Start with Art Archives - Page 17 of 59

Want a Wider Range of Colors in a Travel Capsule Wardrobe? Revisiting Start with Art – Mirage by Max Ernst

June 21, 2024

Remember this from last week?

Well, our (quite real!) heroine was pretty pleased with the blue and white wardrobe, and was wondering what might happen if she added some brown and pink...

Just for clarity (and to help those of us with a less than stellar memory!), this was her original travel capsule wardrobe:

Our heroine's first instinct was to add another 10 pieces of clothing, to try to keep everything even and balanced. But she realized that this might be pretty ambitious, as well as making the wardrobe rather large. (if she was just planning for a summer wardrobe, it might make sense to do this; since she specifically asked me about travel, I'm trying to keep the wardrobe reasonably small)

So after a ... View the Post

Want a Simple Blue & White Summer Wardrobe? Start with Art – Mirage by Max Ernst

June 14, 2024

She loves the painting. She REALLY loves the colors - she believes that the top section is brown, and who are we to disagree?

This is an important thing for us all to remember - just because our painting of inspiration and motivation includes (in this case) four colors doesn't mean that every wardrobe we assemble MUST include all four colors...

So while our heroine has a "shades of pink" and brown wardrobe in her dreams for the upcoming cool weather, right now, she's liking blue and white...

She's found a dress she loves, as well as a handbag that's gorgeous...

She already had lots of white clothes, so this year, she found new sneakers with blue trim, as well as a bracelet, and a new band for her ... View the Post

June 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Part 2

June 5, 2024

Today's three heroines went three very interesting, different directions in their wardrobes - all of them valid!

Let's start with Rothko, who is fast becoming one of my very favorite artists:

Our first heroine has a wardrobe that feels like it has a lot of accent color in it, although it's not a huge percentage of the whole (37.5% to be exact) ...

And she has gloriously pretty accessories:

But for June, she felt like settling into some neutrals - especially a workhorse pair of black linen pants. (these should be worn at least weekly until the first frost...)

She also decided to go ahead and buy a cashmere hooded sweatshirt - yes, she might have grabbed a cotton one instead, but this feels more like ... View the Post

June 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Part 1

June 3, 2024

Time to visit our six heroines and see what intelligent, well-considered wardrobe additions they make this month!

knowing full well that these wardrobes could be expanded in ways that defy logic...

This painting doesn't grow old:

At the end of May, our heroine had 24 garments in this capsule wardrobe - LOTS of red:

And her accessories were just right for her - I will always believe that you can tell much more about a woman from her accessories rather than just her clothes!

Our heroine only has one dress - the classic grey one - and she feels like she wants something for summer. It wasn't a big leap to decide that a two-piece camp shirt and skirt was perfect:

Filling in her clothing purchases ... View the Post

Looking for a Fresh, Bright Summer Accent? Start with Art – Morning Glories by Suzuki Kiitsu

May 17, 2024

If only one could find clothing as vivid and compelling as this image:

Please note that this is just a detail from the much larger room screen that is the original artwork...

Our heroine loves her navy wardrobe, but she feels the urge to really get bright this summer! So she decides to work with her favorite image, and to add this palette to her classic wardrobe core:

Her core wardrobe already includes one green top... she's ready to pile on with the green!

This heroine knows that Boden is the place to look for a vivid accent, and a pretty dress! She takes her time, and assembles the following French 5-Piece Wardrobe for hot weather:

If you're looking for an accent color dress, but this one ... View the Post

Want to Expand a Core Summer Wardrobe? Start with Art! Untitled (Red) 1956 by Mark Rothko

May 15, 2024

Sometimes, you don't have any explanation for what you love... Our heroine felt completely smitten when she saw this:

She already has her core summer wardrobe in hand, with navy and white, and coral accents.... but these colors. OH THESE COLORS!

I feel this way about shades of purple, so I'm sympathetic...

She takes a good look at her current summer wardrobe, because you don't want to just fly off in all directions without any thought at all...

And then, she shops! This might look like a ton of stuff to add to your summer wardrobe, but I have a hunch that if many of us collected everything together that we buy between early May and the end of August, it's as much as this or more!

