November 5, 2018
I’ve been thinking about chrysanthemum colors for weeks! As soon as the first halfway cool day arrives in Chicago, a hundred flower beds get dug up, everything in them gets tossed in the garbage, and mums are planted. Thousands and THOUSANDS of them, all over the downtown…
These are my 2 favorite colors:
I was eager to see how these colors would accent simple, neutral outfits or dresses… I went a little bit overboard on the accessories, but I like to give a range of options. These different vignettes would offer dressy or more casual ways to wear the same clothes, which is always wise!
One could wear this black dress a half dozen times between late November and the first of the year…
earrings – Lafonn; striped scarf – Leith; bracelet – Stella + Ruby; tote bag – Sole Society; dress – Lands’ End; necklace – Chico’s; ring – Gucci; floral scarf – Ted Baker London; pumps – J. Renee; boots – Sam Edelman
If you like green, this is a cheery way to wear it and keep warm!
earrings – Latelita London; alpaca scarf – Eileen Fisher; bracelet – Kendra Scott; tote – Coccinelle; sweater – L.L.Bean; pants – L.L.Bean; necklace – TJMaxx; agate ring – Salome; silk scarf – Riona Treacy; loafers – Naturalizer; boots – Hunter
This warm, tweedy dress could go almost anywhere, all winter long…
earrings – Dewa Arimbawa; cashmere scarf – Uniqlo; bracelet – Kai Kittima; bag – Longchamp; dress – Uniqlo; pearl & garnet necklace – Narayani; ring – Mahavir; silk scarf – Lauren Ralph Lauren; pumps – Calvin Klein; boots – Taryn Rose
You can really stand out in any crowd by wearing a brown dress. WHY isn’t there more brown in the clothing world? It’s so rich and lovely…
earrings – Chan Luu; plaid scarf – Saachi; bracelet – Kenneth Jay Lane; bag – Dooney & Bourke; dress – Lands’ End; necklace – Kendra Scott; ring – Alighieri; print scarf – Faliero Sarti; flats – Huma Blanco; boots – Huma Blanco
And if navy is your chosen neutral, this is definitely the year to stock up on deep wine red accessories. They always look wonderful with navy!
earrings – Talbots; infinity scarf – Halogen; bracelet – Gorjana; bag – Welden; merino sweater – J.Crew; pants – Eileen Fisher; necklace – Talbots; ring – Konstantino; silk scarf – Liberty London; ballet flats – Repetto; boots – Sam Edelman
I’m always thinking of buying an entire “accessory family” to spruce up my neutral wardrobe… What color would you choose? What if you could have ANY color for a wardrobe infusion?
love,
Janice
Like this article? Save it to Pinterest!
As much as I love yellow, I find it difficult to carry into the cool months except as mustard – but it is striking and fun in a sea of black that we get in the Midwest!
If I weren’t on a shopping diet, I would soooooo spring for dark red booties. Almost a neutral itself because of the way it goes with so many neutrals. That would be the “French 5” that I would build up
Speaking of which, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for advocating the value of a neutral base with a five piece complement accessory/accent bundle. Completely changed the way I look at my wardrobe.
(And that velvet dress! On sale and the price is so reasonable!!!!!)
Hi, Janice. I’ve been following your blog for a long while and have never taken the time to tell you how much I enjoy it. I love the two colors you have chosen today and those are my favorite mum colors, too! I’ve learned a lot from you about putting wardrobe items together. I know this is time-consuming. I really appreciate your eye for colors.
Yellow is not a color that I wear, but I love the deep red. I love the way you take the neutral base and add the accent color through accessories.
If I have to choose a flower color to add to my accent colors (light blue, teal, aqua) and my neutrals (navy, grey, taupe) it would definitely be warm pink.. these deep red and yellow accessories here are stunning but would overpower my very pale coloring. That velvet dress!! It also comes in a beautiful blue! Would be lovely for the holidays or any day dressed up or down and cones in petite. Seriously considering it. Janice Collins Coyle, Washington DC
I too live that velvet dress! And, it comes in a beautiful darkish blue! I’m seriously considering it as it could be great for the holidays or any day dressy or casusl. As for an new accent color to expand in my current light blue, aqua and teal, I would choose a warm pink. The dark red and yellow accents here are stunning but would overwhelm my very pale coloring,but would be beautiful on many ladies. Janice Collins Coyle, Washington, DC
Janice,
I totally agree with the two ladies in the above comments about neutral basic garments, changed up with different color accessory families ! I love those ballet flats by Repetto ! Colorful shoes would draw attention to my feet, not an area that I wish to emphasize, but a subdued darkened red, as you have shown here, that would be part of a repeated color in a complete ensemble, would work very well, I think !
“Soft surroundings” is a catalog I receive that contains many tops and bottoms in brown. Love these ensembles.
