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Denim and Ivory: Three 13-Piece Travel Capsule Wardrobes

September 20, 2024

I can't believe that September is 2/3 over! You'd think I wasn't awake every day...

Our heroine has looked at her wardrobe with cores of denim and black, and then with cores of denim and brown. Today, we're going to see how EVERYBODY'S favorite of denim and ivory looks...

This is our heroine's starting point - 27 garments in three "neutral" clusters, and then three "accent" clusters. 

First, let's take a last look at her hard-working core of denim garments, with yet ANOTHER group of accessories. Wearing things every week is the fastest way to get your "cost per wear" for garments down; you can buy exceptionally nice clothes and still get good value if you wear things consistently!

The ivory ... View the Post

Denim and Brown: Three 13-Piece Travel Capsule Wardrobes

September 18, 2024

When we last visited our heroine with the modular wardrobe, she was packing in denim and black, with autumn-hued accent colors.

Just as a reminder, this is her autumn wardrobe in its entirety:

She's refreshed her accessories, as she moves into a few weeks in which she's going to pack her denim and brown cores. Each week, she will change to a new accent color, so while she's wearing the same clothes most of the time, she doesn't get bored...

Here are her denim pieces:

And her brown things - how yummy is brown?

She's found a new burgundy scarf, with a lot of deep green in it - it will look great with her evergreen accent pieces too. Sometimes that happens - you get lucky!

So for the ... View the Post

Three Travel Capsule Wardrobes in Denim and Black

September 16, 2024

You certainly remember that on Friday, I grouped a bunch of wardrobe clusters into a wardrobe that offered lots of possibilities for travel or for visibility in a small closet:

But we need accessories! While this wardrobe is fine without them, it's not much of a reflection of how women actually get dressed, eh?

Starting with denim! If you find denim shoes that you like, and you can picture wearing them, grab them. Denim shoes aren't growing on trees, and a lot of them are tricked out with lots of sparkles, embroidery and other unnecessary stuff that will just fall off if they get wet or you brush against something...

Today, I'm going to focus on wardrobe that use just two of the neutrals available to ... View the Post

Should I Buy the Blazer AND the Pants? Boden Red Plaid Suit

September 11, 2024

She's working for a political campaign! And thus far, she's been wearing summer clothes, of course. But heading into the home stretch of this ENDLESS election (seriously, must this take 2 years?), she needs to pack and all-purpose suitcase for cooler/cold weather...

The temptation is this plaid suit. She loves the plaid, and she's not at all nervous about wearing something this bold. But she's still pondering if it makes sense to buy both pieces:

My approach to helping her with this decision is to show her outfit options using either the blazer or the pants... Her possible colors include the touch of yellow and bright blue found in the plaid, but I think frankly she's going to be a lot happier keeping ... View the Post

Need an Autumn Inspiration? Start With a Sweater – Fair Isle from L.L.Bean

September 9, 2024

Oh, so many of you are ready to buy something fresh for the upcoming cooler seasons, and SO many of you are hesitating...

A question I receive a few days ago - "I love earth tones - all shades of brown - but does it make sense to add this sweater to my wardrobe?"

Well, let's be honest - I love Fair Isle sweaters! All of the DNA tests assure me that I'm Scottish, Irish and French (of course!), so these sweaters are in my blood. And L.L.Bean does some lovely sweaters, that aren't priced to the moon and back. (I recently saw a Fair Isle sweater that appealed, until I saw the $500+ price tag...)

And if our heroine has a closet of browns and ivories (as she assures me she does), this sweater would be very ... View the Post

Want a Timeless Summer Capsule Wardrobe? Start with a Shirt – the Mountainside Shirt by L.L.Bean

July 12, 2024

While much of the world is getting ready for cold weather (I'm looking at you, Nordstrom!), some retailers are still introducing clothes for NOW. TODAY. Summer... (in the Northern Hemisphere)

One of you spotted this and wondered if it was a good base for a small summer wardrobe:

The three colors in the shirt are obvious for a wardrobe, and I decided to add white to the mix because... SUMMER! If you just don't do white, you can always substitute more navy, or denim, or chambray...

I started with simple navy classics, as well as a bandana, a sling bag, leather tennis shoes and a pair of earrings...

Then I looked at all of the "lake blue" things at L.L.Bean and chose a range of tops. Shorts and sandals ... View the Post

Start with Art: A Winter’s Tale by K. Neil Swanson

November 11, 2022

Wouldn't this make a wonderful scarf?

And for those of us who love navy, this is a beautiful inspiration!

Do You Know Someone Like This? Her Christmas tree is decorated with birds. She has bird feeders outside her windows. She just loves birds - she doesn't have to explain this to anybody!

And so when she's assembling a wardrobe for cool weather - especially for a trip! - she turns to her favorites animals for inspiration.

She starts with her essentials:

Her chosen inspiration has a wide variety of possible accents, but these are what she's chosen for this particular wardrobe:

She could probably pull together an outfit that clashes a bit, but generally speaking this is a "Whatever's ... View the Post

How to Build a 13-Piece Travel Capsule Wardrobe

July 15, 2022

I'm long overdue to spend some time looking in detail at how one can choose a 13-piece "Whatever's Clean" wardrobe; you can't just grab a baker's dozen pieces of clothing and stuff them in a suitcase!

If you've been visiting The Vivienne Files for a few years, you certain recognize the idea of 13 garments for a travel capsule wardrobe - 3 to wear and 10 to pack.

But let's think about a specific travel situation that one of us is confronting week after week; packing for the weekend plus the Monday work day...

First - what items of clothing do you need?

You can always "right-click" on this template, and print it out, and then jot down notes about what you're considering...

Secondly, you need to make ... View the Post

Start with Art: The Red Maple at Lake George by Georgia O’Keeffe

July 11, 2022

The Best Laid Plans... She was planning to spend the autumn photographing leaves, and hiking, and enjoying the brisk air...

But instead, she's going to be touring with a political candidate whom she supports. It's a long story!

She doesn't want to pack much; she frankly doesn't want to think about clothing at all once she closes her suitcase. She's going to have quite enough on her mind!

So she's thinking that she will have room to pack 10 garments in her medium suitcase... Maybe a "Whatever's Clean 13" Wardrobe is what she needs, eh?

Realistically, she might be able to stop at home from time to time, but she wants to be as self-sufficient as possible when they're driving from small town to ... View the Post

Start with Art: Passenger by Sean Scully

July 8, 2022

As soon as she saw the painting, so many things became clearer...

It includes all of her favorite colors, but it's the title that really grabs her...

This is what she wants - after two and a half years of staying home and being careful - she wants to be a passenger!

And so she's leaving. As soon as the summer's over, she's going to buy a train pass and just GO...

She will choose destinations based on things like sporting events, or art exhibits, or other museum-type stuff... or maybe weather. Or something else!

She starts to plan her foolproof wardrobe now; anticipation is a big part of the travel fun, for her:

She loves the idea of a wardrobe based in black, and punctuated with bright colors. ... View the Post