Styling a Colorful Casual Fall Outfit with the Thrifty Six: Chiffon Scarf

I have recently been welcomed into a wonderful group of fashion and lifestyle bloggers that focuses on styling preloved clothing and accessories in themed monthly posts (third Monday of the month). I hope that this showcase of secondhand items and outfits provides some shopping and style inspiration for anyone who is interested in creating great looks in a way that is sustainable for our planet and our pocketbooks.

Today's topic is Chiffon...which is not a fabric I gravitate to at all for clothing but enjoy in a scarf. This scarf from ThredUp has a watercolor-like wash of bright colors making heart motifs against a gorgeous shade of pink background that is perfect for Valentine's Day, of course, but truly transcends the seasons.

Here is a close-up of the scarf when worn so you can see the delightful drape of this lightweight fabric. (I admit that I am not 100% certain that it's chiffon because there is no label, but it definitely has a good overlap with the hallmarks of chiffon, so I am declaring it "chiffon" for this post!)

Because the scarf is colorful and floaty, I decided to create a very simple casual base outfit from thrifted pieces for the scarf to pop against: a denim-blue top in a knit fabric and red skinny jeans, both of which have been in my closet for over 5 years. Note the wonderfully low Goodwill prices on these items in 2019 compared to today; their like may never be seen again! (It's not just your imagination; their prices really have gone up.)

An even more basic combination would have been denim-blue jeans and an accent color top, but I like to switch things up by wearing colorful pants and a neutral top sometimes - it's just as easy but a little less expected. And in this outfit, the neutral dark blue is a much better backdrop to showcase the colors and texture of the scarf!

OOTD 11/12/25

I chose to wear my scarf with a very easy knot to create a flowing vertical line down the middle of the outfit that overlaps the pink/red scarf ends over the top of the red jeans to strongly visually connect the matching colors. (See Method #1 - single overhand knot with other end pulled through - in this post.) The cowl neck of the top competed a bit with the scarf so I quickly tucked the cowl neck under to create a cleaner neckline; I did leave a bit of the cowl neck up at the V created by the scarf.

To keep the "feels like me" accessories vibe going, I wore a pair of rainbow striped sneakers from Rocket Dog that I bought in May (retail, on sale for under $24). These sneakers followed me on Pinterest for about two months, tempting me to break my No Buy Year for 2025, before my husband convinced me I should buy them. I'm glad I didn't wait to see if they were still available in 2026 because I am really enjoying adding them to outfit for a colorful punch of interest this fall/winter and the sneaker style is just right for my current casual lifestyle. (To be pedantic, I did call it a "Clothing" No Buy Year, so technically, a pair of sneakers does not fall afoul of it if we want to rules-lawyer this purchase.)

For my all-DIY daily bracelet stack, I selected a paper bead bracelet set I had made in rainbow colors to coordinate with a white rainbow striped linen top I wear in the summer. Of course, rainbow stripe colors with white is also a perfect color palette to wear with my new striped sneakers. I added some colorful glass and stone bead bracelets I made to repeat some of the bright colors, and who can deny the perfection of the rainbow striped beads in this stack? {stretch bracelet tutorial} {bicone paper bead tutorial} {tube paper bead tutorial}

I used two pages from an alumni magazine of my husband's to make the paper beads. The top bracelet started out with this page, which might seem unpromising for bicone beads at first glance because it has a lot of text on it. But I know that I only need 7 1" beads to make a bracelet for myself, which requires about a 4.5" width of paper, so I knew I could cut the strips from the photograph end of the page (the bottom half in this photo) and mostly avoid the text. I thought the range of colors in the page would work well, and the beads actually turned out better than expected!

The bottom bracelet of the stack used tube beads made from this page with colorful little blocks against a white background - a terrific color scheme for my purpose. The great thing about tube beads is that you only need to worry about what the paper looks like at one end; the rest of the paper gets rolled under and completely covered as the bead is made. Because the scale of the paper's design is very small, the little blocks show up intact on the beads, which I love. Note how this is very different from the first page in which all details of the paper were lost and only the colors and visual textures came through on the final beads.

Although it doesn't fit with the "colorful accessories" theme, I couldn't resist pulling out my oldest pair of thrifted earrings for this outfit. These silver square hoops were already vintage when I bought them at Goodwill in the early 90s. I personally enjoyed the extraordinarily subtle detail - noticeable to no one but me, no doubt - of how the square shape of the earrings repeated the geometric quality of the rectangular blocks on the bracelet.

