August 30, 2014
What do you do with a Four by Four Capsule Wardrobe if you want to dabble in a currently trendy accent color? This has been asked a couple of times in the last few days, and I think it’s a pretty important thing to think about; we all know that stores will show colors WAAAAAY outside of our plan…
This applies to those of us will well-established Four by Four Wardrobes, and for any of us who are still considering what to use for accent colors. If you have a wardrobe that includes a LOT of your neutrals, sampling a seasonal neutral is a good way to give yourself some variety without breaking the bank.
I actually put together a little (relatively) document that shows all ten of this seasons “new” colors, juxtaposed against all 91 of the combinations of neutrals that we’ve been considering. You can see from this sample page that one of the colors that is considered seasonal this year – aluminum – looks a heck of a lot like just plain old medium grey! Let’s be serious – you can’t invent new colors. We’ve seen them all; all you can do is give them a snazzy name, and convince the merchandising world of their essential hipness…
This document is available in The Vivienne Files Document Store.
Let’s build upon the wildly popular smoky blue, pearl grey, navy and grey wardrobe from earlier this week. So this is the new color that’s being added – “Mauve Mist”.
And this was the original wardrobe.
Lace-trimmed gauze scarf – Remi and Reid, silver flower earrings – 21 dgrs, swirled silver bracelet – Komang Wirawan, silver necklace – Sri Luce, square silk scarf – Antagoniste, hoop earrings – Simon Sebbag, ankle boots – Sam Edelman, loafers – Walking Cradles, navy henley – Uniqlo, jeans – Mango, navy shirt – Uniqlo, corduroy skirt – Peter Jensen, grey tee – Kin, grey jeans – Uniqlo, grey cashmere sweater – Uniqlo, wool trousers – Reiss, striped sweater – Vanessa Bruno Athe, stylized fair isle sweater – Rachel Comey, jacket – Uttam, cardigan – Acne Studios, blue cashmere sweater – Equipment, light grey tee – Replay, blue shirt – Sophie, grey sweater – Dear Cashmere
I’m submitting that you test the waters with this color by adding one garment, and a couple of accessories to tie everything together. You could use socks, a bracelet, maybe even lipstick could be considered for a color like this!
Blouse – Jil Sander, scarf – Roberto Cavalli, pearl earrings – Komang Wijayana
You can immediately see how well this color blends with your existing Four by Four Wardrobe – not just with the other colors, but with the mood and feeling of softness without being overly sweet.
And you have options, immediately, to wear your new goodies a lot!
Which of the Pantone Fall 2014 colors would you try, if you were going to try any of them at all? Or are you going to sit out this wave of “new” colors and see what they cook up for us next spring?
PS – You can find the latest Pantone Color Planner and other documents in the Planning Documents section of the website.
Love this! I look good in this color but it's hard to find the perfect mauve. You nailed it. I ordered the last pair of those gorgeous earrings. I'd been looking for exactly something like them and just couldn't resist.
Enjoying your posts. When you are considering an accent color for your neutrals, do you try to find a scarf first or do choose an accent color and then look for a scarf or other piece to tie the color in? For example, if I like red or turquoise with brown and grey neutrals, should I look for a scarf to tie these colors together?
Am I missing something?
Normally, I would probably choose to include an accent color if I really loved the color, and then I'd start looking for a blouse, shirt, or sweater, and accessories would come last. BUT, if I saw a scarf that really resonated with my scarf gene, and it included a new accent color, then the scarf would come first. It really depends on what makes me happiest – the color, or a scarf. Listen to your heart and you won't go wrong!
The link for the earrings doesn't seem to be working.
I really appreciate your advice to experiment with a new color with one garment AND an accessory — the usefulness of it expands exponentially by doing that, and somehow I never got beyond getting just a blouse or tee in a new color. I have needed to hear that. Thanks.
I fixed the link to the earrings – they're so pretty… I don't need pink pearl earrings, because I don't much wear pink, but these might tempt me into trying the color!
I like the cypress (olive green, in my world)
I will feel "trendy" come winter, because just last year, I made an olive green moleskin suit for myself.
But maybe by December, the "trend" will have passed and I will, once again, just be ~me~
Cognac is a pretty brown, also. I really like browns (especially in the *milk chocolate* range)
My favorite for would be: aluminum, sangria, bright cobalt and cypress.
Great post!!!! I love mauve mist, I thought it was called muted pink ?! I have an equipment shirt I love and a dress… so happy to hear it is in the Pantone Fall 2014 colors.
x Nina
PS. Have you entered my TrendSurvivor X Storm in a D cup $200 Gift Card GiveAway yet?
