Last week I posted about how I used my orange beauty bundle/accessory sets to finish summer outfits with print pieces containing orange. Today I am focusing on working my orange bundle into outfits that are otherwise neutral.
Here are some of my orange/coral accessories that are included in my orange beauty bundle (some of which you will see worn in the outfits in this post; some in my coming post on orange + color). There is overlap with my previous post, but a few of the items are different. First, the bracelets (all DIY): the orange glass and orange seed bead bracelets are the same, but I have switched in two different paper bead bracelet sets.
For the other orange accessories, you saw the leather leaf earrings, scarf, and ballet flats in the previous post, but I have switched up the necklaces: a DIY single strand with tiny gold spacers and orange glass drops and a new 3-strand seed bead/oval bead necklace from Fire Mountain Gems (more about this one later).
I am also including two of the garments from last time: the coral pleated skirt and coral ankle pants.
I think that color combos with neutrals are important to address because a lot of women, perhaps most women, have wardrobes dominated by neutral garments for many reasons:
-They are readily available to purchase, especially in pants and workwear.
-They are considered to be professional/grown-up/sophisticated, etc., and are expected in some environments.
-Classic neutral pieces have closet longevity and can be dressed up or down.
-The same pieces can be worn frequently because they are less memorable than their colorful counterparts.
-They are well suited for women who have more neutral coloring and are low in color contrast, which is probably most women.
-Black specifically is believed to be slimming (though that may not be as true as people think).
-They are very versatile because they can be worn with each other as well as with colorful items, providing a wardrobe foundation that supports mix-and-match-ability.
-They can ground an outfit that has very colorful and/or trendy pieces.
Today's outfits include two or more of the above items that were chosen to wear with neutral pieces. The orange provides extra energy and color contrast to these outfits, serving as a pop (or multiple pops) of color against the rest of the look. When the rest of the outfit recedes into the background and the pop of orange takes center stage, this is also called Focal Point Styling.
Let's get started...
I put my first outfit together around this mixed stripe/palm print navy and white linen top from my winter Lands End order ($10.49; 6 wears to date; previously seen here styled with dark rose pink pants). I was eager to try it with orange/coral because I thought the bold, high-contrast print of the top would stand up well to this bright color.
I took this opportunity to wear my new orange seed bead/oval bead multi-strand necklace from Fire Mountain Gems layered with a DIY dark blue/navy seed bead multi-strand necklace and a long gold tassel necklace. Though FMG is a seller of beading and jewelry making supplies, they also sell finished jewelry. During a recent sale, I purchased a set of 6 of these necklaces for $1, which works out to 16 cents per necklace. Crazy, right? They are made from inexpensive acrylic beads rather than the glass beads that I use in my seed bead necklaces, but that is still an insanely low price. I thought that they would layer well with my DIY seed bead necklaces, and they do!
I added the orange leather leaf earrings that I bought in a set on Amazon; I think the orange is probably the color I wear the most!
My DIY bracelet stack includes two navy/orange paper ones I made as a set, a navy/gold paper bead one that I wear to fill out various navy-based stacks, the DIY orange glass/gold spacer one, a DIY lapis lazuli square bracelet, and a gold one from Amazon.
I made this paper bead bracelet set to coordinate with a blouse with a very autumnal foliage print, so it's fun to see how well it works with this summery stripes-and-palm print!
I couldn't help wearing my striped ballet flats for some cheeky matchy-matchy-ness. Count of orange items in this outfit = 4: skirt, necklace, bracelet, earrings.
I went back in my OOTD archives to find another navy and white neutral outfit accented with orange, and I came across this one that utilizes a very simple, replicable outfit formula: white T + denim shirt + accent color ankle pants + matching accent color ballet flats + pendant necklace. I really like how vibrant the orange is in this outfit, but is there any accent color that wouldn't work?? Count of orange items = 2: pants and shoes.
These outfits feature orange with navy and white because those are two of my very most commonly worn neutrals, but you certainly are not limited to that combination! Black and orange can give Halloween vibes (good or bad, depending on what you're going for). I think orange with grey, ivory, tan/beige/camel, brown, or olive could also work very well.
Do you have a favorite neutral? Or a favorite neutral + accent color combination? What neutral would you wear with orange? What color pants would you wear in the white T + denim shirt outfit?
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