6 Scarves 2021: Jan-Mar Recap, #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.

Let's take a quick review of what has been added to this wardrobe so far. By building the wardrobe in these outfit clusters, we are unlikely to get the top/bottom/topper ratios too out of whack, which is one less thing to worry about. Our colors are mostly black, grey, and three shades of pink. Wine remains the only color with a full trio (bottom, top, and topper) for the cold-weather season.

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)

How are we doing in terms of solids vs. print pieces? Even for a print mix enthusiast like me, having too many prints in a wardrobe can cause problems. Solid tops are going strong, but our bottom pieces skew toward prints with only one solid pair of pants to rely on. It makes me curious to see whether April will introduce any more solid bottoms.

I like this collection of accessories so far. Though my over-indulged tendency toward print scarves is in evidence, there are a few solid or pseudo-solid scarves here. Several of the scarves have blue in them, which...

...is the color in the Gina palette that otherwise has yet to be seen in the wardrobe. Arguably grey, black, and white are all somewhat under-represented also.

To streamline our outfit building process, let's build a new outfit using each garment at least once and whatever accessories we feel like including with those outfits. I'll focus on integrating the March additions with the rest of the wardrobe.

First, three outfits using our heavy hitter, the wine pants. In Outfit #1, we try adding the March blush pink sweater to the wine winter "suit," using the bird scarf as a bridge between the colors. By "bridge," I just mean an item that contains something similar to both of the colors; in this case, the scarf has a burgundy/wine background to go with the pants and vest combo and a lighter pink to connect to the sweater color. Obviously, it's not necessary to do this, but it can help make a combination look more intentional and cohesive. I think the blush pink and wine pair beautifully.

Next we'll do two columns of color with these pants using the blouse and elbow-length sweater, adding in pink earrings from March. In Outfit #2, the pink crystal earrings introduce a slightly different shade of pink to the look. The dot earrings in Outfit #3 are subtle but repeat the gold from the bracelet (which yes, snags the eye a bit with the wine and grey).

It's true that neither of these tops is a 100% perfect match for the wine pants, but I don't think that matters unless you are trying hard to convince the world that you're wearing a one-piece jumpsuit. They still go together just fine, and if you are into a column of color for its lengthening qualities (i.e., not creating a horizontal line where the pants and top meet), they are close enough in color and in value to prevent the eye resting on an obvious break point where the top ends.

Of the three types of pairings made from color-matched (or color-almost-matched) garments--the "suit" (bottom and topper), "column of color" (top and bottom), and "twin set" (top and topper)--column of color is the one I do the least often. I'm not sure why.

Let's try putting March's blush pink with the black polka dot skirt next. You may or may not recall that this long-sleeved T has small rose gold stars on it. It's not very obvious at all in the image, nor is it very obvious in real life at much of a range. And since the top has both a cardigan and a scarf layered over it, leaving not much of the top visible, this seemed like a low-risk experiment with this combination. But if this combination is too much for Gina's Sally to handle, she can easily substitute in the super-versatile white T or the wine blouse that goes with the cardigan.

Outfit #5 takes a neutral sweater and skirt from previous months and adds just a bit of color with March's pink and grey planet necklace. Wearing a necklace instead of a scarf leaves the yoke section of the sweater with its interesting complex knit pattern visible. Overall, this is a more subtle outfit than I usually put together, but I like it and I think I would still feel "Sally" in it, despite its reliance on neutrals.

Outfit #6 continues to put the blush pink through its pace, this time with the bold, high contrast black and white striped skirt. This skirt calls out for bright or jewel tone colors to me, something saturated to stand up to the vividness of the print, so I have never tried it with a light/muted/pastel color. While I don't LOVE the combination, it's not bad, and I think the repeat of a black-and-white print in the rabbit scarf (with the rabbit motif repeated in the earrings) is a nice touch.

Finally, two outfits with March's black and pink floral skirt. I would never have thought to pair this skirt with the bright pink crane sweater because the pink colors don't have anything in common except for being "pink," but this capsule thing is causing me to stretch my styling comfort zone. And I kind of love the result here. There is a certain feminine grace that the drawing of the flowers and the crane share, and while the pinks don't match, they also don't clash to my eye. And hey, maybe I've found a use case for this good-gravy-that's-bright pink pashmina that stood out so awkwardly in March.

How about the skirt with the bright pink jacket? To my eye, it's a little less harmonious that the crane sweater but still viable. Does the ombré scarf adding more variants on the pink concept provide a sense of "whee, lots of pinks" or "whoa, too many different pinks"? I think I'm down with it, though I'd choose to wear the scarf with the paler watermelon-y pink section (as oriented, the left side) more to the front and the darker cooler magenta pink section more to the back to emphasize that watermelon pink that seems in between the skirt's light pink and the jacket's bright pink.

And in my continuing efforts to demonstrate some of these items in action, here is a January outfit featuring the black and white skirt and black Mary Janes from this capsule. I am a bit astonished at my restraint in wearing a solid black scarf with this outfit (that blends right into the black moto vest that I know I wore to help balance out the sweetness of the shoes). The forest green sweater (which I retired this past winter) is a good example of a jewel tone color that seems an obvious pairing with the skirt.

On to one of my favorite things: introducing a new rabbit to the capsule! The theme of the March additions was "March Madness" as typified by the March Hare from Lewis Carroll's Alice books, a theme that I am extending to the selection of our new bunnies. This theme is even more fitting when you consider that many of us have not had a haircut for over a year and hence there is a lot of out-of-control pandemic hair in the world! What wild-looking hare will join Gina's group this month?

Francoise, the French Angora! That extra-long hair occurs because the rabbit has two copies of a recessive gene that causes hair growth to continue for an extended period of time. Angora rabbits are one of the oldest rabbit breeds around. They have been kept and bred for their soft, warm, lightweight fur (wool) for many hundreds of years...perhaps a couple thousand years. But it wasn't until 1939 that the French Angora was recognized as a separate breed from other Angoras. One of its defining characteristics is the long Angora fur on the body but normal length fur on the face, as Francoise so cutely demonstrates in this head-on floof-loaf position.

Despite the differences in size and fur type, all three of the rabbits in this capsule have a black-and-white broken coloration pattern, complete with the dark ears, eye patches, and butterfly nose.

Do you have a favorite of the "suit," "column of color," and "twin set" options?

In my next post, we will look at the January-March recap and March Madness rabbit for our second wardrobe: #2 Navy & Beige, Darcy.

I link up with:

Shelbee at Shelbee on the Edge (2nd Monday; 3rd Thursday)

Mica at Away from the Blue (Mondays)

Laura at I Do deClaire (Tuesdays)

Emma at Style Splash (Tuesdays)

Jess at Elegantly Dressed & Stylish (Tuesdays)

Gail at Is This Mutton? (Wednesdays)

Jodie at Jodie's Touch of Style (Thursdays)

Carrie at Curly Crafty Mom (Thursdays)

Ada at Elegance and Mommyhood (Thursdays)

Suzy at The Grey Brunette (Fridays)

Nancy at Nancy's Fashion Style (Fridays)

Rena at Fine Whatever (Saturdays)