I've been asked repeatedly to look at grey and olive together in a wardrobe, and I finally found a painting that put a really interesting spin on those 2 colors:
Head of a Woman by Salvador Dali
The colors in "Head of a Woman" by Salvador Dali are amazing - a huge variety of neutrals, including olive, grey, black, shades of brown, and even a bit of faded denim blue. But it's that pink that really sets this apart!
Just to give us a different look at how to go about building a 4x4 wardrobe 1 piece at a time, I'm starting with four of the grey garments that we've been using in wardrobes for the last few days. My thinking is that you might already own a pretty good core of one neutral, but be stuck as to the steps to take to incorporate your second neutral (especially if it's a new color in your wardrobe.) Maybe working through this will help us all figure out how to do this!
Please note that I'm making this a pretty casual wardrobe - the sort of thing that you would pack if you were going to a rural area of England, or to Scotland, Wales or Ireland (which are for the most part pretty casual destinations) this summer. You really can't get terribly dressed up in this wardrobe, but unless you've got dressy plans, that's not a problem. The real strength here is the ability to layer on and off as the weather changes!
grey cardigan - Lands' End; jeans - L.L.Bean;
capris - L.L.Bean; shorts – Patagonia
First, this wardrobe desperately needs both the 2nd neutral, and even more critically it needs some SHIRTS of some ilk.... tee shirts to the rescue!
tee shirt - Uniqlo
And while we're getting the overall balance of this wardrobe back to something more normal, it's clear that a grey tee shirt is also necessary.
tee shirt - Uniqlo
I'm not going to avoid that wonderful pink accent color for very long... Another tee, in a long-sleeved version for cooler weather.
tee shirt - L.L.Bean
For cool evenings or rainy days, nothing is more cozy than a cashmere hooded sweatshirt in the most flattering shade of peony pink:
This color, and a lovely aqua/teal shade, are on sale...
sweater - L.L.Bean
At this point, I feel pretty comfortable with the "top to bottom" ratio of the wardrobe, so I'm going to find some pants. Be warned that olive doesn't grown on trees (although it certainly sounds as if it should!) and that blending shades is going to be your best bet for building a wardrobe around olive. It's such a great color; I don't know WHY it's not more readily available...
pants - Sans Souci
Yes, you've got 2 cardigans, but you might need an honest to goodness jacket.... it certainly can't hurt to have it with you; maybe you'll ward off cool weather if you're prepared for it!
jacket - Madewell
Printed and patterned tee shirts bring a lot of life and visual interest to a small wardrobe, and this one has both of the core colors in it - not always an easy thing to find!
tee shirt - Ojai
Long shorts. An oxymoron, but a really handy garment if you plan to do a lot of walking. Of course, if you don't wear shorts, these could be jeans, or some kind of sport-fabric pants, or even a denim skirt!
shorts - Propper
Another printed tee - with that pink shade ALL OVER THE PLACE! Some days, the deities shine on the home of wardrobe building, eh?
tee shirt - Ojai
I love me a good skort! It's great for being active, but remaining ladylike and presentable. They're growing to be a staple in my sport wardrobe, and I can highly recommend this one.
skort - L.L.Bean
If the weather is never warm enough to wear a tank top on its own, you can always layer it under other things. This is versatile!
tank - Uniqlo
And I couldn't resist this sweatshirt. I didn't even really try...
sweatshirt - M&S Collection
I had serious doubts about this color scheme when I started out, but I think that it's turned out really well. I can see dozens of ways to wear these pieces, and I think that I would feel well prepared for travel if this was in my bag.
As always, I'm going to tackle some accessories for this one tomorrow. And I think I have a story brewing about this woman....
love,
Janice
Like this article? Save it to Pinterest!