earrings Archives

Adding Accent Accessories – Start with Art: Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber by Paul Klee

April 22, 2022

You know that it's "klee an in clay"? There once was a book by that title that helped us pronounce all sorts of art and music names properly; well worth grabbing if you see it used...

Well, when I started this post, I wasn't at all sure WHEN you would get to see it; they're working on the internet and cable in my building - fifty-some floors of rewiring! Outages and glitches are built into this process; if I am going to miss a date I will post a note from my phone so you know I'm okay!

SO!!! Let's get Wednesday's heroines some accessories!!!

For reference, and for pleasure, let's remember that this is the art from which we started:

Let's go back to our core of 10 pieces of clothing. There's no reason in the ... View the Post

A Few of My Favorite Things – April 2022

April 6, 2022

I've never done this, in the 12 years (!!?!!?!!) that I've been writing The Vivienne Files - just show you a bunch of stuff that caught my eye!

But I realized a few days ago that my "cool things to remember" file was getting stupid big, and so I thought that I could just show you items outside of the context of a wardrobe. You're adults - you'll figure out how these could be worn!

Everything here is from 1 website: wolfandbadger.com. I've been to their stores in New York and London, as well as ordering things from them. Their service is excellent...

And since all of these things come from small designers, you really could email a designer to ask questions! For example, if you madly admire a pair of red earrings, ... View the Post

April 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months

April 1, 2022

I SO wanted to put dresses into these wardrobes, but (1) we've looked at lots of dresses recently, and (2) I sort of feel like skirts are more versatile. I should think about that, huh?

Let's start with golden leaves against a bright blue sky! (since it's snowing in Chicago as I write this - talk about April fools...)

After much searching, I found the perfect silk skirt! This could be worn a ton of different ways...

Each wardrobe now has 16 garments - I suspect we could pull together a pretty tidy "4 by 4" wardrobe from these...

And each wardrobe now has 12 accessories - this is SO INCREDIBLY WRONG in my world... I suspect that lots of accessories will be showing up in the next few months!

As ... View the Post

You Don’t Have to Spend a Fortune – 10 Scarves under $40

March 30, 2022

I've mentioned them before - the pants that I wear EVERY week, that are always in my laundry, are from redthreadcollection.com. (I have both the Essential Ankle Pants and the Essential Straight Leg Pants...)

The process is really simple and sort of fun - you take a couple of photographs of yourself dressed in something tight (like leggings or tights) and THEY figure out how to make pants to fit you. They eschew all discussion of sizes, which I can definitely support...

And right now, you can get 20% off of your purchase from them by using the code Vivienne20!

Nice people, great pants, and now a discount - how good can life get?

Someone recently commented that they really loved a scarf but that ... View the Post

Dresses – Accessorizing Them A Little Bit Differently…

March 25, 2022

Are you getting ready to wear dresses again? Now that the weather teases us with hints of spring, I begin to ponder what dresses are lurking in my stored warm-weather clothes, and how I will wear them...

I know some women prefer to wear dresses in colder weather, because they can wear tights! Fair enough, but don't discount the comfort and versatility of a "below the knee" dress in a light fabric and a roomy cut!

Today, for no good reason, I wanted to accessorize dresses in a way that's NOT the first thing one would expect; if you can find more than 1 way to wear a dress, you'll have a good reason to wear it even MORE often. That's always smart!

For example, this most excellent black dress would be an obvious base ... View the Post

How Can One Wear a New Accent Color? Pantone Autumn/Winter 2022/23

March 18, 2022

Admiring colors and accessories is all well and good, and can be quite entertaining, but at some stage you might want to actually WEAR one or more of these!

Therefore, I thought that I would choose some very simple outfits, to show how the accessories we saw on Wednesday (and quite a few new ones!) might look with clothes. When you have large blocks of neutral color from garments in the overall image, the accessories don't dominate nearly as much.

I'm going to view these in reverse - just to mix things up!

