February 9, 2022
After working on this post, I saw green every time I closed my eyes for HOURS… seriously!
Lots of questions have been posed lately about wearing green. At least in theory, every person should be able to find a shade of green that is flattering to them. Green is poised between blue (which defines “cool” colors) and yellow (which defines “warm” colors) on the color wheel. If you don’t want to wear “right down the middle” true green, you can just slide off toward blue, or toward yellow…
These are some of the shades of green that I found readily available right now:
If you want to dabble in the possibility of green, but don’t want to go completely nuts, you really only need to get 2 or 3 things in order to really establish green in your wardrobe – at least for a few months.
For example, if you love grey, and want to test-drive something green-ish, consider teal!
Yes, many people would consider this blue. I try to be open-minded when it comes to colors…
Storm teal heather cotton crewneck sweater – L.L.Bean; grey cardigan – L.L.Bean; light grey thermal tee – Caslon; deep teal heather waffle-knit Henley – L.L.Bean; light grey heather knit pants – L.L.Bean; sweatshirt skirt – Biancoghiaccio
I think green with navy is VERY easy… And if you love stripes, this little cluster is perfect for you!
Imagine how easy it would be to pack these 6 garments (or wear 3 and pack 3?) for a weekend away…
global green cardigan – Lands’ End; long navy cardigan – L.L.Bean; Striped tee shirt – Caslon; striped sweater – Amazon Essentials; navy knit cords – L.L.Bean; navy wool midi-skirt – 12 Storeez
If you live in beige and ivory in warm weather, the addition of a twinset and a gorgeous (not cheap!) skirt can change the look and feel of your current wardrobe:
Ivory tee shirt – Lands’ End; pale emerald short-sleeved sweater – Lands’ End; pale emerald cardigan – Lands’ End; sea salt basketweave cardigan – L.L.Bean; stone pants – L.L.Bean; floral skirt – Hannah Artwear
Maybe your favorite warm colors are camel and ivory, and you like the juxtaposition of silk and denim…
Bay leaf cotton cardigan – L.L.Bean; camel cardigan – Frank & Eileen; bay leaf basketweave cotton sweater – L.L.Bean; ivory silk shirt – J.Crew; desert sand chino pants – J.Crew; denim skirt – Frame
Are you the woman who can really rock a strong shade of laurel green? Three really beautiful garments can change the look of your navy core wardrobe…
navy sweater-blazer – J.Crew; laurel green cashmere crewneck – J.Crew; laurel green linen tee – J.Crew; flannel tunic – L.L.Bean; laurel green pants – J.Crew; navy corduroy pants – L.L.Bean
Maybe you want to wear a bit of green on your mid-winter getaway to warmer climes? A cashmere twinset and a REALLY pretty dress (which actually IS the same shade of green…) will take simple white garments in a new direction…
Zephyr green cashmere shell – Boden; white linen muscle tank – J.Crew; green cashmere cardigan – Boden; white cardigan – Nic+Zoe; linen pants – J.Crew; floral dress – Boden
I only wear green when I’m going to an Ireland rugby match, or watching one at home! But I would never rule it out; I’m just waiting for the green that has whappage!
love,
Janice
p.s, Seven years ago, I pondered the beauties of a painting by Esias van de Veldt, and of traveling with only 6 garments – camel, brown, beige and LIGHT BLUE. All sorts of things are possible…
Like this article? Save it to Pinterest!
I love green. Olive and loden were my favorites when I wore black. Forest and sage are also favorites. Not a fan of bright yellow green. Since my neutrals are now navy and grey, I limit the greens. I want most things in my wardrobe to work with most things and green and grey can be hard to combine. It can be done with the right green, like antique pine I think it was called, a couple years ago. Long story short- I am working the teal. Even when teal veers to teal blue it still works. And, thankfully, nearly everyone carries some version of teal, most seasons.
Sandy B
Now I am wondering if grey is really that great, lol. Oh, noes, I think I am going to retool my wardrobe to include green.
