Whatever's Clean Archives - Page 3 of 6

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe with a Backbone – Start with Art: Paris Dreaming by Peter Rumney

I'm long overdue to make something clear - your choice of wardrobe inspiration does NOT have to be some work of fine art, nor some fabulous creature from nature. If you're inspired by a work of art that's frankly commercial and designed simply to be pleasant and decorative, you should apologize to NOBODY!

For example, someone brought this artist to my attention:

This painting is very romantic, which is perfect for today, and it brings to us a delightful color scheme:

This is a great scheme if you sometimes want a dash of bright color in your outfit, but if you also want to have the option of wearing shades of grey. Let's see how that actually works when I put real clothes into the backbone template we built last week...

I'm starting ... View the Post

Build a Whatever’s Clean 13 Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Dragonfly by Miro

Such an interesting email....

Say you live outside the United States. You're retired. The weather's always reasonably warm and nice. You only shop every year or two, when you visit in the US...

And THIS is your inspiration:

I'm really liking these colors, and this WHOLE scenario!

In the interests of establishing a solid basis upon which we can build, I'm going to assume that our heroine either owns or already plans to purchase these pieces:

At this point, we've got a solid starting point, and a lot of fun things to find!

I'm ALWAYS going to recommend that you buy the sweater or tee shirt or top that goes with your cardigan. Even if you aren't the sort to wear a twinset, having pieces in the exact same color means that anything ... View the Post

12 Months, 12 Outfits in a Navy-Based Capsule Wardrobe: An Evaluation

Back in November, when we left this wardrobe, it was in pretty good shape. Eleven outfits had been collected into a pretty coherent, and pretty comprehensive, capsule wardrobe that would see most people through a great many of their activities:

As I've said before, no wardrobe is ever really finished. Clothes wear out, or get damaged. Our sizes change, and sometimes, we just plain get completely fed up with a garment that we've worn a lot, and feel the need to replace it. So it's useful to have a few different ways to really look at a wardrobe and determine what might be needed, or useful, or helpful, to add. I thought of a couple of different ways to evaluate things...

First off, I thought that it would make sense to see if there were ... View the Post

A Capsule Wardrobe in Beige, Bright Blue and Orange: Expanding Your Accessories

Oh, how I love accessories.... As a reminder, this is where we left the capsule wardrobe when we finished the 4 additions to it yesterday:

I was really appreciating the summery-ness of this wardrobe, so I thought I'd add some warmer-weather accessories (before they disappear entirely from the stores...) Sandals are essential!

And sunglasses. If I convince you to change only ONE thing in your entire life, I want it to be that you buy and wear GOOD sunglasses regularly. You might think that it's just a question of squinting, and getting wrinkles, but your eye health is dependent on shielding them from bright sunlight. Please, not a cheap pair of sunglasses - get something worthy of you and your health.

As I've said before, I'm ... View the Post

A Capsule Wardrobe in Beige, Bright Blue and Orange: From Travel Wardrobe to Whatever’s Clean

Yesterday's travel capsule wardrobe looked like this:

A few people asked me if a travel wardrobe could be expanded into "Whatever's Clean 13;" of course, almost anything is theoretically possible in The Vivienne Files world.

But interestingly, it's actually more difficult to fill a "Whatever's Clean 13" template than almost any other kind of wardrobe plan, because of the flexibility that each garment has to have. Realistically, this wardrobe's not going to be exactly perfect, because there might be some "issues" about the floral shirt with the orange cardigan. But you could certainly wear them together without someone throwing rocks at you, so we press on in our work. (in the best of all possible worlds, the floral print would ... View the Post

Planning my Fall Capsule Wardrobe Shopping: August 2016

Even though we're living in front of the fan, and running the air conditioner much more often than I prefer (those things EAT electricity!); I'm still already thinking about what I'm going to wear this winter. (well, I'm also thinking about what I'm going to pack for our trip to Italy next month...) First things first - you can't plan what you're going to buy unless you make a clear and complete inventory of what you already have! It's an amazing thing to read, repeatedly, about how women will buy a garment, only to return home and realize that they ALREADY OWN a very similar item. There's a big planning fail in there...

