The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Asiatic God by Paul Klee

March 19, 2016   This looks a little bit clown-like on my screen, but in person it's much more compelling, with a lot of texture. Almost mysterious, dark, and captivating, with amazing color highlights.  

Asiatic God – Paul Klee  

The frame is maroon and grey, and there are tiny accents of teal... the pink on the face is, in fact, the color PUCE! (I was searching around for the precise RGB combination to show the color on the color wheel, and learned this...)

 

This cried out for denim, to serve as a base for texture and a variety of accent colors...

Yes, the image of this skirt is TERRIBLE, but I really wanted you to see this skirt. It's a departure from a lot of denim skirts, in that it seems to ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Madame Paul Escudier by John Singer Sargent

March 5, 2016   This arresting painting lives just down the street from me - I go visit it frequently!  

These colors are luscious:

  Your Biggest Client Called... And you're pretty fortunate that they complained about the service they were receiving, rather than just pulling the plug on your contract! But you're headed to the service center for a couple of days of... encouragement....

The keywords are calmness and quality.

You have to be careful not to be too much the "Home Office Person" because that will just alienate everyone. But you do want to show them, through every gesture, and every word, that you insist on the best possible work they can do, in a way that's not frantic in any ... View the Post

Tote Bag Travel for a Weekend Get-Away

January 11, 2016   Back to the real world....  

This happens a lot in large cities - when the hotels become less expensive over the weekend, people from the suburbs come into "the city." They come in by train on Saturday morning to spend the day in town, have a nice dinner, maybe see a sporting event or a show, stay over, have a lovely brunch, and get back home before darkness falls on Sunday. 

When I said I was going to create the smallest possible travel capsule wardrobe, THIS is what I was thinking of! (I'm so sorry, I have a hunch that I've really disappointed some of you.)

I see these people every weekend, and it seems that they are often hauling about a lot more "stuff" than they might need. This might not ... View the Post

Choosing an Accent Color for Teal or Petrol Blue

December 8, 2015  

First up, I have to confess that the whole question about what, exactly, this color is called is a mystery to me. I found all sort of shades and tones of these color under both Teal and Petrol blue. It seemed, in a general sense, that it was more likely to be called Teal in North America, and Petrol blue in Europe. Further, the things that claimed to be Petrol were generally more expensive than those that were called Teal. You may find different examples...But whatever it's called, it's very pretty!

In the time that I've been looking into the idea of accent colors, I've approached finding ideas a few different ways. Some color I just knew would work well, and some were combinations that I have wanted to ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Pigs on the Wing by wrq.e.d. Version 2

October 22, 2015  

While the first colors that I saw in the scarf were greys and black, there's definitely enough beige and brown here to work with; maybe I see black and grey first because that's my personal capsule wardrobe focus?

But this time, this is the color scheme. I like giving myself the full range of the blues and browns as options, I think it works well with the scarf, and makes the blending of different shades of one color possible. While there are a few colors that need to be matched pretty closely, others can blend all over the place and work well - I think brown is one of those!

I didn't mention this, but the border of this scarf reads:

"my song was out of tune, my voice was cracked, but at least no ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Pigs on the Wing by wrq.e.d.

October 21, 2015   Such a great scarf... Do we all remember the Pink Floyd song?  

I am going to work with this scarf twice - I have a warm color scheme in mind for this, too. But for now, I'm concentrating on shades of grey, and that glorious blue.

  The Thinnest Veneer of Conformity   You have to visit the client. You developed the billing fee plan, so you've got to explain it to them. (those sales persons are such sissies...)   You've been briefed at exhausting length about how to dress. Like you haven't been dressing yourself for decades. But you're usually... somewhat... nonconformist, so I guess they might have reason to be concerned.   No worries, you are going to board the plane is ... View the Post

Choosing Accessory Colors, or Accessories in Clusters

June 4, 2015   Woo hoo!!!  The absolutely wonderful ladies at Kathkath send me a scarf!  (fwiw, I am NOT one of those bloggers who are constantly being sent things to review - I can now count on 2 fingers the number of gifts I've received from designers...)   They sent me this beautiful wonder:  

It is, in fact, more beautiful in person than it is in the photographs! The size is the same as Hermes scarves - 90cm square (just about a square yard). And the fabric is soft and light without being flimsy; for those of you who find Hermes to be too "crispy" and heavy, definitely look at these. I'm so happy... And so, of course, I'm immediately figuring out what to wear it with. Black clothes - piece of cake. ... View the Post

Packing for a Weekend in the City

April 22, 2015

So often, you live just a quick train ride from a big city, but you don't make the time to visit! But there's a new exhibit at the big museum that you REALLY want to see, and a new restaurant... So let's cash in a few of those hotel loyalty points, and go downtown for a quick weekend away.

But what to take? How about starting with your favorite shawl, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art? It's a perfect reflection of your preferred color palette of autumn colors, and you know you will want it with you - at least on the train, for drafts, and in the restaurant, too...

For the trip, break out the saffron cardigan! There's never a bad time to wear it. And a touch of teal on your toes...

  Since ... View the Post

Start With Art: Trumpet Creeper by Abby Williams Hill

November 13, 2014   Isn't this beautiful? One of you sent it to me, and it captivated me immediately. The vertical layout, the soft background, the muted shades of green and blue, the accents of warm rust, gold and orange - what a wonderful painting.   There are so many things about this that could serve as inspiration and focus: the colors, the organic nature of the image, the soft blending of the background colors, the use of about a billion shades of bluish green - there's just no end to the ideas that can come from this one work of art. (but that's probably true, for the right person, of any work of art, right?)  

  This was my chosen color scheme - a base in very dark navy, accents of all those ... View the Post

Start With Nature: Bird’s Eggs photograph from Kevin Fleming Photography

November 3, 2014  

Someone sent me this gorgeous photograph... I've flipped it sideways so that I could put up a bigger image...

This was my chosen color scheme:  

  It's hard to introduce "egg-like" elements into a wardrobe, but I did stick with rounded earrings, and I aimed for a sort of softness and subtlety that would honor the gorgeousness of the photograph.  

  I introduced the most subtle greenish color to blend with the warm beige, tan and brown already here.  It's an amazingly effective combination, I think.  

  To me, these combinations are warm, gentle, and comfortable.  

love, Janice ... View the Post

Travel Capsule Wardrobe Packing with Scarves: Les Ailes de la Soie, or difficult colors

November 1, 2014   What to do? You have a wonderful wardrobe of cool neutral colors of charcoal, slate, silvery blue and ivory. But you fall irrevocably in love with a scarf that has some really pronounced warm colors in it; how can it be worn?  

 

Happily, this scarf includes lots of cool tones too - this is the color scheme I pulled together from this beautiful thing...  

  So the lacy wings of the butterflies in the scarf put me in a lacy sort of mood - this coat, scarf and bag all echo the lace motif without being overwhelmingly girly. I balanced them with a really simple ivory sweater and grey trousers, as well as simple black boots.  

In the bag are some soft garments, in ... View the Post