August 11, 2023
Okay, we’re going to have THREE posts about navy, because I want to look into the pretty potential of pastels (death by alliteration!), as well as what might be interesting and useful in the world of bright accent colors…
Let’s go!
I might have found a softer/lighter pink cardigan, but I really love the sleeves on this one! And it’s just right with the scarf…
Tee shirt – J.Crew; earrings – Swarovski; cardigan – Boden; chino pants – J.Crew; scarf – Allegra K.; loafers – Talbots
If you prefer a warmer kind of pink… Well, this is technically called Peachskin. Yes, all 1 word.
Tee shirt – J.Crew; earrings – Miss Happiness; cardigan – Boden; chino pants – J.Crew; scarf – Melifluos; ballet flats – Margaux
Yellow was hard! Really REALLY hard. Maybe as the weather cools down, and we have more sweaters available?
Tee shirt – J.Crew; earrings – Talbots; bracelet – Cranmadia; chino pants – J.Crew; sweatshirt – L.L.Bean; espadrilles – Toms
I don’t wear pastels, but I could easily be tempted by mint green! I don’t know what it is about this color…
Tee shirt – J.Crew; earrings – Bling Jewelry; chino pants – J.Crew; cardigan – Orvis; scarf – INC International Concepts; suede loafers – Massimo Matteo
Light blue flatters so many of us! And you do NOT have to wear a scarf to make your outfit look complete. Finding the right necklace (or brooch) isn’t any more difficult than finding the perfect scarf…
Tee shirt – J.Crew; earrings – Nordstrom; necklace – Noessla; chino pants – J.Crew; cardigan – J.Crew; loafers – Sam Edelman
Of course I like lavender. And lilac. And whatever else someone names these colors!
Finding matching earrings and a scarf – one of the wee triumphs of my work…
Tee shirt – J.Crew; earrings – Kendra Scott; scarf – Nordstrom; chino pants – J.Crew; cardigan – Nordstrom Signature; ballet flats – Munro
White isn’t a pastel, but I wasn’t going to miss the chance to share navy and white. And yes, these ARE my favorite navy earrings, right now.
Tee shirt – J.Crew; bow earrings – Milou Jewelry; bracelet – Amadeus; chino pants – J.Crew; ivory cardigan – J.Crew; loafers – Marc Joseph New York
Yes, pale grey is a neutral. But to me, it’s “pastel black.”
We make our own rules!
Tee shirt – J.Crew; earrings – Linya Jewellery; brooch – The Met Store; chino pants – J.Crew; bolero – Peraluna; boots – Easy Street
Monday I’m going to take one last look at navy, and then on Wednesday we have a really gorgeous new bracelet to enjoy!
love,
Janice
p.s. Five years ago, we started an autumn Project 333 with 2 floral tee shirts. If you’re thinking of trying Project 333 this fall, take a look at this post!
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About the only pastel I do might be a light blue from time to time oddly enough I like the two pink outfits the best. I’d be most likely to actually wear the gray, those items being currently in my wardrobe. I would probably add the Mt. View scarf from a couple of years ago. Love that scarf and it ties navy and gray together beautifully. Have a good weekend everyone!
I forgot I just did buy some lavender, so I have added a pastel to my wardrobe. That being said, they were prints I can wear with a navy or purple or even brown jacket/sweater. I’m not overly fond of the outfit above which is a navy column with the lavender sweater. I would rather have the lighter color top on the “inside” and the darker color on the “outside”.
You continue to amaze with the accessories. I especially love the stars.
Jot this Gem Fro Janice into your fashion notebooks, ladies: “We make our own rules!”
Grey = “pastel black”. I hadn’t thought of it like that but it’s true.
Thank you for the chuckle, Janice!
I’m particularly loving the blend of navy and lavender.
Making people laugh is one of my favorite things to do in all of life!
hugs,
Janice
I’ve been wondering why grey doesn’t work for me.. but if black definitely doesn’t (I’m a navy girl), then it makes sense that if grey is “pastel black”.. an ahaa moment..
I love the column of colour way of dressing. It’s still warm where I live. My summer version is a navy and a black cotton dress with red shoes, red bag and rotating jewelry looks.
Pink with navy is a favorite of mine but I was just reminded that I don’t have a pink cardigan. I need to find one but a little cheaper. Love the sleeves but I live on the Gulf Coast so sweaters don’t get much wear.
One of the great helps of yr blog is showing us a combination of un-thought-of-before colors that make us recognize what we like and we never knew it before! If you get what I mean. At least, that’s me. Light pink and navy, for example. Especially in that Melifluous scarf! Also I realize I have a fondness for just the right deep red with navy, and just the right yellow with navy. Many thanks. Another thing is, I went shopping with a friend ALL DAY the other day and only bought ONE thing, because it was the one thing I was specifically looking for. (Well, spur of the moment socks, too.) So thank you for teaching us restraint, too!
I am loving this navy series!! I would wear any of these combos. I was particularly chuckling with grey being pastel black. Clever! Since navy is my main neutral I do wear it with everything. I haven’t really found anything I don’t like with it. Although I’m certain there are some colors I don’t favor in general that I haven’t tried. Thanks!
I am always very happy to see the navy posts! About a year ago I started back at the beginning of the files trying to see which styles and types of wardrobes appealed with just a quick perusal. The standout was “Blue” by Hoffman. I liked it the first time it came around too! During the 10 months it took me to go thru all the files I played some “paper dolls” and printed and cut out pics of 4×4, building blocks, or whatever’s clean and tried to slot my own things into those guidelines. Navy and white for the win! Plus French fives for color and interest and to prevent boredom.
