The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Home » my wardrobe » Page 10

my wardrobe Archives - Page 10 of 11

How I wear a scarf

After I slipped off my scarf last night, I threw it down on the bed and photographed it.  This is the way I wear a scarf about 90% of the time...

Very simple:

bias fold tie a knot about 8 inches up from one of the ends of the scarf.  You can move the knot up or down depending on how you'd like to wear the scarf pull the loose end of the scarf through the knot look at the scarf and decide which side looks better to the front slip over your head, and go

Just toss it on and wear it.  This isn't rocket science, nor origami - it's just a lovely piece of silk you're using as a surrogate piece of jewelry.  Don't over-analyze the tying process. ... View the Post

New jobs, the shopping fast, and Capsule Wardrobe Project 333

So the new work environment is "business casual", with jeans on Friday.  Piece of cake...In honor of the Project 333 crew, but NOT in strict adherence with their guidelines, I've whittled down my wardrobe to the following 33 garments, which will be all that I wear for the months of June, July, and August.

Unlike Project 333, I'm going completely, wildly unlimited with accessories...

Outfit updates will follow!

 

 

 

  ... View the Post

A dilemma, and a wardrobe math solution

So I've not done the best of jobs in cleaning out my wardrobe, and I think I finally understand what's holding me back.  Somewhere in my heart I hold onto the hope (delusion?) that I'm going to get an office job again some day, and that I therefore won't be wearing an apron non-stop.  Therefore, I think I have to hold onto ALL of my office-worthy business clothes...In order to get past this, I've tried to approach the problem the way Vivienne would.  Basically, what are the available options I have RIGHT NOW, just with the clothes that I've decided to keep in my wardrobe up to this point?

If you remember, I'm at the 32 garment point in my plan:

 

  And from these garments I've decided that the following, ... View the Post

my wardrobe: some pattern & texture with my black

These are the eight winter garments that I've chosen to keep, which I wear in order to leverage the all-black core items already chosen to survive the wardrobe purge  (you didn't really think that I wear unrelieved black every day, did you?)

First I show my additions to my edited wardrobe, and then below, I show all of the items that have been specifically chosen (so far) to stay, through the first four stages of the curating and distilling process.

Yes, I really love argyle...

  ... View the Post

Imaginary shopping: a wee “pick-me-up”, in pink

My last springtime adventure in imaginary shopping is the "how to experiment with a fashion color" question.  I'm totally smitten with this striped top, and my desire for it would be sufficient to convince me to introduce pink into my wardrobe for six months or a year - however long the top lasts.   Here is a case in which I would NOT spend a lot of money on jewelry, and I would buy a decent pair of shoes or sandals, but not a long-term investment pair.  This small shopping spree is designed to brighten up my wardrobe for spring, indulge in a garment which I love, and participate in the "brightly colored pants" trend, without breaking the bank.  

Tee shirt – J. Crew, cropped pants – Diane von Furstenberg, pink ... View the Post

Imaginary shopping: basics, in blue

  Today, I've scaled back my purchases a little bit, and chosen to "buy" a more trendy color - cobalt blue.  I loved cobalt when we all wore it back in the 80's, and am happy to see it back again.  But I'm not willing to make quite such a major investment in blue as I was willing to consider yesterday in my imaginary red extravaganza...   So I would look to purchase the following:

Cardigan – J. Crew, tee shirt – DKNY, pants – Piazza Sempione, skirt – Diane von Furstenberg, scarf – Givenchy for Liberty of London, lapis earrings – Astley Clarke, lapis & onyx bracelet - Nordstrom     Based on the idea that I want to leverage these core wardrobe items:

 And this is how I would wear my new ... View the Post

Imaginary shopping: extravagantly red

I'm not shopping these days, but I do LOOK at lots of things (as you well know!).  So I decided to do some imaginary shopping; sort of walking through the process of what I would do IF I were in a shopping phase of my life.     First up:  What basics do I already have in my wardrobe that I wear a lot, and want to use as a basis for leveraging my purchases?  

Now, what do I want?  I've chosen to splurge on red this shopping spree.  It's an on-trend bright color, but it's dead classic, and never goes out of style.  It's a color I wear well, I already have a couple of beautiful scarves with a lot of red in them, and it mixes brilliantly with black.  

So... a cardigan and a tee shirt (sort ... View the Post

The shopping fast: Month 7

It's amazing how much wearing a uniform for work can change the way you look at getting dressed in the morning!  Most days, by biggest concern is getting my tie tied correctly, or seeing if I can finagle being allowed to wear a hairnet rather than a visor or ball cap.  Oddly enough, the hairnet is cooler, and doesn't interfere with my peripheral vision as much.  Plus, I sell more because I get that little old lady sympathy purchase...  

But I did dress up a few times - working the pink and grey combo a lot this month...

 

On St. Patrick's Day, in honor of the last day of the 6 Nations Rugby tournament, I wore my completely out of character "This is NOT Soccer" tee shirt...

 

  And late in ... View the Post

My Wardrobe: season-less essentials

These next eight garments are things that I wear almost the entire year - maybe not the dog days of August, or the teeth of a bitter blizzard (not that I really remember what that's like), but month in, month out, these clothes never go into storage.And the accessories - same thing.  They are my standby goodies, over and over again.

Both striped tops - L.L.Bean bot tee shirts - Lands' End both dresses - Lands' End both pair of pants - Eddie Bauer

Scarves - Hermes Flacons, and Jardins des Metamorphoses earrings - Cartier Stone necklace - J. Jill pearls - Etsy gold penny loafers - Cole Haan cross-body bag - Osgoode Marley Tote bag - Tumi

If I were to pack the eight solid black garments I chose for my last wardrobe ... View the Post

The shopping fast: Month 6

This month saw a couple of dinners out with friends, and a couple of job interviews which weren't overwhelmingly dressy - the bakery job didn't really require full-on suiting, thank heavens.  So I found that for another month, I had everything that I needed or wanted, and was comfortable, appropriate, and (I hope) attractive for all activities.

I visit catalogchoice.org every week to continue to pare down my temptations which arrive in the mail.  Fewer catalogs = fewer dead trees, less recycling, and less time thumbing through them looking at things I don't need.

 

 

 

  ... View the Post