Start with Art Archives - Page 52 of 61

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Dantis Amor by Rossetti – THE FINALE

November 2, 2015

I think this is going to be my last post about Dantis Amor; as much as I love the painting... Today, we're dressier, we're completely out of control shopping, and we're going to travel along with one of our friends....Just a few reminders of our Style Reference Point:

Thanksgiving is Canceled... Yes, her grandchildren have 2 sets of grandparents. Somehow, this year, they're ALL going to the "other side" for Thanksgiving. And she is going to be home alone....

Or not...

She always wanted to see the Thanksgiving Parade in New York. She always wanted to eat at that restaurant. She always wanted.... lots of things. This is the year!

She got onto her computer, and cashed out every flyer mile and ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Dantis Amor by Rossetti – Step 3

October 30, 2015

Now the fun starts! The clothes from yesterday are certainly very nice, if not mind-bending, but in order to give things just a touch of zest, and a sense of finish, some well-chosen accessories are imperative! (well, shoes are imperative, even if you never wear a scarf or a piece of jewelry; when pressed to offer up what piece of clothing every woman, without exception, should own, the only thing I can honestly think of is shoes...)Reminders of our basic style source, and the clothes with which we're working:

As I said, shoes first! I always look for something comfortable - that's completely NOT negotiable. When men start wearing uncomfortable shoes, I will too. In the meantime, my ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Dantis Amor by Rossetti – Step 2

October 29, 2015 Okay, now that we have our color scheme, we'll need to start picking clothes!

As always, I'm going to start with the neutrals, since they're the really essential foundation garments for your 4 by 4 wardrobe. First up, the elusive camel, or vicuna, or caramel, or walnut (although I think of walnut as darker), or amber, or whatever else this color might be called. This is one of the essential qualities that you have to bring to the clothing search - a real flexibility in how you describe what you want! And look outside your normal comfort zone - Google images and see what comes up.

This turned out to be a tremendously tough color to find, unless you were interested in spending four ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Dantis Amor by Dante Gabriel Rosetti – Step 1

You've been asking for years - HOW to I look at a work of art and devise a color-scheme from it?Today is my attempt to explain a little bit of what I do...

First off, let's pick a piece of art that I personally really admire. The admire part is critical - you need to love the colors, the subject, and the style of the art in question, or there's no point in analyzing it in any detail. If you're looking for a piece of art to serve as an inspiration or a leitmotif for your wardrobe, it must be something with real "staying power" in your heart.

This painting would never work for me for my wardrobe - all the wrong colors. But otherwise, I'm a big fan. I can't pinpoint what it is that I love about Pre-Raphaelite painting, but I am always ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Music Party, East Cowes Castle by Joseph Mallord William Turner

October 26, 2015 It takes a minute or two for the images to become clear...

But it's worth the wait. These are great colors for this time of year!

Skipping the Reunion, Again Every year, their school has a reunion. And every year, they get together in their favorite pub, and decide that they don't want to go! (everybody in the world did NOT love their school years...) It's become a tradition...

The someone pulls out the National Rails Timetable, and they haggle around a bit about where they go for a weekend away. This year, Edinburgh!

A few weeks ago, they knew nothing. Now, they're ready for one of the great castles in the world, beautiful scenery, excellent architecture, buckets of ... View the Post

My Favorite Posts: Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art

Who am I kidding? I've loved all of these posts, and they are going to continue to be the core of what I do on The Vivienne Files. Getting dressed might be as close to art in our lives as some of us get, and I'm going to make sure that we enjoy it!

This might be my single favorite wardrobe EVER (the tassel on the tote bag was a stroke of GENIUS):

Start with Art: Version 2 The Apparition by Gustave Moreau

Start with Art: Winter at the Convent by Margaret Loxton

Start with Art: Rose by Ansel Adams

Start with Art: The Shoe Shop by Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art – Festival in Montmartre – Version 2

September 28, 2015 So when we last visited our heroine, former family caregiver become corporate Public Relations executive, she was thriving in her new position. And it didn't go unnoticed by her employer's competition!

