The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Avoiding Wearing Light Colors? Start with Art – The Dark Lady by Anna Katrine Zinkeisen

August 30, 2025

Back to visit our heroine from Wednesday, and her most alluring and engaging favorite painting:

When our heroine knew that she was going to help out at her high school's Homecoming weekend, she knew that she was going to need a darker-hued travel capsule wardrobe! Setting things up (and tearing them down) for the entertainment of teenagers is NOT for the faint of heart...

She looked over her options, and chose the palette that omitted ivory. Smart lady!

I have a hunch that almost all of us look at least passably good in burgundy. What say thee, my friends?

And yes, these palazzo pants might look like pants here, but in person, they're more like a longish split skirt. Talk about useful!

She knows ... View the Post

In the Mood for Autumn? Start With Art – The Dark Lady by Anna Katrina Zinkeisen

August 27, 2025

It's getting to be that time of year...

"So, should take a short vacation? Take a long weekend in October and drive north? Look at leaves. Drink cider. What do you think?"

Our heroine loves autumn - her favorite painting just oozes cool weather vibes:

All of her favorite wardrobe colors are here...

And she's already decided that for her next few trips, she's going to experiment with her four neutrals - she will omit one neutral from her travel capsule wardrobe and use three neutrals for her wardrobe. It will be interesting to give herself some slightly different moods...

Viewing autumn leaves is a recreation that actually can be done from one's car, for a lot of the time. So our heroine doesn't ... View the Post

Looking for Accent Colors? Start With a Bracelet – Symbolist Lynx Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

August 25, 2025

Our heroine loves black. She loves the way it looks, and the way she feels when she wears it.

But she knows full well that it worries people when she wears unrelieved black, day after day. She's decided to break out for fall, and add some accents... and she's starting here:

It doesn't hurt that these bracelets were inspired by one of her favorite paintings!

Her plan for accents is the following. She knows that she wants to add denim to her wardrobe - long-term - because of it's utility and endless appropriateness. She wants to experiment with a couple of pastel colors, because why not? And she's circling back to the red that she wore many, many years ago with black. She dreams about the outfits that she ... View the Post

A Warm Color, Classic Palette for Fall? Start With Art – a Forest by Leon Spilliaert

August 13, 2025

Our ongoing inspiration:

Our heroine from Monday has another trip planned; she's going to her college Homecoming!

She's not planning to attend any of the more formal, dressy activities; her agenda is more the football game, and then hanging out at the home of one of her friends who stayed in the city after graduation. Much sitting around, eating, talking, and laughing is what she has in mind...

But she still wants to look nice, and she really wants to have that autumn feel when she gets dressed. Time for some brown!

Her color palette for the upcoming festivities is this:

She starts with a lovely brown tee shirt, her black cardigan, and a different pair of black pants - somewhat warmer than the linen ... View the Post

August 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #5: Of by Elizabeth Magill

August 7, 2025

I love this painting, and I'm quite smitten with the colors, but I'm starting to see how hard it can be to have a wardrobe this disciplined:

I really love the way this heroine has such a strong signature look. But her shopping can be difficult... Maybe that's not all bad - if everything you see appeals to you AND would look good with your wardrobe, you're living with a ton of temptation. Hmm...

This month, she found another crewneck sweater in a quite different shade of plum from her other crewneck. The shirt is just cool - smocked cuffs? A plum tee shirt and classic grey pants round out her shopping:

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe template is difficult for this heroine - does she really HAVE an accent ... View the Post

August 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #4: The Swan No. 24 by Hilma Af Klint

August 6, 2025

Today, we're going to play fast and loose with our color palette!

No, we're not going to go completely off the rails, but we are going to make a modest modification to this color palette, in order to better serve the needs of our heroine. (OMG, she split the infinitive!)

As tempting as that rusty brown color is, it's two things that don't work for our heroine. First, it's quite difficult to find! And secondly, it's not always lovely with black - at least to this one particular woman. Always remember, it's YOUR color palette, and if you need to modify it, do it!

