warm weather Archives - Page 2 of 17

Ready for a Warm-Weather Wardrobe Update? How about a French 5-Piece Wardrobe?

Of course these aren't an entire wardrobe - I hope that's clear. But, to me, the idea of a "French 5-Piece Wardrobe" is the 5 pieces that you plan, and carefully choose, and use to update your normal seasonal wardrobe of classic, neutral clothes.

Let's start here - these are about as basic as you can get!

While this isn't a really exciting wardrobe, it's versatile; you can get two dozen combinations from these 9 garments. That's a working wardrobe, I'd say!

When I thought about doing some French 5-Piece Wardrobes, I was thinking specifically about that Hedge Green color that is so uncommon, and really delightful. But I figured that I might as well work my way through the rainbow... Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, ... View the Post

Can a “Color” be a Neutral? Start with Art: Double Vision 1974 by Edwina Sandys

I'm so sorry that those of you who tried to visit The Vivienne Files this morning ran into all kinds of difficulties! I believe everything's fixed now, but please don't hesitate to contact me if you see any additional problems... love - Janice

Someone mentioned it a few days ago - if you plan well, you could use a "color" as a neutral. Of course I had to see how that might work!

And I've got a fondness for this artist's work, so it seemed an opportune time to use this as an inspiration for a very fun-loving heroine:

"If We All Chip In... We can rent the big house up at the shore... At least a handful of us could be there almost any weekend. And since it's so big, we can leave some things up there for the summer, so we could even ... View the Post

Start with Art: View from Bodacke, Liden by Helmer Osslund

This reminded her immediately of the site of their cabin:

So much so that she decided to make this her wardrobe inspiration for their upcoming weekends away!

This summer, she's going to plan out a simple, small, but versatile wardrobe, take it up to the cabin, and LEAVE IT THERE until they close up for cold weather! She knows that she might need to take something else with her at some point, but she's determined to avoid the "every Thursday night" packing that inevitably results in something being forgotten...

So she's planning a 4 by 4 Wardrobe, starting with "hedge green."

Next, she wants some beige. She's lucky that it looks pretty good on her - if it didn't, she would either swap the 2 tops for more green, or an ... View the Post

Start with a Bracelet – The March monthly bracelet from Fierce Lynx Designs!

This is really exciting - one of my genius technical helpers here on The Vivienne Files ALSO makes jewelry. (don't you just hate these creative types?)

And she's going to make a special bracelet, each month, for US, here at The Vivienne Files!

Here's the first one:

How gorgeous is that?

So I'm thinking about warm weather, and lakes, and beaches, and summer homes...

My color scheme is this:

And I'm planning a wardrobe that you can pull together and then leave at the beach house until at least May or June. My plan is to wear super-light colored clothing, so that it feels summery. But I'll also make certain that our heroine has a few warm garments - spring evenings aren't always warm!

First up, some basic pieces in ... View the Post

Packing for a Spring Cruise, with some Inspiration from Caillebotte

Lots of you go on cruises! And right now, my mail box reflects that; anticipation is running wild in at least a few minds right now...

So how about a spring cruise in Italy and the near islands? The temperatures might reach into the 70s Fahrenheit, and evenings will be in the 60s. Right now, that sounds SO appealing!

I picked this painting to inspire us, although it is from a French artist, and has nothing to do with cruises... but it's lovely, and I find this woman getting dressed feels very... hmmm... romantic and evocative to me.

And yes, I suspect that her skirt is indeed black, but this wardrobe is built around navy, so I'm fudging that a bit. You could certainly use black here, or a wide range of shades of grey. Maybe other ... View the Post

When You Pack the WRONG Stuff, or “I Blame Lake Michigan”

The vacation was beautiful. Except for an unpleasant, but very brief, encounter with my fibromyalgia, this trip could not have been more perfect...

But I packed... not ALL wrong, but largely wrong. And I blame Lake Michigan!

Hear me out - in Chicago, if you live near the lake (and I live literally 100 meters from it), the weather is always colder than advertised. So when someone tells you that your forecast is... say 75 degrees... you draw a mental picture of what that means. In this neighborhood, it means coolish - a cardigan or light sweater is appropriate.