Sandy B
I’m not a fan of grey, but give me all of the greens. I think navy and camel then all of the greens would be beautiful. I’m steering my wardrobe in this direction. I absolutely love this wardrobe.
Well, isn’t this timely. Just as I have decided to not only add more neutrals to my wardrobe, but accents of green since it makes my eyes look so much greener – except the bright yellow green as Sandy mentioned. Most of what I have now is either an olive or a “true” green. I love teal, but have challenges with all the many shades – some of which will work together, sometimes not. I have some things which were labeled as teal, but to me they are a dark blue-green.. more green. Like a pine green. Anyway, this is much appreciated today. Thanks Janice!
PS I also have a couple of pieces of the lighter green you did with the Mt. View scarf last year. Love those.
My greens have to be on the definitive blue-green or green-grey spectrum from light to dark. Also soft and muted works best on me. I wear them with navy, grey, taupe, purple and pink. The latter two sound surprising but with a patterned blouse, skirt or dress that has teal or green-grey in it, the ‘green’ brings out the pink and purple colours more.
I like the skirt in the third image. Looking closer there is teal blue outlining the flowers. I’m always on the look-out for floral skirts (though not at these weighty prices). So I had a look at all the skirts and noticed a very pretty blue floral on a white background – https://www.net-a-porter.com/en-us/shop/product/caroline-constas/clothing/midi/tiered-floral-print-cotton-blend-poplin-midi-skirt/25185454455715614?fi=wp – Now to me it looks mostly blue on white, would you agree? However, the colour is described as WHITE! If like me, you automatically filter by colour, this skirt would be excluded in the blue selection. However, I typed in blue and another skirt showed up https://www.net-a-porter.com/en-us/shop/product/peony/clothing/midi/vacation-floral-print-organic-cotton-and-ecovero-blend-wrap-skirt/24772899113587992 This is described as BLUE yet to me it looks like a white skirt with a scattering of blue flowers! Two more skirts were also included in the blue selection but no mention of the orange that is so definitely present:
https://www.net-a-porter.com/en-us/shop/product/zimmermann/clothing/midi/andie-tiered-floral-print-linen-maxi-skirt/22250442025748817 and https://www.net-a-porter.com/en-us/shop/product/johanna-ortiz/clothing/midi/plus-net-sustain-the-line-of-descendent-floral-print-linen-midi-skirt/25185454455568812. Who decides on these colour choices? Is it Net-a-Porter or the brands themselves? Why can’t they assign more than one colour? Even if you select Multi, none of these multicoloured skirts are displayed. So it pays to scan the whole selection and look at the colour description of your favourite skirts. Lesson learned, don’t exclude white (or cream or black or beige or navy) from colour selections, even though you might end up trawling through as load of boring items you don’t want. It’s so much easier shopping in a store.
The look back is encouraging my exploration of blue-greys and taupe. The other day, I saw a long-sleeve tee-shirt duo in a supermarket clothes section. Duos or even trios are often good value for money as they can work out cheaper than the individual items. Even if one of the colours isn’t yours or doesn’t suit, you might still save money despite giving away the dud. Anyway, I saw a duo of a slate blue tee (tick because I’m trying to add this shade to my wardrobe) along with a proper taupe (greyed beige). At £8.50 for the two, it was worth an experiment just to see if a taupe top would suit me. I noticed that single tees in other colours were £7 each, so the extra £1.50 outlay was worth it, even if the taupe turned out to be a dud and ended up in the charity bag. I’m pleased to report that the slate blue is lovely and the taupe didn’t make me look washed out. My son said it looked grey and also gave me a raised eyebrow because it was new – he’s only been home a week!. He’s very observant when it comes to the colours I wear. The taupe
is a shade lighter than my taupe trousers, so I shall will add it to my country walks/nature conservation capsule. My accent colours for this capsule are teal and plum.
