6 Scarves 2021: June Additions, #5 Brown & Black, Nelly

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

For a description of my method, see this post.

In June, Janice added an orange floral polo shirt, grey tie-dye T, grey drawstring pants, and grey espadrilles to her brown and grey capsule. Since I own nothing like those items, the Nelly wardrobe will be going in a different direction.

Let's take a moment to review our capsule while Nelly looks on with wide-eyed curiosity about our June additions.

Here's where the wardrobe stands after the first five months. As a reminder, I had short-sleeved tops and lightweight vest or cardigan in mind for all wardrobes as summer begins. For this capsule in particular, I noted that we desperately need some warm-weather tops, especially solids to wear with the many print skirts. Given how dark the palette and wardrobe are overall, some white garments would really lighten and brighten things up for summer.

How did we do? Well, we can check off the "short-sleeved tops" and "solid warm-weather tops" boxes with these two teal short-sleeved t-shirts, one a darker/duskier color and the other a bright one. Even though these skirts were not spot-on matches for the shades of the tops, they will give us a couple of sorta-columns of color to play with as well as useful four-season solid skirts. (The colors are a bit closer in real life than in these images, if that helps settle your mind at all.)

Dusky teal speckled T - Croft & Barrow/Kohls - 3X - $5.00 - 5/2020

Bright teal T - Croft & Barrow/Kohls - 3X - $5.00 - 5/2020

Dusky teal skirt - thrifted, Lularoe/ThredUp - 2X - $13.65 - 6/2020

Bright teal skirt - thrifted, Alex Marie/ThredUp - 22W - $8.20 - 8/2020

We hit a jackpot on lightweight top layers with these three additions: an aqua swirl print jacket, a chevron cardigan with 3/4 sleeves, and a teal/black cardigan with 3/4 sleeves.

Aqua/black swirls jacket - thrifted, CJ Banks/Goodwill - 2X - $5.24 - 10/2018

White/black chevron cardigan - thrifted, Kasper/Goodwill - 3X - $4.49 - 10/2018

Teal/black cardigan - thrifted, Walmart/Goodwill - 3X - $3.74 - 10/2018

Here are the accessories we have so far. In our last recap I had decided that neutral flats, colorful necklaces, and a white scarf or necklace would all be welcome additions for June.

I think we'll score it a yes, sort of, and sort of. We did get neutral flats, though an especially fun and somewhat outrageous pair with the mesh polka dot fabric and gold studs. We added a colorful necklace in the form of the silver and teal peacock pendant, and boosted the "colorful" component with the three print scarves in the top row. We didn't get a solid white scarf or necklace, but the ivory one with the black plaid (as well as the teal and white ombré one) should help on the lightening front. We round out the accessory additions with white butterfly earrings, a mixed metal long multi-chain necklace, and a gold/silver palm pendant.

Deep aqua/pink/aloe vera floral scarf - Loft - $8.94 - 7/2020

Bright teal/aqua ombré scarf - thrifted, ThredUp - $7.99 - 5/2020

Black/white/purple/aqua/orange geometric zebra scarf - thrifted, ThredUp - $1.50 - 12/2019

Ivory/black plaid infinity scarf - thrifted, ThredUp - $1.50 - 12/2019

Black polka dot rockstud flats - Shein - $19.71 - 7/2020

Long mixed metal chain necklace - CJ Banks - $9.00 - 1/2021

Silver/teal peacock pendant - Target - $9.50 - 11/2015

White butterfly earrings - CJ Banks - ?

Gold/silver palm pendant - CJ Banks - $5.39 - 2/2021

Still no plain white top in this wardrobe? Surprising! But I still think that we'll be able to put together plenty of new outfits with these mostly-teal additions. First, let's try the dusky teal sorta-column with the chevron cardigan and a choice of two scarves. I always think that if you're feeling a bit iffy about how your top and bottom colors/prints work together, adding a top layer and/or scarf is a great way to reduce the impact of the top. The fact that both scarf options have some kind of teal/aqua color in them helps tie the outfit together, even though the scarf color doesn't exactly match either the top or the skirt.

