For an introduction to the 6 Scarves 2021 project, see this post.
For a description of my method, see this post.
Time to review our color palette and put the Darcy wardrobe through our completeness and coherence analysis.
Our questions are these:
-Regarding completeness: What other colors or garments are missing or under-represented?
-Regarding coherence: Are there any items that look like they belong to a different person's wardrobe because it's hard to imagine the same person wearing those colors/contrast levels?
Let's start with our garments.
On the completeness question, we have the same issue the Gina wardrobe did: only one pair of pants. At least this time they are a versatile neutral color, but I think one pair is clearly not enough. Speaking of color, navy, aqua, teal, and white are doing great, but we have only the one coral garment and no beige or yellow ones yet.
On the coherence question, nothing stands out to me as looking like a different wardrobe. The accent color items all share a bright and clear quality to my eye, and the neutral pieces seem to work well together.
Now for our accessories...this is harder for me to evaluate for some reason, but let's give it a shot.
On the completeness question: We are certainly NOT lacking for aqua scarf options (good grief!). Thankfully there is a navy scarf here, but I think solid scarves and/or necklaces in other palette colors, like white and coral, would be helpful.
On the coherence question: The neon striped scarf is what jumps out at me in this image. I suppose time will show whether it fits well into the wardrobe or remains an oddity. Unlike the Gina wardrobe, in which the yellow gold accessories were at odds with the rest, this collection seems to hold all three metallic colors pretty comfortably.
Our outfit building starts with the navy skinny pants as usual. Spring-appropriate Outfit #1 pleases me a great deal! I think that scarf is a perfect bridge piece for April's teal striped T and the navy pants, and I love the juxtaposition of stripes and circles here. These two clean geometric prints just look terrific together, and the colors are spot on. (Yes, I went there.) Even the loafer tassel has a bit of lighter blue to harken back to the lighter blue circles on the scarf.
In Outfit #2, our bright teal winter twin set pairs very easily with navy. The scarf seems to work quite well here, even though I don't think it has a true navy or true teal color in it; it seems to have enough variety in the range of green to blue colors that the bright teal fits in. (In my mind, I sometimes call a color that fits with a set of colors but is not identical to any of the colors as being "in the span" of the other colors. However you might translate the algebraic meaning of the span to apply to colors, this metaphor would utterly break down quickly when doing the math because suddenly brown would go with everything, but this is the phrase that always pops into my mind.)
In Outfit #3, I'm testing the somewhat unnatural-seeming 3/4-sleeve sweater + quilted vest combination again. But I do think that there is at least one day in the spring that having a quilted vest for warmth in the morning, but a lighter-weight sweater for mid-day comfort, makes sense. (I do suspect that my constant reliance on quilted vests is a case of "you can take the girl out of Colorado"; as a recent transplant to the frozen north, I missed out on the ceremonial bequeathing of the black North Face puffer jacket that is the native-born Minnesotans' birthright. But really, the way a person in Colorado in the 1970s would wear the same ski vest...as we called them...outdoors and in from October to April, Minnesotans today are quick to don their BNFPJ if there is even the possibility it will get chilly.)
Outfit #4 features this cowl neck stretchy knit top that feels like athleisure but styles much like a denim shirt. This seems like a pretty clutch choice for dressing down a pencil skirt to business casual. I'm digging the combination of this denim-colored top with the denim-y dark blue in the scarf, and April's striped knit flats are an incredibly fun addition.
Another way to dress down a conservative office skirt: add a utility vest. In Outfit #5, I think the bracelet offers a bit of pleasant reinforcement of the rounded floral shapes in the scarf, in similar colors to boot.
Outfit #6 has me on the modern twin set track again with this lace tank and cardigan that are not a 100% match but are surprisingly close for two thrift store finds from completely different brands bought years apart. The colors in the scarf blend well with the many green-ish to blue colors in the skirt.
