The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Version 2 Steamboat leaving Boulogne by Edouard Manet

 I really love the combination of blue and grey! (I often consider including blue as an accent color in my wardrobe...) So I decided to look again at this painting, with an eye to warm weather. I brightened up the blue a little bit - Manet gives you a whole range of blue possibilities - and I equalized the proportions of the four colors:

I haven't built a Four by Four wardrobe for a while, so I thought this would be an interesting project. First up, the core dark neutral charcoal, in linen:

One of the reasons I wanted to do a summer leisure wardrobe - I found this gorgeous blue at L.L.Bean. A perfect secondary color!

The Expansion Four is usually four tops of some sort, since tops tend to get more wear than bottoms. ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Winter at the Convent by Margaret Loxton

I love this painting... if this doesn't make you smile, I can't help you.

While I strongly suspect that these nuns are wearing black habits, the habits look very navy on my computer, and so my imagination was strongly drawn to working with navy, white and cool pastels.

I've talked before about the usefulness of having six garments that are the same color, that give you a basis for getting dressed on Monday morning without opening your eyes. That idea has really stuck in my head, so I've decided that I want to build on it a few times. Let's start here:

Even if you get dressed out of here every Monday, you still have LOTS of clothes unworn, so let's toss in a few extra goodies to carry us into an equally effortless ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Wildlife near the Gosse Range – Albert Namatjira

There's really no question that I'm going to be looking at warm weather clothing!

Although the overall look of this painting is very light and bright, I always feel more comfortable anchoring a wardrobe with a few pieces of dark neutral, so I took advantage of the birds to work a dark brown into the scheme. The rosy beige of the sky is my 2nd neutral, and after that, the sky's the limit - pastels taken from the grass, the trees, and the distant mountains are all possibilities.  What lovely colors...

 I would start collecting pastel, bone, earthy accessories...

Multi-colored bracelet – Eddie Borgo, bone teardrop earrings – Devon Leigh,  pearl necklace  – Majorica, ... View the Post

Denim Blue Capsule Wardrobe with Floral, Bright and Silver/White Accessories

Denim blue is a great, versatile and flattering color, even when the fabric isn't denim! Imagine these six garments, along with a pair of real jeans, a white shirt, and a couple of tee shirts - the perfect simple travel capsule wardrobe. I'm ready to go on vacation ANY TIME NOW...  ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: A Shelf of Books -> a Summer Wardrobe

You really, seriously, can get inspiration anywhere, if you keep your eyes and your aesthetic heart open to what's out there.  This absolutely wonderful picture was sent to me - what a delightful mix of softly faded colors.

It wasn't at all hard to come up with a color scheme.  Many of you ask about how I build color wheels - I use the graphing gizmo in PowerPoint.  I use PowerPoint for all of my vignettes, because it does everything I need.  Just insert a graph into a slide, and then change the colors and sizes of the various wedges to suit your preferences.You have a new, beautiful mnemonic for your wardrobe colors, AND you have a new skill to put on your resume.  How fun is that?

This lovely ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch: Choosing Color Schemes

It's a question that's as old as The Vivienne Files - if you're starting a capsule wardrobe from scratch, how do you start?

What an ambitious question! But after thinking about it for three years, I'm going to give it a try - a step by step approach to rebuilding your wardrobe from the ground up.

Before you buy any garments at all, you've got to make a couple of decisions. One thing you'll have to work out for yourself - which silhouettes suit you best. I'm really not qualified to answer this question for every woman, but I encourage you to address this question on your own; you know better than anybody else in the world what shapes and sizes of garments suit you best...

But the next question - truly critical - is to choose a color ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte – Version 2

A second look at this great painting - focusing on the left half of it, and picking up the lovely periwinkle/chambray blue details...

It is interesting that such a drizzly and cold painting lends itself so beautifully to hot-weather clothes.

I love this dress... 

A couple more garments, some accessories, and shoes:

Soft and pretty - a great travel capsule wardrobe!

Looking back:

2012  - What to wear with a necklace: dragon pearls

2013 - We look at a whole bunch of ways to wear One Dress: Six Ways in Black, White and Pink ... View the Post

I Want to Dress Like an Empire-Style Hotel Room

This is a typical room in the Hotel des Grands Hommes, in Paris.  The colors and the details in this room can inspire a beautiful wardrobe.  The colors words that I focused on were taupe, beige, camel, apricot, slate, gold, copper and bronze.  I was looking for soft, patterned, draped and refined looks...

 The striped colors of the headboard drew my eye to this sweater - it's softness confirmed my choice.  And the combination of apricot and charcoal with a detailed scarf were irresistible.

 I loved this coat, and the ornate flats appealed.... and the draped tunic dress, with warm tobacco leather leggings and metallic ballet flats are a relaxed outfit that would be very at home in this room!

Even when ... View the Post

A Four by four Capsule Wardrobe: the entire summer

So if you remember from yesterday, we had these garments in our Four by Four capsule wardrobe, planned for a trip to the shore:

After finding that these items worked really well for our specific needs, it was determined that the entirety of the summer wardrobe would be purchased with the same guidelines. First, a little something in darker colors, just so our jeans don't get lonely in the laundry!

And then a really pretty color, just because it's summer, and because it goes with our three neutrals:

Some more tops, in a variety of colors, and a few more essential summer accessories...

With these 24 garments, your summer is pretty much handled... And NO, I AM NOT TELLING YOU TO GO BUY YOUR ENTIRE WARDROBE FROM ... View the Post