was a bookstore chic(k), I wore only black and white. For years...

Of course, if you wanted to be strict to this painting, there could be much more white, and a denim-ish blue:

Her new tops are all quite festive, but her skirt can be worn for all kinds of things throughout the autumn and winter...

She still has fewer grey garments that in the other colors! Of course, I could move the white things onto the grey page...

I'm very smitten with her jewelry and scarves...

Her new clothes give her a LOT of options for getting dressed-up these next few ... View the Post