denim Archives - Page 3 of 6

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Arlequin by Pablo Picasso, Version 2

I have to admit, when I first saw this painting, I thought of colors of denim:

Can you see it, too?

Oh, So Wrong...

"She never wears anything but jeans..."

"Well, you know, some women just don't care about pretty things... they just don't see the beauty around them the way we do..."

She knew that they said these things about her; she didn't care.

She gardens, she hikes, she works with her hands. She thinks that being appropriate is pretty attractive...

"Of course, nobody grows more beautiful roses than she does..." Are they blind to all subtlety?

Silly, silly people....

love, Janice ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Marguerite au Chat Noir by Henri Matisse

Yes, I saw this in Paris last week!

Aside from the charm and beauty of Marguerite, I was immediately attracted to the colors:

Quietly Rebellious

She seems like the most conventional of women. Very pretty, always very nicely dressed.

She's rather quiet, a bit shy, and well-suited to her work in the library...

And yes, she owns a cat!

BUT, every day, without exception, she breaks a rule that she was told countless times, as a child!

"You know, with a round face, you should NEVER wear a round neckline!"

But what if she LIKES her round face?

And what if she REALLY likes the way it looks in a round neckline? What if that became sort of a personal signature for her?

So, she rebels. Very ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Wrapped Oranges by William J. McCloskey

This is the 1,500th post on The Vivienne Files! If you're looking here for a specific color scheme, or general ideal, I encourage you to go to Google and enter "The Vivienne Files" and then whatever things you'd like to find. The chances grow greater every day that you might find something helpful to you in my archives! And if you don't find it, let me know and I'll build it, some day. I've got no intentions of stopping now... And thank you, very humbly, and very sincerely, for your continued support of my efforts. You each mean so much to me! love, Janice On with the show!!! What a simple, but lovely painting:

It's the kind of painting that you might walk right past during a museum visit, but which merits some attention; a painting ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories: Denim, Stone, Pink and Soft Blue, 1 at a Time

This wardrobe is such a nice mix of casual fabrics with soft and pretty accents, I thought that I would try to continue the theme of femininity in the accessories, without getting too girly or sissy... I love these challenges! The original wardrobe is from yesterday; this is the starter outfit:

While I felt that jeans and a sweatshirt strongly suggested boots, I limited my choices to softer colors or boots with a metallic sheen to them. A lady-like boot might be a stretch, but these at least have a lighter feel to them!

For the first bag, I wanted to see something in the stone neutral, but with a bit of softness, or texture, or "pink-ness" to it...

An all-navy outfit strongly suggests a scarf that include navy, but also some lighter ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Denim, Stone, Pink and Soft Blue: 1 Piece at a Time

This woman is one who really love denim, and a good sweatshirt, but who also has a side that wants a bit of the feminine, and the softly colored... Her starting "favorite" outfit:

And this is the color scheme she has in mind. This is a really good scheme, in that the two neutrals are both typically available in a variety of casual fabrics, so they're a good "couple" to work together. And since both of the accent colors are equal in intensity and value, they will also be usable in the same situations, and very likely to appear together in prints and patterns. When your chosen colors have a certain "feeling" in common, you might find that they work better together than colors that are all over the map in terms of mood and ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Asiatic God by Paul Klee

This looks a little bit clown-like on my screen, but in person it's much more compelling, with a lot of texture. Almost mysterious, dark, and captivating, with amazing color highlights.

The frame is maroon and grey, and there are tiny accents of teal... the pink on the face is, in fact, the color PUCE! (I was searching around for the precise RGB combination to show the color on the color wheel, and learned this...)

This cried out for denim, to serve as a base for texture and a variety of accent colors...

Yes, the image of this skirt is TERRIBLE, but I really wanted you to see this skirt. It's a departure from a lot of denim skirts, in that it seems to have more finesse. So I've compromised on the image. I HATE to do ... View the Post

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