6 Scarves 2021: August Additions, #1 Black & Grey, Gina

For an introduction to the 6 Scarves 2021 project, see this post.

For a description of my method, see this post.

Uh-oh, we have only a couple days of August left and 6 wardrobes to get through! Well, it's not like something magical happens on September 1 that makes our August additions irrelevant, but it's time to get going as summer starts its wind down.

Over at The Vivienne Files, Janice added cozy sweatshirts and sweatpants to her wardrobes in August because so many readers were back to (or still in) work from home mode. I think she must be writing posts to encourage readers to plan ahead and consider purchases for fall because even in MN, August is nowhere near fall weather! So the additions to these wardrobes will continue the summer theme. But like Janice, I am definitely adding some garments that are on the very casual side...just as I did for July. I think it's important to have some comfortable summer options that you really don't mind getting sweaty in!

First, a reminder of the inspiration scarf, color palette, and adorable rabbit mascot for our black and grey based wardrobe.

A person could do worse in August than adding easy knit tops in most of the colors in the color palette! The pink peplum top and white tank are both normal street wear, and the other three are convenient moisture-wicking exercise tops. These will all be handy for warm weather.

Bright pink peplum top - Lands End - 1X - $16.99 - 5/2018

Hot pink Danskin exercise top - Walmart - ?

White scoop neck tank - EVRI/Kohls - 2X - $5.99 - 5/2020

Sky blue crossover exercise tank - Xersion/JCP - summer 2021

Black exercise tank - Kohls - ?

Our other garment additions bolster our neutral foundation with a black skirt, a lightweight black cardigan, a striped cardigan made from a comfortable t-shirt knit, and two pairs of exercise capris. The black cardigan is too small in the arms for me to wear it with sleeved tops, but it works well with sleeveless ones. During the late summer to early fall transition period, I wear the sleeveless top + small-arm-cardigan combination a fair amount. I have several cardigans that are relics from a time when I wore a smaller size that have stayed in my closet because they I can wear them this way. (I truly don't know whether I just have big arms or whether cardigans are more forgiving of a small size around the body than in the arms for most people!)

Black lightweight cardigan - CJ Banks - hand-me-down from my Mom

Black knit exercise capris - Walmart - ?

Black/white striped t-shirt cardigan - thrifted, Chico's - 3 - $8.99 - 9/2019

Black flared skirt - thrifted, Coldwater Creek - 1X - $3.74 - 9/2018

Grey knit exercise capris - Walmart - ?

With August the height of summer, I know people in warm zones often avoid anything around their necks at this time of year, but for me, August is prime necklace time. We are adding a lot of small-scale, easily layered necklaces this month. Two multi-strand seed bead necklaces, one that I made and one that I bought. A black/clear seed bead endless strand that came in a set of 10 (that I broke apart for these capsules). A mostly-neutral swag necklace with beads of various sizes. A short necklace from medium-sized beads, made by a friend. The set of four silver-tone chain necklaces, one with a coin pendant. A super fun owl pendant with metal feathers and an inlaid design made from bright beads. And my new favorite necklace, the silver paperclip chain with a carabiner clasp and White Rabbit charm!

Silver paperclip chain with carabiner & White Rabbit pendant - made by me - summer 2021

Grey/black bead necklace - made by RB

Bright beads owl pendant - Mudd/Kohls - $14.00 - 5/2016

Silver coin necklace set - Kohls - $12.16 - 12/2020

Grey/ivory/silver long swag necklace - CJ Banks - $6.99 - 7/2020

Bright pink/white seed bead strands - made by me - summer 2020

Black/clear seed bead endless strand - Fire Mountain Beads - $0.38 - 7/2021

Grey/gunmetal/ivory small seed bead endless strands - Fire Mountain Beads - $4.05 - 7/2021

