shoes Archives - Page 3 of 9

What Should I Wear to a Black Tie Function?

On Wednesday's post about how to UNPACK your suitcase, a reader commented that she needed advice about what to wear to an upcoming formal event being held in Orlando, in October. Another reader posted a really intelligent, thoughtful response, but I thought that it was an interesting question, worth tossing out to the general Vivienne Files population. (the smartest women around, no questions!)

I haven't attended a black-tie event since the overly posh '80s, when I was in my 20's and when everything was completely out of control - I could have just glued diamonds all over my body and it wouldn't have raised many eyebrows. (except when the bill came!) I know what I would wear, but that doesn't necessarily translate into what would be best ... View the Post

Are You in the Mood for a New Sweater?

As soon as I saw these sweaters on the Uniqlo website, I knew that I wanted to share them with you. My only purchase for autumn is going to be a black cashmere crewneck - I feel like it occupies a really different place in a wardrobe than a v-neck sweater, because to me it's like the world's most luxurious tee shirt. It's dressy enough to stand up to the most lavish skirt or pants, but it's still simple and acts as a great background for a scarf or necklace. Plus, some of these colors are lovely...

These aren't the kind of cashmere sweaters that will make you gasp with astonishment - nobody will mistake this for Loro Piana! But they're very good value for money, and you don't have to become hysterical if something happens to one of ... View the Post

Starting a New Season From Scratch – a Gorgeous Pair of Loafers

While I'm still hanging out in Ireland, I'm sharing with you some of my favorite blog posts from the past. Today I think it's worth making certain that, before the season changes, you have in hand a really good, high-quality pair of shoes for the months to come. If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, this might certainly be a pair of sandals, but for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, I strongly suggest a beautiful pair of loafers. Look for beautiful quality, and exquisite construction...

This was Step 2 back in the original Starting From Scratch Wardrobe Building Exercise, 3 years ago, and I still believe it to be a great idea...

These are the sort of purchase that will last you forever - choose wisely!

love, Janice ... View the Post

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

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...

You know, if you like red or orange but don't feel like it suits you well enough to wear an entire garment, ... View the Post

The Power of Accessories in a Travel Capsule Wardrobe; Start with a Scarf – Flower Burst by Kathkath

I've known the power of a good accessory for DECADES...

The "foolproof travel wardrobe" that came from the colors and the themes of the Flower Burst scarf by Kathkath was very coherent, but cried out for a few more pieces...

Here's where we started:

Please note that the very lovely Kath and Kath are offering us all a 30% discount on any full-priced items on their site - use the code viv30! They're really nice women, making their dreams come true in their own business...

This was the wardrobe that we had for our flower lover, when we finished off her "Whatever's Clean 13":

Just for reference, this was the template upon which I was building:

And this is how the clothing fit into the template:

I wanted ... View the Post

The Only 4 Pairs of Shoes You Need in New York

New Yorkers walk a lot - everybody knows that. And so it's only logical that they wear (for the most part, with some insane exceptions!) practical shoes. But after some careful observation, I realized that almost every pair of shoes that I saw on a woman in New York could be classed into 1 of 4 categories:

Ballet flats - if you're wear a dress or skirt for work, it's better than even odds that these are what are on your feet; Canvas loafers - a step up from athletic shoes, but equally comfortable and relaxed. Paired with pants, jeans, or more casual skirts; Short boots - worn with tights and skirts, or with bare ankles and the narrowest of pants. As a general rule, the legs of pants in New York were so narrow that I wondered how anybody ... View the Post

What Were They Wearing in New York? Chic Sightings of Accent Colors

They were wearing black! Of course they were wearing black.... Or navy blue...

So what I really noticed were the accent colors - the bright pops of cheer that stood out in the crowd.

Please note that I did NOT ever go up to someone and ask them what brand of whatever they were wearing; I took careful notes, and have attempted to recreate their overall look as well as I can with the tool at hand. I suspect that if you were to see the same women, in the same outfits, you would recognize them immediately!

This first woman was business lunching; she was able to stride down the street with her male companions without any problems, thanks to her flat shoes. (I'm going to share with you tomorrow my observations about shoes in New York; I've ... View the Post

How to Wear Emeralds – the May Birthstone

Emeralds were TOUGH to work with here on The Vivienne Files - they're very rare, I suppose, because they're quite expensive and not available in the mad range of designs that you can find with most other precious stones. Nevertheless, we're more than able to find a lot of lovely ideas...

Given their price, you might not be wearing "authentic" emeralds (that's fine...) and you might just use emeralds as an accent with a larger, less-expensive semi-precious stone. It's your birthstone - wear it the way you want! Finding a beautiful scarf with a bit of bright green in it will draw attention to your beautiful jewelry, and make it all look wonderfully intentional and well-planned.

Don't forget that you can wear green accents any way that you ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe in 12 Months, 12 Outfits – April 2017

If you're new to this project, I encourage you to go back to the posts for the months of January, February and March to catch up with what we've accomplished so far...

This month, I'm pretending that spring is coming, and that it's warm enough to expose our ankles, but that we still are in the mood for a bit of sweater snuggling... (one could always wear a tee shirt, and tie the sweater around the shoulders...)

This first capsule wardrobe has had a lot of brown and black in it so far, so I decided to lighten things up considerably!

Somewhat the same story here - this wardrobe has been heavily dependent on beige as the neutral, and hasn't really addressed the lovely soft grey in the scarf...

Uh, yes, this is MORE grey... All of these ... View the Post

How to add Accent Colors to a Navy, Grey and Camel capsule wardrobe

Monday I added accessories to a very neutral navy, grey, camel and white; many of you requested in the comments that I go back to my reader's original accent colors of wine and forest green to see how they might look with this capsule wardrobe.

Changing up accent colors is one of the easiest ways to take a very classic capsule wardrobe and put your personal spin on things, so I was positively eager to get to this post!

First up, let's update the color palette that we were using, and update the style notes for a bit of guidance:

I didn't want to really disrupt the core of our original Four by Four wardrobe, so I chose the very easiest way to experiment with accent colors - tee shirts!

I just pulled out a striped tee shirt, and the silk ... View the Post

Accessories for an “All-Neutral” Capsule Wardrobe in Navy, Grey, Camel and White

Oh, how I love accessories! As much as it's important, and nice, to have good-quality, classic clothes, it's really the accessories that make outfits distinctively yours...

Let's briefly flash back to look at the scarf from which we're working; note that I've slightly changed the color wheel to reflect the focus that I'm going to put on brown leather accessories! I do these in PowerPoint, which gives you nearly infinite flexibility in the number of colors you include, the proportion of each color, the nuanced shade of each color, as well as the ability to change the borders (both color and width) at will. I don't think that PowerPoint was ever intended for this purpose, but it works really well!

The lace trim on this top is an echo of ... View the Post

How to Choose a “Project 333” Wardrobe Based on a Scarf – Ted Baker London’s Gem Garden

Monday I put together a wee wardrobe based on a most beautiful scarf, and today I'm going to add some accessories. Given my incredible fondness for numbers, I early on realized that the overall number of items here was going to be very close to 33, so I specifically aimed at that number...

First, let's refresh our collective memory of the scarf, and the colors we were using:

In case you didn't see this on Monday - the scarf is also available with a cream background in place of the black. Did you need more temptation? And this design/pattern is also available in other sized scarves, as well as some lovely bags!

And these were the pieces of clothing that I chose; there are 18 pieces here, so I'm going to gradually add 15 accessories to ... View the Post