cool weather Archives - Page 3 of 20

What if I Like Unusual Color Combinations? Start with a Scarf: Calm Scarf by KathKath

Housekeeping note - if you left either of these comments on the Talbots #becauseimalady giveaway post, please contact me at theviviennefiles@gmail.com, because YOU WON a $100 gift card to Talbots!

#becauseimalady I know classy never goes out of style. #because I'm a lady I know why there is a difference between sweatshirts and sweaters!

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She's sort of the human embodiment of Peace and Reconciliation...

When there are quarrels, disagreements, or flat out fights, corporate headquarters send her in...

She delights in studying both sides of a conflict and finding the common ground that makes the beginning of compromise possible. She believes that there ... View the Post

Does Navy Have to be Predictable? Start with a Scarf: Red Tulip by KathKath

There are so many traditional, classic accents to wear with navy - red, burgundy, bottle green... but what if you want something brighter, and more "off the beaten path?"

Nobody else wants to go...

But she's going to the lecture. Alone. And she's really excited!

(Her sweater also comes in orange... she's very tempted...)

Everyone claims that the University shuts off the heat on weekends, so she's prepared to dress warmly for the lecture. And her hotel advertises that they provide a full brunch IN YOUR ROOM, so she's certainly going to avail of that opportunity...

Yes, she's going to pin a brooch to her cardigan that she's wearing with a flannel shirt! And yes, she'll carry the necessities for the evening in a wee flowered ... View the Post

Is It Possible to Pack an Interesting Overnight Bag? Start with a Scarf: The Joy Rose Scarf by KathKath

She's not a boring person...

And so she's embraced these colors!

And now she has SATURDAY NIGHT season tickets to the opera! Just 1 ticket - nobody else she knows loves the opera enough to deserve to go with her...

Saturday morning she heads into the city:

Her bag is tiny, and quite light - how much will she need for 30 hours?

When everything is gathered together, it looks so pretty and cheerful - sort of like how she feels when she gets to go to the opera!

She knows that nobody else there will be wearing a yellow dress...

She can wear her coat as a bathrobe when her brunch is delivered... and if it's cold the next morning, she can always wear her flowered shirt under her pink sweater!

Do you ever go somewhere all by ... View the Post

My Autumn and Winter Essentials

Yes, I wear almost only black and white... especially in cold weather, when I can use some pattern and texture to add a bit of interest to my outfits. But frankly, once I'm sure that I'm appropriately and comfortably dressed, I don't look to my clothes for any sort of entertainment - the idea of being bored with what I'm wearing just doesn't compute for me.

I'm updating the "Shopping The Vivienne Files" page that shows where you can get a better look at (and purchase) some of these goodies. I think that this is an interesting way to approach the French 5-Piece Wardrobe, too, although it certainly won't be for everyone!

First, the things that I wear consistently, and that I would replace immediately in case of a disaster:

I've been ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: The Topographic Scarf from KathKath

We might as well take advantage of the 30% discount that the lovely women at KathKath have offered us, right? The code is vivkath30... their site is kathkath.com.

If you browse about at all on their site, you will find this gorgeous scarf, which is available in both square and rectangle, AND in both silk and modal/cashmere:

There are so many colors available here, but I settled on these, for now. What a rich wealth of beauty...

It was specifically requested that I work with this scarf and a grey base, so I'm going to use these pieces. Just to amp up the dressiness a bit, I've included a pretty blouse and a tweed skirt...

If someone were to really commit to this palette, jewelry in sea glass and mother of pearl would be ... View the Post

Start with a GORGEOUS Scarf – The Hope Scarf by KathKath

Remember an absolutely amazingly beautiful rose scarf that I used here back in November of 2015 from a company called Kathkath? Well... I'm delighted to be able to tell you that the scarf is now available in a modal and cashmere blend, as well as in a rectangular shape!

And they have new scarves available - oh, do they have some gorgeous things!

So I'll get your mentally prepared... They're offering us all 30% off of their scarves... use the discount code vivkath30! This is really generous, and I think we'd be daft to not take advantage, if we see something with whappage!

