my wardrobe Archives

Living Without Shopping – 1 Month Completed!

On New Year's Eve, I made the brave commitment to not purchase any clothing during 2019! My plan for managing this is to have 4 5-piece clusters each month from which I will get dressed. Because I spent so much of January in Florida, my normal wardrobe didn't really apply (when I'm there, I wear a lot of gym clothes, and just the occasional "normal" outfit...) and so I only put together 2 clusters for January.

But now, moving into February, I'm going with the original plan. Four clusters, 20 pieces of clothing. From this, I'm going to pack for 10 days in Ireland!

Two of these clusters should look pretty familiar:

This last cluster is for getting dressed up - we won't be in Chicago for Valentine's ... View the Post

Shopping for Paris! Thanks to Talbots…

Yep - a sponsored post! It's always a fun occasion to sit down and browse through the Talbot's site, mentally trying on different pieces and pondering how I'd wear them, and how they might work with my existing wardrobe...

And since I think I'm FINALLY going to make it to Paris in May, I thought that choosing some things with that trip in mind might be a way to add to the anticipation that's already almost out of control. (for those of you who haven't heard, I had to cancel a trip to Paris in December because of a fibromyalgia "interlude," and then ANOTHER attempt to go in February was rendered completely impossible by the worst flu I've ever had...)

Talbot's asked that I specifically look at their RSVP selections - garments for special ... View the Post

What I Wore, What I Packed, and What I Bought in Dublin

Packing for unpredictable weather is always tricky... And since it's been snowing CATASTROPHICALLY in Ireland, off and on for the last few weeks, this trip was really a challenge!

But I managed to cobble things together well enough - hallelujah! Of course, knowing that I would have my coat on most of the time makes things much easier.

2 things were really issues, the expected cold weather, and the unexpected moving out of the AirBNB into a hotel. I packed relatively lightly (for 10 days) because we were counting on doing laundry pretty regularly during our stay. Belovedest ran TWO Parkrun 5K's when we were there, so there were gym clothes in need of care...

So, theoretically, I would have been okay with just the clothes on my back when ... View the Post

Paris Packing – A Parka, and Lots of Stripes

You might remember that I was supposed to go to Paris back in December, when a sudden fibromyalgia "interlude" caused me to cancel; I was literally IN THE BAGGAGE CLAIM AREA OF THE AIRPORT when I realized that I wasn't strong enough to make it up the escalator to check in, let alone fly all the way to Paris...

But this is better because (a) Belovedest is going with me! and (b) we'll be there for Valentine's Day! Sweet, eh?

As much as it's fun to be in Paris for a romantic holiday, we have to bear in mind that the weather will be cold, and quite wet - and as much as I'd love to travel without a big heavy coat, it might be plain stupid to try to get by without it - nothing is more miserable than being cold every day. So this wardrobe is ... View the Post

How Many Pieces of Clothing Do You Need? A New Year’s Thought…

Could you fit your entire wardrobe for the current season in this armoire?

I could fit things in terms of physical volume, but I'd struggle with how to hang my dresses - how DO women who only have armoires hang long garments?

A couple of years ago I wrote a lengthy post with an equation to help calculate an actual number of garments that would be in your ideal wardrobe - you had to answer a few questions, and then do a calculation (or you can buy the Excel document I built that does the math for you!). It's a question that doesn't grow old... Unless you have a terribly limited wardrobe, it's something that merits repeated analysis, so that we don't wander into old patterns of over-consumption. Wasting money is almost as bad as wasting ... View the Post

If You Could Design Your Own Shoes…

Although most of us are always going to buy what's "on the rack," I think that it's important that we let ourselves dream of what our "perfect" item would be... This is something that I learn from hanging out with people who sew - they can come closer than most people to making their sartorial dreams come true, and thus they have to be pretty focused about what they want, or they're quickly overwhelmed with options!

You might remember that Hanig's Footwear gave me the opportunity to have a pair of shoes made to my specifications - well, I had to use an existing Thierry Rabotin design, but I could then combine leathers (from a range of hundreds of colors and textures!) any way that I wanted!