Which, if course, is NOT how that temperature feels when you're away from a very large body of water that keeps the heat suppressed for much of the summer!

Let's ... View the Post

Wear a Uniform and Simplify your Summer Wardrobe – Using Navy as Your Neutral

I wanted to share one final experiment into uniforms for warm weather. You don't necessarily have to dress like this every day (although you're sort of losing the whole "ease of a uniform" idea if you don't wear it... uniformly...). Still, if you have these pieces in your closet, you're never going to really be stuck finding something to wear... Unless you're going to something really outside of your normal activities, your "uniform" capsule should be perfectly chosen to help you get dressed in a flash for the activities that take up most of your time.

So let's visit some navy! What's nicer than a bit of navy for warm weather?

(a note about matching navy garments... when I was in Ireland last month, I saw LOTS of men wearing navy ... View the Post

Wear a Uniform and Simplify your Summer Wardrobe – Using Beige as a Neutral

Maybe yesterday's white outfits are a little bit too... risky? for you... Maybe beige is a better option?

The beige heroine has every color of the rainbow at her disposal for accents - you would really struggle to find something that would clash with these pieces!

So let's go with summery pastels that aren't saccharine and sickening...

Pink is always pretty on virtually anyone, and this muted shade of teal is a nice change from navy or royal blue:

If you were only going away for a few days, this might be all you would need!

You've got all kinds of different levels of dressiness here, as well as being able to dress for everything from very hot to a bit of a cool morning (or evening...).

I'm going to do ... View the Post

Wear a Uniform and Simplify your Summer Wardrobe

Some people manage to sail through life wearing white and they always look cool and collected. Even white linen! I think that we all need to embrace the inherent wrinkles in linen - wrinkled clothes make your face look smooth! But seriously, a core of cool white pieces for warm weather could make getting dressed every day a breeze...

With this timeless wardrobe core, you could use accessories to add all of the fun and interest... I don't think you would wear ALL of these pieces at the same time, but you certain could if you want to!

How about a couple of accent colors that supposedly clash?

A hot long weekend? Yes, the white is risky, but so cool and comfortable...

Yep - lots of possible ways to wear these pieces ... View the Post

Start with Art: Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Revisiting Jack Pine by Tom Thomson

Someone asked me to revisit this most striking of paintings... Years ago I showed some outfits that were based on this work, but it's well worth returning to works of art from time to time. If you choose a work of art or other lovely image/object to be your style inspiration, you'll be coming back to it often, so why shouldn't we do the same here on The Vivienne Files?

As much as brown plays a really big role in the painting, I've chosen to not include brown in this wardrobe because it's terribly difficult to find for spring and summer! If you've got a good source of beautiful brown garments for warm weather, take advantage! That's the only way these colors will move back into the marketplace...

I'm imagining that our very ... View the Post

Packing a Small Backpack for a Week…

If you're making a trip with some specific advantages, you can travel very VERY lightly! I was in Florida last week for a quick visit with my mother, and I had ALL of the factors in my favor:

traveling to a warm-weather destination, with no dressy nor business activities planned, where I can easily purchase or borrow things that I forgot, and where I can do laundry!

Knowing that all of this was working in my favor, and that I had very little time to pack, AND that I had one of those airfares that requires you to pack only what will fit under the seat in front of you, I managed just fine, thank you!

This is what I wore to fly; it was a bit more than I needed when I arrived in Florida, and frankly LESS than I might have ... View the Post

Shopping for Paris! Thanks to Talbots…

Yep - a sponsored post! It's always a fun occasion to sit down and browse through the Talbot's site, mentally trying on different pieces and pondering how I'd wear them, and how they might work with my existing wardrobe...

And since I think I'm FINALLY going to make it to Paris in May, I thought that choosing some things with that trip in mind might be a way to add to the anticipation that's already almost out of control. (for those of you who haven't heard, I had to cancel a trip to Paris in December because of a fibromyalgia "interlude," and then ANOTHER attempt to go in February was rendered completely impossible by the worst flu I've ever had...)

Talbot's asked that I specifically look at their RSVP selections - garments for special ... View the Post