The first scarf that caught my eye (but not the only one!) was this - the Hope Scarf. One of my dearest friends loves pansies, and this reminds me of her... and these ... View the Post

Updating a Navy Wardrobe for Autumn – Start with Art: Shattered Tree by Otto Dix

I thought that this painting might be good for Halloween - it's sort of dark without being macabre or outright spooky...

I see this painting all of the time - it's in the Art Institute of Chicago - and I swear that I see navy blue in the areas near the horizon! At any rate, I think that these colors make amazing accents... One could easily include some gold, some medium blues and a bit of grey and live with the color-scheme forever.

This is my starting point today. This version of The Common Wardrobe is a hair dressier than usual - no jeans, and a pair of navy wool pants in their place. A pair of high-quality trousers can be worn almost anywhere... The navy ribbed tee shirt is a notch more elegant than the white cotton tee shirt, so ... View the Post

A Giveaway for You! #becauseimalady Promotion at Talbots…

Another promoted post. Talbots gave me some stuff, and some things for you too!

Talbots was always the "go to" store for ladylike clothes... I remember when Belovedest and I moved back from Ireland, and I was wearing the smallest clothing size I've worn since high school, and I really NEEDED a "kick butt and take names" suit - I went to Talbots. When I worked in an office, the family gift cards were ALWAYS for Talbots...

I have to admit, though, that I've always had reservations about the term "lady." I always felt that it meant older, and more retiring, and genteel in a way that might mean being a doormat. The idea of manners and good breeding and appropriate conduct appealed, though... I was conflicted.

Which is why I'm happy to ... View the Post

Can a More Casual Work Wardrobe have Personality? Start with a Moth…

You might think it's just a flying caterpillar, but the colors are so lovely....

Your understanding is that the first interview is going to be most of the day in their offices, and then a break before they take you out to dinner; they want to make sure that you know which fork is which!

It's a kitchen gear company - why would you be interested in their job if you didn't know your salad fork from your dinner fork? Of course you're hired! For the first few days, you're going to have options to dress nicely if there's going to be a meeting, but otherwise the offices seem quite casual...

This is the the tiny wardrobe that you have before your first paycheck arrives - you can get through a week of work without too much ... View the Post

Planning Your Complete Wardrobe – Maybe I Should Start with the Real World?

I have absolutely NOT forgotten about my desire to figure out a way to have an overall wardrobe plan - something that I think we first discussed back in July?

Theories were posited that one could choose a specific number of each category of each garment, and a certain number of pieces for each season, etc. etc. But it all felt.... forced.

So I'm going back to reality - what is currently in my closet? What have I worn in the last month or so? Maybe I should start with what I actually OWN AND WEAR, and then see if I can make sense of that...

For now, I'm sticking with a target number of 52 - i.e. one piece per week, or 13 per quarter. So right now, I isolated in my closet the last 26 pieces of "non-gym" clothing that I've worn or ... View the Post

Reviewing what I Packed for Paris, September/October 2017

Well, this is interesting... At the relatively last minute, Belovedest persuaded me to take my larger suitcase (I'm still not quite sure why...) so I ended up packing a few more things than I had intentionally intended. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't really amazing, either...

Realistically, I could have rated every garment that I packed with a green star as a "keeper;" all of my clothes go together pretty well under almost any circumstances, and I wore every stitch of what I packed. But in order to force myself to actually rate things, I thought that choosing a third of the pieces as "green," a third as "yellow," and the remainders as the "red star" losers might be more illuminating.

First up, I have to say that if I had to spend a ... View the Post

Build a Foolproof Travel Wardrobe by Starting with Science: The Heart Nebula by Peter Jenkins

Just doesn't get much prettier than this, I'd say!

She's Always Hated Shopping... From the time she was a child - so she and her mother devised a wardrobe plan for her...

They picked the colors they would use, and they decided how many of each piece she would need... She's really never deviated meaningfully from the original scheme!

When she began to buy her own clothes, she realized that if she bought the really good stuff, she wouldn't have to shop nearly as often - the time saved was precious, and the ability to wear beautiful clothes was just a bonus...

(She is a bit tempted to get another piece of tiger's eye jewelry... maybe a ring?)

One of the beauties of having had a plan for years and YEARS is that she can spot ... View the Post