rose Archives

Start with Art: Courtesans Strolling Beneath Cherry Trees by Kitawaga Utamaro

April 30, 2021

This post is for those among us who are deeply smitten with a particular color for their spring and summer wardrobe; I think that one can wear quite a bit of their favorite color without sacrificing a coherent wardrobe!

OH, she's got cherry trees...

She's got all KINDS of trees under which she plans to sit; she has a STACK of books that need to be read this summer!

And she has her eye on a particular color that she wants to wear this summer; when she saw this painting she began to formulate her plan:

She eschews the almost green shade of beige, and she chooses to believe that the darkest kimonos are black (while it's possible that they're navy...)

This is what she's starting with:

And this is her ... View the Post

January 2021 Start with a Bracelet: The Sophisticated Lynx

January 15, 2021

Not sophisticated like swishing around a boudoir in a silk negligee and fluffy maribou-trimmed mules! (is that really sophisticated?)

Sophisticated as in appreciating subtle things. Quiet good taste. Details that set the excellent apart from the everyday...

Stones with soft color gradients, and subtle beaded trim:

The nuances of color are deeply hidden in the stones, revealing themselves only to the attentive observer:

In cold weather, a gentle touch of rose pink is so flattering... The right earrings and mask bring a feminine touch to a classic outfit:

I almost never show vintage pieces here, because only one of you can buy it, but I could NOT resist this most perfect of ... View the Post

Accessories! Start with Art: Resting by Paul Klee

April 30, 2020

This heroine knows full well the degree to which the right accessories can make a TON of difference in an outfit! First up, she's starting with this compelling painting, and lovely color palette:

Our heroine is starting with this most wonderful wardrobe in soft colors and timeless styles:

She knows that she's going to want to wear very simple monochromatic outfits sometimes, and that on other occasions she's going to break out her accent colors. Her plan, then, is to pull together some representative outfits, and accessorize each of them...

All accessories do NOT have to be neutral - blue suede shoes tell you what you're going to be humming all day!

She wants to be able to look pretty in a dress ... View the Post

Start with Art: Resting by Paul Klee, and a Beige Weekly Timeless Wardrobe for Spring

April 27 2020

Finally, she's getting a break... And she's going to take advantage of being able to stay home.

Her plan is to sleep, read, go for walks in the park behind her home, bake excellent stuff, have a cocktail or two, and then sleep some more!

She's starting here - the colors of calmness, for her...

She starts with her favorite beige (there's some advantage to being blonde) and then adds in some denim-y blue, and some shades of rose:

For warm weather, she could probably live in shades of beige and ivory. From these 13 items, it might be possible to dress for weeks.

After what she's been through in the last few months, she doesn't care if her clothes get dirty or spotted; she knows that there are more ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Persia, by Helen Frankenthaler

September 11, 2019

Back at the beginning of the summer, our heroine managed to finish the report to which she had dedicated 3 months of her life. Far from being chastised for her work's inadequacies, she was warmly praised, and given 2 weeks of vacation and a well-deserved bonus...

She loves this painting, and tries to use it as her guide and inspiration for her wardrobe:

The Luncheon Speaker Now, her proposals have gone corporate-wide! And she's heading to the launch luncheon at the home office to speak about her work...

The overall dress code of her company is VERY casual, but she's been advised by some of her supervisors that the home office can be dressier. Not that anybody can be specific about what that ... View the Post

EXPANDED Start with Art: Bouquet des Fleurs in the style of Jan van Huysum

October 23, 2017

Quite a few people wanted to see what I would do to expand last Thursday's travel wardrobe, based on a beautiful floral painting...

I enlarged the color palette to include the softer shades of pink, all of the possibilities in green, and the various shades of blue...

This was the wardrobe that we had for the original travel wardrobe:

First wave - I thought that I would look for a couple of different shades of rose pink, in 2 different silhouettes. The scarf isn't an identical match for either of the tops, but it works well with both - always remember that scarves don't have to be dye-lot matched to work! The green sweater is classic, and when paired with the green loafers, can be worn with any of the navy ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Starts with Art: Little Harbor in Normandy by Georges Braque (Version 1)

November 18, 2016

I've never really accepted the idea that women can, uniformly, only wear warm colors or cool colors. I know that for many of us, it's a great guideline for wardrobe discipline, and helps coordinate things beautifully, but I still wonder why someone who loves black and white as much as I do would have gold and orange highlights in their eyes...Oh well, it's a great subject for conversation...