Cypress seems very similar to the loden green color I have picked up this fall. I purchases a rather expensive loden fur collar and loden cashmere sweater jacket. I was thinking of wearing them with burgundy pants, and/or brick red pants. I can also wear it with white (I love white in winter) and/or brown. I also have loden knit ski pants and loden suede shoes. I am thinking of also trying it with a gray and/or tobacco pant. So, I guess I have muted (grayed down) colors of the above: cypress (loden) cognac, misted (mustard) yellow, aurora red (brick red), sangria (burgundy, cassis, wine), bright cobalt (soft cobalt), aluminum (various shades of gray)… I do not have any mauve mist type items and that color is gorgeous…so …perhaps….
Like Janice said, the colours are of course not new. The red looks like a warm red, which is my kind of red. The Bright Cobalt is much warmer than what I normally think of as cobalt, and really very "denim" blue to me and very wearable. Since my core colours are navy and tobacco brown, and my accents are undetermined as of now, I might very well try out the red. Reds can sometimes be very cold and that does not work for me. I recently bought a pair of red, season-less dressier flats so I think I will get a sweater and/or a long-sleeved shirt in the red, and a scarf that incorporates the red. I love that with the tobacco brown, and denim and it goes with all my old black (to be phased- out) items. I think it has very little to do with the fact that it is a so-called official Autumn 2014 colour. I will also get a couple of purple tops. I found out recently that they can successfully be paired with the deep eggplant of which I have some items from the past (which also may be phased out) and will work great with brown, denim and navy. My main objective, however, is filling out a hole or two in my core wardrobe. i have tons of "old" accent colours but many of them are one-ofs only. I need to add an accessory to the ones I really like so they look a bit less arbitrary,and retire any I don't .want to accessorize.
I actually have already purchased a sangria turtleneck for my fall-winter grey-black wardrobe, so I guess I'm voting with my $$. However, I don't see any reason to match it with anything…I have an aversion to too much matching…comes from growing up in Texas with big hair, matching outfit gals I think.
Some of these shades–namely, Royal Blue and Aluminum–look pretty close to my chosen colors of Sapphire Blue and Medium Grey… So I guess I'll be taking advantage of being able to find a variety of items in my colors! Although this is making me wonder if I wasn't subliminally influenced by marketing when picking my colors…
Ok, it's taken me months to screw up the courage to ask for this……I travel for business in Europe, where only dark conservative colors will do (banks in London and Paris). My basic wardrobe is built on 2 neutral suits – black and midnight navy (Pants, skirt, jacket & sheath for each). Accents – cream/camel/tan, red/burgundy and teal. Here's my Challange. … What if I need BOTH suits? They are too dark to interchange pieces. Would you please, PLEASE try a capsule of black and midnight navy as the 4×4 with these accents?
[Aside: I hate how if I'm not logged in and I type a reply, it makes me long-in and then clears the reply field so I have toy re-type it. Garr!]. Ahem. I wouldn't bring both navy and black pieces. Who hasn't seen someone out with one navy and one black sock because they got dressed in dim light and couldn't tell the difference? On a business trip when you're already jet-lagged, I wouldn't risk it. Just take all the pieces of one suit and suitable accents/accessories. No one in Europe is going to care if they see you in the same suit twice.
I've noticed that I tend to gravitate toward "grayed out" colors, so the mauve really appeals to me. Likewise the bright cobalt, which seems to me to be another name for slate blue. :) While I think royal blue is a gorgeous color, if I tried it I'd have to go with quite small doses.
I like the shades of yellow, cobalt and cypress a lot, but I am not often swayed by something that is pronounced as 'the one'. Now if my favorite designer has something in her collection that suits my coloring, I'm sold.
Great post. Three is doable! Especially if not shoes. I will be looking for the mustard yellow, and citrine earrings, maybe a belt. I used to have a sweater in that color that I wore to death, maybe at long last I can replace it.
I will certainly use the clothes I already have in my closet. According to the rule I wear clothes twice a month I have enought clothes and I won't buy new color accents until I don't use what I have. New color trends is not for me.
Love the royal blue and the aurora red. I would try those. I have a pencil skirt in the same shade of red and has been a staple in my wardrobe for years. It is sadly falling apart now but I definitely got a lot of wear out of it. I just found your blog and you surely have one more follower with me. I am currently making over my wardrobe and your ideas got my head spinning… in a good way, that is.
As you said the aluminum is another form of gray and I bought a sweater in this color at the Nordstrom sale. Didn't realize it was a Pantone selection. But I am not swayed by the other colors.
There are quite a few colours I would try, Misted Yellow, Sangria and even the Radiant Orchid, really too many when I start looking at them.
I would wear (or already have) the 2 reds , the 2 blues and cypress .