shoes Archives

Accessories! Project 333 based on Composition by Ernest Mancoba

January 20, 2023

It's the 20th already? Holy chocolate-coated Buddha on a stick... So Far, So Good... Our heroine has her color scheme all sorted:

And she has all of her clothing (except for 1 piece - that's the bonus #33 item!) chosen, too:

At a minimum, I'm thinking that this heroine needs 3 pairs of shoes, a couple of bags, and some jewelry. Maybe a scarf or two...

The best way I've found to make sure that you have what you need - packing, or planning a Project 333 Wardrobe - is to work your way through a number of outfits and think about what you want to wear with the clothing.

She can't easily resist gold loafers, and a matching handbag...

A backpack is always handy - many of us have started carrying ... View the Post

Six Paintings, 12 Months – a 2023 Preview!

December 23, 2022

It's like an early Christmas gift! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, it's just a gift, full stop.

This was quite a bit harder than choosing 6 scarves; there's something to be said in defense of any painting, so rejecting any of them was difficult...

Let's get started!

I couldn't resist this! Black and white with pink and purple, and just enough blue to include denim in the wardrobe...

Flash back to the wardrobe from when we first saw this painting.

I'm starting each of our heroines with some simple essentials:

Yes, we looked at this painting just recently...

But for those of us clamoring for brown, this is worth looking at some more!

Her basics are pretty lovely, ... View the Post

Accessorizing! Adding to a Navy, Green & Yellow Wardrobe

November 28, 2022

It has only been a few days - I'm sure you remember the wardrobe that we looked at last Wednesday!

I left that heroine with almost no accessories...

My favorite approach to adding accessories to a wardrobe is to choose a range of outfits, and then accessorize each outfit with what they need. After the 2nd outfit, I find that I can start re-using shoes, at least!

If you can find a lovely pair of shoes in your accent color, consider grabbing them! Some of us don't feel comfortable with accent shoes, but other people look amazing in them:

A seasonal brooch and a dressy bag will make it possible to wear an otherwise "not really dressy" outfit to all kinds of events:

Accent socks! And a scarf ... View the Post

Chic Sightings: Black Tee Shirt and Blue Jeans

November 14, 2022

When I'm out and about, I'm always looking at other people! (mostly, I'm looking to see if there's anything with which I can help them...)

In Chicago, and I suspect in a fair number of cities, a black tee shirt with blue jeans is the base for all kinds of outfits, from casual to dress, and in any color you can imagine!

Their starting point is pretty simple:

I've seen some people bundled up:

I really admired a simple black cashmere cardigan with an amazing scarf that picked up the blue in this heroine's jeans:

The scarf will take the place of a mortgage payment... but it is perfect with her coat and shoes!

This heroine was getting lots of smiles from everyone:

I ... View the Post

Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Sōkō Frost descent

October 24, 2022

This is just about the time each year when you realize that you're going to need to wear a sweater (or sweatshirt) just about EVERY DAY. If that's what you're facing as autumn peaks, and winter starts to make itself felt, maybe you deserve a really NICE sweater...

If you start buying cashmere sweaters when you're 30, and you buy 1 per year, you will have almost 3 dozen of them by the time you retire! Not a bad wardrobe to wear through your "golden" years, eh?

It goes with every neutral, and probably flatters almost all of us - what's not to love about burgundy/wine/merlot/berry?

Of course, if you look good in gold, WEAR GOLD! It's so lovely...

Frost can be beautiful...

Autumn and winter do ... View the Post

Five Accent Colors with Winter White and with Beige

September 30, 2022

Why yes, Pantone found additional colors at New York Fashion Week...

Which is fine with me, because I could look at accessories 'til the cows come home! And since I live in the city, that would be forever, right?

Let's start with this classic red; yes, this scarf is an investment. But you could wear it at least once a week during cool weather, for the rest of your life. I'm finding that I have some scarves that 20+ years old, and that I still adore.

I've chosen ivory (Winter White?) and beige as our wardrobe core colors to "test drive" this batch of accent colors. While I wouldn't wear white pumps in this lifetime, I know a LOT of women who wear them through the year and look just lovely.

