For the navy and grey wardrobe, Janice included a navy "suit" consisting of ponte pants and a sweater-blazer with a white long-sleeved T, which is a pretty spot-on basic outfit for a business casual environment. Such an outfit would fit right in with the Lily palette, though I'm sure you will not be surprised at this point to hear that I went in a slightly different direction.
But hey, it is only slightly different, not a radical departure! I also started with a pair of navy pants; in this case, a version of what I consider to be a standard pair of office work pants. As for the blazer...if you think a sweater-blazer is comfortable (and I am sure it is), what do you think about a preppy tipped schoolboy blazer made from fleece material?! This thing is crazy comfortable. And the blazer with the pants makes for a good non-traditional "suit" for winter. Take note that the tipping on the blazer is grey, which means that it will function as a bridge piece when adding grey later on. To round out this winter trio, I added a dark blue long-sleeved T with small polka dots. For accessories, we have a pair of square blue earrings, the now-very-familiar bracelet, our inspiration scarf, a t-shirt fabric infinity scarf with a subtle blue-on-navy floral print and silver studs that look like stars against the night sky to me, and last but not least, a fun pair of navy leopard print Oxfords. We automatically have Outfits #1 and #2 by varying which scarf Lily's Sally wears with the trio of garments.
Dark blue/white polka dot long-sleeved seamed T - ana/JCP - 2X - $5.59 - 1/2020
Light navy tipped fleece blazer - thrifted, Lands End/ThredUp - 2X - $17.50 - 4/2020
Navy pants - thrifted, CJ Banks/Goodwill - $5.59 - 2/2020
Square blue earrings - ? Oddly I do not track my earring purchases and wears
Gold/silver chunky stretch bracelet - CJ Banks - $9.99 - 12/2020
Navy/magenta/blue birds scarf - Kohls - $6.79 - 11/2015
Navy/blue floral sparkle scarf - gift from my mom - 6/2019
Blue leopard Oxfords - C Label - $14.00 - 11/2013
Let's expand the outfit options by bringing in some more tops and scarves representing more of the Lily color palette. This periwinkle blue tunic is made from a lightweight, somewhat drapey fabric, so it works well layered underneath any kind of topper in colder seasons but can serve as a shirt-jacket itself over a knit tank or short-sleeved T in the warmer seasons. The blue and pink floral scarf with silvery white-grey details is a great companion piece to the tunic. The icy pink T is another of my sleep Ts that also functions as a top in my normal wardrobe. This is a lighter pink than is directly shown on the color palette, but I expected that dark pink/magenta wedge to cover a range of different pinks, and I think a light pink will work very well with the other accent colors. The pink T is accompanied by a scarf that goes just a bit outside our color palette because it has a tan/beige background instead of grey; in a starting from scratch capsule, that might give me pause, but here, I'm not the least concerned about it. Having a color palette is a way of guiding your choices so as to increase the ease of putting a variety of outfits together; it's not a prison! And having a bit of a non-palette color in a print doesn't mean you are obligated to purchase/wear anything else with that color in it. As a wild card, I threw in a plaid knit moto vest that I find nice to wear fall to spring. And finally, it would be nice for Lily's Sally to have a solid scarf in her January wardrobe; this rich, jewel tone magenta brings in some depth of color to complement the lighter shades.
Periwinkle blue button up tunic - CJ Banks - 3X - $9.32 - 7/2020
Blue/pink floral scarf - Amazon - $11.99 - 11/2019
Light icy pink long-sleeved T - Croft & Barrow/Kohls - 3X - $5.00 - 1/2020
Navy/pink/tan cartoon floral scarf - thrifted, Old Navy/ThredUp - $1.50 - 12/2019
Navy/white plaid moto vest - Chaps/Kohls - XXL - $21.20 - 11/2018
Magenta scarf - JCP - $4.79 - 2/2015
As we've done previously, let's build additional outfits using each of the scarves and all of the garments. In Outfit #3, the periwinkle tunic stands alone, which is appropriate for a warmer day as-is or a cooler day with a silk or thermal undershirt. Even in the first month, we have a number of blue colors that can be blended together easily.
Outfit #4 continues our blue-on-blue theme by pairing our navy trio with yet a different scarf. Even though there is nothing boring about these navy pieces, with a light or bright colorful scarf, they are simple enough to draw themselves into the background and let the scarf grab the attention. Lily's Sally will look professional on a Zoom call while experiencing the comfortable warmth of a t-shirt and fleece.
Outfit #5 has a bit of a color-blocking vibe with 3 solid pieces in light pink, magenta, and navy, topped by the bold geometric plaid patterned vest. I enjoy how the leopard print shoes bring a subtle print mix into this as well.
This sparkly scarf in Outfit #6 has a faded, multi-blue floral print that makes it compatible with a surprisingly wide range of blue garments, but if she's not feeling a scarf one day, the face-framing structure of the collared shirt and blazer could easily stand alone. (A plain t-shirt probably could be worn for work at my business casual organization without a necklace or scarf. However, outside the height of summer, when things become a bit more "do what you have to do to survive the lack of decent air conditioning," I would feel not as professional as I would like in an unadorned t-shirt neckline. So probably 99.44% of the time, I much prefer to add a necklace or scarf--or both--to finish the look. Not only does it make a plain t-shirt look dresser, but it's also a lot more interesting to look at.)
Outfit #7 may seem more aspirational than practical for a typical January day in Minnesota, but we do have the occasional warm fronts that could make such an outfit possible. A vest or fleece jacket can be added if it's too cold, and this version kept for spring. The gold color in the bracelet and the light tan background on the scarf will have a harmonious appearance with Sally's blonde hair, another reason I'm not at all concerned about having a grey-based color palette but gold-toned jewelry and prints with tan/beige in the mix.
Even with only one pair of pants in her wardrobe so far, Lily's Sally has some nice options to get her through January. Having a pair of pants in the palette's dark neutral is a great way to start a wardrobe, as Janice suggested, and introducing multiple accent colors (periwinkle blue, icy light pink, magenta) from the beginning has provided that feeling of variety that every Sally needs.
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)
And yes, navy is off to a strong start, with several accent colors making their way into the wardrobe already.
Do you have an accessory that you wear frequently, that seems to work in a lot of situations, like the gold and silver stretch bracelet works for me?
In my next post, we will look at the January additions for our fourth wardrobe: #4 Olive & Beige, Kiwi. After seeing two navy-based wardrobes in a row, this warmer color palette will be an interesting change.
I really like the plaid vest.