The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

Winter Travel: Pilgrim of the Absolute by Brian Fahlstrom

She helps to plan the logistics for tours of pilgrims - those who wish to walk one of the many pilgrimage routes in Europe. They do the walking, but she and her staff make certain that they have lovely hotels, good meals, and a "sag wagon" to carry all of their bags (and the pilgrims themselves, if the walking proves too much!)

It's work she takes seriously; these individuals have in many cases saved for years to make these pilgrimages, and she respects their commitment and sacrifice.

She doesn't fully understand this painting, but she was drawn to the title, and captivated by the colors:

So for her travels this year, she's decided that this is going to be her inspiration and her color palette:

Her first tour to prepare ... View the Post

Why I Didn’t Start Collecting Antique Postcards Again…

I was thrown into the deep end, back in the day. But 10 binders full of postcards, for $100, was too interesting to pass up!

And so I immersed myself in the hundreds of floral birthday cards, and the handful of Ireland scenic cards for St. Patrick's Day, and the occasional Washington's Birthday card, or Valentine. And the I fell in love with this guy:

I discovered that he had brothers:

and cousins!

And so for about 6 or 7 years, I collected post cards...

Fast forward to 2005 - we moved to Ireland, and before we left, I sold off my collection. I hadn't had a lot of time to do anything much with it, and it seemed reasonable to not pay to move heavy binders! The revenue was handy when we were moving...

So you can ... View the Post

Winter Travel: Knitting a Stocking by Sir Francis Grant

She's thoroughly high-tech... She sells software. In her dreams, this might be her life:

But right now, she doesn't sit by the fire all that often! Still, she was smitten with this image, and thus it became the inspiration for her wardrobe palette:

Yes, five colors in a wardrobe might be difficult. But one of the qualities that our heroine most loves about herself is her ability to make things that everyone believes to be complicated into simple, straightforward projects...

Yes, she loves the poncho over her cardigan - she doesn't live in an area with horrible winter weather... It gives her a lovely layered look that seems complicated, but really isn't all that...

For a woman who traveled in beige and coral, this ... View the Post

Bringing New Accent Colors into a Wardrobe

Back on Friday, I showed you a small travel capsule wardrobe based on a beautiful scarf - black and white with yellow and turquoise accents. The final wardrobe looked like this:

You don't have to be all that alert to see that the majority of this wardrobe is black, with white touches in stripes, dots and prints. The only accent color items are these 5:

So what do you do if you're just simply not in the mood to wear yellow and turquoise? Maybe you'd like some pretty pastels? Change the scarf, change 2 sweaters and 2 pieces of jewelry...

We make the minimal changes necessary to the original travel outfit, and it now looks like this:

2 adjustment to her travel capsule wardrobe that she's packing:

And the ... View the Post

What if You Want LOTS of Accent Colors in Your Wardrobe?

Maybe you don't want to limit your wardrobe to just a few accent colors... It could be that you've received scarves as gifts that you want to keep, and wear. Maybe you just like a range of colors - you really don't have to explain yourself to anyone!

But you also don't have to buy tons of things...

Stick with me here!

Let's start with this most lovely scarf, and the color palette that it suggests. It's not an outrageously odd color scheme, and it lends itself beautifully to a travel capsule wardrobe.

This heroine seems to love the juxtaposition between a skirt and a somewhat rugged jacket...

She's only going for a few days - mostly dressy-ish activities, but she will also want a pair of pants at some ... View the Post

Packing Accessories for a Cruise, in a Navy, Blush, Grey and White Travel Capsule Wardrobe

Monday we chose some clothes for our heroine to pack on a springtime cruise to Italy and the islands near there; we used this lovely painting as our inspiration:

We left her with these clothes:

So let's start with shoes! They're always the most difficult thing to pack - they take up a ton of space, and they make a great deal of difference in the appearance of an outfit. Dress shoes especially...

The dresses she is packing - and the navy skirt - can be worn with any of the 2nd layers. The lace jacket is quite dressy, and of course the denim jacket is quite casual. What shoes will work?

(of course, lots of tops can be worn with the navy skirt - I'm just using the navy top for illustrative purposes...)

Similarly, our ... 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

February 2019 -12 Months, 12 Outfits – based on 6 Hermes Scarves

First things first: after much consideration, I'm going to continue to use the Appaloosa des Steppes scarf, even though the design elements in the scarf are indeed from Kyrgyz rugs. I contacted the Kyrgyzstan embassy to ask if they were concerned or offended by this, and never received a response. After I read the Hermes website description of the design, I felt that they were using the images respectfully. I can't swear to this, but unless I get better information, I'm going to carry on. (to catch up on this conversation, check the comments on last month's installment of this series)

But don't ever hesitate to contact me about things like this; I will always take your concerns very seriously, and try to respond ... View the Post

Living Without Shopping – 1 Month Completed!

On New Year's Eve, I made the brave commitment to not purchase any clothing during 2019! My plan for managing this is to have 4 5-piece clusters each month from which I will get dressed. Because I spent so much of January in Florida, my normal wardrobe didn't really apply (when I'm there, I wear a lot of gym clothes, and just the occasional "normal" outfit...) and so I only put together 2 clusters for January.

But now, moving into February, I'm going with the original plan. Four clusters, 20 pieces of clothing. From this, I'm going to pack for 10 days in Ireland!

Two of these clusters should look pretty familiar:

 

 

This last cluster is for getting dressed up - we won't be in Chicago for Valentine's ... View the Post

Winter Travel: Verre et Paquet de Tabac by Juan Gris

She teaches creative people to work with data. It's not easy...

What it all comes down to is not bothering to look outside the box - as they love to say in business circles. She's convinced that the box is far from empty, and you just need to keep looking. There are possibilities that nobody has imagined!

She thinks that her affection for cubist art is somehow related to this; those artists looked at their subjects in a new way, and saw things nobody else saw... "Keep rearranging what you have, and eventually a new picture will emerge!"

This is her kind of painting:

She knew that she would struggle to find clothes in that "yellowed newsprint" color, so she substitutes her favorite gold! She's not obliged to following her ... View the Post

Packing for a Car Trip, with a Gradual Change of Temperatures

What if your trip is by car? And what if you're going to take your time, and drive from the single-digit temperature fun of Chicago to the balmy deserts of the Southwestern United States? And what if you're going to take your time - every day in a slightly warmer place?

I'm thinking.... Pack separate, but closely related, outfits for 4 different kinds of weather. That way you're prepared for each warmer day, and at the same time the "relatedness" of the outfits gives you options for interchanging your garments to adapt to unexpected conditions.

A basic application of this idea would look like this:

When you start out, you're going to need to be warm, so a couple of layered jackets, and a warm scarf, will take care of you. ... View the Post

Traveling with a Group – Keeping Your Luggage Small when Your Gang is Large!

I heard from her last week - she and TWELVE of her friends are traveling to England and Scotland in September! Twelve... oh my...

They share an interest - somewhat of a hobby, a little bit of an obsession. It doesn't matter if it's growing a particular flower, or baking a specific delicacy, or delving into the history of a certain historic figure. They've all decided that they want to travel together! I admire and respect this in so many ways...

But everybody is going to have to come to an agreement about not packing stacks of luggage. It's a sure way to slow things down appallingly, run the risk of losing things, and over-crowding hotel rooms.

Thus, there has to be an understanding among these women, which (in my mind) includes ... View the Post