First is Martini Olive - an unappetizing olive to eat, but really lovely to wear; it's the same intensity as beige, so they are perfect together:

One of the joys (at least for me!) of having quite a few ... View the Post

Adding a New Accent Colors to Your Wardrobe? Pantone Colors Autumn/Winter 2022/23

March 16, 2022

"New" colors! Well, we've had this conversation at least a dozen times...

But for those of us who have a pretty good idea of what we're going to wear when the weather warms up (in the Northern Hemisphere, of course!), it's always fun to consider adding a fresh accent color to go with our signature neutrals...

Please note that I (obviously!) can't guarantee that these items will all go well together if you get them into your home. Between the variations in the colors of the items themselves, coupled with the variations in the rendition of color inherent in computers, all sorts of issues are possible! But we do the best we can...

First up - I would wear this color more in the autumn or winter than in summer, ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #52: A Dress

March 14, 2022

The LAST WEEK of the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe! I trust by now that none of us own all 52 garments, but that we've at least considered them and made intelligent decisions about what will and won't work for us...

I was - in theory - going to look at winter dresses today, but there aren't really a ton of nice ones still in the stores or online; fashion favors the advance shopper! So I just picked out a half-dozen dresses that I like, and thought about how I might wear them.

First up - for something very dressy:

I considered a necklace for this dress but I felt like the floral print was such a statement that leaving the area around your face mostly bare would bring attention to you - which is the point of ... View the Post

Accessories “Families” based on Pantone’s Spring 2022 colors

January 12, 2022

It's time to look at some "new" colors. (Yes, I never cease to be amazed by the hubris of calling a color "new"...)

But the announcement of these colors does give us a chance to think about what accent colors we prefer, and what we might want to consider. During these VERY short days (in the Northern Hemisphere!), which are very VERY cold, something to brighten up your wardrobe routine isn't crazy...

Please note, when you're shopping for socks, make absolutely sure that you're ordering what you have in mind - some socks are NOT meant to be worn with shoes! They're for lounging, or sleeping, or maybe worn under heavy boots. Trying to get a pair of those into a trim little loafer is going to be disappointing... ... View the Post

September 2021 – Six Scarves, 12 Months, 12 Outfits

September 6, 2021

yes, there's no Weekly Timeless Wardrobe this week; of course the schedule got tossed in the bin when my back started acting up! But this doesn't work out badly - the 13 weeks of Autumn clothing will nicely align with the dates that feel like Autumn to me...

When I looked at these wardrobes and pondered what I might want to add at this point, I was (as always!) drawn to a nice neutral sweater, something to wear under it sometimes, and a skirt. Of course, you can swap out the skirt for pants, the shirt for a tee shirt or lightweight layering turtleneck, and the v-neck sweater for crewneck, or cardigan, or whatever is best for you!

But I'm pretty thrilled with my finds for some of these ... View the Post

Accessories for 2 Spring Weekly Timeless Wardrobes – beige & rust, beige & green

June 23, 2021

As much as I loved these wardrobes, THIS is where the fun starts! Even accessories as simple as earrings and sandals can make SO much difference...

Remember this wardrobe?

We need accessories for this, but I don't want to just jump into things willy-nilly! This isn't a definitive list for every woman alive, but it's a nice start for our purposes:

With this very general guideline in place, I've assembled 4 outfits from this wardrobe, and put accessories with each of them. Of course, I didn't really stick to the shoe suggestions...

I know some of you can't imagine wearing a cardigan AND a scarf right now, but today in Chicago it's going to top out at 70 degree Fahrenheit, so indoors it ... View the Post

Accessory Accent Colors – Pantone Fall 2021/22

May 14, 2021

Just when it feels as if we're NEVER going to wear warm weather clothes, and when all of my things start to look... too familiar... some new colors (ahem...) are introduced! Some fresh accessories could brighten up our cold-weather clothes as they finish their run, or could be all you need for warmer weather!

yes, there are THREE shades of blue in these 10 colors - I used these sandals more than once, because frankly I really like them! They look comfortable...

Great happiness - if you look good in yellow, GO FOR IT! The rest of us like it but don't wear it to our best effect...

I love this next color - with navy it would be glorious, but against white, in hot weather, it would be great fun...

yes, ... View the Post