Here is a close-up shot of my most recent jewelry making project. If you've spent any time perusing Pinterest or other sites for #neckmess or layered necklace ideas, you'll have seen that the paperclip chain is everywhere this summer. A lot of these necklaces also feature a carabiner clasp with a charm of some kind dangling from it (like this, for example). It was incredibly easy to make a Sally version of this style using a paperclip chain from Amazon, a self-closing hinged clasp from Fire Mountain Beads (specifically this one), and a charm from a set of rabbit charms from Amazon. What's cool about the hinged clasp is that if I want to switch the charm out for a different one (or set of ones; basically, anything that's on a bail/jump ring of sufficient size), I can push the hinge, remove this charm, and put on another one. (DIY note: I am glad that I heeded the advice I saw online to use a heavy duty pair of jewelry wire cutters rather than my normal ones for this type of chain because it is thick enough that it would have damaged my usual pair.)

Let's add a few more accessories to our mix. A scarf with a soft watercolor-like wash of saturated pastel colors that will coordinate beautifully with our palette, black leather leaf earrings, floral print ballet flats, and a trio of very easy beading projects I put together this summer.

White/pink/blue/purple floral scarf - thrifted, Collection 18/ThredUp - $6.83 - 8/2020

Bright pink seed bead/gold hoops - made by me - summer 2021

Black leather leaf earrings - Amazon - ?

Pink mix 4mm glass pearl bracelets - made by me - summer 2021

Black 3mm 4mm and 4x6mm bead bracelets - made by me - summer 2021

Black floral ballet flats - Payless - $13.00 - 5/2015

I am feeling good about our ability to put outfits together with these new additions. Let's start with the black flared skirt, which is a lined linen skirt that I reserve for warm (bare legs) season only. There's no law that says you can't wear linen in cold weather, but a linen skirt with tights/boots just doesn't do it for me. I will readily wear a cotton skirt 365 days a year, but a linen skirt just feels wrong with tights somehow...not just a contradiction or juxtaposition, which can be fun, but entirely wrong. Yet a linen shirt worn under a sweater would be OK to me in the cold seasons (assuming the weather conditions support wearing linen instead of flannel or another warmer fabric), so it's something about the linen skirt specifically. Though I like to extend the use of my clothes as year-round as possible, you're not going to see me in a linen skirt with tights/boots or in a wool skirt without them!

In Outfit #1, I pair the black flared skirt with a white tank + small-armed black cardigan combo to create a neutral foundation. Then the accessories liven things up a bit with small doses of bright pink and other lively colors. For a lot of people, this would be enough color; for me, I'm thinking I would probably add another colorful necklace or a scarf to ramp up the color near my face. Bright lipstick would be another clear choice.

Outfit #2 is more up my alley with the bright pink top, pink pearl bracelets, and a double dose of floral print. This loose top + flared skirt silhouette might seem questionable to you, and I get it. I think a strategically placed elastic could rein in some of the top's volume, though that kind of tweaking is not to everyone's taste. But I know myself well enough to know that I would put it on as is and not worry about whether it's the most figure-flattering combination because it feels easy and breezy.

Outfit #3 is based on three black pieces that provide a backdrop for a multitude of different looks. I decided to try a #neckmess approach incorporating three multi-strand necklaces/necklace sets: bright pink and white seed beads; grey, gunmetal, and white seed beads, and silver-tone chains. It's nice that the images cooperated in layering so that we can get a sense of how this might look all put together. I like it! A small detail I appreciate with this bracelet set is how the occasional white beads pick up the white striped in the cardigan. And here the colorful print shoes really add a lot to the look.

Now let's turn to our exercise capris for a couple of very casual but accessorized-with-intentionality outfits. In Outfit #4, I'm so happy to see the light blue from the color palette in this rather cute exercise tank with a crossover front design that adds a bit of extra interest (and figure flattery) to a basic garment. The necklace has occasional blue beads among the neutrals to tie in with the blue top, and the floral print in the shoes has some blue as well. The black leather earrings help carry that color from the feet up to the face.

