Style Over Time: Winter/Spring Outfits from Late February + DIY Jewelry
- sallyinstpaul
- Mar 7
- 7 min read
It's been more than long enough since we had our last Style Over Time post. (Read this post for a full introduction to the series.) With the weather warming up somewhat recently (though we woke up on Wednesday to over 6" of snow...which is already melting), let's see what I've been wearing on or around February 25 for the last several years. Notice the high daily temps range from 8 F to 62 F from 2017 through 2025 - that's quite a lot of variation!
Almost all of these OOTD are new to the blog in this post, which is fun. And perhaps you'll find some style inspiration along the way. Let's get started...
Outfit 1: Tues, February 25, 2025
High 51 F, low 30 F, clear
I styled my new navy/white/blue tile print pants with a grey sweater to create a simple neutral outfit for a pleasant late February day. In Jodie's color recipe terms, this is the "neutral not in the print" option.
You'll have to forgive me if I wear these pants with my navy suede loafers again and again because the blue-and-navy tassels are just such a Pleasing Pairing with the colors in the pants.
I brought the colors of the outfit together in this ombré striped scarf in shades of light navy, icy blue, and grey. I used the shank-button-on-elastic DIY scarf ring trick to hold the two ends of the scarf together because the dark silver tone of the button was a nice repeat of the grey sweater color, and the design on the button mimicked the knit texture of the sweater, too.
I wore a new DIY beaded memory wire bracelet that is part of a collection of jewelry (2 stacked necklaces, this bracelet, and 4 pairs of earrings) that I made from the Glacial Glimmer Bargain Bead Box as well as extra items from my stash. In this bracelet, I brought together silver spacer beads, white and crystal beads, and various shades of soft and light blue beads. Since I always think of the light blue color in the scarf as "icy" blue, this Glacial Glimmer bracelet felt spot on as a pairing for the scarf (and for the season).
I also wore one of the earring pairs from the collection - the very simplest pair that stacks a lovely pale blue crazy lace agate tube bead with a couple of stardust silver spacers for a petite and elegant design.
Outfit 2: Sat, February 24, 2024
High 46 F, low 17 F, clear
This weekend look starts with a very simple white top + dark wash blue jeans combination and jazzes it up with a bird print cardigan and a silver-grey scarf (tied using method #5 explained here). It helps that the white top is a bit more interesting than usual because it has a lacy, textured front, but really, this general approach works equally well with the world's plainest white T. Note that the navy suede loafers make another appearance.
My daily bracelet stack was built around a paper bead bracelet set I made to match this cardigan in a navy, blue, red, pink, white, and silver color palette. I added a pink glass + rabbit charm bracelet, flat square lapis lazuli bracelet, and striped bracelet in red, pink, and dark blue (all DIY) plus a simple silver spacer bead bracelet to fill out the stack. I liked how the bird charm from one of the paper bead bracelets looked next to the rabbit charm for some "two cute animals are better than one" mixing. {stretch bracelet tutorial} {bicone paper bead tutorial} {tube paper bead tutorial}
The top paper bead bracelet with the bird charm (second from the top) started out as a Coldwater Creek catalog page with an array of button up shirts in the colors of my desired palette. I cut them into 0.5" triangular strips to make narrower beads (as I did with the two other ones as well). This particular side-by-side clothing layout (as well as the very similar clothing stack) is common in catalogs and results in nice striped beads.
The second paper bead bracelet (fourth from the top) was made using this pandemic-era image from The Economist: one of their typical 4" x 7" drawings at the head of an article that I often use for bead-making. You'll see that once the beads are rolled, the weird-for-jewelry "menacing tissue" aspect of the paper is completely lost. They just look like color-blocked beads.
The last paper bead bracelet (second from bottom) also came from a drawing in The Economist, a fantastical image of how reading transports us to interesting places. This image added some burgundy tones to the palette, which I could have covered with marker but chose to leave in since it looked good with the red and pink colors, just adding a bit of depth to the palette.
This bead soup earring design may look familiar if you saw my earlier post about these tile print pants; in that post I shared some skinny stacked earrings in navy, blue, and magenta with a silver bird bead in the center that I made for a bird motif scarf. I used the same basic design for these earrings, using the same silver bird beads, just switching to a navy, red, pink, and white color palette for the rest of the stack so that they'd match this bird cardigan and the paper bead bracelet set I made.
Outfit 3: Thurs, February 23, 2023
High 18 F, low 0 F, snow
On this cold (thankfully work-from-home) day, I put together a colorful and maximal work outfit with print mixing and necklace-and-scarf layering. I don't often layer a collared button up shirt under a sweater, but the weather on this day called for it. I'm honestly not fully sold on the minty scarf with this outfit (if I did it again, I'd try my plain navy scarf), but it's an undeniably beautiful color. You can see the page to bead images for my DIY bracelet set with the second outfit in this post...in which I'm wearing this skirt (that the bracelets were designed for) and these tall cognac boots with navy tights, another go-to combination for me.
