For an introduction to the 6 Scarves 2021 project, see this post.
For a description of my method, see this post.
As we continue with adding skirts to our wardrobe, and adding seasonal transitional elements to them, let's review our color palette (and if you're like me, take a moment to imagine petting that gorgeous bunny.)
After a March that added a hodge-podge of (palette-relevant) colors, our April additions adhere to a more tight color story. First, a group of coordinating dark aqua garments: a lace tank and cardigan informal twin set, a pullover sweater, and a skirt that I call "aqua/navy tweed" though it probably isn't strictly speaking a tweed. But the word "tweed" reminds me that it has a bit of texture and a mix of (very similar) colors in it rather than being a flat one-color fabric.
Dark aqua lace tank - thrifted, Kohls/Goodwill - 1X - $5.24 - 11/2016
Dark aqua cardigan - thrifted, CJ Banks/ThredUp - 2X - $17.77 - 2/2020
Aqua/navy tweed skirt - thrifted, August Max Woman/Goodwill - 20W - $3.74 - 2/2018
Dark aqua pullover sweater - St Johns Bay/JCP - 2X - $11.91 - 11/2017
Next is a predominantly navy grouping to reinforce the Gina wardrobe's primary neutral. The navy ponte knit blazer and cotton utility vest are good layering pieces during transition seasons in Minnesota. The short-sleeved striped T is a look ahead to warmer weather (that can be layered on top of in the mean time). And the tie-dye scarf is a 4 season accessory that can help bridge our aqua and navy items.
Reverie teal/white striped T - CJ Banks - 3X - $4.88 - 9/2020
Navy utility vest - Sonoma/Kohls - XXL - $15.78 - 11/2018
Light navy knit blazer - St Johns Bay/JCP - 2X - $20.99 - 9/2017
Dark blue/medium aqua tie-dye scarf - thrifted, ThredUp - $8.20 - 8/2020
As for the rest of the accessories, we see the trio of metallic bead stretch bracelets that you may recognize from the Gina wardrobe. Three necklaces get added to the mix this month, which is terrific. They share an aqua/teal/silver color theme but are very different types of necklaces. The chunky bead one on the left and the multi-strand one at the right are both shorter necklaces while the beaded one in the center is a long one. The resin earrings pick up a lot of the colors from our palette, and the knit flats...they seem to be custom made for this capsule!
Chunky aqua double strand necklace - Kohls - $15.00 - 12/2013
Silver/blue/aqua long bead chain necklace - CJ Banks - $6.59 - 2/2021
Light teal/silver multi strand necklace - CJ Banks - $5.71 - 6/2020
Gold resin earrings - Loft - ?
Silver, rose gold, gold stretch bracelets - Amazon - $28.00 - 8/2020
Blue/aqua striped flats - Shein - $15.42 - 7/2020
And now let the aqua and navy combinations begin! In Outfit #1, a column of dark aqua is topped by the navy utility vest. I'm imagining navy tights in this scenario; though I haven't actually tried these flats with tights, I believe they'd be comfortable that way, and I think it could be a cute, unexpected look...especially for those last weeks of winter when a Sally might be getting a little tired of wearing boots!
Outfit #2 puts an entire dark aqua trio into action. The colors are really quite similar (though not dye-lot matched) but there is still a good deal of interest from the mixture of the lace, "tweed," and sweater knit textures. I like that the chunky beads are a range of teal/aqua colors to add a bit of variety. I'm envisioning the cardigan sleeves pushed up a bit to show off the bracelet stack. And bare legs, finally!
Outfit #3 is a little bit less obvious a combination with the aqua tweed skirt and teal striped T, but I think even at a distance (as in this image) that there is enough of the greenish-blue threads visible in the skirt that the teal color doesn't come completely out of nowhere. (At a closer vantage point, the greenish-blue is quite evident.) I like the navy knit blazer here to add a bit of professionalism, warmth, and/or masking quality to the teal/aqua color combination. Either necklace would work with these colors and the silver bracelets.
This aqua/navy skirt has been surprisingly versatile in my wardrobe. It helps that the pseudo-tweed fabric includes a nice range of blue to green-ish blue colors that work well with a variety of specific colors. That's been one of my big discoveries--that it is easier to blend accent color garments to a piece that has a range of the colors in a print/pattern that reads like a neutral than to a solid piece. So if you have a piece that is marl, heather, flecked, "tweed," ombré, tie-dye (sometimes), etc., that can be a real workhorse in your wardrobe.
In this late winter outfit, the skirt is worn with a large-scale floral print blouse, which I think looks terrific with it, and is grounded in navy.
In this spring outfit, take advantage of the "blending to a lot of particular accent color" quality by wearing the dark aqua lace tank and a light aqua scarf. (When I have an infinity scarf that I want to wear more like an oblong scarf, I just tie a knot toward the end and pull it over my head. This scarf has pompoms along the edge, so the little frilled fabric below the knot looks cute.) Again I wore a navy cardigan; it's funny, I'm not sure there is actually navy in the skirt, but it gives such a strong sense of containing navy to me (for some reason) that I treat it like it does.
I don't ALWAYS wear this skirt with navy; sometimes I wear denim/chambray (which yeah, is kind of like a lighter, softer navy to me) instead. You can also see the chunky bead necklace in action here. (I really liked this thrifted Loft cardigan, but eventually the XL size just wasn't working for me so I retired it. However, I was able to replace it with a thrifted similar-colored plus-size cardigan as you will see in summer additions to the Darcy wardrobe.)
We had already added a bunch of aqua print scarves to this wardrobe, so it was nice to see the aqua garments come into play. And aqua + navy is just such a great color combination to me. Now I'm feeling eager to see aqua, navy, and white together.
For the seasonal wardrobe matrix, recall that in each season, for each color category, I can mark what has been added each month:
x = solid piece
T = tonal piece (i.e., tonally works with this color though it is a different color)
O = ombré piece
P = print piece (not ombré)
Unlike the Gina wardrobe this month, which continued the cold-weather pattern, the Darcy wardrobe added a combination of winter and transitional items. So I will add both the winter and transition seasonal matrices for our reference.
Have you ever bought something that turned out much more versatile than you initially expected? What was the secret of your purchase's success?
In my next post, we will look at the April additions for our third wardrobe: #3 Navy & Grey, Lily.
I link up with:
Shelbee at Shelbee on the Edge (2nd Monday; 3rd Thursday)
Mica at Away from the Blue (Mondays)
Debbie at My Random Musings (Mondays)
Leelo at Beauty by Miss L (Mondays)
Roxanne at Glass of Glam (Mondays)
Laura at I Do deClaire (Tuesdays)
Emma at Style Splash (Tuesdays)
Jess at Elegantly Dressed & Stylish (Tuesdays)
Gail at Is This Mutton? (Wednesdays)
Shelly at The Queen in Between (Wednesdays)
Jodie at Jodie's Touch of Style (Thursdays)
Carrie at Curly Crafty Mom (Thursdays)
Ada at Elegance and Mommyhood (Thursdays)
Jacqui at Mummabstylish (Thursdays)
Suzy at The Grey Brunette (Fridays)
Nancy at Nancy's Fashion Style (Fridays)
Michelle at My Bijou Life (Fridays)
Erika at A Little Bit of Everything (Fridays)
Rena at Fine Whatever (Saturdays)