Now let's review the chiffon outfits that my thrifty friends have styled...

The Thrifty Six:

• Emma of Style Splash

• Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade

• Jodie of Jodie's Touch of Style

• Nancy of Nancy's Fashion Style

• Sally of Within a World of My Own [me]

• Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge

Emma of Style Splash

“Chiffon is not really on my style radar so I was thinking I’d have to find a scarf for this challenge. But then I remembered this top that I bought on Vinted a while back which not only has chiffon sleeves, but also a matching ruffle detail on the front that looks like a scarf. I’ve teamed it with a corduroy waistcoat and trousers. The tan bag (also preloved) finished off the look.”

Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade

“On a windy day it’s profoundly life-affirming to stand on a hill-top in a skirt that’s completely out of control…

…to feel that sense of devil-may-care as it’s caught by a squall and could easily blow right over your head!

What is there without exhilaration, without jeopardy – life is short, fashion is fun, and chiffon is exciting to wear…

Mousseline de soie – soft yet striking, subtle yet dramatic, feminine and mysterious – surely a precious gift from the fashion gods…”

Jodie of Jodie's Touch of Style

“My crew decided to style chiffon scarves…in 3 different ways.

I went rogue and used my scarf as decoration on my solid colored skirt. The scarf was made by my mom from leftover material from something else she made ages ago.

The skirt was from my dental school days (we are talking the early 90s). While the skirt and scarf are not thrifted per se…both show great sustainability, right?

BTW, there is another chiffon scarf decorating my purse, and it was my friend’s who just passed.”

Nancy of Nancy's Fashion Style

“I’ve had this pleated chiffon dress for ages. I bought it on Vinted and from the shop where I once worked. That means the quality and fit are fantastic. (Oddly enough, I don’t remember having it in the store. I guess I wasn’t crazy about pleats back then, that came later when I started blogging). I don’t wear it often, but I definitely won’t be getting rid of it. Because I always enjoy this chiffon dress. It’s the colour, the pleats, the chiffon. It has a slipdress underneath. I have to wear it in a different style, because I always wear it with brown. I just love it that way.”

Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge

“I found this gorgeous turquoise and purple chiffon dress on a thrifting adventure with my sister this past April. Actually, it was labeled as a swimsuit cover up, but I don’t usually adhere to labels of that sort. I wear things however I want! So I layered this sheer number over a black slip dress, added my teal cowgirl boots, a feathered brimmed hat, and piles of necklaces (some were thrifted, some were not). I wore this outfit to an outdoor concert in September and needed an extra layer in the evening as the temperature dropped so I layered on an old thrifted duster sweater in light teal.”

And me...

"Chiffon is a sheer, delicate, high-care, very feminine fabric that doesn’t fit well with my lifestyle or personal aesthetic…but use it in a scarf and suddenly that soft sheen, lovely drape, and airy feel find their place in my wardrobe.  In this casual outfit, I took two very basic casual pieces from Goodwill (a denim-blue top and red skinny jeans) that I’ve had for over 5 years and gave them added punch from the colorful ‘feels like me’ accessories: a thrifted chiffon scarf with a watercolor-like heart motif, a DIY bracelet stack with a rainbow theme, and a pair of Rocket Dog rainbow striped sneakers that followed me on Pinterest for about two months before my husband convinced me that I should buy them (retail, on sale).  I especially like the juxtaposition of the floaty, lightweight chiffon scarf with the rougher, more utilitarian textures in the look (technical knit, denim, canvas). It’s a dead simple knit top + jeans + sneakers outfit that says Colorful Contrasting Casual Chic.”

Next month's topic is my selection of Vested, a great opportunity to pull out a favorite winter layering piece!

In the meantime, visit these lovely bloggers for the details of their thrifted chiffon outfits and more style inspiration:

• Emma of Style Splash

• Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade

• Jodie of Jodie's Touch of Style

• Nancy of Nancy's Fashion Style

• Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge

Do you like light, feminine, floaty fabrics like chiffon? Would you wear chiffon in clothing? In a scarf? Do you wear the top + jeans + sneakers combination for casual outfits? How do you like to personalize the formula for your style? Are you a fan of rainbow stripes?

Blogs I link up with are listed here.