For an introduction to the 6 Scarves 2021 project, see this post.
For a description of my method, see this post.
Before moving on to March, let's take a quick review of what has been added to this wardrobe so far. I'm keeping track of the wardrobes in the matrix, but it would be nice to see this in images, wouldn't it?
x = solid piece
T = tonal piece (i.e., tonally works with this color though it is a different color)
O = ombré piece
P = print piece (not ombré)
Over the two months, we have built a nice selection on wine/mulberry, have a start on the key black and grey neutrals, have the critical white T, and a pair of bright pink items to punch things up. This is clearly not the most versatile collection of 12 items of clothing (which would probably involve starting out by building core groupings in the neutrals), but even with the two very different pinks, it seems workable.
What do you think of our accessories so far? Well set for scarves, certainly. (None of the wardrobes are going to struggle with a lack of scarf options, that's certain.) I wish I had more bracelets to divvy out across the wardrobes, so that this one could have a silver bracelet, but Gina's Sally will survive (or just not wear a bracelet very often, which is how I roll).
Now let's check in with our palette. Of the 3 neutrals and 3 accents, the light pink and the light blue have yet to make an appearance.
Things are looking OK to me, but there really is no substitute for actually putting together outfits. Let's put together outfits (different from the ones we have already seen for January and February) using each garment and accessory at least once. To make them easier to work through, I'll group them by which bottom piece is used.
First, a group of outfits using the January wine pants. These first 3 outfits incorporate wine pieces from across the January and February additions. It's nice to see them blending well together. It may be a bit strange for a wardrobe's most complete set of items to be in an "accent" color like wine instead of a neutral, but there is no law requiring that a wardrobe be built on a foundation of neutrals!
Next we'll put the wine pants with the two other tops added in February. A white t-shirt is as easy as can be, but the bright pink crane sweater is a bit more of a visual challenge.
Even with the ombré scarf trying to bridge the gap, I'm not sure I'm convinced. Maybe Gina's Sally can try it out as a work-from-home outfit and see if it becomes more acceptable or more jarring as the day goes on. Her colleagues seeing her from the waist up on video conference don't have to know that she's taking a sartorial risk that day (or that she perhaps abandoned those pants for a pair of black pajama bottoms by noon).
This next 3 outfits are based on the high-contrast black and white reed skirt, each featuring a pop of color...two with bright pink and one with mulberry. I didn't plan it out that way, but it does reflect my tendency to pair vivid black and white prints with saturated colors. Outfit #6 surprises me a bit; I wouldn't normally have tried a grey sweater with this skirt, but I think I like it with the bright pink scarf that I just love with the grey. (That's one of the fun things about making outfits from these capsules; it's forcing me to go outside my comfort zone a bit and try new things.)
A quick google of "can I wear multiple animal prints together" resulted in a bunch of "no" in the context of wearing animal print over age 40. Perhaps "crane" and "cicada" weren't what they had in mind, but it seems ludicrous that something happens when you hit the age of 40 to make such a rule suddenly come into play.
And anyone who wants to argue with me about wearing rabbits and more rabbits in a single outfit has lost their ever-loving mind because...have you met me?
We will finish up with a trio black polka dot skirt outfits. The black skirt and white T combo is an endlessly versatile pairing that could do a lot of heavy lifting in this wardrobe. It provides a simple backdrop for so many possible outfits; here, one where burgundy pieces are the stand out, and another all-neutral outfit that harmoniously blends textures and subtle prints.
This last outfit could very easily be worn with the white T instead (which would link the skirt and scarf more directly since both of them have white in their print) but for a colder day, a sweater under a blazer is a good idea.
But now for the most important part of this post: introducing a companion for Gina! It occurred to me that as the capsule wardrobes grow every month, so should the set of bunnies for each one! And since we introduced print skirts (and one dress) in February, I think that the new February rabbits should have patterns as well.
So with no further ado, I present February's rabbit for the Gina group: Polly, a black and white broken Polish! Although this rabbit breed sounds like it originated in Poland, the "Polish" actually refers to the "polish" of the rabbit's shiny coat (it's called flyback fur because when you rub the coat forward from the rump, it quickly flies back into place flat against the body). Why do we call this rabbit "broken"? That's what this fur coloration pattern is called, where the fur in the normal color (here, black) is broken up by large amounts of white fur so that it looks like dark splotches against a white background. (Surprisingly, this is a dominant gene, so it has a good chance of being passed on to baby bunnies.) Some people refer to the broken coat as "butterfly" because of the characteristic butterfly shaped patch of dark fur over a broken rabbit's nose. Polly is showing us what this butterfly looks like head-on.
Gina the Checkered Giant (aka Giant Papillion) also has a black and white broken coat (and butterfly markings over the nose), so our new bunny looks right at home here. If these buns were being presented in sizing to scale, Polly would be much smaller than Gina; as adults, a Checkered Giant is over 11 pounds, while the Polish is around 2.5 pounds!
In my next post, we will look at the January-February recap and new rabbit for our second wardrobe: #2 Navy & Beige, Darcy.
Linking up with Gail at Is This Mutton?
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