The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

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warm weather Archives - Page 8 of 37

Start with a Scarf: King Charles III Coronation

May 3, 2023

Regardless of your feeling about royalty, or coronations, let's suspend judgment and enjoy this beautiful scarf!

Shamrocks, daffodils, roses and thistles!

And you KNOW how nice the scarves are from PJ Studio Accessories...

I decided that our heroine is going to use navy as her packing neutral, and draw all of her accents from her lovely scarf:

A Dilemma, of Sorts... Our heroine's still not sure how long she will be able to travel for the Coronation - at this point, she may only be able to be away for 1 night!

And we don't have to assume that she's going to London - there will be lots of places where she could meet up with friends, watch a lot of festivities on television, and then celebrate around ... View the Post

Year 2! Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Kokuu – Grain Rain

April 26, 2023

Why yes, 2 seasons in 3 days! It's sort of like living in Chicago...

(at least if you live with me, where being forgetful is a way of life!)

Given the scattered and disorganized way I'm living these days, I thought that a really simple, comprehensive little cluster of clothes might be something useful for me; I could open my closet and find clothes that I can wear for anything from warm to reasonably cold...

It's kind of like the stress dressing that I've addressed in the past; having enough ready any time, just in case you're suddenly invited out to lunch, or for a walk, or for a meeting with your tax preparer! (THAT is stress...)

If the weather is cool, a shirt, sweater, pants and closed ... View the Post

Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet: Classic Lynx Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs

April 21, 2023

Ah, the timeless beauty of pink and navy!

I think these colors are timeless and flattering to most of us too!

The Big Challenge She never knows if it will be nice and toasty warm or damp and nippy...

So she brings her swimsuits, as well as long underwear for sleeping! Best be ready for a range of temperatures...

And for non-aquatic activities, she packs this:

One really doesn't need to pack a ton of things for a weekend; you need to get dressed on Saturday and Sunday, and maybe Monday if you're really stretching your time off!

The cardigan and long pants make almost everything else in her wardrobe useful, even on cold days! Warm socks are never wrong, too!

So she has choices, warm or ... View the Post

Version 2: Start With a Scarf – Safari Square by Beatrice von Tresckow

April 19, 2023

Let's do this again, only differently!

Some different accent colors, and navy as our neutral!

She doesn't make it up to the lake EVERY weekend of the warm weather, but she is probably there at least 2 out of 3...

For no good reason she can offer to anyone, she wants to wear navy this weekend!

This wardrobe is exactly the same size as her wardrobe from Monday, but it's also entirely different! What fun...

If you like blue, this should be appealing:

As with her earlier weekend wardrobe, our heroine has plenty of options for a 3 day break...

Eventually, our heroine is going to take a couple of weeks off; maybe combining her 2 "long weekend" wardrobes will work for that?

We shall ... View the Post

Start with a Scarf: Safari Square silk scarf by Beatrice von Tresckow

April 17, 2023

This will brighten up your summer!

And how many accent colors could one find here? I'm starting with these 3, but I'm not finished with this scarf...

It's not that long a drive up to the beach house...

But once you're off the main highway, it seems like a different world...

Our heroine is fearless in the face of dirty clothes - she wants to wear white in the summer, and so she shall!

It's a wardrobe that strikes terror in the hearts of those of us who are messy, but she's so happy with this:

She has plenty of outfits to get through a long weekend, although if it gets TOO cold, she might find herself in a pickle...

It was over 80 here yesterday; tomorrow it's supposed to ... View the Post

Start with Art: Lake Geneva with Mont-Blanc at Dawn by Ferdinand Hodler

April 14, 2023

Isn't this lovely?

I'm realizing that it's entirely possible to use a painting (or any other image or object, frankly) as inspiration for a wardrobe even if that image doesn't include your core neutral!

I know, I should have realized this years ago...

Here's how I'm showing this; note the navy outlines in the color wheel...

Frankly, this wardrobe only includes 3 navy pieces out of the 9 total - that's a small number of neutral garments!

And this wardrobe only has a pair of jeans and a pair of shorts for bottoms; this is a heroine who's going to be spending a lot of time in her swimwear, so this works out for weekends...

But first, she has to drive up to the lake!

