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Home » Is Your Wardrobe Mostly Neutrals? Start with a Scarf – Echo Scarf by Amy & John Wickersham

Is Your Wardrobe Mostly Neutrals? Start with a Scarf – Echo Scarf by Amy & John Wickersham

January 22, 2024

The first thing I thought when I saw this scarf (after just plain thinking that it was cool and clever and very pretty!) is that it would be perfect for someone who wears a lot of neutrals, but who wants the occasional bright and colorful accent!

Scarf – Echo

So when I was choosing colors, I was all over the place! But I finally settled on the three most prominent neutrals that I saw, and tossed in one accent color. I could have easily included 5 or 6 accents….

Scarf – Echo

My heroine has to take a trip – relatively casual – in cold weather. She might be the poor person who is the only one corporate-wide who knows how to rewire a particular server connection, which means that she will also be WORKING in a cool environment…

But at least she doesn’t have to dress up!

Silver grey sweater – Lands’ End; mixed metal earrings – Kendra Scott; Scarf – Echo; ivory cotton turtleneck – Lands’ End; mixed metal bracelets – Kendra Scott; mellow indigo jeans – Lands’ End; bag – Calpak; boots – Spring Step

One thing I really love about this heroine is her commitment to brown leather! Choosing a shade of brown, and putting in the time to find it, and not settle for the first thing you see in a store, is not for the faint of heart…

And interesting enough, this heroine who loves her neutrals fell into deep and abiding like with a pink sweater. These things happen – the heart will not be denied!

rhodochrosite earrings – Gemondo; green earrings – Lala Salama; pearl & brown earrings – Anthropologie; pearl earrings – Olivia Le; ivory cashmere cardigan – Lands’ End; brown turtleneck – Lands’ End; grey turtleneck – Everlane; grey cords – Lands’ End; Blade green cashmere wrap – J.Crew; pink cardigan – Rails; brown cords – Lands’ End; brown loafers – Franco Sarto; socks – Marks & Spencer; grey shoes – Flexus by Spring Step; crossbody bag – Calvin Klein

She’s not particularly committed to gold or silver jewelry, but she IS pretty serious about finding earrings and other jewelry that uses “real” materials. That can be glass – glass is organic, of course, but she tries to avoid plastic, if she can.

This wardrobe looks a little bit “all over the map” but it’s actually pretty versatile:

In theory, one could wear ANY combination of 3 garments from this wardrobe. Okay, you can’t wear all 3 pairs of pants, or all 3 turtlenecks, but you know what I mean…

To me, it’s endlessly fascinating that a painting, or a scarf, or a wild bird, can define a color palette that nobody else seems to have noticed or tried to wear! 

love,

Janice

 p.s. Ten years ago, I started a wardrobe with a “difficult” scarf in sepia and light grey, rather like the gorgeous scarf that we featured last Friday…

Is Your Wardrobe Mostly Neutrals Start with a Scarf - Echo Scarf by Amy & John Wickersham

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01.22.24 17 Comments

Tags: brown, cool weather, Echo 100, grey, Six Pack, Start With a Scarf
<<Want to Focus on Accessories? Start with a Scarf – Betty Soldi scarf by EchoDo You Love Blue? Adding Accessories to a Start with Art Wardrobe – Blue on White, White on Blue by Paolo Quaresima>>

Comments

  1. Candace Geb says

    January 22, 2024 at 4:57 am

    Thanks for all the great fashion ideas !
    I enjoy your posts and have bought many items in the past .

    Reply
  2. Jean says

    January 22, 2024 at 7:03 am

    This is how I dress most of the time so I’m really enjoying your heroine today!
    Thanks from this casual gal who is usually cold too 😊

    Reply
  3. Sheila says

    January 22, 2024 at 7:07 am

    Same. Different colors, but same general pieces for my “uniform”. I never know what the temp is going to be in the library, so I have discovered layers are the very best way to go.

    Reply
  4. Beth T says

    January 22, 2024 at 7:22 am

    A versatile scarf. The muted shades of grey and brown (or taupe) are an ideal foil for brighter accents. They are the perfect cool/warm duo which allow cool/warm accents to zing. I’d love to see some of the other colours as accents with grey and brown – the lovely shades of red, purple, yellow and orange.

