For an introduction to the 6 Scarves 2021 project, see this post.
For a description of my method, see this post.
Reviewing the winter matrix, olive and black are in very good shape with full trios in both neutrals.
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)
But we are also seeing a good number of brighter garments in the wardrobe now in blue and red. The fun will be in blending these neutrals and accent colors into one wardrobe. At least we haven't ridiculously overburdened Kiwi's Sally with too many print pieces (yet).
This accessories image jumps off the page to me with such a variety of colors and prints. Will we have the items we need to complete new outfits for the somewhat disparate neutral-and-bright wardrobe we have put together so far?
It's a nice time to revisit our color palette and see if we are on course or off track. Black, olive, red, and blue are all showing up nicely. We are still lacking in the cream/beige, pink, and coral colors.
For our outfit development session, let's start with a column of color in olive and take it in a couple of different directions. In Outfit #1, we double down on that neutral with an aloe sweater but bring in pops of color with accessories from the March additions. The result is a fairly low-key outfit with some nice textural variation in the olive background and a feeling of lightness and a bit of brightness at the top--aka "the portrait area" right around the face.
With Outfit #2, let's jump right into merging our neutrals and our bright accent colors with this stunning azure blue sweater and scarf combo. What do you think? I surprise myself a little with my verdict: I LOVE IT! The scarf functions a bit as a bridge between the colors, but really, I can readily imagine this outfit with a large scale necklace (e.g., gold and pearls) instead, with nothing to connect the olive and blue. I don't think I would ever have tried this color combination without using that scarf as the starting place for a capsule wardrobe.
Next I want to work with the outfit multiplier from our March additions, this asymmetric black skirt. This is the kind of garment that really unlocks the possibilities in a wardrobe. It's funny...I think a lot of people struggle with owning too many black pants/skirts because they are, indeed, such an easy option. But I have to make sure that my own wardrobe has enough of these core pieces to support the plethora of prints and colors that excite me and that my magpie self can't resist. In these two outfits, I did variations on the black skirt + neutral top + red cardigan + print scarf theme.
Outfit #5 is going to put the idea that a black skirt/pants goes with everything to the test. Well, clearly this isn't the ultimate test of that idea, but it does at least challenge it, in my opinion, by having the black skirt as the only significant piece of black in the outfit. Does it work? I think it works fairly well. It's not my favorite, perhaps in part because of how expected black bottoms are, but I would wear it. I suspect that for me, even though there is only a small amount of black in the scarf, that slender thread of connection helps make this look at least a bit intentional (and not like the olive skirt was too dirty to wear so I just grabbed the black one). Wearing this with black boots is another option that could ground the black skirt a bit more.
Now let's put black together with the azure blue in Outfit #6. Isn't that a terrific color combination? I decided not to district from the brilliant blue top too much by adding simple cream pearl studs and the ivory/black striped scarf that reminds me of blank sheet music. And yes, I am enjoying seeing the silver zipper motif from the moto vest repeated in the ankle boots.
After reading stylist Liz Klebba's recent post about beauty bundles, I think this moto vest and ankle boots are a start on a Tough/Bad-Ass bundle. (Seriously, go read Liz's post if you haven't already. Bookmark her blog, read all her archived posts, and keep reading her blog! I think she posts ~3 times per week. She's a capsule wardrobe master and her accessories game is A++; happily, she's writing terrifically helpful posts breaking this stuff down for us.)
What can we do with our print skirts and dress now? Well, first off, we added a second outfit multiplier in March, a simple black long-sleeved T. So for Outfit #7, we can layer that T under the olive/black floral dress and repeat the black in the ankle boots. Yes, it's similar to the version with the olive T and tall boots, but I know that I can feel like I'm wearing an entirely different outfit based on my boots, and these boots just flat lend that tough/bad-ass vibe whenever I wear them.
The black T is an obvious pairing for the black botanical skirt also. Outfit #8 is a neutral-based look that I like quite a bit due to the variety of textures and neutral colors included. Black or olive boots would also be great here, but the cognac ones look so rich with black and tie into the gold/rust colors in the botanical print in a subtle but satisfying way.
