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Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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A Capsule Wardrobe in Navy, Hot Pink and Ivory: from Travel Wardrobe to Four by Four Wardrobe

August 5, 2016     Yesterday's capsule wardrobe really felt like it would be interesting to expand, didn't it? So let's plunge in and see what we can learn from the process!  

This is the entire travel capsule wardrobe - the travel outfit and the Six-Pack:

cardigan – Yumi; tees – Lands’ End; watch – Bulova; bracelet – Panacea;  earrings – Marc Jacobs; ring – Maiko Nagayama; earrings – Kate Spade;  necklace – Alexis Bittar; Nail polish – JINsoon; lip stain – Yves Saint Laurent, in Explicit Pink;  wrap – Nordstrom; linen shirt – Uniqlo; square scarf – Irene Paris;  small scarf – T.M.Lewin; cardigan – Vince; jeans – Armani Jeans; cords – Marni; skirt – Uniqlo; tote – London ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Mariana by John Everett Millais

August 2, 2016  

 

  Deceptive But not in any damaging way; she doesn't meant to mislead anyone...

But in her heart, she longs for castles, and brocade hangings on stone walls...

  In reality, her life is casual. Relaxed. No need for ANY dress - certainly not a fluid, draped, swinging and swaying swath of velvet in a rich, luscious color... But she keeps these feelings in mind when she's shopping: rich colors, intricate prints, and indulgent details and trims.

  The boldest thing she might do is mix a pair of deep, saturated colors. She does dare to wear a velvet hoodie, as well as one in cashmere. They are small rebellions, but essential for her well-being.

  Her jewelry ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe 1 Piece at a Time: Brown, Khaki and Pink

July 22, 2016 No More "Dress For Success" Every day, every year, the same....

Navy suit, white shirt. Grey suit, white shirt. Navy grey white navy grey white....

It served her well - she was very successful. She worked 7 days a week; she really didn't have a leisure life - her idea of being dressed down was to wear an old work shirt with old pants from a pantsuit. Jeans? Not in her vocabulary. A cardigan? Would get you a visit from the chairman of the firm...

But now that she was leaving the office world, her heart cried out for brown. The color of dirt. The color of chocolate. And khaki - sand, and stones, and natural things....

And PINK. Because she would never have dared to wear pink in her old, very conservative, work ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Black and Beige: 1 Piece at a Time

July 18, 2016  

It seems that there are some among us who are struggling to pull together what they want to pack. This isn't particularly surprising - travel is stressful enough, and the unknown factors of weather and activities can throw almost anyone into a small panic. So I'm going to approach the "1 Piece at a Time" idea with the thought that we're packing a suitcase, rather than assembling a capsule wardrobe.

Let's assume that you know what you want to wear for traveling - you've got a gloriously beautiful cardigan that MUST go with you:

  Based on this outfit, it will be really easy to work with a core of black neutrals, and then add in some beige, too. There's enough white in the cardigan to make white ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories 1 at a Time: Shades of Beige and Brown

May 23, 2016  

These subtle colors in this capsule wardrobe really appeal to me...Remember, this was our first outfit, to which one MUST add some shoes. Unless you live somewhere that doesn't require shoes?

  Tee – Uniqlo; pants – Uniqlo; cardigan – L.L. Bean; top shoes – Tamaris; middle shoes – Seychelles; bottom shoes – Robert Zur  

 

And simple earrings! I particularly like that bottom pair because they're simple, but they aren't...

 

Tank - Uniqlo; pants – Uniqlo; cardigan – L.L. Bean; top earrings – Uno de 50; middle earrings – Lauren Ralph Lauren; bottom earrings –Alexis Bittar  

There weren't hundreds of scarves in this very subtle color scheme, ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe 1 Piece at a Time: Beige and Brown, for Leisure

May 21, 2016  

You wanted to see a leisure capsule wardrobe in warm colors? Here it is....I found that I could stick exclusively to shades of brown, tan, and cream and put together a really nice, workable capsule wardrobe. The accessories (which will be here on Monday!) are going to have a big impact on this very subtle collection.

I started with a simple beige column (although the tee shirt has a bit of a stripe) and found a cardigan that contained all of the shades that I wanted to consider:

Tee – Uniqlo; pants – Uniqlo; cardigan – L.L. Bean  

The gold is included here as a very clear hint about accessories:

 

Tee – Uniqlo; pants – Uniqlo; cardigan – L.L. Bean  

With warm weather coming ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Around An Art Jacket: 1 Piece at a Time

May 10, 2016  

Because one of you asked for my help with something, I'm breaking a long-standing rule here at The Vivienne Files... Normally, I only show garments that don't include a model; I find that I'd rather see what the clothes look like, without being pinned and taped and yanked around to suit the model. But in this case, the jacket was key...The request was for a travel capsule wardrobe for a 2 month work trip, over a number of climates, and built around this jacket:

Tee – Lands’ End; pants – L.L.Bean; jacket - Babette  

This is a wardrobe that will really come into its own with accessories, I'm sure you can see. But I felt that it was important to start with a very neutral base. It gives us this color ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Olive, Tomato and Mustard: 1 Piece at a Time

May 4, 2016  

It's been quite a while since I've done any capsule wardrobes using the "1 Piece at a Time" scheme, and it seems to me that this is a great time of year to get back to this. If my experiences are any indication, some of you might still be stuck wearing warm-ish clothing, but thinking daily about how you're going to gradually evolve your closet when (if?) the weather gets warmer...So let's start with this - a cheery tee shirt, neutral pants in an already summer-weight fabric, and a linen cardigan. Although this outfit would be reasonably comfortable on a cool day (with a pair of socks - maybe bright yellow ones?), it's also composed of good building blocks for moving into warmer weather. And while beige or brown ... View the Post

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

April 18, 2016  

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  

Cardigan – J. Crew; pants – Boden; tee – J. Crew; skirt - A.P.C.  

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

 

Cardigan – Stella McCartney; jeans – L.L.Bean; tee – L.L.Bean; denim skirt – A.P.C.  

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

 

Blue top – Part Two; ivory shimmer tee – Mint Velvet; soft teal tee – L. L. Bean; salmon sweater – Odeeh  

And yes, she owns a cat!

Tie dye tee – ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe in Turquoise, Coral, Black, and Grey: 1 Piece at a Time

April 7, 2016

What beautiful summer colors, and what exciting accessory possibilities!

Coral was a specific request...

  Normally, I would build solid columns and suits, but just to show you a different way to go about building a wardrobe, I'm adding an accent tee shirt first. This can be a wonderful idea if you're still "on the fence" about a color scheme; if you buy an accent piece and find that you don't reach for it every couple of days, it might mean that you need to rethink your choice of colors.

  Okay, NOW we're putting together the black suit. These kinds of monochromatic outfits really come into their own when the accessories show up!

  Since we're fast moving into summer, I thought ... View the Post

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

March 24, 2016  

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 ... View the Post

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

March 23, 2016  

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:

shirt – Uniqlo; sweatshirt – H&M;  jeans – L.L.Bean; scarf – Hinge  

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, ... View the Post