June 15, 2026
I love brown. I’ve never worn it a ton, because it wasn’t easy to find when I was younger (although I remember at least once when my parents must have turned over EVERY ROCK in Appalachia to find a brown dress for me…), and when I was building my work wardrobe, brown was ABSOLUTELY NOT ACCEPTABLE.
How things change, eh?
I was quite smitten with the many offerings from Alex Mill, like this quartet:
I had to be dragged kicking and screaming away from using turquoise as the accent color here! My second choice was light blue, but I finally settled on coral. Coral and turquoise are a “made in heaven” combination for accent colors.
I keep counting and counting, and in these six ideas that I share, I swear that I only see 10 garments. Wear 3, pack seven, be ready for almost anything?
The first outfit is obvious – accessories made so much difference:
tee shirt – Alex Mill; earrings – A Weathered Penny; necklace – Fairchild Baldwin; skirt – Alex Mill; handbag – Sam Edelman; sandals – Strive
I love this! The earrings are perfect…
Cardigan – Nordstrom; rhodochrosite earrings – FREQNC atelier; tee shirt – Alex Mill; scarf – Elizabeth Gillett; linen pants – Alex Mill; mesh tote bag – Dolce Vita; flats – Sam Edelman
This is an outfit wholly lifted from the post that I did featuring four garments in Sundried Tomato. It’s hard to go wrong with a white cardigan and pants. (these pants, BTW, are LINED!!!)
earrings – La Meno; tee shirt – Alex Mill; white cardigan – J.Crew; bracelet stack – Mint & Lily; white linen pants – Caslon; gold sandals – Beek
Yes, this shirt with the white pants and gold accessories would be delicious…
And I have to tell you – I have one of these backpacks. It’s going to be my carry-on bag when I go to Paris next week. I’m ridiculously smitten with it – the silver lining is so helpful, as is the “wide open jaw” top. If you need a good backpack, I recommend!
Cotton shirt – Alex Mill; earrings – Coeur de Lion; bracelet – Coeur de Lion; backpack – Portland Gear; sneakers – Gola; linen pants – Alex Mill
This little short-sleeved cardigan beguiles me. One might want a simple white tank top, perhaps?
Cardigan – Alex Mill; earrings – Ana Luisa; bracelets – Anthropologie; tote bag – Quince; flats – Dolce Vita; skirt – Alex Mill
If you’re packing for a destination (or multiple destinations?) which might present you with a cold day, this next outfit might be just right. The cardigan and the pants can both be worn for warmer days too… (and yes, you’ve seen this cardigan and pants before!)
tee shirt – Alex Mill; earrings – J.Crew; cardigan – BP.; chinos – Lands’ End; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; boots – Sam Edelman
Should I take a look at brown with turquoise?
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago (well, within a couple of days) I considered recommendations for ten “must-have” items for autumn 2016. I still own and frequently wear at least a couple of these things! The list is laughable…
Love it? Save it to Pinterest!
Yes, please. Look at turquoise. Turquoise and coral are my favorite accent colors. My screen shows the “coral “ above more as a clay or dusty rose. Lovely color, but not my interpretation of coral.
I too would love to see turquoise. And I agree with Jeri B. The pinkish accent reads more as a dusty rose on my screen as well. I actually find dusty rose incredibly calming and easy to wear. I prefer it to a true coral.
I don’t remember ever seeing brown in retail when I was building my wardrobe and, if it had been available, I never would have considered buying it. Brown does not speak to me. Even now, with its availability in retail, I feel it is more of a fad that won’t be last.
Having said this, I realize that there are many people that love brown and are excited about its presence in retail. But I can’t say that I see brown being worn by anyone in real life. I’m going to pay more attention going forward.
Brown is wildly versatile- along with its variants: camel, tan, cream. I leaned into brown starting four years ago and very intentionally hunted down casual, mid and dressy items in brown and its adjacent forms. My metal is gold. Accents? I am a magpie for bright clear colors so undisciplined (yet somewhat disciplined) I found turquoise and aqua, Apple green, flamingo pink, hot pink, coral, yellow, parrot green, clear violet, and geranium red are beautiful with my browns. I can get dressed in the dark! Brown looks excellent with navy as well.
I love this! Honestly, I look better in brown than I do in black, but i just don’t have much brown in my wardrobe. Why? To your point, it’s harder to find…and it’s harder to pair. If I had unlimited funds and could replace my black with brown, I would. But, I have a fair amount of black in my wardrobe, which also plays well with red, which is my winter accent. So….aesthetically, I love brown. But, on a practical level, I have a sizable investment in my winter color palette.That being said, I’d love to add a few of these pieces here and there.
One thing I have discovered, however, is that I can pair brown, as an accent, with black. That allows me to have cozy winter clothes in these darker hues and allow them to work without looking just awful.