    Reply
  5. Rebecca says

    January 22, 2024 at 8:19 am

    I love this. It feels like it belongs in a city with warmer winters and hot summers, maybe due to the pink and green?

    Reply
  6. NATALIE K says

    January 22, 2024 at 8:24 am

    For shoes to really walk comfortable in you should show SAS Shoe Walk Easy.. Fantastic comfort all day and worth every penny!!!

    Reply
  7. Susan from Dublin Ireland says

    January 22, 2024 at 8:25 am

    Hello
    Love the way this group of clothes work together and give lots of variety.
    I agree with beth and would be interested in seeing more accent colours.
    Could you tell me again what the numbers on the colour circles mean. I know you told us before but I have forgotten what they mean.

    Reply
  8. Cindy says

    January 22, 2024 at 9:13 am

    The look-back post is fabulous with the fabulous Musique de Spheres scarf in the sepia version. Of course I went looking for it on the secondary market and am thrilled to see the other color ways it was produced in …… multiple blue versions, oh my! I am smittten, but secretly relieved I haven’t yet found on one the market — it would wreck the budget!

    Reply
  9. Shrebee says

    January 22, 2024 at 9:23 am

    Janice,
    As I look at your posts I do a little mental outfits game of taking a three piece outfit, which is my “ uniform” , then selecting one of those pieces and adding 2 new pieces to create a new second outfit. I keep moving forward, selecting an item from the new second outfit and pairing it with 2 newer items. About the rotation time for the third outfit, I revert back to the first outfit, and select a different garment from it, and add 2 garments, and so on. As the rotation continues I stop adding new pieces, but review the prior outfits and come up with different combinations using items from the prior 3 piece outfits, so that everything gets worn twice, but no two outfits are exactly the same as prior ones . Rather like linking train cars . You do something very similar here as you show outfit possibilities, which I really appreciate !

    Reply
    • Sheila says

      January 22, 2024 at 11:18 am

      That’s genius and very well explained. I usually wear the same pair of pants two days in a row, so all I have to do is find the two toppers for each day. Some weeks I decide to wear the same color all week – which can be kind of fun and then everything is rotated through.

      Reply
  10. Maria says

    January 22, 2024 at 10:35 am

    very pretty scarf.
    I see my colors directly. The gray and green are darker for me. and do
    I see wine red down there on the right?
    So many colors and possibilities.

    Reply
  11. MamaSquirrel says

    January 22, 2024 at 11:25 am

    I’m in deep like with that pink sweater too, even though it’s not in my budget right now.
    Going to keep my eyes open at the thrift stores.

    Reply
  12. Linda says

    January 22, 2024 at 1:08 pm

    Janice, excellent capsule as always but I would have liked to see outerwear, a coat or gilet or??
    This ia difficult area for me as I live in the tropics so don’t often need this and seem to have lost the knack for cold weather dressing.

    Reply
  13. Amanda Hudson says

    January 22, 2024 at 3:15 pm

    Shrebee and Sheila those are great ideas for getting clothes into a rotation. I have done similar variations and much of how I’ve come up with ideas is through TVF. Janice and commenters help me get creative.
    I had already looked back and was amazed at the similarity of that scarf with Friday’s Echo scarf. Fun.

    Reply
  14. Dee says

    January 22, 2024 at 3:24 pm

    Lovely capsule as always, so enjoy your posts and have learned so much. I need more neutrals…yikes

    Reply
    • Janice says

      January 23, 2024 at 9:28 am

      Everybody usually needs more neutrals! They’re not exciting to buy, and so we put off keeping ourselves stocked up the way we really should. But once you have them in hand, the excitement starts, because you can get dressed SO MUCH EASIER. It’s an ongoing process that we all have to remember…
      hugs,
      Janice

      Reply
  15. Ezzy says

    January 23, 2024 at 6:53 am

    I love this!! So many color options and I like this heroine’s style – it feels really classic without being stuffy or staid. I’d love to see her expand this wardrobe – longer trip or additional seasons.

    Fabulous job as always Janice! Thank you for sharing your talents :)

    Reply

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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...
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