The cognac boots are a slam dunk with this skirt because the leather color fits in well with the orange and rust accent colors in the skirt's print, and of course the navy tights repeat a color in the skirt as well. And with Blue and Orange being complementary colors (opposites on the color wheel), this combination is high contrast and energetic but still harmonious and pleasing to the eye.
Outfit 4: Sat, February 26, 2022
High 36 F, low 5 F, clear
For a chilly stay-at-home weekend day, this outfit formula of a sweater, knit pants, ankle boots, and a colorful scarf is as easy and comfortable as loungewear but is also ready to walk out the door (with sufficient outerwear, of course!). I made a valiant effort to tie together the orchid and beige colors by adding a beige/tan scarf ring to my scarf. Not sure it totally sold the look but I was happy enough with my outfit...especially given that my bracelet stack included a range of pink/orchid/purple and green/teal/aqua colors that coordinated well with the scarf. (Paper bead page to bead example images in this post under the third outfit with the dark teal/mint/pink floral T.)
What happened to 2021? I guess I overlooked it when compiling my OOTD photos. So let's move directly on to...
Outfit 5: Tues, February 25, 2020
High 38 F, low 28 F, clear
I've shared this outfit with the black textured sweatshirt and camel silk skirt enlivened by a colorful safari print scarf (all thrifted) before; it was featured in this post from my 6 Scarves 2021 capsule wardrobe series. I had forgotten that this outfit was the debut of this skirt, worn to the office about 3 weeks before the pandemic stopped us going in. I can't remember if I've mentioned that I got a stain on the front of the skirt that I couldn't remove so it's been moved from my closet to my stash of fabric for upcycling. It's a lovely substantial but drapey silk that I hope I can figure out something cool to do with.
Bonus Outfit: Sun, February 9, 2020
High 27 F, low 7 F, snow
Since I didn't have any new-to-the-blog OOTD for late February 2020, I'm sharing this bonus weekend outfit from early-to-mid February as well. I haven't worn this dark blue dotted T-shirt nearly enough, and I love it with this scarf for a pretty print mix. The dark grey cardigan is made from sweatshirt material so it's very comfortable but a little more polished than a hoodie. I still like the skinny jeans with this combination, though you could basically wear any style of jeans in 2025 and it would work. Love that!
Outfit 6: Tues, February 26, 2019
High 8 F, low 0 F, snow
Now we're back to my Work In Office era with three clothing pieces that have left my closet (thrifted moody floral top and maroon blazer, a black shutterfold skirt from Kohls that I wore until it fell apart) and two absolutely timeless accessories: a plain black scarf and tall black riding boots. I think a bold gold chain layered necklace would look great against the top.
Outfit 7: Tues, February 20, 2018
High 21 F, low 8 F, snow
I know I've traveled back in time because I'm wearing a cashmere sweater! In recent years, my tolerance for wool (even cashmere) has gotten so low that I don't wear wool sweaters anymore. The grey polka dot skirt is one of my 2014 clothing purchases that I still wear. The grey leopard scarf and tall grey boots are still going strong. My style for Work In Office was more sedate than my current Work From Home style, but I am happy to see I was working the low-key print mix and the pop of color even then.
Outfit 8: Tues, February 21, 2017
High 62 F, low 32 F, clear
I feel like we're ending this round-up on a high note with this colorful print mixed and texture mixed Work In Office look! The base outfit is very simple: a black top and blue trousers in a denim-y shade (for which a pair of blue jeans could easily substitute). But the bright pink woven/embroidered scarf (one of my Hmong coworkers says it is very reminiscent of traditional fabrics in her culture so we had a good laugh at the fact I bought it at Walmart!), the boldly striped (and dotted) blazer, and the warm dark leopard print smoking slippers in calf hair jazz it up beautifully. If I wore this outfit today, I would add my DIY long white beaded chain necklace to fill that expanse of black below the scarf.
Have you experienced any lifestyle changes (like my transition from Work In Office to Work From Home) that have impacted your style in the last 10 years or so? What kind of change has it made? Do you have a favorite of these OOTD?
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These are some lovely winter into spring outfits!
That is a huge temperature range to dress for, for sure! Late winter to early spring is dramatically changeable here, too. I am always inspired by your subtle print mixes, beautiful DIY jewelry, and of course your magnificent scarf collection! It is interesting to see your style changing over the years, and how you have injected more color and whimsy into your work-from-home outfits. I think over the past years I have become less of a follower of trends, and more settled into wearing what I really like. Thanks for sharing and hope you have a great weekend!
My biggest lifestyle change that affected my style is retiring, LOL I feel like it's opened up so many new possibilities for what I can and want to wear.
First I applaud that fact that you wear your scarves so often. I have gotten out of the habit and need to work on it. As for the mint scarf...I really like the different shade in the outfit but maybe the scarf needs to be tamed?? Like rolled up more or something. Because that color is beautiful.
Thanks for using my color recipe...I think it's helped me try out new color combinations that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise. XOOX Jodie