April's navy knit blazer is also a useful fall and winter piece. Once again I am matching the top and topper, which are non-identical but compatible navy blues. The scarf brings a brightness to the otherwise dark outfit and is a good light, cool color for a Sally to wear near the face.
The next two outfits pair the coral skirt and that most useful garment, a white T. Outfit #8 is a cheerful transitional option that could be worn with navy tights or bare-legged, depending on the day. It's got the "3 pieces, 3 colors" formula going. Outfit #9 is a colder weather alternative that lets the bright coral skirt and the cognac boots stand out. I would definitely wear navy tights with that one.
Even with only one coral piece in the wardrobe so far, we've been able to do a lot with it due to having a number of accessories with coordinating coral/orange/cognac colors in them. In addition to being a 3 print mix (yes!), Outfit #10 carries those coral-related tones from the splotches in the earrings, through the tie-dye sections in the scarf, down to the tips of the cognac boots' toes. (And yes, the color of the darker leather at the toes of the boots is itself repeated in the darker burnt-orange/brown sections of the scarf, if you are the kind of person to pay attention to that. Which I am.)
And finally, two outfits with April's aqua "tweed" skirt. Outfit #11 keeps a tight palette of ivory/white, aqua, and navy, using the pullover sweater and boots to bring the skirt back to end-of-winter-when-is-spring-coming territory...which it does beautifully. I love having true 4 season skirts in my closet.
Outfit #12 is a steadfastly late-winter option with my beloved white quilted vest added to brighten things up. This sweater + scarf combination is not the most obvious one to me because the bright teal sweater skews greener while the aqua scarf skews bluer. The skirt itself bridges the greener/bluer divide by having a woven pattern containing both. I'm not 100% sold on the scarf here, and I suspect I would feel a bit off in it not for the white vest, which means that we'll be seeing teal arms, white torso, and aqua/blue scarf down the middle. It's an empirical question whether I would be happy wearing this, but I have found that even a small amount of visual separation can make all the difference in the world in my brain's willingness to accept somewhat challenging color or print combinations.
Let's see how I have put this aquamarine skirt to use in the late winter to early spring season. In this February outfit, I went for a high-contrast look that is probably not the most flattering option for me, but that feels high energy somehow, which is a good thing during the long winter. (I am absolutely in love with navy and white as a color combination. I know a lot of people associate it with summer, of course, but I am happy with it all year round.) The colorful scarf and vintage chain/bead necklace both contain touches of aqua to connect back to the skirt. I only infrequently wear an infinity scarf tied in this "Girl Guides" way, but it is one way to bring the volume of an infinity scarf down, and sometimes I'm OK with the goofy uniform associations. (Here is a great example of what I mean. She's even got a dark blue/navy top on!)
Here's a shocking March outfit with bare legs. Oh yes, the strangeness engendered by my working from home due to COVID this past year. Of course, I would never get away with bare legs in March if I had to go outside, but staying in my extremely-well-insulated apartment all day, it has been a different story. On some of those warmer and very sunny days, my apartment reached bare leg compatible temperatures even with the heat turned off. On a styling note: I kind of love the long pendant and scarf worn this way! This is not a go-to style for me. I think I would typically combine them by wearing the scarf as a faux-finity, close to the neck, with the pendant hanging down below. But worn like this, the edges of the scarf frame the necklace in a kind of awesome way. It's especially nice since the teal colors of the peacock pendant are repeated in the scarf. I need to remember this combination.
In this April outfit, I went strong with my beloved navy and white in the form of this classic striped cardigan. Again, no tights! It's a world gone mad.
Do you have a favorite way to dress down a classic office skirt?
In my next post, we will look at the January-April recap for our third wardrobe: #3 Navy & Grey, Lily.
I link up with:
Shelbee at Shelbee on the Edge (2nd Monday; 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 (Thursdays)
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)
Love how you put the outfits together. You have some lovely accessories. Thanks for linking