This duo has also helped me to work out a way of wearing plain accent tees/tops which I generally think are a bit boring on their own, devoid of the pattern or texture I prefer on my top half. I wore the slate blue tee yesterday with grey cotton trousers and a grey ribbed cardigan (texture). I then added a blue swirly pendant and a bead necklace of varigated blue, grey and soft purple beads in different shapes and sizes (the pattern). My husband noticed the top (didn’t realise that it was new – phew!), the pendant and the beads. It got the thumbs up. I have since found in my jewellery collection, other bead necklaces and bracelets in different shades and shapes that will also go with this top. I’m sure there are more plus earrings. So whenever, I wear a plain top, I can wear a decorative necklace or variable coloured beads which will be enough to satisfy my need for pattern plus a textured cardigan or jumper. I also have a patterned scarf in similar colours that I would have worn with my coat if I’d gone out.
Job done and it proves that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to bring new shades of colour into your wardrobe. At £4.25 each or £7 plus £1.50, it was an economical experiment. Shopping the rest of my wardrobe and accessories, justified their places. Even if the taupe tee had been a dud, it would have been sent to a charity shop where it would have been sold for at least £2 which is a small donation to a worthy cause, any day of the week. It also helps that when I go hunting for other clothes in taupe or slate blue, I just have to put a tee shirt in my bag rather than a pair of trousers!
I always enjoy it when you add warm colors to your outfits. They tend to be a little hard to find! You have a very nice array included here. Talbots also sometimes has nice warm green pants.
I lost a substantial amount of weight (on purpose) and needed a new spring/summer wardrobe last year. I went with neutrals of navy, white, and denim and added Macy’s “pink lightning” (a true, bright pink) and “bright pine” (pretty close to kelly green). I love this combo and plan to wear it for years to come.
I switch to hunter green for autumn/winter, but can hardly wait to break out my brights.
I could wear teal and gray all winter long. They’re both such cozy colors and together will help get me through another cold winter here. The gray Caslon tee’s rounded bottom hem is a nice feminine touch. The L.L.Bean cotton sweaters, man, I think I own just about every color they offer, their teal is very versatile and matches the many different teals out there in the market.
The blue and green together remind me of all our boat adventures over the years. I still have my L.L.Bean blue and green anchor boat flats which I can’t part with just yet.
I would buy the green skirt in a heartbeat, as an investment piece of course. It reminds me of The Tropics and our upcoming vacation to Cancun this summer. I’ll be trying to travel as light as possible but we do like to venture out quite a bit. The green skirt would be a great addition to all my bathing suits for a nice evening dinner at one of the restaurants at the resort.
Oh. Just…wow. I really love green and could happily wear it every day and run from one version to another without ever being bored. I tend towards true green and yellow-toned, but may dabble towards the blue once in a while. For those who love grey, an accent of lime green packs an intense punch. Think grey silk skirt with a grey shell sweater topped with a lime cardi, thin belt, flats and bracelet. Simple and striking. Thanks Janice!
I agree that there is a shade of green for everyone.
I have loved all variations of blue-green since I was a tween. It works perfectly with my pale colouring w pinkish undertones, green eyes and blonde hair (which now has silvery streaks shooting through it). Teal is a particular favourite but forest green, Kelly/emerald have also been good friends.
It was tough going for we blue-green wearers for a long time; it seems there was only chartreuse and other yellow-greens for sale. It’s a relief to see that things have finally swung around a bit. Hopefully, the yellow-green wearers still have options available in the stores too.
It shouldn’t be an either/or situation!
I love all this, thanks for all you do. Dark olive green, along with brown I consider my neutrals and haven’t met a warm green I didn’t like. Looking forward to finding some of the yellow/green items for the spring and summer that don’t veer into neon territory.
Olive and brown are also my neutrals. I stick to gold instead of yellow but it’s not easy to find in the summer.
Loved this! I can wear all the greens except for those that lean yellow/warm. My favorites are teal and ivy green. I usually wear them with denim, navy or off-white. That llbean storm teal heather sweater is calling my name.
Ooooo, I love the skirts and that dress is so pretty! I have worn emerald and bottle green in the past, but currently only have some teal. I should get something for spring, I think.