In this outfit, I used another strategy: adding a third variant on the basic color theme so that there are three tones that blend together. I think that where two of something can easily look accidental/sloppy, going up to three of something makes it look more intentional. I could add a print scarf as I did above, but instead I limited the number of accessories and kept them neutral in color. There is a certain confident nonchalance in this outfit that makes me admire the heroine who wears it.

Now let's work with the bright teal sorta-column. Popping on this delightful lightweight print jacket is a fun choice. The shoes have gold studs but the peacock pendant is silver; if that detail bothers you, then the palm pendant is the way to go. Most days I'm fine with mixing up my metals so I would happily wear either necklace.

This last outfit leaves the sorta-column exposed, and frankly, I'm not sure I could tolerate this level of not-quite-matching top and bottom without a distraction layer (though the scarf definitely helps with that in front as would my long hair in the back).

This is where an individual's priorities are really important. I can somewhat easily upset my own sensibilities with "off" color combinations, so I prioritize personally pleasing color combos over figure-flattering choices, but there are other people who absolutely would want to avoid that eye-catching break from light to dark value at the hips and so would stick with the column of color, caring little if there is a slight difference in the exact shades of bright teal. Someone else would disagree with both camps, immediately searching for a top that matches the skirt, while a group of heroines would stand to the side remarking to each other that this is the kind of color problem that wearing a dress solves every time so why mess around with separates. None of these approaches is more legitimate than the others.

You will probably not be surprised to learn that I have not worn either of these sorta-columns myself. (I wear both of those Ts as sleep shirts most of the time, actually!) But I can share a few examples of how I have worn the skirts. It's still early days with the bright teal skirt, but I did manage to take one photo of myself wearing it. Man, I can really tell that 2020 was a bizarre year given that I have an October work outfit featuring a sleeveless top, white 3/4 sleeve cardigan, and nude wedges with bare legs. Yeah, that's just not how I would dress in October if I were going outside at all, but in my extremely-well-insulated apartment, October can still feel like summer.

These next outfits feature the dusky teal skirt (which I gravitated toward a bit more during the pandemic because it's a very comfortable stretchy knit). I like the way this tonal summer outfit in shades of green/mint/aqua/teal turned out, especially with the ombré scarf to blend the colors together.

By November 2020 it had cooled down enough even inside my apartment that I needed tights or leggings with my skirts, though mind-bogglingly ballet flats were still on rotation. Here I let the scarf be my guide to color combining and added some additional pops of orange, which worked very well with the teal.

Finally, by December 2020 I was wearing actual winter outfits with tights and boots. I like how the motorcycle jacket and bad-ass boots toughen up this sweet bird print blouse.

Now for our lagomorph of the month: Lana the Rhinelander! For once, the breed's name is not a fake-out; this rabbit did originate in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, first appearing in rabbit shows in 1902. The Rhinelanders feature a particular "broken" pattern--including the butterfly nose, racing stripe, and side spots that we have seen before--and have a white coat with black-and-orange markings (leading to the nickname "Calico of the Fancy"). Their unusual, very specific markings were fairly difficult for breeders to replicate, so despite an initial flurry of excitement, interest in the breed waned. There are currently under 2,000 Rhinelander rabbits in the world.

The Rhinelander is a mid-sized (7-9 pound) breed of rabbit, but is the big bun of this menagerie so far! You can see that Lana the Rhinelander most closely resembles Angie the English Spot (the lounging spotted rabbit to her right), which has a similar coat pattern and is also of the "fully arched" body type that tends to be lean/narrow through the body.

One thing I prioritize in outfit-building is liking the color combinations (and avoiding "off" combinations that give me a sense of discomfort). What do you prioritize?

In my next capsule post, we will look at the last of our June additions: the #6 Grey & Navy, Sophia wardrobe, then jump into our Jan-June recaps.

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)