If you like sweater vests, ... View the Post

Adding Accessories! Start with Art: Spring Blossom by Valerius de Saedeleer

April 12, 2023

The last of the "beige-based" wardrobes - and probably my favorite! (of course, this is the only wardrobe with any black in it...)

This is the wardrobe for our last heroine; she has a lot of beige, but her accent colors are unusual, and make quite a statement!

I suspect that this heroine will also find herself with a few pairs of colorful sandals!

Even though our heroine only has 2 black garments, I think that black sandals make sense for her; they bring a real balance to a simple outfit like this:

If you love lime green, indulge in some peridot jewelry too! You'll have it forever...

Floral earrings with a floral top seems nice to me; keep the rest of the outfit nicely muted...

Of ... View the Post

Adding Accessories! Start with Art: Drei Häuser By Paul Klee

April 10, 2023

I really love this painting - it seems so simple, but the more you look at it, the more the colors make themselves clear and distinct...

You may remember that this heroine assembled this wardrobe for the eventual arrival of warmer weather:

I haven't yet thought of a better way to add accessories than to go through a wardrobe and put together a bunch of outfits, and then make sure that each outfit can be dressed up (or down, I suppose?) appropriately. I don't think that there's a rigid checklist of accessories that everyone should own - some women don't wear jewelry, some don't wear scarves, some don't carry a handbag... You get the idea!

I enjoyed this - these colors are beautiful and ... View the Post

Adding Accessories! Start with Art: Wagen in Silberner Strasse by August Macke

April 7, 2023

I love the accents in this painting...

Here's a reminder of the 16-piece capsule wardrobe that our heroine has chosen for the upcoming Spring and Summer:

Let's walk through a bunch of her favorite outfits, to see how she might accessorize each:

These wee stud earrings are available in 12 different stones - all of the birthstones!

This is our heroine's only scarf, but WHAT a scarf!

I love the subtle coordination of a "denim-colored" bag:

Those of us who own a Longchamp tote bag can vouch that they're SO useful!

Would you get a green pedicure? Or would that be overkill?

A simple beige outfit takes on a bit of shine with some jewelry!

This heroine seems to really like ... View the Post

Adding Accessories! Start with Art: Windows by Robert Delaunay

March 31, 2023

Accessories make SO much difference; I think we're going to see that pretty quickly!

Remember this painting?

And this wardrobe?

Let's work our way through a bunch of outfits, to see what accessories our heroine needs...

First up - the all-beige ensemble! Some people make this look wonderful...

For this next outfit, if the weather gets too hot to wear a scarf around your neck, you can always wear it as a belt, or in your hair, or tied to your bag...

One could make a summer-long project of looking for accessories that worked with their summer capsule wardrobe!

Even a very small scarf - literally a pocket square - can add a touch of color when worn as a bracelet, or around your neck, ... View the Post

Build a Warm Weather Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Spring Blossom by Valerius de Saedeleer

March 29, 2023

I love this too!

This heroine is committed to switching to a warmer, lighter wardrobe, although it's a bit difficult; those of us who wear a lot of black might find this change a challenge!

 

She's starting with the same 8 beige garments are her 3 friends...

 

Her accent garments are a great assortment:

She's pretty happy with how her 4 by 4 Wardrobe looks...

And when she gets all of her things in her closet, she loves the way it looks; she can already see all kinds of options, from crisp black and white to warm green or rust with beige...

But as ALL clever heroines will do, she assembles a range of outfits in her mind, just to be certain that she will be able to ... View the Post

Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Shunbun – Vernal Equinox

March 20, 2023

I'm writing this on Saturday morning; the temperature is WAY below freezing... sigh...

The first day of spring is my anniversary! 19 years - it seems like almost 2 decades...

I was thinking of pretty outfits for Easter, or some other wonderful Spring dressy occasion. Having one truly lovely outfit in your closet is only right!

 

A dress with smocking looks MUCH better on a person, rather than just stark in a photograph...

 

First sign of Spring in a lot of the world:

 

A pretty blouse or shirt can be worn a lot in the warm weather - with a skirt, certainly, but maybe shorts?

 

At a distance, this skirt doesn't seem to have much pink in it - you need to ... View the Post