August 31, 2026
So Friday’s version of “what to wear with chinos?” focused on a pair of pleated, warm-hued pants, worn with neutrals. Today, I’ve found a pair of more grey-ish, taupe-ish pants – (they call it stone), and I’m pairing them with pastels and soft accents!
I love dressing like this – I can wear a sweater or top that’s distinctly pretty, but I don’t look twee, or over-dressed, because the chinos take the mood in a more relaxed direction:
The first thing I tried was putting these pants into the very LAST outfit from Friday – the one with the labradorite jewelry, and the perfect scarf and boots:
Scarf – The Met Store; earrings – st. Moran; faded sage cotton sweater – L.L.Bean; pants – J.Crew; labradorite bracelet – Satya Jewelry; boots – Söfft
After that, I just looked around for pretty scarves or sweaters! I love this mixing of shades of pink:
Tee shirt – L.L.Bean; twilly – Silk&Soul; cardigan – Boden; pants – J.Crew; velvet bag – Fable England; Mary Janes – Dansko
This next outfit is just so you can see the scarf, with the piano-playing panda, and the rest of the animals surrounded by the lovely flowers:
Earrings – Karine Sultan; sweater – Eileen Fisher; ivory shirt – Lands’ End; pants – J.Crew; scarf – Wenzi; sneakers – Söfft
If you don’t look good in straight pink, have you considered coral?
Merino cardigan – L.L.Bean; earrings – Ninemoo; Tee shirt – Lands’ End; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; pants – J.Crew; loafers – Spring Step
Or maybe you have a colorful necklace that needs to get out and about a bit more often?
Earrings – Elk & Bloom; necklace – Anthropologie; silver blue cashmere sweater – L.L.Bean; turtleneck – Lands’ End; pants – J.Crew; sneakers – adidas
Wearing a pretty sweatshirt doesn’t mean you have to look like you’re going to the gym….
Sweatshirt – Lands’ End; scarf – Lost Pattern New York; earrings – Bounkit; ivory tee – Lands’ End; pants – J.Crew; Mary Janes – Clarks Originals
It might be a bit early to think of snowflake motifs, but you could always be prepared for the upcoming holidays!
Scarf – RaluFineArt; earrings – Lily Charmed; lavender sky sweater – J.Crew; pants – J.Crew; bag – The Sak; boots – Gabor
I love this bright but not overwhelming pink – and I love this cardigan! (I have the purple one – I know you’re shocked…)
Ballet pink cardigan – Alex Mill; earrings – Swarovski; cream turtleneck – L.L.Bean; pants – J.Crew; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; loafers – Gentle Souls
When you struggle to find the right shoes, remember that metallics are a great possibility! Especially with a softly blue cardigan and a pretty scarf…
Oxford shirt – L.L.Bean; earrings – Quince; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; pants – J.Crew; cashmere cardigan – Lands’ End; loafers – Anne Klein
Do you keep track of what you wear? Have you learned anything interesting from doing so?
I’m tempted to spend more time thinking about the possibilities of my favorite garments…
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, we were looking at how to wear a simple navy dress – on the last day of August, we tried it with bright colors!
Just lovely. These soft colors make me think of my mom who looks fabulous in them. Not that I don’t love them too! I’m just going through a phase of wanting more contrast.
I do keep track of what I wear, mainly to work. Helps me remember what I wore last week just not to look like a cartoon character! I do repeat many items and tend to do ‘Monday pants’ – which is wearing the same pants every Monday. So this exercise is right up my alley 😊, thank you Janice! I hope you do the same with navy and black pants. And then re do the 1 dress-13 outfits (or was it 14?).
Pretty combinations! I track. I discovered I wear many more neutrals and solids over patterns and colours than I thought.