But I think of that when I look at this painting, which skews two very different directions, color-wise:

I seriously considered sawing the painting in half (metaphorically, of course) and using the bottom half for today, and the top half on Monday for a study that includes grey... But I think we can all manage to ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe Starts with Art: In Vaudeville: Dancer with Chorus by Charles Demuth

November 15, 2016

Yesterday, the accents we used in the so-called French 5-Piece wardrobe were all colors in the same range of intensity and saturation - they were somewhat soft, and very clear.This painting takes us in a couple of rather different directions!

The accent colors suggested by this painting range from a really elegant neutral taupe to quite a vivid yellow/gold, as well as all shades of warm rose pink.

The base pieces for this wardrobe might rely more than usual on black, as suggested by the tuxedo on the central dancer:

I love taupe, and it's terribly difficult to find. But this cardigan is EXACTLY what I was hoping to find - fluid, soft, with movement.

I wasn't as successful in finding that kind ... View the Post

The French 5-Piece Wardrobe – Start with Art: Sure Violet by Helen Frankethaler

November 14, 2016

Of course, we all know that the French don't really just buy 5 pieces of clothes a year - that's sort of silly. But there is some truth to the idea that they buy five major accent pieces twice a year. So let's think about taking a really simple, basic capsule wardrobe and seeing what we can do with adding 5 new pieces (and some accessories, of course!)First up, let's start with a really lovely work of art:

Today we're just looking at accent colors, and this painting is perfect for that! If we wanted to build a summer wardrobe around this, could you imagine using off-white silk and linen as the neutral, and then these four colors? Mmmm....

This is the core wardrobe that I'm suggesting - I think that having grey ... View the Post

Expanding a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Night Study of Flowers by Maurice Prendergast

November 4, 2016

When you're looking for color and style ideas for updating a capsule wardrobe, always remember that the world is FULL of beautiful paintings:

Even though I'm pretty certain that I'm going to struggle to find green garments of this soft, subtle tone, I have to include it in the color palette! But when you encounter real road-blocks in find things that are perfect in your wardrobe, you just have to be patient, or learn to sew/knit. Worse hobbies exist!

A reminder that these are the capsule wardrobe "essentials" around which we're building:

tee – L.L.Bean; turtleneck – L.L.Bean; shirt – L.L.Bean; tee – L.L.Bean; cardigan – Lands’ End; chambray shirt – Topshop; pants – L.L.Bean; pants – ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Portrait of Madame Lisle and Madame Loubens by Degas

January 28, 2016

A long time ago, someone asked for me to work with a painting by Degas; it's taken months, but I'm finally on it! (I really do try to get to as many requests as possible, I hope you understand...)If you just glanced at this painting, it might seem somber and sort of gloomy. But give it a minute - there's a lot of warmth and beauty here. These women appear comfortably tucked up in the lap of luxury!

So I felt that the black component was impossible to avoid, but it seemed equally inevitable that the accent colors would be warm:

No Need for Accolades Now that everything is finally accomplished, and all of the celebratory events are beginning, it would only be natural that she might want a bit of the credit, and of ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Vintage Rose by Kathkath

November 13, 2015

Who wouldn't want this?

Such lovely colors....

I wanted to think more about the idea of the "Whatever's Clean 13" and different ways to go about creating a grouping that will simplify your life - at least when you're getting dressed!

So I thought I'd dig WAY back into the archives of my brain, and The Vivienne Files, for the "Not So Crazy Eights" - the idea that owning eight garments in the same color might be the smartest thing you can do.

Let's hypothesize that someone in the world is pretty committed to her black wardrobe, so the first eight aren't terribly difficult. That said, she's in a little bit of a pickle for the upcoming holiday season; her friends and family aren't the strapless sequined ... View the Post