neutrals Archives

Experimenting with Proportions by Starting with Art: Partial Eclipse of the Moon by Étienne Léopold Trouvelot

September 11, 2023

She likes things to be simple, but interesting... Anything for a good experiment!

So when she was told that she would have 2 weeks access to the data regarding the varying distances to the moon, she knew that she packing would be a chance to try out some interesting things!

There will be at least a dozen other scientists at the University, working toward an accurate measurement of the vacillations of the earth's axis. It's fascinating, really!

While she's concentrating on numbers, and distances, and appearances, she decides that she will pack a 3-color wardrobe, and experiment with how she gets dressed each day. She's hopeful that she will arrive at a firm conclusion about what "outfit proportions" ... View the Post

How Can One Wear a New Accent Color? Pantone Autumn/Winter 2022/23

March 18, 2022

Admiring colors and accessories is all well and good, and can be quite entertaining, but at some stage you might want to actually WEAR one or more of these!

Therefore, I thought that I would choose some very simple outfits, to show how the accessories we saw on Wednesday (and quite a few new ones!) might look with clothes. When you have large blocks of neutral color from garments in the overall image, the accessories don't dominate nearly as much.

I'm going to view these in reverse - just to mix things up!

First is Martini Olive - an unappetizing olive to eat, but really lovely to wear; it's the same intensity as beige, so they are perfect together:

One of the joys (at least for me!) of having quite a few ... View the Post

I Love It But Will I Wear It? Bright Patina Green cardigan

March 17, 2021

Yes, I used to live in Ireland. And I'm married to an Irish citizen. And I don't own a STITCH of green clothing!

But one of you has been very tempted by this classic cardigan in this very lovely color:

I was specifically asked about wearing this with beige, so I was able to avoid trying to find camel clothing at this "almost spring" point. Hallelujah for that!

You can see that the olive is going to be an interesting issue...

Are we all convinced that owning a simple white shirt and classic jeans is a good idea?

This was a specific question, and I personally think that this color looks lovely with beige. The earrings and scarf are sort of perfect with this, I think.

And the bag is quite a few ... View the Post

Stress Dressing Mini-Wardrobes for Changing Spring Weather

March 10, 2021

The weather is impossible right now - in the best way! After literally weeks of single-digit temperatures and mounds of snow, we're now experiencing lovely afternoons, with sun and noticeable warmth!

But what to wear? Especially if you've got your hands full and don't want to think too hard...

I'm sure you will notice that I changed a few things, but left some from our earlier adventures in Stress Dressing for cold weather. There's nothing like the stress of having to find ALL NEW THINGS for your emergency wardrobe, eh?

I gave some thought to what my general guidelines might be for choosing these pieces, although I'm pretty confident that you could sort this for yourself pretty easily:

These wardrobes ... View the Post

I Love It, But Will I Wear It? Grey V-Neck Cashmere Sweater

March 8, 2021

Let's look at a lovely grey sweater!

please note that this style is loosely cut, and oversized; if you're looking for something more traditional, try this one! or maybe one of FIFTEEN colors of the crew-neck sweater...

As before, we will take a look at how this sweater works in an outfit that includes another neutral color:

The first thing that I did when I started this post was to copy over the outfits from the camel sweater adventure, remove the camel sweater and plug in the grey one. Just as a starting point, you understand?

What I found was that I had to only make minor changes in the accessories for some outfits to get a better "feel"; in the case of 2 outfits I didn't have to change a thing!

For ... View the Post

Stress Dressing Mini-Wardrobes for Cool Weather

February 12, 2021

We've looked back at the original Stress Dressing post, and quite a few of us realized that this might be worth revisiting in our wardrobes for this "dead of winter, middle of pandemic" situation...

I didn't include dresses this time - I think that the probability that one of us is going to need a dress isn't all that high! And since so many of us are still spending so much time at home, I didn't include a bag either...

My goals were warm, comfortable, somewhat versatile, and uncomplicated. Let's look!

Loosely speaking, this is a list of what I might look for when I build this for myself:

Even though we're home most of the time, there's still no guarantee that our wardrobes will be ... View the Post

The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, Week 9: Neutral Textured Top

August 26, 2019

This week's addition to our Weekly Timeless Wardrobe could be either a shirt, blouse or sweater, depending on what you feel will be most useful for you. What I envision being included in your wardrobe will be something with some texture or pattern to it - a striped tee in your neutral colors, or a cabled sweater. Maybe a neutral shirt with a small, discreet print....

These guidelines provide a reminder of what to consider when you make this purchase (or choose something from your existing wardrobe!):

A subtly patterned shirt with a background in your dark neutral is really versatile:

A sweater with a bit of depth or texture gives you something with a little bit of interest to wear with printed skirts ... View the Post

Can You Have Too Many Neutrals? Start with a Scarf – The Tropical Scarf by Pig, Chicken & Cow

February 27, 2019

I am often asked if it's possible to have a wardrobe that's TOO neutral...

Hmmm. My first thought is that if someone is concerned about feeling this way, maybe their wardrobe is too neutral for them. Conversely, maybe these questioners are perfectly happy with their wardrobe, but they get critical feedback from others. (how often do those of us who love wearing black get criticized for being Goth, as if that made any sense...)

The answer, I think you already know, is NO, no wardrobe is too bright, nor too neutral, nor too pastel, unless it doesn't suit you, and doesn't make you feel beautiful and happy and free to do your important things.

But in the interest of investigating a wardrobe that's 75% neutral, ... View the Post

Wear a Uniform and Simplify your Summer Wardrobe – Using Beige as a Neutral

May 23, 2018

Maybe yesterday's white outfits are a little bit too... risky? for you... Maybe beige is a better option?

The beige heroine has every color of the rainbow at her disposal for accents - you would really struggle to find something that would clash with these pieces!

So let's go with summery pastels that aren't saccharine and sickening...

Pink is always pretty on virtually anyone, and this muted shade of teal is a nice change from navy or royal blue:

If you were only going away for a few days, this might be all you would need!

You've got all kinds of different levels of dressiness here, as well as being able to dress for everything from very hot to a bit of a cool morning (or ... View the Post