October 15, 2025
A completely different approach to adding a cashmere sweater to your wardrobe – this time, an accent color!
And yes, they call this kelly green, but when I was searching for things to wear with it, I had MUCH better luck looking for emerald things…
In case nobody tells you all of the fun fashion gossip, Alex Mill was founded by the founder of old Navy and Madewell, as well as the former CEO of The Gap and J.Crew, his son, and a clothing designer… Their things aren’t cheap, but the quality is very nice.
The heroine who requested this post has – for a long time! – committed that her wardrobe core is navy and white. She really couldn’t choose a better accent color than emerald green:
First, for these days that are cold then warm, white jeans!
sweater – Alex Mill; earrings – Kurt Geiger London; striped shirt – Alex Mill; white jeans – Alex Mill; bag – Free People; boots – Comfortview
Of course you can dress up this sweater!
sweater – Alex Mill; earrings – Dower & Hall; scarf – RainSisters; bow clutch – Talbots; pumps – Talbots; slip skirt – Vince
You KNOW that I’m going to show corduroy pants; they’re dressier than jeans, warmer than most things, and have a lovely luster and sheen…
sweater – Alex Mill; earrings – Monet; scarf – Talbots; corduroy pants – Alex Mill; tote bag – Fable England; sneakers – Josef Seibel
A slightly more relaxed skirt in jersey looks perfect with navy boots…
sweater – Alex Mill; two-stone ring – Ebru Jewelry; pendant – Ebru Jewelry; bag – Dune London; jersey skirt – Boden; boots – Donald Pliner
Chinos and a plaid shirt are classic!
sweater – Alex Mill; huggy earrings – Nadri; plaid shirt – Lands’ End; navy chinos – L.L.Bean; bracelets – Saachi; shoes – Josef Seibel
Jeans and an oxford shirt – heck yes!
sweater – Alex Mill; earrings – Little Sky Stone; oxford shirt – L.L.Bean; barrel jeans – Lands’ End; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; sneakers – Sam Edelman
And I struggle to count to six, so you get a bonus outfit! If you wear navy, and you like plaid, the odds that you have something in this Black Watch plaid are pretty good:
sweater – Alex Mill; malachite earrings – Gorjana; scarf – Saachi; pants – Boden; navy knit shirt – Everlane; loafers – Talbots
Here’s her entire collection of things to wear with her green sweater! 11 garments, and 20 accessories… although of course she could manage without FIVE pairs of green earrings.
Imagine if she added a navy vest, or blazer, or v-neck sweater…
But even with just the green sweater to wear as a 2nd layer, she has plenty of additional outfit options:
This gives me the idea that I may plan my Paris December packing around black sweaters… I’m seriously considering wearing 95% black while I’m there.
I can always brighten things up with one of my two million sweaters…
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, I shared with you some of my favorite posts that started with things like a vase, a photograph of bird’s eggs, and a photograph of a pigeon. One really can start with ANYTHING!
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I just love this wardrobe. Of all the ideas you’ve posted recently, this one resonates the most with my sense of style. I agree with you…this shade of green isn’t Kelly, regardless of how they named it. It’s clearly emerald or pine. Kelly is what I think of as “St. Patrick’s Day” green! This is richer, darker and earthier…less festive, but no less vibrant.
Fascinating about Alex Mills…I knew you favored this brand, but wasn’t aware of the backstory. I haven’t yet purchased anything from them, but you’ve inspired me to try. What’s your favorite item to purchase from them?
I spent a fortune on a black polo-style sweater i.e. one with three buttons and a collar. I love it. It goes with literally any autumn or winter skirt or pants that I own, it’s comfy, I can layer a turtleneck or tee shirt under it…
I’m smitten, you could say!
big hugs,
Janice
The name game for color is fun for those of us who’ve followed TVF for awhile. I’ve seen this green called bottle green.
The navy/green combination is quite preppy, but you’ve claimed it for sophisticated adults here. Beautiful style!
Her beautiful green cashmere will see our heroine through the holidays. She can surely find a pairs of wintery earrings, scarf or brooch.
