Dressing Betty Bunny

The misanthropic scribbler known as Betty Bunny has been assessing the past year's attempt to fit her cottontail self into the Eiffel-Tower-inspired wardrobe on the Vivienne Files website. As she does still like navy and green, and also brown (though it can clash with her fur), she decides to continue with a similar plan for this year. She is shifting her artistic inspiration to this print by the Canadian artist A. J. Casson.

Rock Pool, Cloche Hills, by A. J. Casson

Betty waa hoping not to have to buy much this year, but even old favourite clothes get worn out, or just need a refresher. As her burrow has been snowed in over the bunny holidays, she decides to do a little online shopping from her favourite store, Rabbit Reflections, which is having a great sale. This is what she orders:

* A pair of dark-wash, wide-leg jeans to replace her standby medium-wash straight-leg pair, which are starting to look not so great. She has a pair of stretchy ight-wash jeans that she is also going to keep wearing.

* A navy pullover-style shirt to replace another navy shirt that always makes her feel wrinkled. (New shirt shown with a striped t-shirt underneath.)

* A muted green cotton shirt to match a long-sleeved t-shirt she bought last fall. The store calls this shade Classic Blue, but since  the other top turned out to be green, she would have been more surprised if this one had turned out to be blue. But it wasn't, and she feels very clever to have cracked their bizarre labelling code. (Maybe if she orders something in Leafy Green, it will turn out to be blue.)

* Some pretty socks in her favourite colours.

And one day when the snow has melted a bit and the bunnies are hopping around, Betty gets a visit from her cousin, Freeda Frugal. 

Freeda tells Betty that there is a new charity shop in town, helping out rabbits who are a bit down on their tails, so the two of them decide to get some tea and pie, and then do some thrifting. 

The shop is quite crowded. But it does provide live entertainment.

Betty has noticed that the Fluffy-fashionistas have recently been tying old-style slippery scarves around their necks, instead of the big blanket ones they were wrapping themselves in a couple of years ago. She and Freeda find a few inexpensive scarves at the shop to play around with.

A cowboy bandana looks like fun.

This is one of those long skinny scarves. Freeda picks it out for Betty because of the pretty green colour.

Betty also picks up a few navy and white things: a polka-dot skirt (not shown), which she'll probably wear more towards the spring; a striped blouse, which she thinks will go well with her navy cords; and a striped sweater. 

She does have a navy striped sweater, but it always makes her feel like Jimmy Stewart wearing the football uniform in It's a Wonderful Life. Something about the size of the stripes, maybe. This one is more congenial.

Just before the holidays, Betty had stopped in at her friend Harry Hare's shop, Consarn It Consignment. 

On her first visit, Harry talked her into buying a pair of taupe faux-suede trousers, which went well with an off-white cabled sweater she already had, and also with an off-white long-sleeved top. 

The second time Betty visited Harry's shop, she went home with a lovely navy turtleneck sweater and a taupe suede tote bag. Obviously nobunny is going to wear that kind of sweater after about February. But in the meantime she's wearing it as much as she can.

When Betty was doing her decluttering, she almost got rid of a couple of close-fitting button-up cardigans; but she has noticed that (along with the scarves) they're back in style for now., This one isn't exactly navy--it has more of a teal tone to it, which she sort of likes--nobody wants to feel like everything they own was sold by a uniform shop, you know?

So, Betty's current wardrobe looks something like this:

Long-sleeved off-white top

Long-sleeved navy t-shirt (not shown)

Muted green long-sleeved t-shirt

Long-sleeved brown t-shirt (not shown)

Navy and white striped pullover

Off-white cable-knit pullover

Muted green pullover sweater (shown with blazer)

Navy turtleneck pullover

Navy and white striped blouse

Muted green cotton shirt

Navy pullover shirt

Vintage navy check flannel shirt (not shown)

Dark blue button-up cardigan

Floral print vintage blazer (shown with tote bag)

Taupe faux-suede trousers

Dark-wash wide-leg jeans

Light-wash jeans

Navy cords (not shown)

Navy polka-dot skirt (not shown)

Dark teal jersey skirt (not shown)

Denim skirt (not shown)

Which comes out to about what the Vivienne Files used to call a Garde-Robe du Mois: 21 clothing items that pretty much go together and suit the current happenings and weather.

So Betty feels pretty much good to go for 2026.

Last updated January 10, 2026.

Winter Clothes and Winding up the Wardrobe

I've been a reader of the Vivienne Files website for years and have learned much from its year-long projects. But I don't think I've actually followed one as personally as I have the Eiffel-Tower-inspired wardrobe, though you might think that this would have been my most unlikely year to think about clothes shopping and colour palettes. In a way, though, a bit of clothes contemplation has been salutary.

I started by following the specific plan as closely as I could; that wasn't too hard, as many of the clothes were similar to things I already had. As the year went on, though, I veered off, not so much from the colour scheme (white, green, brown, and navy), but from the kinds of items being added. Different clothes turned up in real life that fit my own needs better, so I went with them.

Here's Delaunay's 1909 painting of the Eiffel Tower (he painted it many times--this is one of his early versions). I like the muted colour palette, but also the contrast between the structure of the tower and the softer framing of the leaves. 

It reminds me a bit of Emily Carr's The Indian Church.

It also has a similar palette to Arthur Lismer's September Gale, Georgian Bay: greens, blues, browns.

