The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Trojan Gates by Helen Frankenthaler – Start with Art for Tote Bag Travel

January 5, 2018 Le Mot Juste* They never give awards to the translator...

Yes, it had been a particularly difficult project...

And as always, she took great pride in putting in the time and effort necessary to find the perfect word - the one that conveyed not just the meaning, but also... the nuance. The subtlety. The suggestions, and hints, and overtones that were apparent in the original language.

That's just the way she is. Others can settle for what falls to hand quickly and easily, for the "it will do fine" way of working. That's not her style...

(a close look at her travel earrings will show you just HOW much she looks for subtleties...)

She was surprised to be invited to the awards dinner; it's a ... View the Post

Brown with Teal & Cream – Expanding a Successful Travel Wardrobe

December 27, 2017  

Remember when we visited this gorgeous painting?

Our heroine was sent off to visit a corporate service center because of a major client complaint... and this is (an approximation of) what she packed for that trip:

Global Service Director? Well, of COURSE she'll take the position! She's been doing the work for months, so it's about time she was given the title, the office, and the SALARY...

When they called her into the Executive Suite to give her the news, they cited her ability to get along well with people at all levels of the organization, without being abrasive or seeming to be too much "home office-ish."

She attributes at least a tiny bit of her success to her image - warm and ... View the Post

Traveling from Cold to Warm?

She has no explanation, nor does she feel that she needs one. She loves her denim culottes, and she wants to wear them as much as possible...

Thus, she is wearing this when she leaves, from her snowy home:

But she realized that she didn't want to pack very much - she's really only going to be there for 5 days! But how to take her travel outfit and translate it into a travel wardrobe?

How about breaking out the colors, and working around that? She's not really sure about how the final wardrobe proportions will be, so she just assigns each of the 3 colors an equal share of the palette...

First up, what does she do when she lands, and the temperature is in the 70s rather than the 20s? Duck into the restroom, peel off ... View the Post

Can I Use Monet’s Water Lilies as an Inspiration for my Evening Wardrobe?

Shall we do some fantasy shopping?

She wanted to feel like this when she went out in the evenings:

Right after Thanksgiving, she received a couple of invitations, and so she assembled a simple capsule wardrobe to wear to those evenings. She gave herself options from relatively casual to kind of frilly and dressy:

Well... One morning she woke up to an In-Box FULL of invitations... So she looked back to her inspiration, and added four more pieces to her little "evening" wardrobe:

Somehow, she had completely forgotten that she was ALSO going to have to make at least a couple of appearances as the "better half" of her household... She could have been reminded by someone, but NOOOO.....

With 4 pairs of pants in hand, ... View the Post

Will Winter White Dress Up Navy? Let’s See…

November 29, 2017

Winter White (aka cream or ivory) is such a pretty option in cold weather! You of course have to be very cautious about street splashing on your lovely pants, but that's well worth the bright change of pace that this color brings to classic navy (or any other color!).

Two of these pieces are deliberately and obviously dressy, and two are more timelessly classic. Yes, I have an abiding passion for cabled sweaters; in cashmere, in an unexpected color, they can be absolutely lovely!

As I always do, I'm starting with a few classic pieces in navy, and navy with off-white. With just these 9 pieces you could travel long and far...

The cardigan can be pretty "grounded" with paired with a solid navy core, or go ... View the Post

Teal for the Holidays? Three Different Approaches!

November 23, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving in the United States! (well, heck, Happy Thanksgiving to everybody...) I know that I should be plying you with news about "Black Friday" sales, and lots of gifty stuff, but you will get quite enough of that kind of information without The Vivienne Files piling on, right?

So I'm going to respond to the overwhelming demand for teal for the holidays by looking at it with 3 different neutrals partners... Nothing like a bit of excess for today (says the woman who fully intend to have at least 2 desserts, and then work it off tomorrow in the gym...)

