The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Vacation Report, and a Few Extra Thoughts and Goodies

July 6, 2016  

I'm back! Both back from my vacation, and back from Florida... both were quite lovely. I must admit that I missed blogging A LOT, which didn't surprise me; this is one of the great jobs of all time...Just as a reminder, this is what I packed for my 8 days in Central Florida. At the last minute, my black shirtdress was supplanted by a red linen dress. For the 4th of July weekend, a red dress is never a bad idea!

  I was very happy with what I packed. Unlike what you might see in more "beachy" locations, central Florida is a place where you'll see quite a few people wearing black - head to toe, even! So I didn't stick out too much like a sore thumb.... And my silk shorts are perfect - absolutely perfect. ... View the Post

A Capsule Wardrobe Dilemma, and What I’m Packing for Paris, France

June 24, 2016   So I realized a couple of weeks ago that I wasn't wearing these 2 cardigans NEARLY as often as I felt that I should...  

 

Every time I would pull out one of these sweaters, I just couldn't get an outfit together that really felt right.In a bit of a funk, I went back to my own best advice, and realized that a lot of my basic summer clothes in black were either too big, or too...faded/droopy/saggy/limp/icky for public consumption.

So I picked up these - the Original Core of Four:

After those arrived and were well-integrated into my wardrobe, I got wild and bought these 4 tops:

 

It turned out that I was wise to stock up on summer basics, because... well... the ... View the Post

How to Pack for a Long Weekend Graduation Trip

June 1, 2016

 

One of the reasons that I'm taking this hiatus is that I've got two trips in the month of June, which were weighing heavy on my mind...First up, a very quick dash through New York City, to Vermont, then BACK to New York to fly back to Chicago. There's a very important college graduation in there, somewhere...

I have to tell you something amazing - we're leaving in 4 hours or so, and I'm not packed! But I think I've got it figured out.

My goal here, uncluttered simplicity, without sacrificing looking appropriately dressy for the solemn occasions...

(can someone explain to me why this suitcase is a man's bag? what folly...)

I'm packing silk pants, a silk tank, and a silk tee shirt, in order to ... View the Post

Change is Difficult…

No, I'm not changing any thing here at The Vivienne Files. But I am still, after all this time, adjusting to the fact that I work from home.

I've had all kinds of interesting and amazing jobs, and they all required me to get out of bed every morning and put on "grown-up" clothes. But now that I work for you, I can work in my jammies, or in my gym clothes, or in whatever I'm going to wear for my lunch or evening plans.

Thus, I have too much stuff, and the wrong kind of stuff, to boot!

The clothes are gradually getting sorted out. Some have been donated, some have been migrated into my more casual life, and some are on probation.

But holy screaming handbags, Batman, have I got a lot of accessories!

So starting yesterday afternoon, you ... View the Post

How I Pack Light – My Secret Weapons in a Travel Capsule Wardrobe

April 25, 2016  

First up, I have to let you all know that the "3 dress" packing experiment worked out beautifully! I felt comfortable and well-dress everywhere we went... I'm going to explore the idea of packing this way quite a bit more in a separate blog post or two, but if you're interested in giving it a whirl, I have 2 important pieces of advice.

Check the weather maniacally up until the very last minute before you leave, and be certain that you're packing the most appropriate dresses possible for the weather you anticipate. Dresses make layering a little bit harder, and nothing could be more miserable than the wrong dress on a beautiful day. (think of wearing a beautiful sweater dress on a day when the temperature ... View the Post

The Highlights of Our Paris Vacation

Yes, honestly, I looked down at our feet, and the wee heart-shaped pebble was right there between our toes... It was that kind of vacation!

It really was one of the best trips ever - everything fell into place for us to a degree that's almost impossible to describe. We had 20 minutes of rain (during which we stood under an awning and discussed the rest of our day), we ate like crazy people, discovered some new (to us) cocktails, did some excellent shopping, and walked about 10 miles every day. Despite the mad amounts of eating and drinking that we did, I lost weight...

The first highlight - we got to see the Paris Marathon. As runners (well, in my case, as a fast walker/runner), seeing the elite runners at the head of the ... View the Post

How I Pack for Paris in a Carry-on Bag

Remember, my bag is a hard-sided Tumi carry-on, very much like the great-grandmother of this beauty:

    My bag is pretty "whacked" on the exterior, but remains in very secure, solid condition! One of my better investments, I have to say...     One of the things about rolling bags that makes packing difficult is that the interior bottom of the bag is bumpy - the bars for the handle run through the bag and make the "floor" of your packing area bumpy. So the first thing I always try to do is use unwrinkleable things, like workout clothes, to level the floor.   Here, I've taken running tights, rolled them into long cylinders (fold in half at the knee, and then roll a few times), and then placed a pair of ... View the Post

How to Pack a Travel Capsule Wardrobe for Paris – the “Three Dresses” Version

March 30, 2016  

Belovedest and I are going BACK to Paris on Friday! Yes, I was just there in December...And I'm going to try the strangest variation on packing yet - since we're only there for 6 nights, and since I always fly back from Paris in the same outfit I wear for the flight over (with a change of tee shirt), I'm just packing three dresses, which will cover the 5 full days that we're there. Two pair of ballet flats, and a stack of scarves.... This is going to be interesting!

I'm sticking pretty close to my uniform for packing - tee shirt, cardigan, scarf, and pants that won't collapse after 8 hours of sitting. This cardigan is going to be really handy on this trip, as I can wear it over all 3 dresses, depending on the ... View the Post

DIY Tee Shirts

Sometimes, the Internet behaves badly....

Well, let's be more specific - my connection to the Internet can often be disrupted by things that happen in Chicago, or that happen in my (VERY large) building, or that take place in the phases of the moon which govern our connectivity to the rest of the universe. (this last issue might explain why I personally am often stymied about how to get things working again!)

At any rate, sometimes I have NO ability to comb through the world of online merchandise, searching for the perfect tee shirt or scarf. It is during these times that I play with PowerPoint...

PowerPoint is ideally suited for making fun graphic images, especially those that use standard shapes that are arranged in essentially ... View the Post

Packing for Paris! What I’m Doing Differently, This Time…

December 10, 2015  

I'm leaving today! Early this evening, in fact, which is a little bit irritating, because I don't get to Paris until 10 a.m. Sometimes this flight leaves much earlier, getting one to Paris in time for an early breakfast. Some day, I will understand why the airlines change things so often...But no matter! I'm going, and I'm going to have a wonderful time. If you want to keep up with my running around, please follow me on Instagram. (it's that little camera-ish thingy in the right margin area)  I plan to post something there at least hourly when I'm awake, so everybody will know that I'm okay...

Differently? My primary plan originally was that I was going to be pretty informal - jeans and nice athletic ... View the Post

How to Tie An Hermes Scarf (or any other square scarf!)

December 7, 2015  

This is the time of year when I'm supposed to be BURYING you in links to expensive gifts, so I get lots of commissions. But NOOOOOO, I'm a knucklehead, and I'm going to talk about scarf tying today. Sometimes, I do the most un-businesslike things....First off, let's be clear - you don't EVER, in your life, need to own an Hermes scarf. You will be just fine, trust me. But they are beautiful works of art, so if the opportunity presents itself, and you find that you do indeed love wearing scarves, it's something to consider.

But you should make sure that you wear scarves a lot, and in order to do that, you want to start with much more reasonably priced scarves from places like Talbots, Nordstrom, Brooks ... View the Post