Headhunters began to emerge from the shrubbery...

And one day, she was called into the Director's office.

10 minutes later, she's holding a VERY large retention bonus in her hand, in exchange for her signature on a two-year contract.

VERY LARGE retention bonus.

She went back to her office. She closed the door, burst out laughing. With a bit of silly, breathless squeaking mixed in.

And she cried, just for a second.

Then she called her husband. And then the travel agent...

She ... View the Post

Building a CONSERVATIVE BUSINESS Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Festival in Montmartre by Gino Severini

September 23, 2015

One last visit with our friend who spent so many years taking care of her family...

A Well-Deserved Move Up... She put her head down, learned everything she could, pitched in wherever she was needed, and became more productive and more indispensable every day. She didn't complain about menial tasks, nor repetitious projects. She was pleasant but not ingratiating, helpful but not servile, and intelligent without making anyone want to whap her in the head. She was, in short, a dream employee.

Of course she was - she was mature enough to know what really matters!

So one day, when the manager wanted to talk to her, she had no concerns that she was in trouble for something.

And in fact, it was ... View the Post

Building a BUSINESS CASUAL Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Festival in Montmartre by Gino Severini

September 22, 2015

Let's come back to this great painting and color scheme, and see what our wonderful care-giver is up to...

A Shift of Focus As time passed, our care giver discovered that her responsibilities gradually diminished. Her parents were in a facility that gave them the kind of attention they deserved, after their life of work and service. Her children were grown and starting their own lives as adults. And her husband - like all of the best life partners - only wanted for her to be happy and fulfilled.

So she decided to get a job...

First thing was to make sure she had something interview-worthy, so she found a navy skirt that she could wear with her navy blazer. While the fabrics are very ... View the Post

Building a CASUAL Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Festival in Montmartre by Gino Severini

September 21, 2015 I love this painting; it lives just down the street from me at the Art Institute of Chicago. Severini isn't well-known, and I think that's a shame - his Cubist works are lovely...

This painting lends itself to a color scheme firmly grounded in versatile neutrals, but sparked with some extraordinary accent colors. In addition to the pink and blue that I've chosen, you've got some beautiful yellow, a hint of true red, and some aqua too!

Care-giving as Art She took care of them all - children, spouse, parents, neighbors, and never missed a beat...

And she always looked lovely while doing so! Never over-done or fussy, and ALWAYS appropriate to the occasion and the activities. But ... View the Post

Building a DRESSY Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: A Bridge in a Snowy Landscape by Utagawa Hiroshige

September 12, 2015

One last look at our beautiful art, and the very unusual, but workable, color scheme that I chose from it:

You Must Always Look Elegant and Refined That's what they told her when she accepted the position. They even give her a clothing allowance any time they change the color scheme of the business, which is every 4 to 6 months, sometimes more often!

But she's clever, and knows that they aren't going to ask for receipts, so she chooses timeless, elegant, classic clothes that might be "recyclable" into a later scheme...

She knows that a simple ivory silk blouse might be usable in any number of different "aesthetic messages" that her employers choose. No frittering away of a that ... View the Post

Building a BUSINESS CASUAL Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Bridge in a Snowy Landscape by Utagawa Hiroshige

September 11, 2015

Yesterday, I put together what I thought was a pretty casual wardrobe, based on this painting. It wasn't the MOST casual thing imaginable - it included skirts and nice sweaters - but it would certainly be appropriate for most non-work activities that didn't include garage cleaning, painting, or basement mucking...This is our art, and our color scheme:

In order to take yesterday's wardrobe to work, I upgraded the skirt and the pants from the more casual cotton to nicer wool pieces. Depending on how casual your office actually is, you might easily have been able to wear yesterday's pieces to work too!

For the off white - same thing; the tops were keepers, but the skirt and pants were moved to slightly ... View the Post