I also went thru the closet and put each item into the notebook and divided by color, and by season. I found out I have a ton of winter clothes and most of those would be considered fall or spring too, but I live in SugarLand (Houston) where it’s summer about 8 months of the year. It’s a great day if I get to put on a second layer! And open the windows!
So what to do for interest and to complete an outfit? When I first started following the Vivienne files (spring 2016) I began adding more scarves and figured those could work as the 2nd layer and for spring and fall it seems to do the trick for me. But summer? This year I haven’t even been wearing any navy. It just feels too hot. I found a couple skorts, one very light washed denim and the other white. I’m wearing them on repeat with various t shirts, some print and some solids. All light colors. I won’t win any fashion awards but just trying to keep comfortable in this heat.
I’ve done quite a few packing trails the past years also. Last November, I packed 13 and wore 3 to go visit our daughter’s family in Michigan. Totally worked. But. While I don’t mind wearing a navy column, having the navy 2nd layer feels weird. Even with different textures. Suit type outfits feel the most comfortable to me. And color blocked, skirt/pants, top and cardigan in 3 different colors? Nope! I feel like a real goob in that. I have to have a print piece to make that feel comfortable. Print mixing? No problem for me there. Well, that’s my discovery adventure for the past year! Have a good day everyone!
Thanks for sharing your analysis of your wardrobe with us. I think figuring out what color formulas you prefer (inner column, outer column/suit, twin set, color blocked, etc.) and whether you lean toward more integrated/bridged outfits (prints/accessories that tie the colors together) vs. outfits in which colors that stand alone (like the yellow and navy example or pops of color) is an extremely important element to creating a wardrobe that works. It’s one thing (and also important!) to know whether you like navy and pink together; it’s another to be able to say you like it with navy as the inner column, pink for the cardigan, and you need a print piece to tie it together vs. navy top, pink bottoms, denim or other neutral topper layer, coordinating pink shoes, and silver jewelry.
We often treat capsule wardrobes especially as fully mix-and-matchable but that is probably theoretical (maybe aspirational) for most real heroines because we have these preferences like “don’t want a light cardigan over a light column” or “won’t wear bright pants” or “accent color shoes make me feel ridiculous” or “when it comes down to it, I really don’t like wearing scarves no matter how pretty they are” etc. etc.
*light cardigan over a DARK cardigan, I meant to say, though I’d bet money there are heroines who also dislike light over light!
Sally, there are heroines who like ANYTHING you can think of. You should read my email!!!
love,
Janice
I also read through all the posts and realized for myself I love it colorful and the variety, I don’t have a real capsule but many color sets (trousers & top) and suitable patterns that connect many things with each other. So like to wear patterned scarves or clothing. Or colorblocking in the same lightness/saturation. And eg. pink with berries or dark green with sage. I like to wear dresses in summer (also shorts in the garden) but need a light jacket in the evening because it cools down pleasantly here.
Sally, I absolutely love the way you laid out an approach to dressing. I’ll investigate what calls to me based on the way you have defined styles. Like you, I can feel a bit silly in colorful shoes. I also have an aversion to denim jackets, and jackets in general that makes layering burdensome to the point of avoidance
It is almost weird (strange) that this post is even closer to my signature style. Again, just how did you get into my closet? Going to buy at least one of the scarves you curated seeing this.
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I wear menswear, not womenswear, but your posts are always such a breath of fresh air to see in my RSS reader. I love the palettes and visuals you create. What a delight!
I liked seeing some examples that weren’t neutral column, accent color cardigan, neutral or accent (or both!) shoes, neutral + accent print scarf. I mean, I personally love that formula, wear it often, and think a person could pretty much wear it on repeat while still looking different day to day, but it’s also one we’ve seen a lot of times and is almost always going to make your neutral and accent color work together in the outfit. It’s great to see more varied examples so that we can start to hone in on things like “Huh, I loved navy with mint when the print scarf is in the outfit, but I’m not feeling it in a colorblocked look. Do I want to commit to always wearing a scarf or other bridge piece with this color combo?”
I totally get what Sally is saying. I don’t wear scarves, so my colors have to play well together. I think the lavender and gray can hold their own with the navy in today’s post. I also wear light blue with navy, but usually I will wear a light blue top under the light blue second layer. I expected to like the pink with navy more than I do. I guess because it really needs that bridge piece to my eye.
I have all the colours except yellow in my wardrobe. (Yelloe looks blah on me) I’ve just bought a pink textured top to wear with navy and “pastel black”. Maybe it’s turning 60 that has made me reconsider my style. I seem to be drawn to texture and self colour patterns.
More navy, how wonderful! Thank you Janice :)
I love the pink with navy, & the mint green with navy. And of course, the light grey. That Peraluna bolero is lovely, & there are some really cute matching pants. And the company’s social & environmental aims are commendable.
Such an interesting point about colour blocking (if I am thinking of that correctly) vs. bridging colours with print and/or accessories. In my own wardrobe, I like a bridging piece if there is a lot of the second colour (such as with the pink sweater outfit), but I still feel fine without it. And I’m definitely not bothered about this in the summer, when the garments are smaller, which makes a difference!
In winter, I’ve come to love a navy or grey inner column with coloured outer. I have a peacock wool jacket, a burnt orange wool coat, & a red cardi. You’d think the orange coat would be an outlier in my wardrobe, but it goes so well with blue & grey, & I love it. And I don’t even have a single orange accessory! (other than an orange briefcase, but I don’t need a briefcase any more).
The peachskin reminds me of angelskin coral, and would be so stunning with a silk or satin blouse and angelskin necklace.