First up, I have to confess that the whole question about what, exactly, this color is called is a mystery to me. I found all sort of shades and tones of these color under both Teal and Petrol blue. It seemed, in a general sense, that it was more likely to be called Teal in North America, and Petrol blue in Europe. Further, the things that claimed to be Petrol were generally more expensive than those that were called Teal. You may find different examples…
In the time that I’ve been looking into the idea of accent colors, I’ve approached finding ideas a few different ways. Some color I just knew would work well, and some were combinations that I have wanted to try out for a while. Others I drew from works of art that I’ve seen, and some were inspired by studying and thinking about the color wheel, and theories of color relationships.
These are a little bit challenging, but on the right woman, these outfits would be striking!
I am still looking at another neutral or two – this isn’t quite finished, but I may have to shift away from vests…. we’ll see! 
But whatever it’s called, it’s very pretty!
In the time that I’ve been looking into the idea of accent colors, I’ve approached finding ideas a few different ways. Some color I just knew would work well, and some were combinations that I have wanted to try out for a while. Others I drew from works of art that I’ve seen, and some were inspired by studying and thinking about the color wheel, and theories of color relationships.
This time, I thought I’d go the the designers of scarves for their ideas, so I STARTED with scarves this time, and built around them. I figure if it’s good enough for Hermes, it’s good enough for The Vivienne Files!
These are a little bit challenging, but on the right woman, these outfits would be striking!
black waterproof boots – Aravon
gray booties – Paul Green
I am still looking at another neutral or two – this isn’t quite finished, but I may have to shift away from vests…. we’ll see!
love,
Janice
Excellent! I love your choices and now see two Hermes scarves that I would love to own. I could even use them after yesterday's scarf tieing lessons. 🙂
Thank you for working with my newest neutral! Lesley
One of my favorite of-all-time colors. Thanks for featuring it so well 🙂
I would call this color "peacock blue" (I don't know why LOL). For me, teal leans lighters and a bit more green.
I do like this blue. Whatever we call it. It's really pretty with the purple.
I love the idea of wearing a Hermes scarf with a Patagonia vest. 🙂
I am really anjoying these posts.
In UK, we have both Teal and Petrol. It seems to me that Teal tends to be associated with the greener end of the spectrum and Petrol with the bluer end.
Another UK person .. yes, I agree with this, teal veers towards the greener end. I like the petrol best! Its interesting how blue is always considered a 'cold' colour, but just a tiny dash of green as in the petrol turns it into a rich, warm shade.
Alice
Teal and lime are one of my favorite summer color combinations; now I see what a beautiful combination they can be in a winter wardrobe too.
Teal — one of my favorite colors and I echo the post above about liking it with lime green. I have a good friend who is stuck in the "you can't wear certain colors after Labor Day " mentality. Her restrictions are white and yellow, and I'm sure that lime green falls in there too. Only the USA celebrates Labor Day, and so the rest of the world is free of these color restraints, and can choose colors more for the temperatures and their personal tastes.
Seen on Facebook yesterday — " Santa is a man — no woman would be caught wearing the same outfit year after year " ! 😀
Teal is definitely making its way into my wardrobe as a neutral, now! It had been sneaking in as an accent and in some tops, but now I can see it as a base. Very nice options for accenting the accent.
Love this. Could plum work as a neutral base?
Thank you again. This is my new neutral and these combos are very inspiring plus you found great boots in the colour!!
Deb from Vancouver
I love teal (my eyes are teal), but I never thought of using it as neutral! What a great idea!
Gwendolynn
Hi Janice…Love, love, love teal!
A possible topic for future post (or perhaps I just missed an old post): Overcoming Sticker Shock. I'm 32, and while I have a good job and could afford some nicer clothing, I'm so used to shopping the clearance rack and fast fashion shops, that the prices of these nicer pieces are hard to swallow. Until today, the "nicest" store I shopped was probably either Loft or Banana Republic, and I almost always bought sale or clearance items.
Another future topic could be Online Shopping. I just bought two pair of J. Crew Factory wool pants for $25 each (yes, you read that right). I managed to talk myself into at least them, because I would consider buying regular cotton or synthetic blend (yuck!) pants for that price, and I'll buy Levi's at that price without thinking twice. However, I had to order the same pair in two sizes, as I have no idea whether they will even fit, and seeing the double price (a whopping $50) freaked me out. (https://factory.jcrew.com/womens-clothing/suiting/suiting_separates/PRD~E3355/E3355.jsp?nav_type=OBIN).
(For anybody looking for J. Crew deals, everything is 35% off today, and final sale items are 40% off.)
This is one of my favorite colors! I call it peacock. And I am so glad you chose it. Now I regret not buying those Taos boots when I tried them on 🙁
Love this color! Plus wanted to mention how useful it can be to keep hair color in mind. Saw a woman in airport today with a red down vest and rather ill-matched scarf over jeans and a navy top. A very casual and seemingly haphazard outfit, but she looked *great.* I finally realized that her auburn hair was pulling to all together.
Love the color! I have a dress this color, and shoes, and a few tops and a jacket…
Oh, I am SO the person who wears these colors! Heck, I am wearing a lime green shirt today. And now I have a new Hermes scarf to covet. December is my birthday month, so maybe with all the holiday monies I will purchase it. Beautiful!!
I love this color; I think JCrew called a version of it "Nightfall" a couple of years ago; I have a coat and a turtleneck of that color, and I wish they would offer it again. Thanks for all the ideas– you are truly amazing!
One of my favorite colors! Thanks for the inspiration!
Even though the green would not be good on me at all, I am loving it so much. I get so tired of the dark and the gloom of winter – I want color!
I'm so behind on my visiting; I can see you've been running a wonderful series here. I am going to sit myself down and read through them each, so much good stuff here.
Now that my hair is almost all silver (the bleached blonde is almost all gone!), teal may be one of my new colors to wear! Excited to explore all the new options. Hope you're having a wonderful December Janice!
Nice one.