I know that I can ... View the Post

May 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Part 2

May 3, 2024

I'm really quite happy with the way these three wardrobes turned out this month - as always, I'm eager to hear what you think of our progress!

First, this oh so elegant painting:

Her wardrobe at the end of April was practical and versatile, if a bit short on the color rust! I get infinite pleasure from that stack of four long-sleeved tee shirts...

It seemed obvious to look for rust - at least rust tops. A second pair of shorts (which could of course be a skirt, a pair of cropped pants, or long pants) and lightweight linen pants finish up her garment purchases. While we were in the "rust mode," Our heroine grabbed coordinating accessories too!

If you're not familiar with COS, I recommend them highly. ... View the Post

May 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Part 1

May 1, 2024

"It's May, it's May, the lusty month of May..."

Well, maybe that's a bit of an overstatement, unless you live in Camelot!

But we've got beautiful things to admire and consider, and we have each other - what else do we need? (yes, we could make a list...)

First up, this most lovely of paintings, which gave us a most unusual color palette:

This is her wardrobe at the end of April - I'm mostly struck by the small number of light blue items, and a little bit concerned that she still only has one 2nd layer in her only neutral...

So we went looking:

Seriously, could there be a better scarf?

Now, our heroine's wardrobe looks more "strongly beige" - a phrase which may never before have existed. ... View the Post

Do You Have a “Signature” Painting? I Finally Found Mine…

April 17, 2024

My Mother's 90th birthday!

It's something that fascinates me - people who know themself so well that everything about them seems to be made for them. You can't imagine them dressed differently. You know that their home is perfect for them, as is their car, and the books that the read, and the music that they love.

"Know thyself." Is there harder advice? When we're buffeted by advertising and entertainment that encourages us to try new and different EVERYTHING all the time (got to keep the economy churning, you know), being loyal to your personal style is far from simple...

Enter Emilio Pettoruti, and this wonderful painting:

Yes, I used this here on The Vivienne Files back in October, but it took me a while ... View the Post

Part 1 – Do You Need Accents? Or Neutrals? 6 Paintings, 12 Months April 2024

April 3, 2024

Back again with one of my favorite posts of each month! Our heroines diverge this month on what they want/need in their wardrobes, which is to be expected. Many of us can share the same core of classic garments, but we're still going to assemble our very personal wardrobes in a specific order...

Our first heroine feels like she needs to add some navy and white to her wardrobe. As we enter April, with 16 garments, only 37.5% of her clothes are her accent color - that might not be a troubling ration for many of us. But she's ready for more neutrals!

Let's pause for just a second to enjoy her favorite painting:

This is her wardrobe at the end of March; yes, there's certainly quite a lot of bright blue ... View the Post

Like Green and Blue Together? Start with Art – Portrait of Woman in Green Hat by Picasso

March 6, 2024

She's been thinking about this painting a lot...

Lots of possibilities - from the most basic black and white, with tan accessories, to immersion in green and blue...

If you're only going to be away for a few days, and you're not going to see the same people twice, you can put together a wardrobe that might not be ideal for a longer trip...

And she would really like to see what it feels like to wear blue and green for 3 or 4 days in a row! She wears a LOT of black and white, so something colorful is a change of pace for her.

She won't be doing anything really dressy - a simple shirtdress is as dressed up as she will want to be... Mostly relaxed, casual tourist activities!

If it turns cool, she ... View the Post

March 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – Part 2

March 4, 2024

First three paintings can be found here...

Let's visit our other 3 heroines, and their paintings! It's funny how much I love these paintings when I come back to them after almost a month...

At the end of February, our heroine had a cheerful and very practical 12-piece travel capsule wardrobe:

I fully expected to be adding white to this wardrobe at this point, but then I stumbled onto some lovely light grey, and decided it was wise to grab it! Gray in the summer can be really difficult to find, so avail yourself of it when it's around.

Her wardrobe now looks more like she wants to include a range of shades of grey - up until now, she's been pretty dedicated to charcoal... And the red is ... View the Post