For our final outfit, the circus tent striped skirt is worn with February's black pullover sweater. The happy moto vest/ankle boots combo makes another appearance, and in an act of atypical restraint, I added a black scarf that blends in with the sweater and vest. The blue/pink earrings give a bit of interest in the portrait area, but otherwise, all eyes are on that skirt. Some people don't feel comfortable drawing attention to their bottom half, but I think it's fun, and I don't care if it makes me look "bottom heavy" or whatever. My take is that I do not exist in the world to compete in an "at all times, as closely as possible ensure that your body reflects the aspirational female figure" contest. Plus really, I doubt that the majority of people notice those kinds of things anyway. And if I'm wearing this outfit, people will be too busy noticing how freaking awesome I look to think about the size of my hips, right?! (Probably some people will also be thinking "I wish I had the confidence to wear something like that." I wish they did too!)
I haven't yet shared any photos with the botanical skirt that entered my (Sally Prime) closet this past summer so let's check out a few. In this February outfit, I wore a bunch of olive pieces from the Kiwi wardrobe and punched the whole thing up with a gold striped scarf (which entered the #5 Nelly wardrobe in March). It's a bold look, no question, but when I realized how many colors the skirt and scarf have in common (how many? a whole lot), I had to give it a try. And you get to see another variation of my dark gold pandemic hair here too. This two-braid look is part of my regular rotation these days.
Here are two late summer looks that feature the botanical skirt with a green marl cardigan and black Rockstud (knock off) flats. I liked those three items together quite well in the August outfit, so I wore them again a couple weeks later, just changing up the top and necklace for a different outfit.
For a long time, I have been in a mode of pushing myself constantly to create very different outfits, and while that kind of experimentation is still a strong component of my dressing habits, I'm also becoming increasingly happy with repeating things that feel like A+ combinations. The problem is that I actually haven't been doing a good job of noting these A+ combinations, however! And this despite my having a designated place for it on a spreadsheet (which I had forgotten about, oops). Well, I've added this skirt + cardigan + shoes combo to the so-far-very-short list on my HappyMatch tab, and I hope to see that list start to grow. The Beauty Bundles Liz talks about can be recorded here as well. But I agree with Liz that having photos of the bundles is best practice. As I am close to having my entire wardrobe photographed, I will be easily able to create collages with various bundles and other Happy Matches. But you can also just physically group the items together and take a photo of it, as Liz shows in her post.
Now for our new March Madness rabbit: Amy the American Fuzzy Lop! The Fuzzy Lop has an interesting position in the history of rabbit fur. ("The History of Rabbit Fur" sounds like the title of a term paper a bunny enthusiast would have written in middle school or maybe a 4H project.) We've talked about wooly fur, which got started with the French Angora. The Fuzzy Lop's story involves wool fur as well as two types of normal fur: rollback and flyback fur, both of which will lie back flat against the body after being rubbed forward. The difference is that rollback fur gently "rolls" back into position and flyback fur quickly "flies" back into position. This difference may seem unimportant to us, but matters for show rabbits! When rabbit breeders crossed Holland Lops (rollback) with English Spots (flyback) in an attempt to create broken fur patterns on the Lops, they introduced flyback fur as well as the broken pattern. Because Holland Lops are supposed to have rollback fur according to their Standard of Perfection, breeders crossed these Lops with French Angoras to try to get the Angora's rollback fur type. But of course they got the wool gene from the Angoras also, so these new Lops were fuzzy. Fuzzy and small and adorable! With a lot of work, those Holland Lops with the wool gene were developed into an entirely new breed, the American Fuzzy Lop.
When Amy is placed with her new friends, her littleness is more obvious. She weighs 3 to 4 pounds, half the size of the striped Japanese Harlequin and a third the size of the New Zealand. (Like most rabbit breeds, both of these have flyback fur.)
Is it just me, or does olive seem a little less "neutral-y" than other neutrals? Black, grey, tan, taupe, white, navy, even brown seem like an easy match with a wide variety of accent colors, but olive feels trickier, and I tend to pair it with a more limited range--mostly in the pink/red category. Do you wear olive with accent colors? If so, which ones?
In my next post, we will look at the Jan-Mar recap and March Hare for our fifth wardrobe: #5 Brown & Black, Nelly.
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)