July 26, 2023
I’ve been thinking about accent colors ever since I finished Monday’s post about the blue dress…
What happens when I start with this?
For many of us, finding 2 things like this in our closet isn’t tough! Yours might be navy, or grey, but the idea is pretty similar…
And THEN, I was thinking about colors in wardrobes; this is NOT an exhaustive list – just something to remind me to look for Camel, when my wee brain falls black and exhausted!
If you can think of 20 colors, and if you’re willing to wear any color with any other color, that gives you 400 possibilities! No wonder I don’t run out of ideas!
But maybe you want this to be your uniform – or maybe it IS your uniform, once you get to work… What can you do to “finish off” this tee shirt and pants?
I have ideas! of course I have ideas…
This is the easiest outfit in the world, but not boring. Not with those shoes!
Tee shirt – L.L.Bean; earrings – Genevive; pants – L.L.Bean; black cashmere cardigan – L.L.Bean; scarf – Belle & Bloom; loafers – Sam Edelman
This is the 2nd easiest outfit – some jewelry (any jewelry!) can make so much difference. How about putting 4 or 5 brooches on your jacket, just for the heck of it? Or some snazzy, eye-catching gold?
Tee shirt – L.L.Bean; pants – L.L.Bean; earrings – Madewell; necklace – Talbots; denim jacket – Banana Republic; boots – Munro
At this point, I would get into my scarf drawer (a really BIG drawer…) and start looking; this is not at all complicated:
Tee shirt – L.L.Bean; pants – L.L.Bean; scarf – Aspinal of London; earrings – Talbots; cardigan – Open Edit; loafers – Cole-Haan
If you don’t wear warm colors, you can always opt for the cool neutrals in shades of grey, light or dark:
Tee shirt – L.L.Bean; earrings – Ippolito; pants – L.L.Bean; cardigan – J.Crew; scarf – Fraas; boots – Spring Step
I love this next outfit…
Tee shirt – L.L.Bean; pants – L.L.Bean; earrings – Deepa Gurnani; charcoal sweater-blazer – J.Crew; scarf – Elizabetta; loafers – Massimo Matteo
Just because the core solid column of your outfit is black doesn’t mean that you can’t accent it with lovely warm neutrals, used as accents…
Tee shirt – L.L.Bean; earrings – Capucine DeWulf; pants – L.L.Bean; hazelnut sweater-blazer – J.Crew; scarf – Elizabetta; loafers – Dansko
There’s a scarf for every color combination, if you look long enough. Google one!
Tee shirt – L.L.Bean; earrings – Banana Republic; pants – L.L.Bean; cardigan – L.L.Bean; scarf – Hirbawi; boots – Franco Sarto
If you’re not a scarf person, you can always go a bit nuts with jewelry!
Tee shirt – L.L.Bean; earrings – The Met Store; brooch – The Met Store; necklace – The Met Store; pants – L.L.Bean; cardigan – J.Crew; loafers – Amalfi by Rangoni
I have 2 “sweater-blazers” – one bright pink, and one black. I’m going to make certain that I have a plan for wearing each of them with my black tee shirts and pants, if the weather ever cools down!
Also, I think for Friday I’m going to look at using bright colors, or maybe pastels (???) as accents. I love these kinds of projects!
love,
Janice
p.s. Eight years ago, we tackled a Mark Rothko painting, and navy, cognac and bright pink!
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I love how your brain works and enjoy all your ideas! I don’t know how you do what you do but I’m so glad that you do!
oh gosh. I love all these! That olive scarf comes in 42 colors!!!! Would love to find a pair of penny loafers that I could wear for fall……Thank you Janice!
Finally, clothes I can afford!
One of my favorite postings of yours — I love everything!
This one is spot-on for me right now as I’m looking at those sorts of “uniforms” for fall clothes.
This is very much the way I dress these days. It’s so simple. I AM that scarf person and it’s unusual if I’m not wearing one.
Love this!
I enjoy how you include a scarf with almost every outfit. Have you ever looked at, or featured, the ones that the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC) or the Art Institute of Chicago sells?
I do use scarves and jewelry from The Met Museum Store, but not too much from The Art Institute… I must look!
hugs,
Janice
Recently, I’ve come to believe that anyone CAN wear black. But whether they look their BEST is another matter. It’s not the most flattering “color” (neutral) for most women because it overpowers them and doesn’t pass the test of making any connection with their hair, skin, and eyes. For women with dark hair and/or skin and dark eyes, it works. Personally, I am weeding out black from my wardrobe and opting for chocolate brown, navy, and an army green as my dark neutrals. You’ve done a good job on this post, it’s just not for me.
I head you! I’m very pale and black washes me out. Whenever a “black wardrobe” post appears, I try to envision my chosen dark neutral – navy – instead. It usually works quite well. 😀
I have very light skin, green eyes and mostly dark hair—a surprise since I’ll be 70 in August. I do have a dark blue wash on it nowadays. I love black and the high contrast works for me—navy looks dead and brown looks like…oh well, you know. Accents: cool, clear brights and some pastels. Janice has something for everyone.
OH, I can do this with navy, or brown, or green…
hugs,
Janice
It’s easy for me to mentally substitute my favorite neutrals as I read the posts. And, if you feature an item I love in a color I don’t love, it pays to check the link in case there’s a color option that works.
Love this!!! This is my Saturday outfit almost every week because it can be casual for whatever house projects or errands happen during the day and easily dressed up for dinner with friends or a movie date night. My wardrobe is almost all black, navy and brights now, so I would love to see how you use them to accent this black column.
I love the uniform concept, especially for work, and am very much drawn to the olive accents (that scarf!)
Before reading TVF I hadn’t understood the power of a dark column of clothing. I use it quite frequently and it’s such a great base for outfits.
My favourite dark column is a navy shell with a navy straight skirt or a dark denim skirt. Blazers, blouses and sweaters top it off as whim and weather change.
As someone who loves a column of black I loved this post. Thank you for the thought and time you put into all your posts.
I am grateful also for your archives where we can look back at previous posts. I am struggling to find two specific posts. Both featured mainly black and one was your summer capsule and the other was a warm weather capsule to have at the ready for any situation. If you know which posts I am referring to, will you please direct me to them. I need help in our 110 degree Arizona weather!!!Thank you so much!
Is this one of them? https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2013/04/a-simple-black-white-summer-wardrobe.html/
and maybe this one for Janice’s capsule? https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2013/04/project-333-for-warm-weather-my-search.html/
Could this be one of them? One of my favourites! https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2011/11/packing-last-minute-suitcase.html/
Thank you Susan.That is a great post for last minute ideas.
Thank you Kristi. How kind of you. Those are great posts for summer for sure but not the exact posts I’m searching for. Good summer looks so I appreciate it!
Today I wore a navy jacket with emerald green trousers and a navy/white striped tee. Silver bracelets and rings. Felt good.
That sounds lovely!
This week I am doing white bottoms. Yep, white boot cut light weight denim trousers, white wide leg trouser jeans, white skirt and white wide leg crops. Tops were or will be a marigold and white linen top, a white trimmed ditsy print, a white and green embroidered cotton voile, a white linen tunic with sand embroidery trim and a white SPF protection tee. Light colours always feel so much cooler to me in ghastly hot weather. So, I am doing the opposite of today’s post. I would love to see neutral posts like today for white, a pale sand, a medium bottle green and a light navy (ie one that you would never confuse with black). I think of green as a neutral in most variations…not just the olive tones…because it usually works with so many colours. Thanks for today. Hope to see other variations soon.
Yes!!!!!! I love black and green, black and navy, black and cream! This was fun!