I was, frankly, a little bit nervous when I went ... View the Post

Can You Really Travel with Only SIX Pieces of Clothing? I’m Going to Find Out…

Yes, I am going back to Paris on Tuesday...

It's a combination of a free plane ticket, a really inexpensive hotel (I'll tell you all about that when I'm back!) and a bone-deep yearning to see holiday decorations in another country.

But more than anything, I'm really eager to see how completely... unfettered? light? I can feel while traveling. Normally, there's the suitcase and the carry-on, and maybe a handbag, and while I know that this is necessary, I don't feel relaxed when I have these things to corral and transport. I want to be focused on external things - other people, mostly, and be able to put my own "stuff" out of my mind.

This isn't impossible - one could, in theory, go almost any place that has similar weather with just the ... View the Post

Does Your Handbag Reflect Your Life?

I just got back from a quick trip to Florida, which I didn't mention to you ahead of time because we were trying (and failing!) to surprise a family member! Oh well, we still had a smashing good time, with an early Thanksgiving dinner thrown in for fun...

So this is a pretty brief post, about a photograph that I've been thinking of for months. I saw this when I saw the Irving Penn exhibition last spring in New York:

I love pretty much everything about this, but I'm particularly smitten with the overall beauty and quality of everything this mythical heroine is carrying - an elegant pocket watch, a wee gold pen, a whistle to summon a cab (!!!) etc. There's so much possible back-story here that I've spent more than an hour or two pondering ... View the Post

My Autumn and Winter Essentials

Yes, I wear almost only black and white... especially in cold weather, when I can use some pattern and texture to add a bit of interest to my outfits. But frankly, once I'm sure that I'm appropriately and comfortably dressed, I don't look to my clothes for any sort of entertainment - the idea of being bored with what I'm wearing just doesn't compute for me.

I'm updating the "Shopping The Vivienne Files" page that shows where you can get a better look at (and purchase) some of these goodies. I think that this is an interesting way to approach the French 5-Piece Wardrobe, too, although it certainly won't be for everyone!

First, the things that I wear consistently, and that I would replace immediately in case of a disaster:

I've been ... View the Post

A Giveaway for You! #becauseimalady Promotion at Talbots…

Another promoted post. Talbots gave me some stuff, and some things for you too!

Talbots was always the "go to" store for ladylike clothes... I remember when Belovedest and I moved back from Ireland, and I was wearing the smallest clothing size I've worn since high school, and I really NEEDED a "kick butt and take names" suit - I went to Talbots. When I worked in an office, the family gift cards were ALWAYS for Talbots...

I have to admit, though, that I've always had reservations about the term "lady." I always felt that it meant older, and more retiring, and genteel in a way that might mean being a doormat. The idea of manners and good breeding and appropriate conduct appealed, though... I was conflicted.

Which is why I'm happy to ... View the Post

Planning Your Complete Wardrobe – Maybe I Should Start with the Real World?

I have absolutely NOT forgotten about my desire to figure out a way to have an overall wardrobe plan - something that I think we first discussed back in July?

Theories were posited that one could choose a specific number of each category of each garment, and a certain number of pieces for each season, etc. etc. But it all felt.... forced.

So I'm going back to reality - what is currently in my closet? What have I worn in the last month or so? Maybe I should start with what I actually OWN AND WEAR, and then see if I can make sense of that...

For now, I'm sticking with a target number of 52 - i.e. one piece per week, or 13 per quarter. So right now, I isolated in my closet the last 26 pieces of "non-gym" clothing that I've worn or ... View the Post

Shopping, Eating, and just Looking Around in Paris, October 2017

One of the interesting things about having fibromyalgia is that I've started to ignore pain. Some days, if I'm going to get anything done, I have to just "man up" and get on with things. (is there such a phrase as "woman up?" I've been known to say that I'm going to "babe up" from time to time...)

However, ignoring pain can get you into a spot of bother. Like when you get back to your apartment and find that one of your socks is full of blood, and that a few of your toes have magically turned into steak tartare...

Third day in Paris, we're donating 2 pairs of shoes, and going shoe shopping! Lucky for me, there's an Arche store just around the corner from where we stayed, and they proved to be exactly what the podiatrist ... View the Post