I love the brown clothes you’ve highlighted here! (If only the velvet dress and the cabled sweater dress were available in plus sizes!) A cool chocolate brown has emerged as my favorite neutral this fall. Though of course, a rich burgundy is a perennial favorite, and this season there are so many rich red accessories available.
Lisa, you should check again, as I found the dress available in plus sizes as well. It’s just under a separate link for plus size. It’s really a lovely and timeless dress, and I think the style would suit plus sizes as well.
My added flower colour would be lilac. It’s such a pretty and sweetly scented flower, and the colour works well with just about any neutral I wear. OK, I wouldn’t be wearing lilac shoes or boots, though summer sandals or sneakers could work, as could a bag. Lilac could be integrated into my black, white, navy, grey set of neutrals, with current accents of pale blue and sage green. There’s a thought for next (southern hemisphere) autumn!
My added color would be purple! Right now I’m traveling with a wardrobe of black, white, gray, and purple and I love it. I’ve found that many of the scarves I already own contain some purple and it’s fun to feature this vibrant color.
Oh I can’t settle with just one or two colors, my latest obsession is mustard, cognac, dark yellow… But I will say pink-orange rose, slightly on the dusty side!
I do own dark yellow ballerina flats, and wine red winter boots. Both suede.
I wanted to share today something else. Today was really not a good day, but I was able to dress so quickly thanks to reduced pallete hanging in my closet. (Getting dressed used to be such a struggle b.J., due to mish mash of everything that went well with nothing.) What I wanted to share is, that I wore simple outfit: olive botton up shirt and trousers, black and white cardigan, stone purse and black shoes. And warm olive scarf for after sunset, in my bag. It was so simple and colorless and soothing outfit unlike anything I am used to wear, and I felt so good in it.
It really helped me to feel better at my low point, both being able to quickly dress & loooking put together. It’s been 3 years of serenity (since I am reader and making capsule wadrobes), so I am starting to forget those struggles. But this morning it was especially valuable for me to avoid that stress. I am so gratefull.
Hugs
xoxo
p.s. Almost forgot! This is my first capsule that I wear brown for my dark neutral and I love it. (Given up navy for cold part of year since it is not available in prints as one of the colors, black is too pervasive.) But since brown is not available I mix it with black pcs for my brown-black cluster and it works! And I have black-brown-green scarf. You mentioned brown working well with black in another article, it is so true.
Hurrah!!!!
hugs,
Janice
Another fan of that velvet dress here! I had a black velvet dress some years back with a similar basic style and I wore the heck out of that thing. Every dinner, party, and event got the black velvet (with scarves and scarves as belts, shawls, wraps, stockings, tights, boots, heels, etc.) — it was like 10 dresses in one). It finally shrank after I had a child (funny how that happens to fabric) but I’m very tempted by this lovely replacement (though I’m trending toward that blue since I’ve aged and black looks harsher on me).
Yay, I get to be the fan of the yellow and olive outfit. Today I’m going to wear my olive sweater and corduroy jeans with brown lace up ankle boots. My chrysanthemum yellow scarf and suede clutch will cheer things up immensely. BTW, regarding accessory bundles, this yellow scarf and suede clutch purse bundle have pulled together so many outfits. It’s a great system. In the warmer months I have yellow shoes too but for cold days I’ll happily stick to brown.
I love the rich wine/burgundy colour accessories. I’m currently building a French 5 piece with the dark ‘berry’ tones – two clothing items and three accessories to go with my winter neutrals of navy, charcoal and winter white. I too like that velvet dress in dark claret and deep sea, but alas, it’s not available in the UK. Also, as a result of following the VF I am organising my accessories into ‘families’ and note that I have odd jewellery pieces in peridot, citrine and emerald, but no other accessories (or clothes) in these colours. Could they be grouped together and partnered up with something I already have to make an eclectic family, or shall I try and find some beautiful things to wear them with?
Maybe you can find a scarf or a top that includes all of the shades of green represented in your “stray” jewelry? What a nice dilemma!
hugs,
Janice
Sharon, I think the greens would be lovely with your “neutrals”. Green is excellent with black, grey and white. In fact I would say those are my favorites to group green with. I’d go with a white shirt, with either black or grey as bottoms and/or cardigan or jacket, and then pile on the greens! I also agree with Janice -you are lucky to have those to choose from!
Yea for chrysanthemums! I love them and their spicy scent! Your capsules here are all lovely and cozy looking. Hard to pick a favorite. The flower beds along Michigan Ave are worth a trip to Chicago in any season. They’re beautiful.
Oh Janice, the Chicago celebration of this flower makes my ❤sing.
I’m a November baby so it’s no surprise that I love all these outfits and that I have an outfit combo pretty much identical to the grey sweater dress outfit!
Hugs, Mary x.
thepoutingpensioner.blogspot.com
I particularly love the last three. Your blogs always inspire me. Thanks.