Wow, I had no idea that olive was such a debatable color! But I guess since there are different colored olives, there are going to be different search results when you start looking for olive green…This is sort of what I expected to find when I started searching. The boots that have the black elastic inset in the side sort of subtly hold all of this together pretty well.
(if someone gave you this ring for the holidays, kiss them repeatedly…)
– Todd Reed
This was the other sort of shade that I expected to find, while hunting down all things olive. When you see a bag that you like, in the color you want, with leather details in YOUR neutral, you know you’re in good shape!I wouldn’t usually include a bracelet with such a poor photograph, but I really wanted to include the one, because it’s a really good deal for a nice piece of jewelry. (yes, it drives me a bit mad that I couldn’t find a ring with an oval stone…)
When you’re looking at greens, if you want to include nail polish in your color scheme, you’re going to have to be either diligent, or somewhat flexible, because there aren’t a million options out there! But so long as you have the degree of yellow/blue right, you should be okay. It’s not like someone going to hold your fingernails up against your purse and critique the color match. If anybody tries, run away. Quickly.
I approached grey and olive with some trepidation, but once I was able to find the soft green nail polish, and the other accessories with a muted feel to the green, I realized that it was going to work just fine! On the off chance that someone gave you a gorgeous green diamond ring the holiday season… 
This one was great fun – the jewelry is relatively inexpensive, but it looks pretty nice, I’d say! And the nail polish might be a scary, but could also be kind of fun. Nail polish is a relatively inexpensive way to determine if you’re happy looking at a particular color for hours each day.
et Cie
Of course chartreuse was going to show up when I searched for olive! As much as I’d be willing to do an entire post about chartreuse, it’s incredibly difficult to find things in this color, so I’m afraid this will have to satisfy all of the chartreuse cravings you have. It was interesting to notice that the biggest selection of chartreuse items was in VERY high-end, expensive brands…Navy always seems to be a base that stands up to strong colors, and this is no exception. These accessories would also look pretty good with brown, though, I think.
This was the gentlest color that I found which came up in a search for anything olive – I almost threw the entire project into chaos because I seriously considered moving these things to try with grey! That would certainly be a possibility…Were I to try any of these “accessory families” this would be my preference. But what do you think?
Khaki/tan/beige is tomorrow’s project. What colors have I missed? Oh yes – I’m going to do pastels too, which will include mint green and whatever else I can find…love,
Janice
Thank you so much for this timely feature Janice. I received a lovely peridot green scarf for Christmas and it's not a colour a normally wear (I was told it matched the colour of my eyes :-) ). I don't have any clothing to tie the scarf together, but your focus on neutrals and tying everything together with accessories is brilliant. I can now wear this lovely scarf with peridot earrings and I might be brave enough to find a matching nail polish and a pair of shoes.
Could you do camel please? I LOVE camel. Camel coats and sweaters especially. But they do not, NOT love me and my pinkish skin tone. I look awful in it, even with a scarf to take it away from my face. LOve this series, it's great. Happy New Year to you!
I love "colourful neutrals" like olive. That last color is very close to sage. It is a favourite of mine.
Gwendolynn
I struggle with olive. Thanks for your post !!!
I always liked olive and wore it tone on tone or with white or camel. Never would have thought to pair it with grey.
Ooh, this is perfection! I like olive but don't own anything in it because it makes me look like I suffer from food poisoning. Thanks to you, I am now playing with the idea of collecting small accessory capsule in olive. It would really be something new and different in my wardrobe… The bags and shoes featured here look lovely with neutrals, not muddy at all like I've always feared.
-Mia-
My chartreuse craving has been appeased. Thank you. I have a little accessory family and now I have an idea for another. One can never have too many shoes.
My favorite is the chartreuse with the very expensive pieces. This is really opening my yes to how discrete colours are. I tend not to worry if the tones are exactly the same as long as the whole look works with a flow.
Deb from Vancouver
Gorgeous! I need all of the jewelry! I would wear all of these – olive, navy, and grey are my neutrals. You are right, the definitions of these color words are so wide that you never know what's going to pop up. Searching on "olive" is iffy, but "purple" is much harder, as you discovered. I think the worst was when Emerald was the color of the year, and every manufacturer and seller decided *their* green was emerald.
Lovely, understated, elegant–my favorite by far of the "unflattering" series of posts…
Pale pink and/or pale blue. I'd love to see you bring them in with olive. I've been trying and I could use some help!
The olive paired with black is my favourite colour and I already have lots of it in my wardrobe – accessories and clothing. That didn't stop me from being tempted by the beautiful items you found. I have never clicked on so many links in one picture before!
Ooh, I love these! Olive is one of my very favorite greens. So many shades. You've done some great research. I'm planning to visit Chicago the first week of January. Hope to do some productive shopping. Where do you like to shop, Janice?
I have a few green pieces in my spring/summer/fall clothes, but I definitely err on the side of blue-gray greens like sage. Love laboradorite, and that green diamond ring!!!
Olive also looks terrific with tomato red and some corals.
Olive is my color! There are truly so many variations it's hard to carry in my mind's eye
Olive and black are my colors too
Am on the hunt for an olive bag-saw a large dooney one, but like the hillfinger cross body one too. Very different looks and sizes! I struggle with putting different shades of it together but can see the possibilities. I need to think more about accessories; have the core wardrobe clothes.
Olive is my color! There are truly so many variations it's hard to carry in my mind's eye
Olive and black are my colors too
Am on the hunt for an olive bag-saw a large dooney one, but like the hillfinger cross body one too. Very different looks and sizes! I struggle with putting different shades of it together but can see the possibilities. I need to think more about accessories; have the core wardrobe clothes.
Thanks for all the olives and chartreuse. So many things I'd love. Love all the variations.
Vancouver Barbara
My unflattering color is red, but I can definitely see where you're going by looking at the other posts in this series. Thank you.