Teal for the Holidays? Three Different Approaches!

Happy Thanksgiving in the United States! (well, heck, Happy Thanksgiving to everybody…) I know that I should be plying you with news about “Black Friday” sales, and lots of gifty stuff, but you will get quite enough of that kind of information without The Vivienne Files piling on, right?

So I’m going to respond to the overwhelming demand for teal for the holidays by looking at it with 3 different neutrals partners… Nothing like a bit of excess for today (says the woman who fully intend to have at least 2 desserts, and then work it off tomorrow in the gym…)

First up, three gorgeous teal pieces, paired with a core of black silk:

jacket – Self-Portrait (similar here); cashmere tunic – Halsbrook (similar here); velvet top – Eileen Fisher (similar here); silk pants – Eileen Fisher (similar here); silk shell – Eileen Fisher (similar here)

The blazer is shown with velvet shorts at Nordstrom, if that appeals…

And while the pants are described as cropped, I found that for me they fit more like ankle pants… There are a variety of silk pants available right now from Eileen Fisher, including some really luscious velvet ones, and some wide legged silk too!

Similarly, if you’re more comfortable with sleeves, there are plenty of silk tops available…

And I was reminded again today that it really is worthwhile to be patient while looking for accessories – I despaired repeatedly while preparing this, but in the end found some truly amazing and beautiful things! This is the time to look far and wide – beyond your normal “go-to” retailers. There are lots of people out there selling lots of surprising things…

These pieces come together in a variety of ways, from quite dressy to a wee bit more casual. The accessories really do a lot of the “heavy lifting” on these outfits, I think.

jacket – Self-Portrait (similar here); necklace – Heidi Daus (similar here); silk shell – Eileen Fisher (similar here); bag – Shiraleah; silk pants – Eileen Fisher (similar here); black velvet mules – Jeffrey Campbell (really nice mules here)

I own this Bao Bao Issey Miyake bag in silver, and I really love it. It was a mad extravagance which I don’t regret in the least!

velvet top – Eileen Fisher (similar here); earrings – Louise Olsen (similar here); bracelet – Heidi Daus (similar set of 3 bracelets here); flats – Jimmy Choo (dressy black flats here); silk pants – Eileen Fisher (similar here); bag – Bao Bao Issey Miyake

A sweater almost automatically makes boots an okay choice, I say! And these boots are a perfect example of looking far and wide – the retail price of these can vary by LITERALLY over $300…

cashmere tunic – Halsbrook (similar here); earrings – Heidi Daus (vaguely similar here); boots – Tibi (similar gorgeous boots here); silk pants – Eileen Fisher (similar here); clutch – Dries van Noten (delicious teal clutch here...)

What if you want to branch out from black? Winter white – any shade of white, really – is beautiful with teal… (and the Eileen Fisher pants shown above come in bone, along with a number of bone silk tops…)

jacket – Self-Portrait (similar here); cashmere tunic – Halsbrook (similar here); velvet top – Eileen Fisher (similar here); satin ankle pants – Uniqlo (similar here); layered silk top – Nordstrom Signature (similar here)

Winter white always suggests pearls to me! And the teal shoes tie the whole outfit together and keep the jacket from giving it a “top-heavy” feeling…

jacket – Self-Portrait (similar here);  earrings – Kenneth Jay Lane (sort of similar here); layered silk top – Nordstrom Signature (similar here); bracelet – Majorica (similar here); satin ankle pants – Uniqlo (similar here); bag – Chloé (similar here); flats – Treasure & Bond (similar here)

I’m not as worried about balance here, because the top is less structured and has shorter sleeves.

velvet top – Eileen Fisher (similar here); necklace –Marco Bicego; flats – Gentle Souls; satin ankle pants – Uniqlo (similar here) ; clutch – Natasha (another gold clutch here)

scarf – Pam Weinstock London; earrings – Aspinal of London; cashmere tunic – Halsbrook (similar here); satin ankle pants – Uniqlo (similar here); ring – Mizuki (an entirely different but gorgeous teal ring here); boots – Sol Sana (similar here)

And what if you want to span a range of moods? A sparkly skirt and a classic dress give you plenty of choices:

jacket – Self-Portrait (similar here); cashmere tunic – Halsbrook (similar here); velvet top – Eileen Fisher (similar here); sequined skirt – Simply Be (similar here); dress – Lands’ End (similar here)

This would be perfect for an “after-work, office-ish party” evening – festive but not unbusinesslike.

earrings – Michael Aram (blue oval earrings here); jacket – Self-Portrait (similar here); necklace – Nest (teal bead necklace here); clutch – Edie Parker (completely different but really cool clutch here); dress – Lands’ End; (similar here); pumps – Vince Camuto (similar here)

I’m quite smitten with this scarf – it could dress up anything!

velvet top – Eileen Fisher (similar here); earrings – Mela Artisans (different but quite fabulous earrings here); scarf – Collection 18 (similar here); bag – Serpui (awesome gold clutch here from the same company); sequined skirt – Simply Be (similar here); mules – Mansur Gavriel (teal mules here)

This is sort of a “relaxed festive” outfit – comfortable shoes, and a warm sweater! Of course I’ve paired a square-motif scarf with square earrings, bracelets with angular faceted stones, and shoes that have tiny square holes in them – it’s what I like to do…

scarf – John Lewis; earrings – Argento Vivo (similar here); cashmere tunic – Halsbrook (similar here); flats – Vionic (patent flats here); sequined skirt – Simply Be (similar here); bracelets– Hila Gardner (different but cool teal bracelet here)

I’m going to work on at least 1 or two more of these – the holiday merchandise is already starting to vanish from stores! What’s the rush? sigh…

love,
Janice

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