As I spend hours each day getting the big color combination document ready, I notice that there are a handful of colors that turn up in almost every color palette. They are colors that you might not like, or that might not look good on you, but they are colors that you might want to consider for a late-season capsule wardrobe refresh, or for an experiment in accent colors.Here, I’m showing a tee shirt and two pieces of jewelry; you could certainly go with only one piece of jewelry, or include a pair of sandals or casual shoes instead. But here, by adding just two or three pieces, you can see how each of the Starting From Scratch wardrobes can be updated.
I like the shirring on the sides of this tee shirt…
Earrings – Olga Hinojosa, tee – Lauren Ralph Lauren, bracelet – Made Sriasih
brown jeans – Viyella, brown fleece cardigan – L.L.Bean, brown twill trousers – Lands’ End, khaki skirt – Merona, beige pants – The Row, earrings – Olga Hinojosa, tee – Lauren Ralph Lauren, bracelet – Made Sriasih
The garments here were taken from the caramel and black Starting From Scratch Wardrobe.
black shorts – Hallhuber, caramel wool and cashmere cardigan – Customer Lovers, copper twill trousers – Lands’ End, black cardigan – Michael Michael Kors, black skirt – French Connection, black jeans – R13, earrings – Olga Hinojosa, tee – Lauren Ralph Lauren, bracelet – Made Sriasih
Each piece of clothing here was originally in the khaki and olive Starting From Wardrobe.
beige hoodie – Uniqlo, ivory shorts – Erika Cavallini, khaki cashmere cardigan – La Garconne, beige skirt – Vicky Tiel, beige jeans – Morgan, olive cardigan – Merona, olive trousers – Isabel Marant Etoile, earrings – Olga Hinojosa, tee – Lauren Ralph Lauren, bracelet – Made Sriasih
These additional garments are from the navy and beige Starting From Scratch Wardrobe.
These are clothes from the black and grey Starting From Scratch Wardrobe.
black cotton and cashmere cardigan – 10 Crosby Derek Lam, black linen trousers – Viyella, grey pleated trousers – Alberto Biani, grey cardigan – Mango, grey skirt – Diane von Furstenberg, earrings – Olga Hinojosa, tee – Lauren Ralph Lauren, bracelet – Made Sriasih, shorts – T by Alexander Wang
And these extras came from the original navy and grey Starting From Scratch Wardrobe.
Earrings – Olga Hinojosa, tee – Lauren Ralph Lauren, bracelet – Made Sriasih, navy cardigan – Dorothy Perkins,navy trousers – Jacques Vert, navy skirt – Nina Ricci, grey cashmere cardigan – Jaeger, silver grey trousers – Viyella, grey jeans – Rebecca Taylor
And OH YEA – you could wear the jewelry with any of your solid neutral dresses…
love,
Janice
Turquoise just happens to be one my favorite accent colors, and it is my happy color. Lovely combinations here.
Turquoise doesn't do me any favors. Experience has shown me that a clearer blue, marine or ink are much
better with my coloring. Glorious on lots of women but I'm staying away from it from now on. I've passed
on too many items of turquoise clothing purchased because it has been touted as a universal color and it
looks so appealing in the store.
JJ
You're wise to know what doesn't work for you – that's pretty much the entire key to looking good! I'm probably going to address the universal nature of another shade of blue; I'm running into another shade that seems to share the easy "mixability" of turquoise.
Turquoise has been one of my favorites this summer and you have shown it's even more versatile than I realized!
Thank you for these ideas because, although turquoise is not part of my new wardrobe plan, I have quite a lot left in my closet. I also have some silver and turquoise jewellery that will work with my grey/navy palette. Turquoise might also help my West Coast blues and greys transition for holidays in Mexico and Arizona.
Wild guess: is it teal? I read somewhere that teal is a universally flattering color–do you think that is true?
I'm probably going to look at both teal and Klein blue (sort of a gentler cobalt), as well as at least one shade of rose pink, and maybe a dark seafoam green that keeps cropping up in my work. As I build or research more and more color combinations (heading up to 1,456 of them) I find colors that recur, and it's interesting how some of them are obvious and some are completely surprising.
Turquoise always seems very versatile, as it goes well with browns, dark navy, black, olive… I'm sure Janice has thought of many more. It also seems to transcend seasons, and can brighten up a sombre mid-winter outfit. I love colour, the only ones I tend to avoid are bright reds and cool pinks (I have ginger – sorry 'strawberry blond' hair) – turquoise is a great alternative for adding a burst of colour.
Alice
No wonder I love turquoise so much. Turquoise and red are my go-to accent colors – they look good on me, are easy to find, and match the rest of my wardrobe (which is somewhat bipolar because I love black but also brown & olive….)
I love turquoise jewelry and think it is a fabulous accessory especially the First Nations vintage pieces from Arizona. The squash blossom necklaces are statement pieces that are works of art.
I don't wear this shade in clothing but I do admire it on others.
turquoise seems to be a universally flattering color – love how you've used it in each grouping !
Lovely stuff! I do like those clear bright colours. I don't have much turquoise at the moment, but I did get a nice wool pashmina while I'll enjoy in winter. I expect I'll want some matching earrings.
"But here, by adding just two or three pieces, you can see how each of the Starting From Scratch wardrobes can be updated."
This was the perfect answer to the question I asked a week or so back. That statement just resonated with me.
thanks
Really lovely! I don't care for or wear olive but the turquoise really looks good with it.
I love turquoise and brown together, just finding the fabric is the challenge!
I've never worn turquoise but am tempted to try it now! Thank you also for pointing out the shirring on the sides of the t-shirt. I have a few that are slightly longer than normal t-shirts and I don't often wear them, but shirring the sides like that (maybe with a thin piece of elastic sewn on the inside side seams?) could totally transform their look. It's a quick and easy fix and I can simply unpick if it looks no good. Thank you for the idea Janice!
And the other bonus of turquoise is that it always looks great with denim and white, for a casual summer look.