Four by Four Archives - Page 10 of 12

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Saffron, Ivory, Navy and Brown

September 2, 2014

We've spent a lot of time considering the many charms of navy, but nothing quite compares to the new look that we get when we introduce a bright orangish-gold color into the mix! The beauty of these bright accents is that you still have the option to dress is a neutral, monochromatic way, when you wish to, but you also have the ability to break out some statement accents when you want to stand out in a crowd. I was amazed at how beautiful this is... I think what we can all learn from this capsule wardrobe is that you should be faithful to your accent color of choice, no matter how rarely it appears in the garment world. If you truly (TRULY!) are drawn to a particular color, be loyal to your instincts ... View the Post

Adding a “Pantone” Accent Color to a 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe: Mauve Mist

August 30, 2014

What do you do with a Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe if you want to dabble in a currently trendy accent color? This has been asked a couple of times in the last few days, and I think it's a pretty important thing to think about; we all know that stores will show colors WAAAAAY outside of our plan...

This applies to those of us will well-established Four by Four Wardrobes, and for any of us who are still considering what to use for accent colors. If you have a wardrobe that includes a LOT of your neutrals, sampling a seasonal neutral is a good way to give yourself some variety without breaking the bank.

I actually put together a little (relatively) document that shows all ten of this seasons "new" colors, ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Smoky Blue, Pearl Grey, Navy and Grey

August 27, 2014 The same core of navy and grey looks a LOT different when the accent colors are soft and subtle!

I think this demonstrates that you can invest in a core of neutral colors, and then, as your preferences and tastes (and personal coloring...) change, you can shift into a different "feel" of accent colors, without having to completely redo your wardrobe.

I changed out a couple of these tops, in order to soften up some of the more crisp colors and graphics of earlier wardrobes.

Realistically, if you've chosen pearl grey as one of your accents, you've opened the lovely door to all shades of grey in your wardrobe. Grey is a great color ... View the Post

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe in Bright Blue, Ultra-Violet, Navy and Grey

August 26, 2014

This capsule wardrobe is a perfect case study in having to be really patient in the search for the accent colors! While navy and grey are pretty readily available, these particular beautiful, vivid shades of blue and violet were quite difficult to find! But that's okay - you've lived this far into your life with your current wardrobe, and even if you only have the navy and grey pieces of this wardrobe for quite a while, you've got plenty of options. If you settle for something that's close, but not exactly right, then you won't love your new clothes any more than you love your existing wardrobe, and that accomplishes nothing for anybody except the retailers!Here's our color ... View the Post

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe in Apricot, Celadon, Navy and Brown

August 25, 2014

Sunday morning, I built a spreadsheet to analyze all of the color combinations that you've requested, and it turns out that navy is the most requested color (followed closely by brown and medium grey). So I'm going to persevere with the various ways to use navy as a capsule wardrobe base - are you more interested in seeing dressy/conservative office attire, business casual (which to me feels like an oxymoron, even though I lived with it for decades), or casual/weekend? Or shall I mix it up? Let me know...

First up today is this excellent color combination:

The familiar brown core:

And the navy Core of Four. Don't forget that these four items, all on their own, give you ... View the Post

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe in Berry, Beige, Navy and Brown

August 22, 2014 I was going to save this post for during my Paris vacation (September 18 - 28!!!), but I really like it, and I think it shows two great accent colors that many of us could consider incorporating (at least in small doses) in our capsule wardrobes. The fact that the berry red is going to be pretty flattering for many people is worth remembering...

The same starting four in brown, with a really brown skirt...

And navy separates that look familiar too!

And these guys have been around too...I think the most amazing thing about the clothing from The Row - aside from their prices - is that they're designed by the Olsen twins. From Full House. I don't see that they have any fashion ... View the Post

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe in Mint Green, Grey, Denim and Brown

August 21, 2014

I've decided to change up the order of the colors in the titles, so that when we scan through a large number of them, the accent colors will be better emphasized. They are, theoretically, where the fun it! So one of you (you know who you are, you scamp!) fell in love with a deeply INAPPROPRIATE scarf:

I would do hideously inappropriate things for this scarf in grey and pink, so I understand...

So this lovely scamp had pretty much committed to a color scheme with two neutrals of denim blue (not necessarily denim FABRIC, but that blue), and brown. Her first accent color was planned to be grey, and she had not settled on a 2nd accent. I proposed this color scheme to ... View the Post

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe in Navy, Brown, Green and Beige

August 20, 2014 While these are the same neutral colors that we saw yesterday, these accent colors are much more subdued and much more frequently seen along with the neutrals. Therefore, this capsule wardrobe came together much more quickly and with greater ease.

This was my color scheme:

And this is our familiar brown Core of Four:

I've changed up the jeans for a skirt, since I'm going to swing this wardrobe a little bit more toward a work environment. If you don't need skirts, you could certainly keep the jeans.

I found ONE more sweater in this color combination - equally blindingly expensive... And I opted for a more tailored ... View the Post

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe STRUGGLE in Brown, Navy, Leaf Green and Bright Pink

August 19, 2014

I know from my emails that some of you who are working on Four by Four capsule wardrobes are running into some challenges, and so today I'm sharing with you the hardest wardrobe (so far) that I've done. As we get to each step of the process, I'll tell you what (hair pulling) issues I encountered, and what my adjustments and accommodations to the normal process were.First up, let's console ourselves with the final product:

The more I look at these four, the more I like them...

And these are quite nice too - although the blouse is silk, it's a quite casual style. Thus far, eight really good, classic, timeless items.

But let's be serious - I had NO IDEA that finding ... View the Post

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe in Brown, Grey, Green and Gold

August 16, 2014

One last visit to these four grey garments - this time, a entirely different color scheme!

Making grey work with otherwise warm colors isn't difficult if you keep a few simple things in mind. In order to make everything hang together here, I made sure that the accessories mixed cool and warm. For example, the brown linen bracelet has silver beads, the smoky quartz earrings are set in sterling, rather than the most obvious gold, the brown leather band is on a stainless steel watch - even the grey boots have brown heels!

These little touches make a lot of difference to the way things look to me...

Today, let's start with the colors:

Starting with the brown ... View the Post

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

August 15, 2014

The same grey clothes are going to get a bit more mileage - this time, combined with denim, and softest shades of pink and a kind of lavender-ish rose. When I built this color scheme, my thinking was that when the accent colors are so closet together and have so much the similar feeling and mood, that it sort of gives you the freedom to use any color within that entire family.First up, the finished capsule wardrobe:

This is the color scheme, with that absolutely annoying grey that will NOT show up well once it's transferred into a PDF. Sheesh....

When using denim as one of your neutrals, it's can be helpful if some of the denim has some texture or pattern, so that ... View the Post

A Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe in Black, Grey, Camel and Cream

August 14, 2014

Yesterday, someone asked if it was possible to change the colors in the Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe.

Well, yes, I plan to show a whole BUNCH of these so that we can see some of the color schemes from The Vivienne Files Color Planner in action. (that's why I asked which combinations are your favorites; so I can work specifically with them)

All of yesterday's grey garments are still here, but the other three colors have been switched. If I were building this wardrobe for myself, I would ABSOLUTELY buy the scarf first and then very gradually build around it. This is a scarf that would be an ideal long-term focal object for all purchases; the colors and the design are just that perfect!

This is the capsule ... View the Post