First up, three gorgeous teal pieces, paired with a core of black silk:

The blazer is shown with velvet shorts at Nordstrom, if that ... View the Post

Does the “French 5-Piece Wardrobe” Work with Warmer Colors? Start with Art! Composition by Lee Ungno

It's always a question - there are LOTS of good wardrobe ideas that work beautifully with black (and usually with navy and grey), but what if your favorite colors are warmer, and softer?

Let's start here, just for the sake of art. We saw 2 exhibits of this artist when we were in Paris - there was 1 small room in the Centre Pompidou, and then a much larger exhibit in the Musee Cernuschi (which is just outside of the Parc de Monceau, and is well worth the search!).

This just screamed to me across the room - I saw khaki right away, with amazing accents...

So let's think of a starting point that is lovely for a moderate winter - not a place where you get snow, necessarily, but where you see cooler temperatures. You don't worry ... View the Post

Can a More Casual Work Wardrobe have Personality? Start with a Moth…

October 17, 2017

You might think it's just a flying caterpillar, but the colors are so lovely....

Your understanding is that the first interview is going to be most of the day in their offices, and then a break before they take you out to dinner; they want to make sure that you know which fork is which!

It's a kitchen gear company - why would you be interested in their job if you didn't know your salad fork from your dinner fork? Of course you're hired! For the first few days, you're going to have options to dress nicely if there's going to be a meeting, but otherwise the offices seem quite casual...

This is the the tiny wardrobe that you have before your first paycheck arrives - you can get through a week of work ... View the Post

How to Pack a Foolproof Travel Wardrobe, All in Neutrals

May 24, 2017

If you're in Chicago, you of course must go to the Art Institute of Chicago, our very deservedly famous art museum. But when you're there, make sure not to miss the fabric exhibit. It's small, it's in the basement, it changes every few months, and it NEVER disappoints...

Seen there last weekend, included in a really stunning exhibit of batik fabrics:

This fabric is maybe 9 or 10 feet long, and 4 feet wide. It's really kind of breathtaking...

Seeing these neutral colors working so beautifully together, our mythical heroine was able to solve her packing dilemma...

I've got it all arranged...

We'll just go from city to city by train; I've already purchased the train passes....

Well okay, she ... View the Post

How to Pack for a Long Weekend (in Paris?)? Start with Art: Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay

April 28, 2017

 

This painting just makes me sigh...

This color scheme has so many possibilities:

More and more I find that brown leather is a great way to incorporate brown into almost any outfit!

I know that it's possible to just go to Paris for a long weekend (I've done it - it was insane...) if you live much closer than those of us in North America. Imagine that our heroine is going there, to spend some time outdoors - maybe photographing sculptures in the many parks?

I'm assuming that for this trip, she's going to neither climb nor crawl, so she doesn't have to wear absolutely hard-core work clothes. Just a handful (+1) of nice things that will look attractive during the day and not leave her ... View the Post

How to Build an “All-Neutral” Capsule Wardrobe in Ivory and Black

March 22, 2017

 

Someone asked me what this wardrobe would look like with ONLY ivory and black pieces, incorporating prints and patterns as the accents. And someone else asked what I would do if I were choosing how to build on the original 9 Neutral Building Blocks. So I thought I'd incorporate both ideas into one post - a last look at those 9 ivory and black pieces!

First off - these are the pieces that I would add, if I were going to build on the neutrals. It would be really easy to just get seven striped garments! But I always love a good marled sweater, the mitered skirt is a fun way to slim one's hips, and then there's that Keith Haring tee shirt that I like so much...

And just for reference, the original nine ... View the Post

Four Paintings, Four Different Ways to Wear Black and Ivory Neutral Building Blocks

March 21, 2017

Ah, here's where the heroines with the wardrobes from last Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and yesterday all come together, and where we get to see just HOW much a few accent piece can change the look of very simple, neutral pieces of clothing.

First up - all four of these women own the SAME black cashmere cardigan. But once they put it into the mix with their own things, the results are very different:

Someone didn't mention to our last woman (the very avant garde lady) that we were getting dressed up, but I don't honestly think she's the kind of person who would mind...

If these four women were sitting in a restaurant together, I don't think anybody would be inclined to walk up to them and point out that ... View the Post