For much of my life, green has been my favorite color, and the colors in my eyes run the gamut from blue-teal to olive. I would happily wear any of these greens except possibly the last one. Other than olive/aloe vera green and green-teal, which I have at least a couple coordinating pieces in, my wardrobe is a total hodgepodge when it comes to shades of green. But for the other greens, I wear them more as an accent/pop than as a major color so that works out. I am a big fan of a dark hunter green also, which looks great with navy (as an alternative to the brighter/lighter “spring”-ier green shown here). That deep laurel green is probably too intense and yellow to be a great green on me, but that set of garments is really appealing! Green pants (not just drab olive but a more saturated green) can look amazing. I have a pair of bright grass green pants (they run just slightly to the cool side of neutral) that are so cheerful and fun.
Hi Janice – the camel/ivory gets my vote.
Any greens I wear lean heavily towards blue-green – teal and turquoise. I have been wearing olive green as a neutral in cotton trousers and a spring jacket, but I always add something brighter in my colours near my face. Or black. Black and olive – yes.
Oh I hate green…yuck! Then last year I bought a pair of silky olive pants because I needed something to wear with a silk Joie blouse. Navy worked with it but looked blah. The pants were the exact colour of the little cherry stems in the print…but one day I was thinking Argh Janice would never purchase a garment to satisfy the whim of an expensive silk shirt! Imagine how thrilled I was to find that those pants paired so well with the fuchsias, bright aquas, bright yellow and clear orange accents that hang around my closet with all the black. Since then I’ve added another olive (or laurel green) tank and jeans. I wouldn’t say it’s one of my neutrals but it’s taking its place.
I don’t subscribe to the ‘my colour’ theories as I think what we wear or are drawn to depends on our personalities. I have have quiet, demure friends that would fall into ‘winter’ that can’t part from their beige and pale grays and a wild red head pal who is smashing in red and kills it in black! They know what they like and what their comfort levels are. Their wardrobes reflect not an arbitrary ‘season’ but who they are! One of my demure friends…a librarian in a large government department told me that her sister gifted her a bright red cashmere sweater for Christmas. She asked me what she should do with it my answer was ‘Wear it you goose’ she looked at me in shock stating ‘Oh I would feel so uncomfortable and out of place!’ I pointed out that she is currently working from home and was countered with ‘I have several Zoom meetings a day’ Her sister has since exchanged the sweater for the preferred beige;) and my friend is now happy.
hmm lime green and gray? That’s a winning combo! Though I loath gray so chartreuse and navy it is!!
I’m a Librarian too. The last colour on earth that I would wear is beige, particularly on Zoom. Maybe it really suits her but wearing beige is subscribing to the myth that Librarians are of no consequence – seen but not heard. The fact that we are the fount of all knowledge means that we should be seen and heard. I’m right behind her sister trying to jazz up the ‘dowdy librarian’ image. My suggestion to the sister would be to promise a surprise for the librarian for her birthday. This will be a top secret, no objection visit to a colour consultant. By the time, she’s finished, I hope the beige is kicked into the long grass or at least brightened up with green!
I love the idea of navy…which is very similar to the Air Force blue that I tend to gravitate to over black as I prefer not to look like a corpse. For years, anytime I tried to get a nice dress, skirt or slacks the only color in my then size of 00 or 0 was black. As a result, in high school, college and early working years, I looked ready for a funeral. Not fun…
I love green but don’t look good in most shades. However, a deep forest blue-green? PERFECT. Yellow-greens have been in for years now, and I am limited to petite sizes, but I’ve discovered that one turtleneck and one sweater are really all I need to use those colors in my fall and winter wardrobe. It’s a great reason to have a capsule wardrobe. One or two pieces in hard to find colors can really change your look.
I wear warm, muted colors and like dark olive as a basic color. I love teal as an accent color with camel and caramel browns. I don’t feel good in the middle true greens and wonder why I like the greens on either side.