As to playing with brown and turquoise, I’d love to see it. As a December baby, my birthstone is turquoise. I’d especially love to see upscale turquoise with golden tones. Turquoise can read as very southwestern….which is great if that’s your vibe. But, if you have a more traditional style, it doesn’t work.
Janice, You say you’re coming to Paris next week. I live there, and in the recent heat wave, the only goal was to wear as few clothes as possible. I saw some women in cute sundresses but overall I felt like people were dressing much more casually than usual, trying to stay cool. Some forecasts for next week are scarily hot, others more moderate, so too soon to tell.
If it’s going to be unbearable, I’ll stay home. The plane ticket can be exchanged, the hotel room I might be stuck with, but it’s all a sunk cost. I don’t need to be miserable and/or get sick…
I will be watching the forecasts like a hawk, believe me! But keep me in mind if anything dramatic happens.
love,
Janice
Brown and turquoise is a lovely combination. Would love to see that. Sounds like ak and I use the same bright colours. Very hot here so stay hydrated.
I’d like to see the dark brown paired with pale blue or light shades of teal green or lavender.
What an interesting idea. I’ve not thought of pairing dark brown with lavender. Thank you for the suggestion. I also wear pale blue and teal/aqua. Perhaps I can wear brown after all?
Please do brown with turquoise. With my Autumn coloring, I look much better in brown than black. Black totally drains the color in my face, and navy is only slightly better as a neutral for me.
And it would be awesome if you could find brown basics in plus sizes.
Absolutely love this wardrobe and my go-to accent colors have long been coral and turquoise! I’m loving brown as my dark neutral, too. I’ve had to rebuild my wardrobe in a new size over the past 3 years, and these finds make my heart sing! Please add turquoise and maybe even a post with some of the delightful colors that AK recommended!
Oh how I love brown and oh how I love it paired with coral. Years ago I recall pairing brown and soft pink and it was defintely an unusual color mix at the time — but I loved it. I’d love to see a soft turquoise paired with brown … I just can’t do brights.
ps — I have no need for a backpack, but the one you’ve featured here is tempting! And, it comes in so many different colors. Tempting!!!
I agree that the “coral” here was more of a dusky pink/rose on my screen, but still quite lovely! I like brown very well with versions of turquoise and coral (that has more orange than this) that have been softened down a bit – shades of duskier teal/mint, shades of rust/cognac, and the kind of colors you get if you google “sandstone coral color.” I find that those more muted tones are a slam dunk with brown…which makes sense because brown itself is an earthy color. Of course a palette like brown, rust, dusky teal, and sandstone coral can read a bit autumnal, but for a summer capsule, you could pull colors from the lighter end of those color spectra that also have a bit more brightness and saturation. And having a soft white/ivory (or beige for those who like it – I would substitute a chambray/denim) as Janice has here gives a more summery feel to the palette as well.
I think this is a beautiful combination and I wish brown was more readily available in the past as well. You are tempting me to swap the few black items I have for brown over time, as brown is definitely better with my colouring particularly as I age and my hair has lightened. I wouldn’t have thought of pairing it with coral/dusty pink, but it looks lovely and balanced. I do recall another post you did with a similar colour combo that I was smitten with for the same reasons (a painting by Peter Doig). I would love to see brown with turquoise.
I had a turquoise and dark brown trouser suit in the 1970’s. I liked it a lot and was sad when I grew out of my own and then my sister’s as a hand me down!
Very dark brown does not appeal – it is a shade that my husband and daughter look great in. I prefer softer shades such as taupe and rose brown. Soft pink, dusky rose, light blue, lavender, aqua/teal, purple/plum, and burgundy would work. Although can I justify buying a brown pair of shoes/ankle boots for the odd occasion that I might wear brown?
The look back amused me. Fashion editors come up with a “What you need” every season. It usually replicates items that you already have in one form or another. What’s new?
Wow, so many of us use turquoise and coral as our accent colors. As for brown, a lot of how it works for a person depends on the shade, so many that go in and out of popularity. Coffee, chocolate, camel, saddle, caramel, khaki, mushroom, etc., etc. Although I would lean into turquoise and coral as accents, the other suggested colors show how versatile brown can be. A nice step away from the same-old neutrals of black, gray and navy. Another color I use a lot as a neutral is olive. Many of those suggested accent colors also pair well with it.
Have a look at The White Company (UK). I have loved all my purchases from them.
So true! After reading your comment I’m imagining an olive, mushroom, cream, clay pink, and soft blue color palette – sounds wonderful!!! I’m hoping to add a “french 5” of sorts in brown and clay pink this year – I love these colors on me, but they are so rarely around! My other neutrals are navy and grey, with bits of olive in the summer so this is really speaking to me :)