So we're going to incorporate a more classic, traditional coffee brown into this wardrobe. It's pretty, it looks really chic with black, and many of us ... View the Post

August 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #3: Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay

August 5, 2025

I'm so excited - I just booked my annual December trip to Paris! I went crazy - I'm staying at a hotel that used to be a bakery (seriously!) and was decorated by Christian Lacroix. I've reached the point that flying over an ocean is sufficiently exhausting that I want to be pampered when I arrive!

If you go to their website, note that I've also stayed at the Pavillon des Lettres (same management company), and it was amazing...

Speaking of Paris:

Our heroine has a wonderful wardrobe in these colors, and she has the fun of balancing brown and navy - two excellent, very compatible neutrals. This month, she found a wonderful brown sweater in a style that's just a little bit unusual, and she was off to the ... View the Post

August 2025 Six Paintings – 12 Months #2: Street Lights along Klaralven River by Stefan Johansson

August 4, 2025

For years, my family insisted that I was really an "autumn," and dressed me in shades of brown, green and gold. It didn't really work, but looking at this painting makes me wish that I really could have that kind of warm coloring!

Our heroine for this wardrobe actually started by looking at her Weekly Timeless Wardrobe list, to see what she needed! She realized that she wanted to pick up a couple of print tops...

From there, it was so easy. She stumbled across these Dijon yellow pieces, and made the very smart decision to get all three of them. Having the solid fleece top to wear over her stripes makes getting dressed so easy...

She's looking very organized!

I'm quite certain that next month I will ... View the Post

Want to Extend Your Wardrobe Cluster into Autumn? Start With Art – Book Illustration by Goyo Hashiguchi

July 14, 2025

She's loving her 5 piece of ivory clothing. It's easy, it's elegant (in a casual way!), and she wants to wear these things well into autumn.

Can she?

Let's start with some inspiration:

Her accent colors are clear:

Her ivory core wardrobe is pretty well suited to extend into cooler weather:

As soon as our heroine starts looking at clothes, she realizes that for Autumn, she's going to shop in the very darkest versions of her accent colors. Maybe in the Spring we'll revisit this heroine to see if we can find her some pretty pastels...

But these additions are pretty delicious!

Nine pieces of clothing doesn't feel like a lot...

but it's almost impossible to put a foot wrong in this ... View the Post

Black & Brights? Start With Art: Stained Glass Window by Harry Clarke

July 9, 2025

Yes, this is the image that I had made into a scarf!

There aren't a million colors here; I chose turquoise, purple and red...

Our heroine today travels frequently for work, and doesn't visit the same destinations more than ever six months. This is fortunate for her, and makes packing easy; she starts with a core wardrobe and works around it through the autumn and winter:

Purple is her favorite color, so she really stocks up here. You can get a look at the one-of-a-kind scarf!

Packing just one sweater and a couple of accessories in an accent color can give you all kinds of options; you look different, and you don't get bored with your wardrobe. (although I have to admit that I have never been bored ... View the Post

The Least I Can Pack – Maybe? – For Ireland

March 17, 2025

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I was to have been in Dublin this week, but family emergencies have kept us in Chicago. I figured that I could still share with you what I'd planned to pack, since I took so much time pondering it! So here's the post, as it was originally going to be published:

I'm taking as small a wardrobe as I think I can tolerate; there are a couple of very good laundries near our hotel - one north of us, one south! No matter where we're heading out for the day, we can drop off shirts and anything else that's beyond the pale of wearing again. I'm happy to pay someone to do my laundry a couple of times a year.

Here's what I'm flying in - not showing a short black quilted jacket...

Please note that these ... View the Post

Adding Accessories – Start With Art – Cow’s Skull: Red, White and Blue by Georgia O’Keeffe

February 26, 2025

Of course, our heroine from Monday is going to need some accessories for her work wardrobe - shoes, at a bare minimum! And it's certain that she's going to be carrying a pretty big bag, since she has to carry her laptop, her mouse & mousepad, her power cords, and anything else she needs at her desk each day.

Here's the art which inspires her:

Here's the wardrobe with which we left our friend:

As much as our heroine would have loved to fill this part of her wardrobe with small sharp things, she (for the most part!) has stuck to normal, acceptable choices. If anybody asks about the skull earrings and necklace, she plans to launch into a lengthy Stoic philosophy speech about Memento Mori...

Her ... View the Post