The Vivienne Files

Capsule wardrobes inspired by art and nature

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Articles
    • Starting From Scratch
    • Common Wardrobe
    • Packing
    • Start With Art
    • Project 333
    • 4×4 Wardrobes
    • Weekly Timeless Wardrobes
    • Archives by Date
    • Archives by Categories & Tags
  • Support The Vivienne Files
    • Books, Clothes & more
    • Templates & Color Planners
  • Contact
Home » What if I Really Don’t Like Beige? Wasp & Pear by Gerald Murphy

What if I Really Don’t Like Beige? Wasp & Pear by Gerald Murphy

June 27, 2018

As soon as I published the first wardrobe based on this great painting, I heard from readers who really loved it except… they don’t like, or look good in, beige.

This isn’t really a problem; this painting includes a few shades of grey! They’re admittedly not as prominent as the beige, but that’s okay. Let’s see how this might play out, with the same 4 accent garments and a different scarf…

1. Wasp and Pear with style guidelines and color palette

All I did for the color palette was change the beige to grey, and change the borders of each of the colors from brown to grey.

So this means that we need to start with A Common Wardrobe (i.e. classic garments that many of us might own) in grey:

3. A Common Wardrobe in shades of grey

tee shirt – Eileen Fisher; silk shirt – J.Crew; tank top – Eileen Fisher; jacket – Eileen Fisher; silver tank – Me&Thee; skirt – Caslon; shorts – J.Crew; linen pants – Uniqlo; striped pants – Caslon

As is always true with A Common Wardrobe, there are lots of possible outfits with just these 9 garments:

4. 9 outfits from A Common Wardrobe in grey5. 9 outfits from A Common Wardrobe in shades of grey

Now let’s bring back into this wardrobe the 4 accent garments that I’ve used before, along with a different scarf that works to pick up the accent colors and tie them into the grey neutral:

6. 5-Piece French Wardrobe in orange, yellow and green

Verbena green linen top – Eileen Fisher; orange pekoe sleeveless silk top – Eileen Fisher; yellow poncho top – Eileen Fisher; scarf – Etro; orange tee – Eileen Fisher

It might run counter to intuition to think that you could wear a color as quintessentially cool as grey with accent color as warm as these, but take a look at how good they look together!

7. A travel capsule wardrobe in grey with yellow, orange and yellow

And as always, the outfits really look great:

8. 9 outfits from a travel capsule wardrobe in grey with citrus accent colors9. 9 outfits from a travel capsule wardrobe in grey with orange, yellow and green accent colors

I’ve got a couple of “regularly scheduled” posts coming up next (the birth flowers for July, and the “6 Scarves, 12 Outfits” posts), but shall I revisit this with accessories? Let me know!

love,

Janice

A TRAVEL CAPSULE WARDROBE WITH GREY

Like this article? Save it to Pinterest!

Tweet
Pin207
Share19
226 Shares

06.27.18 12 Comments

<<Cleaning Out a Closet Full of Impulse PurchasesLarkspurs! The Birth Flower for July>>

Comments

  1. Helen says

    June 27, 2018 at 4:15 am

    Yes, yes, yes! Would love to see the accessories. I love all your posts, by the way. They have helped me get organized and out of shopping confusion. For those of us who have to cover swollen ankles and cannot wear skirts or shorts, perhaps we could substitute jeans for the shorts? Substituting a long guaze skirt for the short skirt doesn’t quite fit the mood or look of the short skirt. Perhaps another pair of pants would be better, but it’s hard to imagine what kind of 4th long pair would be best in this wardrobe. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • nancyo says

      June 27, 2018 at 11:30 am

      I would probably add some gray jeans, or other slacks in darker gray. – nancyo

      Reply
      • Helen says

        June 27, 2018 at 11:40 am

        Good idea! Thanks!

  2. Amie says

    June 27, 2018 at 5:38 am

    I think I would benefit from a post on accessories for this palate. I am a pale redhead, blue eyed, and I don’t feel good in beige at all. I can tolerate beige below the waistline, but just barely. Beige is everywhere in fashion these days, and it just makes my complexion look sick and lifeless. I can wear gray, the pale sherbet colors of this palate. And I have no problems with yellows of any kind.
    I have learned so much reading your posts, I’m very great full!

    Reply
  3. Robyn says

    June 27, 2018 at 6:07 am

    Thank you, these accent colours do indeed look lovely with the grey. And for colder weather, they’d work nicely with a darker grey too. Win win! Beautiful scarf to tie things together, as always – you are a great scarf-finder! I would like to see this with accessories please.

    Reply
  4. Caro says

    June 27, 2018 at 6:26 am

    Yes, please revisit with accessories. I always learn a lot from your accessories posts.

    Reply
  5. librarian2020 says

    June 27, 2018 at 8:12 am

    Thank you! I was one of your readers who requested this version, and I had my doubts about the warm colors with cool grey. But, this looks great! I could definitely adopt this as my summer wardrobe (I am too pale for most white bottoms).

    Looking forward to the accessories – I hope you include a fun pair of shoes/sandals. :)

    Reply
  6. Annalisa says

    June 27, 2018 at 9:31 am

    Yes I would love to see accessories with this! I love this color combo with the gray :)

    Reply
  7. Nancy says

    June 27, 2018 at 12:48 pm

    I love the cool sophistication of gray..these warm colors add a light playful note! Perfect, and I would love to see the accessories x

    Reply
  8. Alison Gunn says

    June 27, 2018 at 5:39 pm

    I see peridot, limon quartz, corals, salmon touches here and there, possibly something in red grapefruit. A lovely palette, very cooling in the summer. The colors you have chosen remind me of Italian ices!

    Reply
  9. Renee Drellishak says

    June 27, 2018 at 7:31 pm

    Wow, this really does not work for my eye. All those grey outfits just look like communist prison uniforms. (Not that I’ve ever been in a communist prison…) And next to the bright tops they almost look like they’ve been rendered in greyscale. I have have a healthy dose of grey in my wardrobe but with my red hair and green eyes find I need to balance it with a lot more color.

    Reply
  10. Pat says

    June 28, 2018 at 11:40 am

    The Etro scarf is gorgeous and goes so well with everything you styled. The only problem is it is $700 which for me is not practical to wear with summer clothes, especially in casual settings.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

logo
The Vivienne Files is a unique personal style blog with carefully-selected capsule wardrobes based on color palettes drawn from works of art, nature, and more. It helps women buy less clothing, and to love what they buy. Read more...
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

STAY UP TO DATE

Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

  • Build a capsule wardrobe starting with a bracelet in aquamarine and amberBuild a Travel Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with a Bracelet: Forget-Me-Not Bracelets by Fierce Lynx Designs
  • Build a Warm Weather Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art Wagen in Silberner Strasse by August MackeBuild a Warm Weather Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Art: Wagen in Silberner Strasse by August Macke
  • Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Shunbun – Vernal EquinoxJapanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Shunbun – Vernal Equinox
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 The Vivienne Files | All Rights Reserved - Built with ♥ by RockFort Media

THE VIVIENNE FILES IS A PARTICIPANT IN THE AMAZON SERVICES LLC ASSOCIATES PROGRAM, AN AFFILIATE ADVERTISING PROGRAM DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A MEANS FOR US TO EARN FEES BY LINKING TO AMAZON.COM AND AFFILIATED SITES.