olive Archives - Page 8 of 10

OLIVE: With 8 Bright Accents

October 1, 2015 Olive today! Some of these were difficult...

I'm including these Yves Saint Laurent pants, even though they're the ONLY pair available, to remind you that a garment with a range of shades of green could work really beautifully with your olive neutrals.

This is a case in which the scarf really plays a key role. And this scarf is a stylized map - it's a really good thing it's not my colors.And I have to point out the earrings from Louise et Cie; this is a company that has made shoes for a few years, and just now ventured into jewelry (at least in the US). Some of their jewelry is really cool, and not at all expensive. I'm making a note of this company for when my shopping ... View the Post

Olive, Wine and Gold join A Common Capsule Wardrobe, warm tones for summer

August 13, 2015

In honor of the season (in the Northern Hemisphere) of the ripening of all delicious things, I give you the "Tuscan inspired" capsule wardrobe of wine, olives, and gold that was sent to me a few days ago.This reader really goes all out - she finds photographs and paintings that illustrate the colors that she likes, and builds me a little collage that is my reference material. I need to find out if she'd mind if I showed the illustrations here - they're really beautifully chosen and constructed, and serve as a glorious inspiration to my already hyper-drive imagination!

And yes, I did choose that bracelet because it reminded me of olive trees and grape vines...

For easy reference, here are the original ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Stone: Unakite Jewelry

May 19, 2015 This was an intriguing request - one of you has fallen for jewelry with the stone unakite, and wanted to build their summer work capsule wardrobe (relaxed environment) around their jewelry! This was some of the jewelry I found:

One of the first things that I noted was that the accent color in the stone ranges from dark red and terra cotta to a much lighter and more delicate peach or apricot. While we could certainly go either direction, I opted for the lighter shade, to serve as a background for the design of the jewelry.

We wanted really simple clothes, so I found three "Cores of Four" in the three non-accent colors.

Here's where things got ... View the Post

Choosing the Right Scarf Color – One Approach

April 24, 2015 Here's a decision scenario: you know you like the scarf - the silk and wool blend, the pattern drawn from foliate motifs and calligraphy of the Sultan's courts of India, the knowledge that your purchase supports the Metropolitan Museum of Art - but WHICH COLOR TO CHOOSE????

I'm of the opinion that your wardrobe should have a certain DNA - a "fingerprint" that is as unique as your own. If this is true, then anything that you add to your wardrobe should look like it's related to the things you already own. So maybe this decision can be made easier if we look at some options that might currently be in your closet, and see if any of them look like they're in your style family... Do you ... View the Post

Olive Capsule Wardrobe with Accessories in Brown, Lacy Gold and Turquoise with Coral

January 21, 2015 Today, I've found some olive items - not the easiest of projects! But as elusive as olive is, it's well worth the effort because nothing looks quite as subtle, warm yet relaxed as olive. I put together six outfits - three for warmer weather, and three for cooler temperatures. From there, a few accessories are all that's needed...

love, Janice ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Teal, Wine, Olive and Camel

September 8, 2014

Camel and olive are pretty versatile - here's a much more subtle use of these two neutrals, compared to the vivid gold and red from last week. But let's talk teal for a second: If you look around for things which claim to be "teal" in color, you get a range anywhere from an almost emerald green, all the way over to an almost navy blue. That's annoying when we're trying to describe colors, but in the case of this capsule wardrobe, this flexibility was useful for me. When I initially started working with a couple of tops closer to green than blue, I found that I had all kinds of clashing nastiness when putting the teal garments next to olive. It was basically trying to blend ... View the Post

A 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe in Bright Gold, Tomato Red, Olive and Camel

September 5, 2014

Looking for the right items in this color combination caused me to hit the wall - at some juncture, I was at a loss to find more camel garments that were suitable for this capsule wardrobe!But then I thought about you all for a moment (as I think about you all constantly when I'm working on The Vivienne Files!), and I realized that if I was having trouble finding garments, then you must have the same experience, right? I spend hours a day working on this - you certainly don't have the time to devote to shopping that I do to my full-time job of blog creation. So rather than throw the towel in on this wardrobe, I figured out what a reasonable approach might be, and I'm sharing it with you all.

The ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch – The Wardrobes, Finished (for now…)

July 17, 2014

Remind me, when trench coats are back in stores, that we want to revisit these capsule wardrobes and make some additions. If you think of anything else we should address (December holiday attire?), send me a note at theviviennefiles at gmail dot com.

I broke everything out into two pages; I might have been able to fit everything on one page, but we wouldn't have been able to see anything - the earrings would have been teeny little dots on the page!

And I think the links are working - let me know if you find some that are broken and I'll look into it...

thanks, as always!

love, Janice

PS - For more color inspiration, you can find the latest Pantone Color Planner ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch Step 17: A Few Finishing Touches, for now…

July 15, 2014

Many of you have written to me to ask how this capsule wardrobe compares with my earlier 24-piece wardrobe - excellent question!Just as in the 24-piece wardrobe, this Starting From Scratch includes to two core "Four by Four" assortments in your neutrals, it works with two accent colors and a light neutral, and it includes the concept of the "bridge" garment, which is something that incorporates both of your neutral colors and allows you to wear piece from both neutrals seamlessly.

So I decided to look at each wardrobe one last time (for now - I'm sure we'll be back to revisit this concept when trench coats hits the stores, and when there are other requests/needs), and see how things stacked up in terms of a 24-piece ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch Step 16: Evaluating and Balancing our Neutrals

July 14, 2014 BIG BIG BIG EDIT: THIS IS ONLY STEP SIXTEEN... If you are going to make a typo, make a really big one! I had medical tests this a.m., and have been asleep all afternoon; I am so sorry for the delay in fixing this inexcusable error! We're very close to wrapping up our capsule wardrobes, but there are a couple more things we need to do to make sure that our choices will work as well for us as possible. So far, we've added pieces within our color scheme, but we've not been particularly rigorous in making sure that we have a balance between our neutrals. To address this, I've looked at each wardrobe and tried to find the "Core of Four" (two tops and two bottoms, that will ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch Step 12: A Winter Coat, Boots and Scarf

July 8, 2015 For many of us, a really SERIOUS winter coat is a necessity in the capsule wardrobe. Realistically, I couldn't get through the winter without my parka that sort of resembles a cross between a sleeping bag and a wee portable padded room... But let's focus on getting a more attractive, more widely useful winter coat. I've chosen a mixture of accent colors and neutrals, and tossed in yet another scarf because it's difficult to have too many scarves! My friend in black and brights wants a statement coat to stand out in the crowd of black - and this blue should do the trick, eh?

My lady in navy is looking for a dark neutral coat, but some pretty flowers for an ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch: A Brief Pause to Check the Map

June 27, 2014

This seems like a good time to stop for a moment and assess what we've accomplished so far with our capsule wardrobes, and make sure that we're happy with the direction in which we're moving. The items that we've brought into the capsule wardrobe so far give us over a dozen outfit options (I'm showing 2 dozen, but if you take off the cardigans, there are additional outfits). Some of these outfits work better than others, but none of them are unwearable. What might be reasonable to do right now would be to stop and look at each of these outfits, and decide if we're comfortable with most of them. Certainly some are going to be... not to our taste... but if your choice of colors has been ... View the Post