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:

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.

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!

A sweater almost automatically makes books 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…

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…)

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…

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

yes, the gold flats are very discounted!

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

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

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

This is sort of a “relaxed festive” outfit – no uncomfortable 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…

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