I agree with you on the preppy…but as an unabashedly, “aging” preppy myself, I am totally here for it. That being said, my boarding school, college and grad school years are firmly behind me, so I don’t want to look as if I’m still there mentally. I have had this style for decades…but I don’t want to look stuck in the past. I love this ‘updated’ vibe!
Love this! In fact, I’d already planned on wearing an emerald green striped sweater today with equally green pants and a green floral scarf. I have some Alex Mills sweaters and they are amazing.
Love when you use navy as a neutral and this green is one of my winter accents. Just wondering, though, what happened to the second skirt in the “everything” collection?
I can’t count to six! I’m not sure how I ended up with seven outfits…
You have to be here some days to enjoy the weirdness!
love,
Janice
I love everything about this wardrobe! The colors and styles are right up my alley. Janice, you could wear all black clothing in Paris and just add one of your many scarves to brighten things up.
This is a really lovely wardrobe! I would still argue that the sweater is not a ‘Kelly’ green but more of a pine or forest..at any rate it skews just a tad towards blue undertone so is great for winter’s. The stripe in the shirt is a true bright Kelly green. I have for years been a green hater but this past summer I was given a bright Kelly green tunic blouse. A little dismayed I wore it out anyway and the number of compliments I received was very interesting. It’s a true saturated green maybe not for the timid but it’s making me consider adding just a bit of bright green to my wardrobe. Still have issues with spending big $$ on accent items like leather bags, foot wear etc. I’ll keep those in my neutrals
I used to wear this colour all the time. Not sure why it fell out of my closet? I believe it needs a return run.
I had to look back and forth from the everything picture, it felt off. Outfit number 4 isn’t there at all and I love that skirt.
Navy and green is such a pretty combination and perfect for the holidays.
Ten years of boarding school clothed in bottle green led to a strong dislike of any green clothes. Thanks to today’s post, and as a blue person, I am going to try green again!
This is a lovely shade of green. Goes with many neutrals and can really add some pop. I have purchased a few things from Alex Mill based on your recommendation. While not cheap, they are beautifully made and definitely worth the cost. The sizing is true and I like the fabrics. I did know the back story and found it quite interesting.
Green and navy is a fabulous combo. I’m going to develop it in my closet in future. Thanks Janice.
These colors are so beautiful.
I love green
and have five very different earrings in this color.
I do love green. How would this color combo work if charcoal or black replaced the navy? I don’t own a stitch of navy clothing!
Thank you, Janice!!
Camille
Wow, when I saw the one with the camel sweater I thought: wouldn’t be great to see something like that for my forest green cashmere sweater? And boom! It’s here and it’s gorgeous, Janice, thanks a ton! I just change pointy shoes or heels in my mind and I would wear everything. Perhaps wide instead of barrel jeans, but looks so good in the image that I would even give them a try. I haven’t worn the above-mentioned sweater because the weather is turning… backwards! So we’re again over 22 Celsius, only needing something for leaving earlyin the morning and scarfs for wind. But we’ll, cold weather will arrive someday (I hope). I have a craving for roasted chestnuts, but it feels like chestnut ice-cream.
Cheers and blessings 🌻!
I rarely wear green. But the lovely greens they are showing this fall are tempting. Your sweater is lovely with navy and I’m sure I could sneak in a little raspberry on occasion.
This surely proves the point of needing a well established set of garments in a dark neutral. For me it’s navy so this was wonderful. Many years ago my mom sewed a pants, skirt and jacket set of pine corduroy. It was wonderful. I did love the plaid pants too, but would feel quite weird wearing them! I have a pleated skirt in that plaid but without the purple stripes.
Maybe the earrings are different size hoops, and our heroine needs them all!
Blue and green and plaid? You can hardly go wrong in my book!
Beautful sweater and these are my colours but I always buy crew neck cardigans because they are so versatile. I wear them buttonef up to the top like a sweater, with or without a collared blouse ;;2 or 3 buttons undone for a v.neck with or without a t shirt or cami underneath, finally they maje excellent light jackets à la Anna Wintour. Plus the line od buttons down the front is very flattering.
The very simplicity of this palette is genius. Thank you so much for your wonderful work.
Cardigans are indeed more versatile, if we remember to button them and wear them as a crewneck. I, sadly, often forget that for days and days…
big Saturday hugs,
Janice