The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Rescuing Forgotten Garments: A Leaf-Print Skirt

May 27, 2020

It wasn't a sad email, but it definitely was a cry for help! She loves the skirt, but so far has only worn it with a white tee shirt or white tank top. She owns lots of other clothes, so there MUST be more possibilities...

Note that this skirt does NOT have a bunch of gathers at the waist - thus untucked tops will not look awkward when they extend below the waist. Of such small details is a versatile garment made!

So, as I've done before, I tried to think of how this skirt could be worn each of the next 4 months, in 2 different ways.

First, for June, a pretty blouse is 1 option, or a linen tee shirt. I'm still smitten with these ruffled espadrilles; espadrilles aren't always terribly pretty, but a ruffle seems ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder

May 20, 2020

Oh, we haven't heard from this heroine for a while... Remember her when she first visited a college campus for some lectures (and brought the house down!), then she took some students to The Cloisters, outside of New York.

She's been working off and on in Paris, since the fire at Notre Dame. Now, of course, she's working from home. But her intricately braided white hair remains flawless (how DOES she get it cut?) and her nail polish and lipstick are still works of art that defy normal wear and tear...

This is her inspiration:

Her color palette is firmly in mind any time she shops - this is not a woman often given to wardrobe impulse! Someone once remarked that red and green seemed "Christmassy" to them - ... View the Post

Rescuing Forgotten Accessories: The Botanical Blossoms Scarf

May 12, 2020

Another heroine decided to dig into her accessories and unearth an under-appreciated beauty!

She knew that, when she bought it, she was thinking of bright, cheerful warm days, when she wanted to be as vivid and happy as the flowers...

So she decided that she would wear this scarf twice a month until the end of the summer. Maybe it would just be tied to the handle of her handbag, or worn in her hair, but she wanted to start using and enjoying it!

It might be warm enough to wear sleeveless tops, if she has her cardigan close at hand:

One would hope that by June, she will be able to wear shorts! At any rate, that's her plan:

By July, she plans to wear dresses fairly often. (yes, she discovered how ... View the Post

Start with Art: Yellow Calla by Georgia O’Keeffe

May 6, 2020 The Need for Zest... She's doing fine, really. But she does acknowledge that only being able to go outdoors every few days, in a mask, hurrying to get errands completely and back to the safety of her home, has caused her to feel... muted.

Not that she doesn't love her grey and white core wardrobe! But the need for a bit of zing, a touch of excitement, or the jolt of an unexpected color, is beginning to be felt in her heart.

So when she saw this, she was smitten!

It wasn't too difficult to distill her spring and summer color palette from this gorgeous painting:

She's going to indulge for warm weather, this year. She still has to be on a camera conference call at least once a week, and she often has to stand ... View the Post

Start with Art: Building a Travel Capsule Wardrobe from Rising Green by Lee Krasner

April 7, 2020

She's feeling... exuberant...

Now that she's free to travel again, she's going to do things differently. She's had so much time to plan, and she's going to be so much more organized!

This is her color palette:

She's not going to be reckless - she's still wearing her compression socks, and waterproof loafers. But she's finally going to start wearing the scarves that have been living in a dresser drawer for ages...

Before, she would NEVER have considered packing pants that were lighter than dark navy. She wouldn't have consigned lovely scarves to a suitcase, nor would she have traveled with cashmere sweaters.

Now, she realizes that life is for living, and the things that we own are for using ... View the Post

Start with Art: Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe based on Arara Azul by Victoria Ragna

March 26, 2020

This is a LOT like yesterday's post, I admit. Not because I'm inherently lazy (although I could be, given the right circumstances...) but more because someone asked yesterday about wearing accents of teal, aqua and soft blue with navy. I HAD to show how well many of these garments work just as well with a slightly different neutral.

(yes, grey would be lovely...)

This is very much the same color palette as yesterday, except the shift away from black...

After a LONG summer... They're free to travel again! She's been planning for months for this trip...