So I'm starting with my "Whatever's Clean" capsule wardrobe assortment for cool weather:

This is, in my current ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Version 2 Hydrangea Haze by Ted Baker London

I was working on a casual version of this when everybody started asking for a casual version... Sometimes we all think very much alike!

I swapped out the pinks for purple and blue - a great color combination. I also softened the grey from the first version of this wardrobe (revisit it here) for a pure white.

And then I found that these 2 accents were VERY difficult to find... at least in items that meet my many requirements!

On Campus?!?!?

Yes, of course I'd like to go visit - we're talking about my favorite freshman in the whole wide world. But we're staying ON CAMPUS for Parents and Grandparents Weekend!

Sleeping in a dorm. Eating in a dorm. LIVING IN A DORM.... (showers...)

I'm the grandmother....

And to make it ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Portrait of Madame Lisle and Madame Loubens by Degas

A long time ago, someone asked for me to work with a painting by Degas; it's taken months, but I'm finally on it! (I really do try to get to as many requests as possible, I hope you understand...)

If you just glanced at this painting, it might seem somber and sort of gloomy. But give it a minute - there's a lot of warmth and beauty here. These women appear comfortably tucked up in the lap of luxury!

So I felt that the black component was impossible to avoid, but it seemed equally inevitable that the accent colors would be warm:

No Need for Accolades

Now that everything is finally accomplished, and all of the celebratory events are beginning, it would only be natural that she might want a bit of the credit, and of ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting with Art – The Third Buddhist Kesa

Dear Ellen, who left the comment "I love this capsule and the colors you've used! I can see myself in these clothes.Lovely!" - send me a note at theviviennefiles@gmail.com. The tote bag from Neiman Marcus is yours...

Back to our regular blog post:

Despite the beautiful delicacy of the fabric, the colors felt like a warm-weather travel adventure to me!

Astonishing Everyone...

"Are you sure you want to go there? It's not very dressy..."

Yes, I understand that, she thinks.

"You're going to have to carry your own luggage..."

Yes, I've been working out on the treadmill for months, carrying handweights.

"I mean, you'll be able to get laundry done, and the water's usually safe to drink, but this just isn't ... View the Post

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe Starting with Art – The Second Buddhist Kesa

Such lovely colors:

Perfect for spring travel!

A "Miles" 2nd Honeymoon

They agreed that it was the most cost-effective thing to do, so they immediately started using their airline credit cards for EVERYTHING possible...

After a few months, they totaled up their miles, and called the airline.

The woman on the other end of the phone was lovely. She didn't mind being on a speaker phone, and she just laughed when they talked over each other. Finally, they decided to see what the longest trip possible was available, on their chosen date, for the miles that they had accumulated...

They heard the service representative busily typing on the other end of the phone line. Then, there was a pause.

"I've got ... View the Post

Building a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Blocks and Circles by Paul Klee

I can so easily picture the woman who wears these colors - freckles had better be in the picture!

Just in case nobody else has ever told you this, it's pronounced Klee as in Clay. There was once a book with that title, that taught one how to pronounce all sorts of art names; I wonder if it's still around....

Yep, lots of color possibilities. I chose the beige/camel neutral for our upcoming spring dressy events, but if you wanted to segue this wardrobe into cooler weather, olive and fir green could definitely becomes neutrals, as could a deep rust, or a russet brown...

This is another one of those dresses that has a LOT of potential, for the entire year. And while the culottes were a bit of a venture, I think that they're much ... View the Post

Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Scarf: Cheval Surprise Remix Version 2

You wanted to see some purple? I found purple, and hot pink!

You could certainly do worse than to use all five bright colors, plus black and white, as the basis of your wardrobe...

How many horses have you found in the scarf? I think I can see seven...

This is SUCH a great dress - you could literally wear it all 12 months, with a range of accessories that would keep it fresh. If I needed a dress, this one could easily vault to the top of the list!

Many have mentioned their preference for white shorts, so I honor your preference. And while the paisley top isn't exactly "cleaning out the basement" casual, I thought it was too irresistible to leave out... Maybe your casual activities will be more ... View the Post