A couple of you have expressed an interest in seeing a white blazer in a capsule wardrobe on The Vivienne Files, and I’m always happy to try to oblige! White blazers seem like the most obvious handy piece for warm weather, don’t they? And my first instinct was to show them with a simple, timeless pair of navy pants; an easy pairing to pull on Monday morning when you don’t know what to wear, but you know you have to look good!
But then I was stumped for an accent color; someone had asked for aqua, and someone else for teal…
Then I realized – this is one of the very FEW starting points in modern clothing that can lead to almost ANY accent color; the only color that might be tricky is beige, but I bet I could even make that work.
So I “Roy G. Biv’d” the heck out of these 2 pieces of clothing! And then I tossed in gold, grey, and brown, just because I could.
Let’s start here:
Any shade of red, from pink, to barn red, to bright red, to burgundy…. I could have done an entire post on shades of red!
Orange, to me, means everything from the palest warm blush through to the darkest pumpkin!
Yellow is so obvious for summer, isn’t it?
solid tee – IRO; bracelet – French Connection; loafers – Nine West
And every green from pale aqua to deep deep emerald would work well.
Where they say blue, I veered into turquoise. Because OF COURSE, there are navy and turquoise shoes in the world!
Technically, this is supposed to be indigo, but I just went to navy and stayed there.
striped tee – L.L.Bean; bracelet – Wakami; flats – LifeStride
And violet is a whole world of possibilities:
tie-dye tee – Raquel Allegra; bracelet – Chan Luu; sandals – Naot
I couldn’t resist the idea of adding in a navy and/or white top, and then tossing in some gold accessories; note that the first ensemble is all about zig-zags, and the second is all about chains and links…
eyelet tee – Beau Souci; bracelet – TJMaxx; sandals – Michael Kors
A finally, because I really wanted 20 outfits total, I thought I’d take a look at the possibilities with brown and beige. I particularly like these because they’re very unexpected…
light tee – Sarah Pacini; bracelet – Wakami; moccasins – Minnetonka
As a nod to hot weather, I did this with ONLY tee shirts, and no scarves; imagine the possibilities if we considered a simple sleeveless button-front shirt, or a linen scarf!Favorites?
love,
Janice
I have a white cardigan that I never wear but haven't been able to part with. I will have to try it this year with my navy pants. I have a navy & white tank, and the metallic shoes & accessories are a great idea. I also love the green with it. I don't have green shoes but I recently got a bright green handbag that I fell in love with (my big splurge for summer) and am looking for ways to wear it. I have tops with green in my Wardrobe but I don't want to come off looking too matchy. I think the white cardigan might help to break it up a bit
Oh, this is so great. Navy is my main neutral and I just purchased a linen- blend white swing cardi for summer. I love the idea presented by a reader iof using a print as an accessory. I'll wear the navy pants and white cardi to an event tonight with a pretty multi- teal/aqua/navy /white embellished top with my bronze metalic shoes. You have so many ideas here! Thanks so much! Janice Collins, Washington DC
Linda, I think you won't look matchy. Matchy if the greens aren't quite the same shade.
I like this idea, but when I think of a white blazer, I think spot on the elbow and it's dry clean only. I try to keep my whites machine washable. But other people probably aren't as maladroit.
Fashion news flash from the street in the south of France: baby blue shoes (mocassins, platform sandals) with baby blue accessories (see, Linda, chic French women do it!) and lots of orange, in a kind of pale, almost washed-out burnt-orange shade, especially for men's trousers and jeans but also on women as pants, jackets, scarves….I couldn't believe all the orange pants at the market last week, and they were out in force again today. Must be a thing.
Did anyone pop into look at the klaidoscopic link the other day? One was very klaidoscopic with its strong and bright almost fluorescent colours- colours that would look vibrant and good as accent colours. But the one that interested me more was baby blue and baby pink with a deep purple- now that would be interesting to see in a wardrobe.
Very timely! My summer colors are navy and white with mint/aqua and bright blue. I like your green and blue examples. But I'm seeing pink and yellow possibilities as well!
I have been very brave this year and bought a 3 piece not quite matched creamy white suit all in linen. But am finding I am reluctant to wear it due to the fear of stains. I decided this am, I am just going to wear it and be ok with what happens.
Deb from Vancouver
Think of it this way: if you wear it, and stain it, you won't ever wear it again. If you don't wear it, you won't ever wear it again. There's NO difference!
hugs,
Janice
Great way to think about lots of things.
Janice,
What has struck me about this post is how the shoes and other accessories really pull together these ensembles ! It makes such a cohesive look ! There is another blog that I check from time to time and she will often do a colored shoe for " a pop of color " , but she doesn't repeat it anywhere else and it looks discordant to me. Or she'll take a given color shoe and use a bag in it's opposite complementary color. That might work if you're tall, but not on 5' 2 me ! Since I don't want to draw the eye downward due to my challenged height factor, as well as my large foot size and heavy lower half ( my, what a pretty picture THAT paints ! ) I would probably do as one of your readers above, and repeat the color in a handbag and earrings or bracelet and earrings, as well as the top, or some colored detail or print in the top. Just three different tops and accessory clusters don't take up much room in a suitcase !
or, substitute a white denim jacket and look at the possibilities. Thanks so much. Am off to shop my closet!
I love all of these comments ….thanks I feel much better about my green purse and can't wait to wear my green and navy outfits with (or without) my white cardigan…I have lots of other ideas for this cardigan from this post and comments, but I also love the idea of a white denim jacket too and the baby blue mentioned by Taste of France, I have cropped jeans in baby blue…will have to look for some accessories…I can't wait for the weather to get warmer…
I'm at a genealogy conference this week (arguably not the most fashion forward bunch) and have seen a lot of white denim jackets.
Janice, I like the brown/ beige…..and all would mix and mingle with other colours. Well done! As usual…
From Chris Australia x
I'm in the white denim jacket team too. I bought one on impulse for summer, then didn't wear it for fear of looking … too try-hard or something. Too often I'd look at it and couldn't think past avoiding a red, white and blue combo. But what to do instead? Well, here are heaps of stylish alternatives! We are heading into winter (southern hemisphere) and I can see how very versatile it can be. Thanks for the inspiration!
Robyn in Tasmania
And in reverser, I think? Blue jacket, white pants … A bit tougher perhaps to coordinate the top parts but worth thinking about …
Lots of great ideas Janice! I like the brown and beige with navy!
This is really useful for those of us who wear a lab coat for work. Thank you!
This is really useful for those of us who wear a lab coat for work. Thank you!
As always, lots of great ideas Janice! I have a request. I went a bit crazy on a recent trip to London and bought a cobalt blue petite jacket: http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/Precis+Petite+Cobalt+Linen+Classic+Jacket/241991335,default,pd.html. Would you be able to do a similar post using my blue jacket? I would be soooo grateful! Thank you!