The vivienne files

July 18, 2016 It seems that there are some among us who are struggling to pull together what they want to pack. This isn’t particularly surprising – travel is stressful enough, and the unknown factors of weather and activities can throw almost anyone into a small panic. So I’m going to approach the “1 […]

October 15, 2021 Maybe it’s because I’m home almost all the time. Maybe it’s because almost all of us have been home most of the time for MONTHS AND MONTHS… But I’m looking at the essentials of a wardrobe. The core; the base; the springboard for all of the bright, memorable, snazzy things that we […]

May 3, 2019 I’ve been asked this a couple of times in the last few days – what do I do when I really have no idea where to start with my wardrobe? Years ago I tried to think of how one could start a wardrobe from scratch; I think that my ideas might still […]

The Common Capsule Wardrobe I started using the term ‘Common Wardrobe’ back in 2012 to describe a core wardrobe of basic clothing items most of us already own. I used to work in advertising, and thus I have hung around with some of the most eccentric, exotic and extraordinary people imaginable. Flash back to a […]

March 1, 2014 Every day, I get lots of emails with lots of questions. I like that, and I’m happy that you take the time to write to me. (theviviennefiles@gmail.com) As hard as I try, I don’t really have time to answer everybody individually, but your questions make a lot of difference when I […]

June 9, 2020 Watching lots of people wandering about with backpacks, this last weekend, I was wondering what everybody was carrying! I know, water bottles, spare phone batteries etc. but I wondered if they had any clothes with them… And that got me to thinking about what you want to have handy if you’re going […]

September 13, 2023 She knew that this would be just right for the upcoming cool weather… So many of the colors were comfortable for her from her existing wardrobe, and the colors that she doesn’t have, she’s willing to buy. What a palette! She takes everything out of her closet and start carefully choosing what’s […]

April 5, 2023 It’s tempting to think of what one might do with a completely new wardrobe – horrible as that would be in reality. I admit that I would be really tempted to wear all different shades of grey… hmm… So this “every shade of brown to ivory” really appeals to me – using […]

February 28, 2024 Monday, our heroine started with her new bracelets, and assembled a small but cheery wardrobe to pack for a meditation retreat… This was her wardrobe – doesn’t this just feel bright, light and clean? She had a wonderful retreat – and she was very happy with her travel capsule wardrobe. So much […]

June 28, 2013 White shirts are an absolute classic, right? Everybody should own one. Everybody should pull it out and wear it whenever they’re in doubt about what to wear. Uhhhh – I don’t quite agree. Yes, there are times and places where a white shirt is the most appropriate choice […]

February 17, 2021 One of you has treated yourself! I think it’s important to do that, from time to time… (I splurged on a scarf too – I’ll share a link at the end of this post…) I’m pretty certain that our friend uses green as one of her accent colors, but I’m going to […]

July 3, 2020 Okay, she’s no longer living; for our purposes, our heroine is a fictional character who looks a lot like her… When we left our heroine, stocking her pantry in Paris with the essentials, she was traveling with this wardrobe: She has just learned that she’s going to have to stay in Paris […]

September 21, 2022 As we have come to expect, Pantone “discovered” 10 “new” fashion colors from the London Spring/Summer 2022/23 Fashion Week. Bizarrely enough, they seem to have arranged them almost like a (weird) rainbow! So to look at these colors as suggestions for wardrobe accents, I’m going to take the first 5 colors and […]

How to Build a 13-Piece Travel Capsule Wardrobe - The Vivienne Files

A Great Book, and a Fun New Wardrobe Idea! - The Vivienne Files

July 16, 2021 This whole idea is a work in process; please share your thoughts! Those of you who have been here with me for a while know that I read (well, I TRY to read…) personal style books from France. It seems only fitting, since Vivienne was from Paris. My current fascination is with […]

September 5, 2012 I used to work in advertising, and thus I have hung around with some of the most eccentric, exotic and extraordinary people imaginable. Flash back to a large conference room in a major European city (this happened at LEAST three times…). The room is full – a couple of hundred advertising […]

June 22, 2022 By this time of year, most of us should be easily able to whittle down our warm-weather wardrobe to a tidy 33 pieces. While this is NOT what Courtney Carver suggests for her Project 333, I’m pretty confident that she wouldn’t be too upset with us starting at this point. So long […]

Part 1 August 2022: Six Scarves, 12 Months - The Vivienne Files