Finally, Outfit #5 is another exercise tank + exercise capris pairing, this time in vibrant pink and medium grey. I would wear the bead necklace in the V neck of the top with the paperclip chain lower, so that the carabiner clasp starts just below the V neck and the rabbit charm stands out against the pink background. I like that the bead necklace has darker tones that repeat the black background of the shoes.

Here's an instance where I am straight up mixing gold-based earrings with a silver-based necklace with no attempt to bridge the varying metals...and with no apology. It may seem like a contraction, that I claim to both (a) like when the little details are all harmonious and aligned and (b) not care when things don't match up perfectly. I do like it when little details are harmonious but I don't need everything in the outfit to be in perfect agreement. I haven't actually worked this out mathematically at all, but I'm guessing the 80/20 rule probably applies here as it does in so many areas of life: if I've got 80% looking harmonious/intentional/aligned, the remaining 20% or so can do what it pleases. I know some people have a style personality that is very much "I want this outfit to be 100% buttoned down on every detail" but I'm not.

There is a concept in statistics that I think applies (rather ridiculously and metaphorically, of course) to my outfits: degrees of freedom. You can read all about it on Wikipedia if you're interested, but the critical idea is expressed in that article's first line: "In statistics, the number of degrees of freedom is the number of values in the final calculation of a statistic that are free to vary." It's that notion of "free to vary" that resonates for me when I think about how my outfits look. To use a different metaphor, you could call it the "wild card" factor. I like that overall feel of harmony/intentionality/alignment but with a touch of something a little wild, a little variant, a little unexpected. It's not an overall careless outfit, but it has some freedom to vary.

I'll need to let this idea sit with me for a bit because I am making it up right now as I go along. But there's definitely something in this "free to vary" concept that speaks to me.

For today's garment focus, I will show a couple ways I've worn the bright pink peplum top and one way I've worn the black flared skirt. First, this May outfit pairs the bright pink top and bird scarf from the Gina wardrobe with a black skirt and short-sleeved cardigan "suit."

This August outfit incorporates one of my favorite summer styling methods: a top and ballet flats in a matching color; here, it's the bright pink top and flats from the Gina wardrobe. I kept the rest of the outfit neutral but not boring with black capris, pearls, and a black and white print mixed stripe/polka dot blazer.

Finally, this August outfit takes the black and white bird T and flared skirt from the Gina wardrobe and lightens them up with a white open weave vest and a colorful silk scarf. Grey leopard wedges finish the look.

The new rabbit mascot for August is a white New Zealand called Zoe! We have seen the New Zealand breed before; Kiwi, the mascot for the #4 Olive & Beige wardrobe, is a red New Zealand. Zoe is giving us the full attention of her eyes and one cocked ear, but it's always dubious whether a bunny finds anything a human says worth listening to.

Do you reserve certain fabrics or certain garments for particular times of the year? Do you prefer your outfits to be rigorously created or do you also leave a bit "free to vary"?

In my next capsule wardrobe post, we will take a look at the August additions for #2 Navy & Beige, Darcy.

I link up with:

Niki at Life as a LEO Wife (Sundays)

Shelbee at Shelbee on the Edge (Mondays; 3rd Thursday)

Mica at Away from the Blue (Mondays)

Debbie at My Random Musings (Mondays)

Leelo at Beauty by Miss L (Mondays)

Roxanne at Glass of Glam (Mondays)

Laura at I Do deClaire (Tuesdays)

Emma at Style Splash (Tuesdays)

Jess at Elegantly Dressed & Stylish (Tuesdays)

Gail at Is This Mutton? (Wednesdays)

Shelly at The Queen in Between (Wednesdays)

Jodie at Jodie's Touch of Style (3rd Thursday)

Carrie at Curly Crafty Mom (Thursdays)

Ada at Elegance and Mommyhood (Thursdays)

Jacqui at Mummabstylish (Thursdays)

Suzy at The Grey Brunette (Fridays)

Nancy at Nancy's Fashion Style (Fridays)

Michelle at My Bijou Life (Fridays)

Erika at A Little Bit of Everything (Fridays)

Rena at Fine Whatever (Saturdays)