The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #11 – neutral lightweight 2nd layer

May 24, 2021

This is timely - this morning when I put on my long linen tank top, and linen cropped pants, I realized that I was going to need a cardigan if I was going to go out for lunch, or to the grocery store, or almost anyplace indoors! Air conditioning around Chicago woke up yesterday, with a VENGANCE...

If the heroine wearing this lovely linen dress hangs around the garden party 'til after the sun sets, she may want her beige cardigan too!

This isn't a category where you have to stock up, so you can go ahead and buy a couple of really NICE cardigans... I have 2 - a black and a white - and they serve me well!

What if you're still occasionally required to look like an adult - at least from the waist up?

Your ... View the Post

Start with a Cardigan: Birdcage Print Cardigan from Talbots

Ma7 21, 2021

Just in the last few days, 3 people have contacted me about cardigans from Talbots! These kinds of "confluences of interest" happen often - I find them fascinating...

But the cardigans are pretty amazing too! Some lovely prints...

excuse the image quality - I had to do some scary digital magic to get this together!

I love this sweater - some of us were debating the merits of using bright colors for accents, and this cardigan sets us up for a summer of black, white and brights:

Let's assume for working purposes that our heroine already has her black and white Common Wardrobe all sorted out...

Now, she decides that she's going to base her accent colors for this year on her new cardigan!

First up, ... View the Post

Start with Art: Girl with a Tinsel Scarf by William John Leech

May 19, 2021 She Knew It... As soon as she handed her 2 (very large) suitcases to the airline staff, she knew she wasn't going to see them again ANY time soon...

But she's an inspired woman!

Because she's taking SO much stuff with her, she doesn't really have a clear palette for her entire travel wardrobe, but for her carry-on, she has ideas...

After she thought about it for a few days, she realized that she could, in her carry-on bag, bring along enough clothes to get her through a few days if (when?) the rest of her bags go roaming without her...

So she started by establishing a color palette for this segment of her overall travel gear, and chose lightweight clothes and flat shoes to pack more easily.

This ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #10 – short-sleeved textured top

May 17, 2021

I know that I describe this top as "textured" in order to be consistent with the way that I described things like cabled sweaters... What I'm looking for here is a warm-weather top with some visual interest - something more than just a tee shirt...

A print makes perfect sense for spring and summer, so don't be terribly bound by the idea of texture!

A simple pleated top in a pretty color can change the look of anything with which you wear it!

I actually saw a man on the street the other day in a seersucker suit, white shirt, pink madras tie and pink pocket square. Pink socks and white bucks.... He looked amazing!

 

Even if you're wearing shorts, a sweater can be about a million times more ... View the Post

Start with a Shirt – Fresh Mint Seersucker Popover

May 12, 2021

I'm sure you don't think about these things, but my schedule is always a mixture of looking back (at blog posts upon which you are currently commenting, but which I prepared 2 or 3 days ago) and forwards - what I'm going to post Friday, Monday, next month...

I share this, because BEFORE I EVER PUBLISHED MONDAY'S POST, I had an impassioned request for a wardrobe based on this shirt!

Our friend has her color palette selected; she's not worried about getting dirty because she doesn't live that kind of life! She's focusing on 3 pastels, with chambray/denim blue and white as her neutrals:

She's even got ONE outfit chosen - this is where she began to experience "wardrobe planning block"...

I'm VERY sympathetic ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #9 – short-sleeved print or patterned top

May 10, 2021

I still believe that the weather will warm up. I believe...

Alert to everyone who follows along with this series - I've made a change to the garment list! A small one: I took the word "neutral" out of the description of this week's top. So long as the top looks really GOOD with your neutrals, it can be any mix of colors that you want!

I don't know why I ever thought thought that it needed to be a neutral. Maybe back when absolutely everything revolved around work wardrobes?

This is the top that I've chosen to be the "representative" of this week's garments. The poster child? The spokesperson?

I'm not quite sure what to call it, but it looks really great with a navy skirt!