And ... View the Post

Four Accent Colors with Charcoal Grey, and 1 with Navy Blue

September 26, 2022

Let's take a look at the second five "London Fashion Week" colors, as shared with us by Pantone...

You probably remember from last week that I showed the first 5 colors as accents to navy blue; I'm going to hold onto that navy for this bright green. It just seems to be the right thing to do!

This is the minimal, core navy wardrobe that I was using:

At least in my eyes, these colors are made for each other. While these outfits feel a lot like spring, let's bear in mind that we dress to flatter ourselves, NOT to match the calendar!

For the last 4 accent colors, I decided to see how they look with charcoal grey. This wee core wardrobe is more casual than the first; what you choose will depend on ... View the Post

Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Shūbun Autumnal Equinox

September 23, 2022

When the days get shorter, I start checking to make certain that I have a nice jacket, as well as the necessary bits and pieces to stay warm!

Today's heroines don't all have heavy, wooly scarves; sometimes a silk scarf is enough!

And all of your colors don't have to match perfectly...

Blue skies and golden leaves...

You're never too old to wear a fun hat and mittens!

And it's never wrong to stock up on navy essentials:

The angle of the sun on autumn afternoons makes everything look better, doesn't it?

If you love pink, wear pink! You don't have to match the trees...

And remember that something as simple as brown buttons can make everything look ... View the Post

Five Accent Colors with Navy

September 21, 2022

As we have come to expect, Pantone "discovered" 10 "new" fashion colors from the London Spring/Summer 2022/23 Fashion Week.

Bizarrely enough, they seem to have arranged them almost like a (weird) rainbow! So to look at these colors as suggestions for wardrobe accents, I'm going to take the first 5 colors and pair them all with a tiny number of navy pieces...

I chose navy because it looks good with all 5 colors - which makes sense. Navy is opposite to orange on the color wheel, and these colors are all on that side of the wheel!

It sounds strange, but it seems to work...

First up - how often are you looking for something in a true, "not blue, not yellowish" red color, and everything you see is really on ... View the Post

1 Dress, 14 Ways to Wear It

August 31, 2022

Tomorrow, I'm going to start the "1 Dress, 100 Days" project, sponsored by Wool&, and completed by hundreds of other women. I'm very excited...

My dress will be the Sierra Tank Dress - 100% wool and softer than you can imagine. Mine, of course, is black!

I plan to Instagram what I wear every day and put it here on The Vivienne Files. That means there will be posts here EVERY DAY for the next 100 days - although many of them will be pretty brief. On my normal "off days," I will show you what I'm wearing and make any observations or comments about what I think about the whole process.

But what can one do with the same dress for 100 days?

Wear it alone, with accessories, or wear it with something under ... View the Post

Adding Accessories to a Wardrobe: Start with Art – Sunlight on the Road, Pontoise by Pissarro

May 30, 2022

This is the painting that inspired our heroine:

And this is the wardrobe that she assembled for the upcoming summer months; she lives in a nice mild climate...

Of course she needs accessories! Most women will at least want some shoes, and I suspect that most of us also like a couple of pieces of jewelry, a bag, and possibly a scarf or two...

But there are no rules - if you really AREN'T a jewelry person, or a scarf person, don't force yourself to be someone you're not. There's nothing at all elegant or beautiful about being untrue to yourself!

For the sake of fun, maybe our heroine is going to use this template as a guideline for her summer accessories:

Where does one start? Our heroine decides ... View the Post

Adding Accent Accessories – Start with Art: Vocal Fabric of the Singer Rosa Silber by Paul Klee

April 22, 2022

You know that it's "klee an in clay"? There once was a book by that title that helped us pronounce all sorts of art and music names properly; well worth grabbing if you see it used...

Well, when I started this post, I wasn't at all sure WHEN you would get to see it; they're working on the internet and cable in my building - fifty-some floors of rewiring! Outages and glitches are built into this process; if I am going to miss a date I will post a note from my phone so you know I'm okay!

SO!!! Let's get Wednesday's heroines some accessories!!!

For reference, and for pleasure, let's remember that this is the art from which we started:

Let's go back to our core of 10 pieces of clothing. There's no reason in the ... View the Post