So, with all that said, just like one of the VF heroines, I've done a bit of (thrift and consignment store) shopping, trying to fill gaps and also to replace things that have become worn. My Delaunay-esque clothing finds are:

a navy linen shirt dress (with long sleeves, so even though it's linen, it could work through multiple seasons),

an off-white cotton cableknit pullover,

faux-suede trousers in a light brown shade that the store labelled as "mushroom",

a navy fleece jacket with a wrap-and-snap front

and a green hooded, buttoned shirt jacket.

Also (although it's not technically in the colour palette), a knee-length cardigan (coatigan? sweater coat?) made of heavy sweatshirt fabric. (Best way I can describe it.)

And there are some accessories! Besides the navy boots that I posted about previously, I found two small purses (same brand, but found at two different shops), 

and two necklaces that can be worn alone or layered, or even wrapped and worn as bracelets.(Shown with a third necklace and some previously-thrifted earrings.)

Also, there are socks.

I haven't found or even worn as many scarves lately. Although I've browsed a few racks, I haven't seen anything that has grabbed my attention. Those I already own that probably come closest to the Delaunay painting are these:

And, since it's getting cold, I've retrieved this vintage scarf, which  kicked off the Delaunay challenge for me last February.

Final takes (because I don't think I'll be posting about this again): I've been intrigued by the chance to add more brown and teal/aqua/muted green into a basically navy/denim/blue/white wardrobe. (Navy cords. Navy turtleneck sweater. Blue jeans. Denim-blue t-shirts. Navy winter coat.) I was even brave enough one day to wear a brown-based purse on top of a (nine-year-old) grey dress and the grey jacket. That's probably not something I would have tried before.

Do you think Betty Bunny would approve?

It's also given me a better sense of having just-enough clothes but also a better match for what I'm doing. I am not an athleisure sort of person, but I did need some winter clothes that felt a little more relaxed. Also, a bit of cozy is actually practical here, as I'm discovering that this is not one of those apartments where the heat blasts so hard you could grow orange trees in the living room.

So: it's been a learning curve in more ways than one, but I think it was a successful challenge.

Last updated October 31, 2025.

Fall Clothes: A Different Take on Delaunay

Robert Delaunay, Saint-Séverin No. 2 (recto); Study for 'The City, ' with the Eiffel Tower (verso), 1909, image found here

I've been following the monthly Eiffel-Tower-inspired wardrobe collection since it began last December on the Vivienne Files website. (There should be a new post on it in the next few days.) I did a couple of  posts about it early in the year, and Betty Bunny also had her turn at the beginning of the summer. Then my personal life turned a corner, and, besides many larger and more important changes, I did a closet clear-out. Some things I included earlier are no longer in the story. Also, I've gone from weekly thrifting stops and flea market trips to almost none. Again, that was part of a bigger change than just worrying about clothes and shoes, but it did have an effect on what I had to post about.

However, the lack of shopping has encouraged a greater appreciation of what's already hanging in my (now slightly smaller) closet. Most of what I'm planning to wear this fall has been around for awhile and was mentioned previously.

Checked flannel shirt, thrifted earlier this year

But here's a quick state-of-the-wardrobe rundown, and there are a couple of new things too.

Using the Delaunay  "Eiffel Tower," Janice at the Vivienne Files chose navy and brown as main neutrals, and light green and ivory or white as accents. Although brown is really popular this year (she definitely nailed that), I don't have much of it other than a long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of trousers, so it will be more of an accent. I did buy a knit blazer and tank top in a colour called Dusk, but that's more of a muted purple-brown. Like...Dusk.

So, I'm focusing more on navy blue, and its offshoots, denim blue and light grey-blue. Right now that's as much colour-decision-making as I can handle. 

I'm not a big fan of Walmart clothes, but I found this denim-blue cardigan there and really liked it. (Shown with a vintage rayon blouse.)

I bought a classic denim skirt new over a year ago, but couldn't quite shake the "old homeschooler" vibe it was giving (a little TOO classic?), so it almost got donated. However, one of my daughters saw it in the pile and convinced me to keep it, and now I'm glad I did, because it goes well with the cardigan and other fall sweaters. So, that's one casual outfit which has all kinds of variables: from the skirt to regular jeans or navy knit pants, and from the blouse to almost all of my t-shirts. I have a blue and white striped cotton shirt, and a white pullover that works with the jean skirt, or a dark blue jersey skirt, or the jeans, and so on.  Really, I thought, that should be enough. And if I get bored with denim and navy, I can pull out those brown pants. Or experiment with Dusk. 

My accessories should also be fine for the fall. A navy everyday purse, loafers, running shoes. A couple of green and brown things I found at yard sales earlier in the year.

 A square scarf  (I think that came from the flea market).

But I felt like there was still something missing, something that would tie everything else together. Maybe some kind of footwear that wasn't running shoes? Nothing dressy. Boots, maybe? I decided to check out a nearby shoe outlet store, although they were mostly clearing out summer sandals. I looked around at all the not-sandals, and tried on a pair of Mary Janes. You don't want to know how bad those can look on someone pushing sixty with bunions. 

Then I saw these navy boots with suede tops. Pointy toes are usually a hard no for me, but these (miraculously) are wide and flexible enough to be comfortable. Zippers to make them easy to get on and off! Block heels, i.e. just enough lift to be fun without getting into anything spiky or uncomfortable! They're shorter than knee length, but with dark tights they still work fine with my skirts. As Janice says, "heck yes."

So, with flashbacks to the days of getting one new piece of clothing to go back to school (I still remember my first pair of super-stiff jeans in 1976), I have my "enough." The one thing still on my wish list would be a solid-colour dress with long sleeves, but that can wait. And maybe I'll get back to the thrift store one of these days.

Last updated September 1, 2025.