This outfit is a good example of how things only have to sort of match in order to match.
The hot pink in the blouse is not the exact same shade as the necklace. The royal blue of the shorts are a lot darker than the turquoise blue stripe. The orange belt isn't even really in the blouse, unless you count the soft peach (which is actually more of a neon peach in person). But somehow, (I think) it works.
I have so many ways I could wear this shirt. Hot pink skirt, turquoise skirt, navy shorts, green swim dress worn as a skirt. So many ways. It's the main reason I bought the shirt actually. I looked at it and realized it would go with half my summer wardrobe. The only downside is it shrank in length almost three inches when I washed it, despite it saying machine wash and dry. Very sad, as I liked the original length much better. Sometimes Old Navy cotton does that. But not all the time. It's very confusing.
When shopping for new clothes, I try to keep the rest of my wardrobe in mind. Will the new item go with things I already own? If I can style the new item at least two different ways off the top of my head, it's a keeper. Sometimes, I'm ready for my wardrobe to go in a new direction, like the addition of the colored shorts this summer, or the addition of bright colors in general. But even then, I selected colors that I could already picture how to mix and match with things I already own.
Sometimes, it's time for a big change. I used to dress in almost all neutrals and pastels, because I knew that washing clothes makes them fade. So I bought clothes where you couldn't tell they had faded. Khakis, soft greens, greys, etc. I avoided bright colors like the plague, because OH THE FADING that would occur! Somewhere along the line, I realized that I like clothes, and I like to be more or less in fashion, so I wasn't keeping clothes in my closet and wearing them often enough for them to get terribly faded. Sometimes cheap clothes fade too quickly (sometimes certain Old Navy items even). Other times, they hold up for tons of washes. And I realized, how silly I am for avoiding colors just because they will need to be washed. Seriously. That was when my wardrobe gradually went through a change, and I started buying things that didn't necessarily go with what I already owned. They started a new category all their own.
Next tip. To make more outfits from the clothes you already own (or new clothes too): Hang your clothes my color, in order of the rainbow. Then take one garment, like a shirt, and lay it across the hanging clothes, so you can still see part of each hanging item. Look at different colors together, and you'll realize that shirt goes with more colors than you thought. You'll see that turquoise looks great with royal blue, yellow, purple, lime green, and kelly green. You'll see that yellow looks fun with orange, green, white, and navy. And those are just a few ideas.
My tendency used to be to wear a colored shirt with neutral bottoms, like brown or khaki or black. In the summer, white. My next step was to add patterns. The patterns helped to draw together multiple colors that I wouldn't have otherwise assembled. Now I'm putting solid colors together in ways I never thought possible
Accessories can also pull together an outfit that might not otherwise go. Even with Jax and I today, his orange shirt works better because of my belt.
That's all I got for today folks. I'm just stumbling along like everyone else, throwing a pair of colored shorts across a whole layer of hanging shirts, and realizing it goes with more than I think. Good luck.
HERS | Shirt Old Navy | Tank American Eagle | Shorts Old Navy | Belt thrifted | Necklace thrifted | Shoes Crocs Adrina Flip