I own this next skirt ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #8 – short-sleeved light neutral shirt

May 3, 2021

It's starting to feel like summer clothes might actually be useful this year!

What we're looking for this week is the "go-to" shirt for warm weather, to be worn either as a shirt on its own, or as a shirt-jacket over a more bare top:

Pink as a neutral is fun, because it looks like an accent color so often!

yes, this is the same black cardigan and pants that we saw last week; being able to wear clothes in lots of different combinations is sort of the point...

If you're wearing a top that's sleeveless and maybe scoop-necked, or open in the back, having a shirt to wear over is good sun protection, air-conditioning protection, and modesty protection!

Maybe your light neutral is warm rather than ... View the Post

Start with Art: Courtesans Strolling Beneath Cherry Trees by Kitawaga Utamaro

April 30, 2021

This post is for those among us who are deeply smitten with a particular color for their spring and summer wardrobe; I think that one can wear quite a bit of their favorite color without sacrificing a coherent wardrobe!

OH, she's got cherry trees...

She's got all KINDS of trees under which she plans to sit; she has a STACK of books that need to be read this summer!

And she has her eye on a particular color that she wants to wear this summer; when she saw this painting she began to formulate her plan:

She eschews the almost green shade of beige, and she chooses to believe that the darkest kimonos are black (while it's possible that they're navy...)

This is what she's starting with:

And this is her ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #7 – Dark Neutral Cotton or Linen Cardigan

April 26, 2021

Ah, let's start with a version of my FAVORITE travel outfit...

Even though it gets to be quite hot here in Chicago, I find that I often need a cardigan or jacket when I'm indoors - because of air conditioning, or outdoors in the evenings when the wind turns and blows in off the lake...

This week I chose this black cardigan at least in part so that I could introduce you to COS - a store that I discovered a few years ago in Paris. They now have locations in a lot of countries, and they also do mail order...

My all-time favorite tweed dress came from COS, as well as a couple of tops and a jacket that I quite thoroughly love - I've had excellent luck with buying from them!

We all know how versatile a ... View the Post

Weekly Timeless Wardrobe #6 – Dark Neutral Lightweight Pants

April 19, 2021

It's not quite summer yet - you don't feel like wearing corduroy pants, or fleece-lined jeans, but you still need a "real" pair of pants...

yes, I wore a cashmere sweater all day yesterday; we're supposed to get snow on Tuesday!?!?!?

These are the kind of pants that you can wear during Spring and Autumn - not too warm, not too cool:

Any accent color goes with navy, I'm convinced!

These pants and a nice sweatshirt give you the option to use any color of the rainbow as your accent:

You can still look like spring, even if you're wearing 2 shirts and shoes with closed toes!

Navy and red were made for each other!

Sometimes, your tote bag will dictate what your accent color will ... View the Post

Accessories! Revisiting Dance Dance by Jacqueline Osborn

April 16, 2021

Who doesn't love this painting?

Our heroine from Wednesday has assembled a really lovely, warm-toned and warm-weather travel capsule wardrobe:

Now she needs accessories! She knows that her color palette for her accessories will be the same as for her clothes, with the addition of gold for anything metallic:

She takes a look at the 24-piece accessory wardrobe that has been used before on The Vivienne Files; it seems like a LOT of things for a trip...

And she also looks at the suggestions that I made once upon a time:

And then she realized that if building her wardrobe 1 piece at a time worked so well, it might be a sensible way to assemble her accessories too!

She started with an ... View the Post

Start With Art: Dance Dance by Jacqueline Osborn

April 14, 2021

She's Been Cold... for over a year. Not really physically cold, so much as missing the "chaleur humaine" - the human warmth of society...

So when she knew that she was going to finally go on vacation, this was her heart's desire:

okay, just feel free to pause right here and go admire this artist's work - I will forever be grateful to readers who send me links to new artists!

After a year of stress and tension, she's determined to be in complete control of her travel wardrobe! She decides that a "one piece at a time" approach to packing will suit her just fine...

After she gets that essential 2nd top in her bag, she starts with the easiest of packing - a dress!

She knows that she will be ... View the Post