Shopping Our Closets - Unique Cardigan: A Casual Valentine's Day Outfit

I am pretty sure all of us have a unique cardigan in our closets. This would be the piece that has a different pattern or print that you simply love, but aren’t sure how to use it in an outfit. It has been hanging there for a while, and you are starting to think you should just get rid of it. Don’t do it, until after you have read this post. I am hoping to give you style tips on how to take that unique cardi and turn it into a masterpiece of an outfit.

I found this thrifted cardigan recently at my local thrift shop around the corner. I liked that it is a bit shorter, so for me gives the appearance of a cropped cardigan. It’s actually a petite size, so the sleeves are a tad short, but again this gives it a different look.

Style Tip - Always shop all size sections at thrift stores and even at full priced retailers. Sizing has become such a circus of silliness today. A size 12 now can be worn by someone who wears a size 10 or someone who wears a size 14, depending on the manufacturer. A small might fit someone with a very petite frame or it might be way to big.

Obviously, I was drawn to the color and the Fair Isle pattern on this piece. It actually has some wear around the button holes where the threads are starting to fray, so I need to see what I can do to fix it. I like that it has the red, white and a touch of olive green, so a great piece for Christmas, but also a bit of pink which makes it perfect for Valentine’s Day.

In order to build this outfit, I started with my unique sweater. I thought about pairing it with jeans, but then decided I needed to get out of that box. Seeing as I have several olive colored pairs of pants, I knew that would be a good choice. Thus, my Gloria Vanderbilt, olive, cargo skinnies. Black or white pants, or a skirt would have been another good choice.

Style Tip - When building an outfit start with the most colorful piece, then choose the rest of your pieces using colors from that. You can do this with a scarf, a bag, a top, a cardigan, a skirt or even a pair of pants that are very colorful.

My oddly colored long sleeve tee was a clearance find at Kohl’s. It really is a nondescript color. It leans towards an extremely washed out olive, but could also be seen as a very light tan or beige depending on what you wear it with. It is very light weight, so my thought was it would be a good layering piece, especially as the weather warms up.

Style Tip - Colors can be deceiving, which works to our benefit. A color can look quite different depending on what other color it is paired with. This is especially true for lighter colors in the green, orange and yellow categories. Depending on what you pair them with they might look more blue, pink or beige. Do an experiment and hold one of your lighter colored tops next to a variety of more saturated tones and see how it changes.

My jewelry also mimics the color tones in the sweater with the pinks, reds and olive greens. I thought this beaded necklace made a beautiful statement against the drab backdrop of my tee. Especially, with the somewhat monochrome look of the tee, pants and ankle boots.

Style Tip - Accessories are a great way to show off your own unique personality. Your shoes do not have to match your bag and your jewelry can be a whimsical - this is what I feel like wearing - choice; no matching required

I chose my faithful SO ankle boots and then added the bright red bag to pull it all together. (Don’t mind my blue socks! Ha, ha.)

What do you think of this outfit? What would you have done differently? Tell me about that unique cardigan in your closet and how you plan on using it to build a fabulous outfit.

Note in the picture below, the olive threads in the sweater look more beige. Maybe color is as fickle as fashion. Ha, ha. As my photographer daughter will tell you, color is definitely influenced by lighting.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Leave me some love in the comments. Your comments help keep my blog interesting and also keep it growing. I am including a few shopping links for you to look over.

Thanks for stopping by the blog.

Fall Trends 2022 - My Take: Outfit 2

This week I am focusing on three more fall trends: an oversized button down, cargo pants and a cozy coat. Here in the midwest cozy coat season is not upon us quite yet. In fact, it still feels summery and seeing as summer doesn’t end for a few more weeks, I think these warm temps are around for a while longer. That makes it hard for me to transition to fall outfits. As much as I want to, I am still reaching for my tees and cropped pants, rather than sweatshirts and boots.

For this outfit I started with the cargo pants, then the oversized button down, followed by the tee. I realized as my outfit came together, that it was going to have a monochrome vibe, so I kept my accessories more understated with similar tones. Let’s take a look at each piece separately.

Cargo pants

I found these Sonoma straight leg pants at a thrift store and I liked that they were a lighter weight version of a cargo pant. Like typical cargo pants they have extra pockets on the legs, as well as the normal pockets front and back. These also have full seams on the front of the legs giving them extra texture and interest. In addition these have tabs on the lower leg so you can roll them up and button in place, if you want to use them as more of a crop pant.

Basic tee

My Time and Tru tee is another thrift find. I was looking for a few tees like this that would work as good layering pieces. You can also see my necklace and a little bit of my belt, both of which have black and silver.

Style Tip: A light weight tee or cardi is a great way to add warmth in the cooler weather without adding too much bulk.

Oversized button down

I found this J. Crew button down on the men’s rack at the thrift store. The men’s rack is a great place to look for oversize pieces that have a more masculine flair. I often see gingham patterns in women’s departments, but they are usually larger checks. Sometimes it’s nice to also have a smaller print.

Style tip: Men’s shirts typically have longer sleeves since many men’s arms are longer than women’s. If you are a seamstress just cut the cuff off and make a hem. Otherwise just roll the cuffs once. You still get a cuffed look, but it’s not hanging down past your knuckles.

I added my olive green Sperry’s and a recently thrifted silver cross body bag.

Last but not least my topper.

Cozy coat

I fell in love with this cozy number that I found thrifting last year. Using it in the cold weather, I found it to be quite warm. The brand is Emma James which is an off shoot of Liz Claiborne. It is faux suede and has a faux fur lining throughout.

I think many of us have more than one cold winter coat. I have a wool one that I like to use in the really cold weather, and a real leather jacket that gets used before it gets super cold. This one is great for cold days and lighter weight so a good coat for shopping.

I hope you have enjoyed this post. Let me know what sort of coats you have. Do you wear oversized button downs? Do you wear cargo pants? I love to hear from you, so be sure to leave a comment. I am adding a few shopping links for you to peruse. Every time you click on a link, I get a few pennies. When you make a purchase through one of my links, I get a little more. Thank you for all your support. These are affiliate links. All opinions are my own.