What kept her sane through the summer was the ability to go outdoors and watch the birds. It had never been a hobby before; they had had a bird feeder ... View the Post

How to Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet – March 2020

March 18, 2020

Calm, subtle, with just a touch of vivid red!

She's Been Brave for Months... And now that she's free to travel again, she's just going to sit... She's going to go to her favorite city, go to an outdoor table at a café, order coffee, and watch the world go back to work...

I'm not usually a fan of logo scarves, but this one is so subtle that I'm including it...

She's going to travel during the week so that she can see the city come back to life; she's going to dine out, and pour her modest travel budget back into the economy!

She doesn't want to be terribly conspicuous, and she's not concerned about getting wildly dressed up...

Oh bother, I forgot to include 1 of the scarves!

She's been a ... View the Post

Accent a Navy and Stone wardrobe with Ultramarine Green & Samba

February 19, 2020

I thought that I'd try something slightly different with these most recent Pantone colors; start with a "2-Neutral" wardrobe base, and then add in 2 of the accent colors to pull together a 4 by 4 Wardrobe...

My theory (correct me if I'm wrong!) is that most of us have 2 neutrals in our wardrobes, and would like to have more than 1 accent color.

The only hesitation I have here is that there's no light neutral tee shirt or top; I'd be tempted to toss in a simple white tee and white button-front shirt into this wardrobe too!

Let's see how this works...

First up, the accent pieces in Samba:

A different heroine might want a red dress - why not? But this heroine is working now 3 days a week in an office ... View the Post

How to Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet – February

February 7, 2020

THIS is just perfect; what a great way to bring some cheer into your day, and some Mardi Gras spirit to your outfit throughout the year:

I was sorely tempted to dress our heroine in creamy silk with bright accents, but alas, creamy silk is not yet available from anybody I could see...

But there are ALWAYS options, if we think long and hard enough!

She Thought She Was Going to Mardi Gras for her vacation. But just a few days before she was to leave, the head of the Engineering Department told the Sales Manager that SHE should go to their biggest client for the launch of a number of system modifications. After all, she designed all of the carbon-neutral adaptations for the client operations - who better to ... View the Post

Start with Art: Flowers and Flames by Kay Nielsen

January 22, 2020

You'll notice that this heroine is packing many of the same garments as the heroine from last Wednesday! It's amazing how much difference changing up some accent colors - and the accessories that bring everything together - can make a wardrobe look completely different... It Calls to Her...

She's been working for years on a species of eucalyptus that won't catch fire quite as easily as the existing plants. It's suddenly a timely subject... And she's been invited to a conference about post-wildfire reclamation, at which her new plants will be a subject of conversation.

Since she's only going for a couple of days, she's packing according to the Perfect 10 Packing template:

Normally, this heroine is pretty ... View the Post

Start with Art: The Sunshade by William John Leech, and Working with Accent Colors

November 6, 2019

She loves this painting...

And so she decides that when she goes on vacation this autumn, she will use this painting as the inspiration for her accent colors! Her core wardrobe is navy and white...

She knows that she could travel with just these pieces and do just fine; she might want a couple more shirts (although she remembers that she could certainly wear her crewneck sweater without something underneath it, for more options...)

But she sticks to her heart, and starts to search for green. She decides that she doesn't needs to wear her green tops together, which gives her quite a bit more freedom than if she were going to try to get 2 matching garments! (2 green pieces at once feels, to her, like a ... View the Post

September Start with a Bracelet: Thoughtful Lynx by Fierce Lynx Designs

September 27, 2019

Oooh....

Who needs lots of colors, when you have THESE????

The Manuscript Will be Available... For just a few days... She's going to be there lecturing for a week; it could NOT have been better timing!

She plans what she will pack - she knows that once she's there, she won't want to think about clothes, so she's making it pretty much foolproof.

Days in the Manuscript Conservation Room will be casual, completely with white gloves! And the lectures will be a little bit more dressy; she's quite certain that some professors there will sit in...

Since navy is her neutral, she knows that she wants to start here:

Since she's finally going to unlock the secrets hidden in that most elusive ... View the Post