Weekend Wardrobe: Citrus Orange and Olive Green 4x4 Wardrobe

Left: Sky HD Wallpaper; Center: Cosmic Aquarium; Right: Wildscreen Arkive.

I think the main reason I enjoy doing wardrobe style boards, in spite of the fact that I am not that interested in fashion, is because I love to play with color.  I remember hearing a long time ago that three of the most popular hobbies are gardening, tropical fish keeping, and birdwatching, all because the subjects can be so colorful (and I am a casual participant in all three activities!).  As humans we depend a lot upon our visual color sense, and are blessed with a broad color spectrum perception, so it is only natural to take pleasure in this ability.

I especially like coming up with unusual color combinations, so for this week's style board I decided to pair a light citrusy orange color with a shade of olive often called "military green".  I tried to avoid orange shades that were too red, pink, yellow, or dark, which is surprisingly difficult.  The neutral colors I added are white and silvery grey, and again with the latter I tried to stay with the lighter hues of a true grey.  I thought these colors went together rather well, much to my surprise.  Take a look at the core 4x4 collection and see what you think:

Top row: Land's End Women's Shaped Cotton Crew Neck T-Shirt in Soft Tangelo Stripe; L'Agence Silk Pleated Blouse; Loro Piana Nicholas Cropped Straight-Leg Jeans; Suzanne Grae Pintuck Print Shirt in Bright Orange.

Second row: Topshop Shawl Collar Sleeveless Jacket in Dark Khaki; L.L. Bean Women's Straight-Leg Washed Chinos in Dark Cedar; NLST Classic Brushed Cotton and Cashmere-Blend T-Shirt in Army Green; Country Store Jeweled Sunflower Top.

Third row: L.L. Bean Pima Cotton Pin-Tucked Open Cardigan in White; L.L. Bean Women's V-Neck Carefree Unshrinkable Tee in White; Land's End Women's Supima Turtleneck in White; Coldwater Creek CottonLuxe Ankle Pants in White.

Bottom row: River Island Black Embellished Vest; L.L. Bean Women's Straight-Leg 1912 Jeans in Washed Gray; Uniqlo Women Supima Cotton Crew Neck Short Sleeve T in Gray; Topshop V-Neck Rib Border Crew Jumper in Grey Marl.

Since I was on a roll, I decided to continue with a 4x4 expansion wardrobe for these colors:

Top row: Valentino Cropped Cashmere Sweater; H&M Sleeveless Viscose Blouse in Khaki Green; Coldwater Creek Drape-Neck Shell in White; Orvis Sunflower-Print Tee.

Second row: Romwe Women Turtleneck Long Grey Sweater Dress; Guy Laroche Vintage Classic Pencil Skirt; Esther & Miriam Long Grey Skirt; Just for You Short Dress in Military Green.

Third row: J. Crew Stretch Cotton Pencil Skirt in Vanilla White; L.L. Bean Women's Twill Easy Stretch Shorts in Flint; Sierra Trading Post Mountain Hardwear Mirada Cargo Shorts in Mosstone; Theory Wool Trousers.

Bottom row: Nina Blazer in Military Green; Belford Tangerine Cotton Button-Cuff Sweater; J. Crew Cambridge Cable V-Neck Sweater in Heather Graphite; 81 Hours Loop Reversible Wool Cardigan.

My favorite find is the reversible wool cardigan in the bottom right corner.  You can choose either the orange side or the white one, and this sweater can be worn on its own or layered over another top -- talk about versatile!

The last style board shows the shoes and accessories I thought would complement this collection of apparel nicely:

Top row: Elizabeth Koh Olive Green Knit Scarf; Majana Scarf "Rita - Orange, Olive Green, Beige, Grey"; Tory Burch Perry Tote in Soft Silver/Iceberg; Women's Hadaki Leather Tania Crossbody Handbag in Orange.

Second row: Dr. Scholl's Friendly Memory Foam Flat in Silver; Hush Puppies Women's Cora Orange Loafer; Softspots Trinidad Sandal in White; Marc Fisher LTD Women's 'Yale' Chelsea Boot in Olive Suede.

Third row: Fair Trade Bead Green & Mustard Cube Kazari Necklace; Silver Plated Contemporary Wired Square Collar Fashion Necklace; Stainless Steel 7 Rows Sun Color Crystal Bangle Bracelet; Scottish Shetland Sterling Silver Puffin Bird Brooch.

Bottom row: Malibu Slip-On Shoes in Light Grey; Sterling Silver Sunflower Cuff Bracelet; Mango Flowy Trench in Olive Green; J. Crew Wool Melton Belted Zip Trench Coat in Heather Dove.

The wardrobe is a bit biased on the grey/silver color option, but grey is a versatile color and rather popular right now.  I had to include the sunflower bracelet because I had a bit of a sunflower theme going, and the puffin brooch is just for fun, because the puffin is my favorite bird.

Whoosh!  That was a really long post with a lot of links.  Next time I do something this ambitious I will probably divide it up into several posts.  And there will be more fashion style boards coming, as I am having a lot of fun with my newfound way to play with colors!