Creating Striped Skirt Outfits: Part 1 - Neutral in the Print

In my recent Style Imitating Art post, I mentioned that I have been wanting to experiment with different ways to style this striped skirt, and I was happy to do some print mixing and to add an unexpected color (the bright azure blue of the scarf and ballet flats) to it for the SIA challenge.

OOTD 5/16/25

Afterwards, I remembered that I had started putting together some ideas for various ways to wear the skirt...and after searching through my computer, I found that I had started to create images for a series of posts in which I put this skirt (and my wardrobe) through its paces using Jodie's color recipe concept and the color wheel. That was back in the summer of 2021 - oops!

Well, better late than never, I'm revisiting this idea in a short series of posts in which I will lay out a systematic approach to discovering outfit possibilities for a print item in your closet. This is useful for seeing how many outfits you can make when you add a new item to your closet or for finding new combinations with an old favorite or under-utilized piece from your existing wardrobe.

I'm focusing on this print skirt that seems like it should be a workhorse in my summer wardrobe because of its color palette: primarily beige with stripes in black, navy, white, and mustard yellow. Note that it contains four extremely common neutral colors! How can such an item present a challenge? For me, it's the inclusion of the mustard yellow, an accent color that I feel needs to be taken into consideration when putting outfits together with this skirt. (Alternatively, a person could treat the mustard as a semi-neutral/colored neutral or as "gold" like the metal color and ignore it in putting color palettes together, but since that feels awkward to me, I'm going to treat it as an accent color for this exercise.) For me, the mustard color has been a limiting factor in how I wear the skirt.

Neutral from the Print - Solids

For the first post in the series, we'll start with option 1, the easiest one in Jodie's color recipe: Add a neutral from the print. This actually gives me a lot of options right off the bat because I have four different neutral colors to play with and they can be mixed and matched!

Here are some pieces from my wardrobe in the beige/ivory background color that I could pair with the skirt.

Here are representative short-sleeved tops in navy, black, and white that pick up a neutral from the stripes.

Because I am creating outfits for warm summer weather, I am keeping the layering to a minimum as I create outfit options. Short-sleeved, 3/4-sleeved, and (lightweight) long-sleeved tops will generally stand alone without additional layers; sleeveless tops will have a lightweight topper layer (though they could also be worn alone in hot weather/climates). Of course if your summer weather/air-conditioning is cooler, you could incorporate more layering into your outfits, increasing your number of possible outfit options.

Here I've pulled together stand-alone tops in black, navy, white, and ivory (I wish I had a short-sleeved one but this one can be worn in early/late summer with the sleeves rolled up) plus sleeveless top + cardigan "modern twin sets" in black, navy, and white. I have a short-sleeved beige cardigan for summer but no sleeveless top. The stand-alone top and skirt gives me four outfits. By mixing and matching the 3 sleeveless tops and 4 cardigans, I get another 9 outfits for a total of 13...just using solid pieces in neutrals from the print. (Note that I didn't combine a navy top + black topper or vice versa; you certainly could if you like, but I don't really love that look for myself. It always feels very "my closet is too dark to see colors" accidental rather than intentional when I try it.)

What's a "modern twin set"? This AI summary of how I use the term on this blog is pretty good!

Once you have a base outfit created, you need to finish it off with accessories. If you've been around here a while, you'll know I'm a fan of Brenda Kinsel's "beauty bundle" concept (which I also call an accessory set): groupings of 3 or more accessories that share related qualities, most commonly color. (Brenda's site is no longer up, but I've written about it in depth here.) Here are some little example accessory sets I could pull together in the four neutral colors in the striped skirt.

Interpreting the mustard yellow stripe as "gold," you can create a beauty bundle with gold metallic accessories as well.

Neutral from the Print - Print Mixing

Next we'll turn our attention to what Jodie calls option 5 but could also be considered a tweak of option 1: print mixing with neutrals from the print.

Here we have an additional 4 outfits from pairing black and white/ivory striped tops with the skirt. I think the vertical stripes on the skirt work with either a vertically or horizontally striped top. While stripes on stripes can look very busy or overwhelming if the size of the stripes are too similar, the wide spacing on the skirt and narrow spacing on the tops makes for a combination that is easy on the eyes.

Black and white/ivory polka dots, dalmatian spots, checks, and chevron prints also work well with the skirt for another 5 outfits. (Note that a button up shirt like the gingham check one in Outfit 21 can be worn alone or as a lightweight shirt-jacket layer over another top, giving you even more styling options.)

I am a navy and white stripes lover so I have a few different tops I can experiment with; I find all four of these wearable, though I like the two on the top best, I think.

I have three more outfit ideas using navy and white polka dots, checks, and a striped cardigan, bringing the total up to 29 so far.

We can also pull out accessories that combine 2 or more neutrals from the print as options to finish outfits. If print mixing a skirt with a top/topper feels like a bit much to you, adding in a print accessory instead can create visual interest in a more subtle way. (And of course you can combine print garments and print accessories in the same outfit; the only limit is your own preferences!) Here are some options from my wardrobe in black and white/ivory.

I also rustled up some options in navy and white; gold/beige/tan and white; and navy, tan, and white. That butterfly-floral scarf with 3 of the neutrals is a must-try with the skirt for this summer!

Here are some of the combinations from this post that I have worn in the past. Apparently the navy sleeveless blouse and beige cardigan is my favorite (worn twice). I've also worn the black twin set, the navy striped peplum top, and the same navy blouse with a white cardigan.

In the next post, we'll look at pairings for the skirt using Jodie's option 2: Add a color from the print.

Do you have any print items in your wardrobe that you think should be summer outfit workhorses but that are tricky for you to style? Do you like print pieces that have multiple neutral colors? Does that mustard yellow stripe look like an accent color or a semi-neutral to you? Would you take it into account or ignore it when putting a color scheme together for an outfit with the skirt? Do you wear black and navy together?

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