This post on clothes from 2015 that I still wear is a close follow-up to my recent discussion of my cream cardigan vest because I bought a mint green version of that vest at the same time. The cream one had 25 total wears while this one has 23, putting the current cost per wear (CPW) at just over my $1 target. But this vest is still in my rotation so I will definitely wear it the one additional time needed to reach my goal. I have a second vest to share also: a bright teal puffy vest that I am somewhat disappointed to have worn only 13 times so far, though because it was an inexpensive sale purchase, my CPW is down to $0.69.
I'm going to go backwards with this and share an OOTD photo featuring the puffy vest first. This has mostly been a very casual/weekend piece for me, and I've historically been bad about photographing those outfits so I only have this one to share. But I do think it's an interesting one because of the 4-way print mixing with the striped sweater, chevron scarf, space dye skirt, and tweed loafers.
By the way, that sweater was a terrible purchase decision! I was unable to resist buying it on final sale (no returns) online at Loft for $8 because stripes, but I didn't really like the dropped shoulder on it, and I absolutely loathed the oddly scratchy acrylic knit. And because of the high neckline (which I also disliked), I couldn't successfully layer under it to protect my skin from irritation. I think this is probably the only time I wore it. So my inexpensive sale purchase yielded an $8.00 CPW! I can only hope that someone else bought it from the thrift store I donated it to...but that happens less often than we might expect: 84% of donated clothing ends up in landfills or incinerators! It's much better for our wallets and the planet to avoid these purchase mistakes in the first place.
Now for various ways I've worn the mint green cardigan vest. First up, this soft muted mint color makes the vest a lovely third piece option over neutral items.
Black/Grey
Grey top, striped skirt, leopard wedges, and a bridge piece floral scarf (print mix).
Black top, charcoal pants, purple flats, and a bridge piece chevron scarf (the same as in the puffy vest outfit).
Grey top, polka dot skirt, grey tights/boots, pewter owl pendant, and bridge piece floral scarf (print mix).
Navy
Navy top, navy floral skirt, navy tights/boots, and a white polka dot scarf for some contrast (print mix).
Striped top, dark wash jeans, dark blue flats, and blue/grey ombré scarf (print mix). (This vest + scarf combo is not my favorite!)
Brown
Cream top, brown jeans, brown flats, mint flower necklace, and a bridge piece scarf. Finished with a DIY bracelet stack featuring mint/rust paper beads.
The other way I commonly wear this sweater vest is with...
Print Tops
You might recognize this combination from my bird blouse's 30 wears post on accent colors. The coordinating mint floral necklace makes another appearance.
While it hasn't reached Pleasing Pairing status as with the cream version of the vest, the combination with my cream/dark green rabbit blouse is also a good one. For me, the inclusion of the cheetah print oxfords with black dots helped sell the black pants in this outfit.
This is my most colorful outfit with this vest, creating a modern twin set from the mint shirt + vest, worn with rust pants. The paisley scarf acts as the bridge piece tying these colors together. (One of many possible ways to combine rust and shades of blue/green.)
This final outfit is a real contender for my favorite outfit with the mint vest due to the pleasing-to-my-eye silhouette/proportion (which is an area I struggle with) and the print mix of the striped scarf and paisley skirt. I also just LOVE how the scarf tie turned out in this outfit. (See Method #5 here to learn how to do it yourself; I promise it is genuinely easy to do, no knot-tying badge will be earned.)
Given our focus on mint green today, I am also sharing the DIY bracelet stack I wore with that outfit. This is a somewhat smaller, more pared down stack than I often wear, but I like combination of the two paper bead bracelets, the silver, and the two different gemstone bracelets.
I created this paper bead bracelet set last summer to coordinate with this striped sweatshirt that I wear a lot in the spring as well as in the fall. I pulled the mint green and light warm blue tones from middle of the sweatshirt as my color palette for the set.
The tube bead bracelet with the flower focal was made from this floral dress imagine in a Lands End catalog {tutorial}. Instead of cutting out the desired paper and attaching it to another larger piece, I just worked with the amount of paper available here to cut the strips. Because the strips were short, they rolled into skinnier beads than usual at 3.5mm around.
For the second bicone bead bracelet, I used another Lands End page that had a woman wearing a mint fleece and light blue jeans. (Plus size models are great for making paper beads because you have a wider image to work with.) I cut the top of the paper off because the model's head was not in my desired color scheme and made triangular strips for bicone beads. I covered up the skin of her hand and any white areas with silver marker to match my color palette. These rolled up into 4mm beads.
So I purchased multiples of this cardigan vest in cream and mint green, and I think they were both very good purchases. My purchases of multiples tend work out much more often than not. Marsha had a great post earlier this month about purchasing multiples of an item in different colors/prints, and I had quite a bit to say about it in the comments. I recommend you check it out to read our conversation about when buying multiples makes great sense and when it might be mistake. It's interesting to me that even though Marsha and I have very different personal styles, buying multiples often works for us both! But it's highly dependent on what exactly you're buying multiples of and how that type of piece functions in your wardrobe.
Do you ever buy multiples of the same item in different colors/prints? Or even the same color/print? When is buying multiples successful for you vs. a mistake? Do "final sale" (i.e., no returns) purchases ever go wrong for you too? Did you know that 84% of donated clothing ends up in landfills or incinerators (I did not!)?
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