orange Archives - Page 3 of 10

Updating a Navy Wardrobe for Autumn – Start with Art: Shattered Tree by Otto Dix

October 31, 2017

I thought that this painting might be good for Halloween - it's sort of dark without being macabre or outright spooky...

I see this painting all of the time - it's in the Art Institute of Chicago - and I swear that I see navy blue in the areas near the horizon! At any rate, I think that these colors make amazing accents... One could easily include some gold, some medium blues and a bit of grey and live with the color-scheme forever.

This is my starting point today. This version of The Common Wardrobe is a hair dressier than usual - no jeans, and a pair of navy wool pants in their place. A pair of high-quality trousers can be worn almost anywhere... The navy ribbed tee shirt is a notch more elegant ... View the Post

Can I Wear Warm Accent Colors with my Cool Favorites? Start with a Scarf! Berlin Graffiti 2 from ImageDiary

October 27, 2017

The questions around color combinations can go in all sorts of directions... She Fell in Love with the Scarf...

She loved the story, the print, the colors... but her core wardrobe was grey and white! Is this going to work? She's going to honor her impulses and make it work...

She's starting here - comfortable and very versatile, but very grey, too... Not to worry, she has an idea!

The scarf will of course tie outfits together, but so will warm stones or faux stones like tortoise or amber, set in silver. And then she found another scarf that mixed some warm and cool...(yes, "5-Piece" is an approximation, not a law!)

The blue sweater is simple - blue and grey are both ... 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

Packing for an Overnight Trip by Starting with a Scarf: Echo Butterfly Silk Bandana

September 18, 2017

Sometimes I see a scarf, and my mind wanders, and my imagination takes off...

She's Not Excited...

They've been getting together about twice a year - more or less - for decades. Since they finished college... And she's starting to feel that they're growing apart. (for example, they would have a very difficult time with her outfit that mixes brown and black leather accessories, while she finds it perfectly comfortable...)

Well, she feels like she's growing. And they're further away than they used to be, metaphorically speaking. She just doesn't have the tolerance for a 3-hour conversation about skin-care. Or handbags. She wants to talk about things that are more serious...

She ... View the Post

July Babies – Did you know that Carnelian is ALSO your birthstone?

June 28, 2017

Yes, I know everyone was expecting to see rubies, but I found that working with rubies was a lot like working with the emeralds back in May - very expensive, or else very traditional and staid.

So I did a bit of research and found that almost every month of the year has more than one birthstone - we love having choices!

Carnelian is particularly cool to have as a birthstone because it's very affordable and it comes in a range of colors from a pale, almost blush shade, to really deep, dark red.

And please note, I don't think you'd wear ALL SIX of these accessories at one time; but I could easily see 3 or 4 of them...

love, Janice

Can I wear Black and Orange and not look like Halloween?

June 20, 2017

Of course!

Flash back to one of my favorite posts - based upon a montage of images of a lunar eclipse, and see how just the right shades of orange can look great with black! Do notice the way the accessories echo her affection for the moon - moonstone jewelry, a single round button on a sweater, the round face of her watch (accented with a round gold dot!)...

love, Janice ... View the Post

Pack For a Special Occasion by Starting with Art: Vernal Yellow by Lee Krasner

June 13, 2017

Most of the time, clothing (and thus The Vivienne Files) is about covering ourselves with efficiency, good value, and a coherent personal image. But it's worth remembering just every now and then that clothing can also be the object of extravagant fantasies...

Someone's happy, excited, full of energy, and just plain bursting with joy - that's what this painting felt like to me:

So They're Just Going to Elope...

No date worked for everyone. No location was good for most people. It just got more and more difficult...

So when the offer was made "why don't we just take the train to Paris and elope?" she was ALL over it...(yes, she has another suitcase somewhere...)

They'll arrive a bit late ... View the Post

NEVER Wear Pink and Orange Together??? Humbug… Accenting Navy and Beige with Unexpected Bright Colors

June 1, 2017

Big important notice - the "Six Scarves, Six Wardrobes, over 12 Months" post for June will be here tomorrow! I hope! The Internet in my building (yes my entire building!) has been off and on, as they work on it... Don't they know that we have important blogging to do? Knuckleheads...

In case you haven't seen the earlier versions of the navy and beige summer wardrobes, you can find the one accented with dark camel and moss green here, and the first one with accents of mint and lavender here.

Today's colors just jump off of the screen:

Just for the benefit of those among us who are joining this adventure in progress, this is the neutral starting point - a half-dozen core pieces around which I will try to build a ... View the Post

What Accesories Do You Want for Warm Weather? Start with an Echo “Paris in the Spring” scarf

May 18, 2017

When we left our happy heroine yesterday, she was packing for a trip to visit friends on the Gulf Coast of Florida. She was using this scarf as her leitmotif - the inspiration around which she was building her travel capsule wardrobe:

This was what she knew that she would pack - plenty of things for the beach and boat, and enough dressy pieces that she would be fine if dinner turned out to be more formal than she expected:

Just for reference, let's remember that she'd planned this wardrobe pretty carefully!

But she knows that she wants to include more accessories - especially more shoes! So she's going to work through a handful of outfits, making certain to include each of her "bottoms" so that her shoe ... View the Post

What to Pack for the Florida Gulf Coast? Start with a Scarf: Paris in the Spring by Echo

May 17, 2017

The scarf says Paris, but your luggage is all tagged TPA - you're going to Tampa to visit friends with a home on the Florida Gulf coast!

They've mentioned the beach, and the boat... (repeatedly...) There's a bit of sightseeing, some serious lounging to be done, and you might take in a baseball game. You'll be dining out at least a few times, too!

Well, you know that it's going to be hot and sunny. You know that it's a relatively casual part of the country, and you know that you don't want to carry a whole ton of stuff with you.... What to do?

Let's start with a color scheme, based on this most lovely scarf:

You know that no matter how warm the weather is, the airport will be freezing cold, and the plane is ... View the Post

How Can I Accessorize a Column of Black? Chic Sightings to the Rescue!

February 9, 2017

In the last few days, I noticed a number of women wearing simple black "columns," - a sweater and pants, or a tee shirt with pants, and at least in one instance, I think she was wearing a black dress with black tights.

But what caught my eye was the way that each woman had put her own very personal spin on the basic black core of their outfit. My eye was caught immediately when I saw this great floral tote:

This is really clever - the grey and white in the cardigan keep the outfit from looking anything at all like Halloween.

And I spotted this tote WAY across the room - I've always kind of wanted one of these... and I could love this cardigan to pieces...

Even when you're ... View the Post

Build a Whatever’s Clean 13 Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Dragonfly by Miro

January 18, 2017

Such an interesting email....

Say you live outside the United States. You're retired. The weather's always reasonably warm and nice. You only shop every year or two, when you visit in the US...

And THIS is your inspiration:

I'm really liking these colors, and this WHOLE scenario!

In the interests of establishing a solid basis upon which we can build, I'm going to assume that our heroine either owns or already plans to purchase these pieces:

Tee– L.L.Bean; cardigan – Lands’ End; capris– L.L.Bean; pants – L.L.Bean

At this point, we've got a solid starting point, and a lot of fun things to find!

I'm ALWAYS going to recommend that you buy the sweater or tee shirt or top that goes with ... View the Post