What if you don’t WANT to wear printed garments, or scarves? More power to you, and congratulations for knowing what you really prefer! I’m going to recommend some coordinating small solid earrings in semi-precious stones, bracelets in enamel or stone, and solid scarves to keep your ensembles looking “intentional.” I’m not sure, but I think this could qualify as a “whatever’s clean” wardrobe…
Starting with the dark neutrals we’ve seen before:

Cardigan, capris, pants, dress – Dorothy Perkins
And then the light neutrals:

all garments – L.L.Bean
And some solid neutral tops:
all tops – Target
Finally, the accent colors. We haven’t seen pastels for a while, so let’s go pink and blue!
twinsets – J. Crew, pink scarf – Bruc’s, blue scarf – DKNY, pink quartz earrings – Toosis, chalcedony earrings – Shanker, enameled bracelet – Halcyon Days, blue topaz bracelet – Alok Jain
This is your sixteen-piece wardrobe:
Plenty of ways to pull this together and look beautiful!
This is exactly how I dress. Thank you!
I don't like a lot of prints, and I would never, ever wear print pants. But it seems harsh to not even have a print scarf sometimes.
I am a print and pattern girl but this is quite refreshing.
This is what I'm working toward in my wardrobe! and I love it!
I'm not a print person except for scarves, but I do like tweeds and marls, they break up the solidity of colour without the busyness of pattern. So do textures like cables, ribs and single-colour jacquards. Since I'm not a pastel person either, those are my devices. What do you think?
Thanks for the reminder about tweeds. :)
Just for fun and because I am on a "print diet", I am going to wear just solids tonight and tomorrow. I wonder if anyone will notice?
Hi Janice,
Would you mind suggesting shoes? A twinset and black or neutral pants is not going to look chic without the right accessories and I'm having trouble seeing how I could wear this without looking old and dowdy…(It was a standby ensemble for me in the 90s but I would liketo see how to make it contemporary…)
Thank you !
Kate
Hi Kate, I know what you're saying – this lot could look fabulous or just plain dull. I think the carefully chosen accessories help a lot. I think another thing that's essential when wearing quite plain clothes is to make sure that the fabric, fit and cut are perfection. So, I'd upgrade those basics and make sure that they fitted me perfectly and weren't faded or pilled etc.
This would be me at my current (boring?) stage of life. I only truly feel right in solids (and a few stripes). I don't mind floral print scarves/print accessories but anytime in the recent past that I have gotten a floral top or skirt I just feel all off in it. I am warming to the "right" geometric prints though. Great post!