denim Archives - Page 3 of 5

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 (1932) by Georgia O’Keeffe

There are so many different ways that this painting could be interpreted, but I kept seeing denim blue...

Of course, I can always revisit this painting, if you're interested....

The Closing?

She's flying out to close on the new cabin. Everyone's horrified...

It's tiny. It's simple. And since she seems to have sold or donated about 90% of her possessions, it's going to be empty!

She prefers to think of it as simple. She wants to see the lines, the colors, and the textures around her. Not a bunch of stuff...

And yes, she plans to wear jeans to the closing, which she prefers to think of as "the opening." The opening of a new life. The opening of her mind, and her heart...

She's retiring in her own ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting with Art – The Third Buddhist Kesa

Dear Ellen, who left the comment "I love this capsule and the colors you've used! I can see myself in these clothes.Lovely!" - send me a note at theviviennefiles@gmail.com. The tote bag from Neiman Marcus is yours...

Back to our regular blog post:

Despite the beautiful delicacy of the fabric, the colors felt like a warm-weather travel adventure to me!

Astonishing Everyone...

"Are you sure you want to go there? It's not very dressy..."

Yes, I understand that, she thinks.

"You're going to have to carry your own luggage..."

Yes, I've been working out on the treadmill for months, carrying handweights.

"I mean, you'll be able to get laundry done, and the water's usually safe to drink, but this just isn't ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: The White and Green Hat by Georgette Agutte

How did I make it so far into my life without knowing about Georgette Agutte? She was French, and she painted some really wonderful paintings; I encourage you to look her up. You're going to be seeing more of her on The Vivienne Files, I can promise!

Someone suggested this lovely painting - she seems like she would be a kind and gentle friend, doesn't she?

As with most paintings, there are a variety of ways to approach the colors, but I've gone this direction:

"Doesn't she look like Grandma?"

Your sister said, and just like that, the whole idea got started...

So now, you and your older sister are going on a road trip, starting with the town in which your grandmother was born. The stated goal is that you're going ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Version 2, Bright Women in Front of the Hat Shop by August Macke

I was going to wait a few weeks to do this for autumn, but I found myself thinking about these colors so much last night that I thought I'd best just go ahead and jump into it!

For cooler weather, I swapped out the pink for that strong green, and I darkened all of the colors a bit; I particularly wanted to make sure that the navy on the left of the painting was included, since that's a pivotal neutral for me here.

The last weekend at the lake, for this year

As soon as you can escape from work, you're headed to the cabin. There's always work to be done to make sure things are ready for winter, and this may be the last non-snowy weekend you can all get there. So even though you had to wear a suit today, you have already segued, ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Bracelets: Effortless Memorial Day Travel

Chicago, and the Chicago area, has some of the greatest companies making beautiful clothes and accessories. Last Saturday, at that absolutely wonderful Fashion Expo in Millennium Park (aka my front yard!), I also had the pleasure of stumbling across She-Beads.

Don't be fooled by cheap imitations! (I love that sentence...) These designs and patterns are FORMED IN THE CLAY, and will not rub off, scratch off, or otherwise be diminished in the way that painted or decaled jeweled can be. Their site has a video of them making beads - it's amazing that these crafts can exist and we don't know anything about them. There are creative and skilled people everywhere...

I was thinking about what sorts of things one might toss into a bag for ... View the Post

Denim Blue Capsule Wardrobe with Floral, Bright and Silver/White Accessories

Denim blue is a great, versatile and flattering color, even when the fabric isn't denim! Imagine these six garments, along with a pair of real jeans, a white shirt, and a couple of tee shirts - the perfect simple travel capsule wardrobe. I'm ready to go on vacation ANY TIME NOW... ... View the Post

Denim Shirts in Paris – 12 Versions

As I mentioned Saturday, I saw lots of denim and chambray shirts in Paris - they were worn in an amazing variety of ways...

Most simple is wearing these shirts with black. This can be a nice relaxed "out for the afternoon" outfits with pants and flats, or much dressier, with a pretty skirt and clutch bag. Sleeves can be rolled, collar stood up in back - anything that personalizes your shirt and makes you happy!

FWIW, I noticed when I was doing these links that House of Fraser is currently offering free shipping to the US through at least the 13th of October. For those of us who've been skittish about ordering from another country, this might change everything!

A collarless chambray shirt can be a nice ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Lavender, Jade, Denim and Grey

One more visit to the denim and grey Core of Four - this time, with accent colors of lavender and jade. All of the shades are cool - some are soft and gentle, and others are almost vivid. Lots of options here!

One of the nicest things with the shades of lavender - they can easily be blended so long as you have the same basic tone.

Once you find someone who's selling a color that you love, it makes some sense to stock up!

I looked for moonstone jewelry for this collection. Moonstone has such a lovely iridescent, almost colorless quality that picks up the colors that you wear. I think it's beautiful (and it's one of the three birthstones for those of us born in June!)

love, Janice ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Pink, Rose, Denim and Grey

This color palette felt to me like it was giving you permission to indulge in a variety of shades of pink, and so that's sort of what I did. I also took this opportunity to pretend that the person choosing this capsule wardrobe had a deep and abiding passion for stripes. That sort of fondness/obsession is great in a wardrobe, if it's deeply and truly felt. You should definitely wear your heart on your literal sleeve if you know what you like, and you're happy sharing it with the world. It certainly makes shopping more focused, and you project a clear point of view to everyone around you!

Why yes, the grey and blue shirts are the same, except for the color. When you find shirts that fit well, it's not ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Denim, Wine, Grey and… (AWOL)

One of the unstated goals of The Vivienne Files is for all of us to benefit from the mistakes that I make or the problems that I encounter. That was brought painfully home to me today when, after HOURS of looking in all of my secret stashes of garments, I could NOT find anything in leaf green. Well, I'm pretty sure Target has some things, but they didn't have good photographs, so that puts them out of the literal picture for me... I think it's safe to assume that someone out there right now is thinking about working on a color scheme for which one of the colors is very scarce in the market. Like completely missing. So how do you handle that - what do you do? This was the capsule wardrobe that I cobbled ... View the Post

Capsule Wardrobe Project 333 Autumn 2014 – I’m IN!

No, it's nowhere NEAR cool enough to wear autumn clothes in Chicago - I think right now the temperature could be around 90, the humidity nears 3 digits (I swear it goes over 100% - it's like swimming in a bathtub...) and we're going to get thunderstorms any time now. But I am travelling very soon to cooler climes, and it's only reasonable to be prepared when the weather whiplashes us into cold, as it will...

My clothing requirements become more and more simple; after I spend eight hours a day looking at thousands of garments and accessories for The Vivienne Files, I only want to wear black or grey. Maybe some pearl jewelry. Maybe a scarf! I now understand why some fashion designers wear only jeans and black tee ... View the Post

The Vivienne Files FAQ: Do I HAVE to buy basic garments?

Every day, I get lots of emails with lots of questions. I like that, and I'm happy that you take the time to write to me. (theviviennefiles@gmail.com) As hard as I try, I don't really have time to answer everybody individually, but your questions make a lot of difference when I choose my content every day.

The single question I'm asked the most: "Is it absolutely necessary that I own neutral, simple, basic, plain, boring garments?"

Let me say this flat out - if you can find a naturalist community with consistently moderate temperatures and well-groomed walkways, you can go without purchasing ANY CLOTHING AT ALL for the rest of your life. I know this is reducto ad absurdum, but sometimes we need to remember that ... View the Post