Pantone Spring/Summer 2026 - New York Palette: Burnt Sienna, Alexandrite and Coffee Bean

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend this past weekend. We went to Wisconsin to visit family. We had a good time with lots of yummy food and the warm chaos of children enjoying time together. We are fully into the season of spring, but the temperatures are doing their usual roller coaster pattern. Today as I type this it is a balmy 34 degrees (F), and the furnace is continuing to keep us warm. These temperature fluctuation make getting dressed a challenge, but as usual I enjoy the many aspects of layering.

Today’s outfit revolves around layers in the next three Pantone colors: Burnt Sienna, Alexandrite and Coffee Bean. You can see the actual colors here. My Alexandrite is definitely more blue than the actual color, but as I have said before these are guidelines for you to shop your own closets for similar colors.

Let’s start with that jacket. This is a piece was a clearance purchase from the online retailer called ShopNational, which actually ended their operations in February of 2024. The brand name of this jacket is Erin London. You can see how I styled this piece with a floral top, and with a purple print tee. Christopher and Banks has a similar color. J. Jill has this Light Sage quilted piece. Here is one from Coldwater Creek that is closer to the color.

For the Burnt Sienna color I chose this waffle weave pullover, that I think I got at Kohl’s. For some reason the tag is gone, but it is probably Croft and Barrow. Here’s a long sleeve tee in that color from Land’s End; a linen top from Old Navy; a cute lattice sleeve top from Christopher & Banks, and a pretty textured piece from Mayberry.

Coffee Bean is one of the Classic colors off the palette and is a deep, rich brown. I have a couple pairs of brown dress pants from when I was still working and these were the perfect color. These were a JC Penney purchase from a number of years ago and are Worthington brand. Here’s a few from LL Bean, Coldwater Creek, Kohl’s, and Target.

I decided to wear my Nine West ankle boots from Kohl’s to elongate my leg and give me a small heel for these longer trousers. Here are a few options from DSW.

I chose black for my necklace and bag to go along with the black on the jacket. I thought the beaded necklace a fun choice that creates extra interest against the waffle weave background. The bag you’ve see before and is Aidebaum from Amazon.

I added the scarf to pull the whole look together and on the day I was taking pictures it was only in the 30’s. Brrrr.

I hope you enjoyed this post. As always I love to hear your thoughts so leave me a comment or two.

Have a great day!

Outfit Inspiration: Pantone Spring/Summer 2025 London Palette Colors - Pear Sorbet, Hibiscus and Cocoa

I got my month all off kilter and I haven’t even been able to get my Faith posts out, so bear with me as I try to get back to my regular posting schedule. This column, Outfit Inspiration, usually happens the first Tuesday of the month, but for some reason I got completely off this month. Oh well, I know you all are very understanding so I appreciate the support even when I am losing the plot. Ha, ha.

I know a few weeks ago, I said I wasn’t going to cover all of the Pantone 2025 colors, but I got sucked in and am having fun shopping my closet for this year’s Spring/Summer palette. Currently, I am covering the London Palette after which I will decide if I am going to continue with the New York Palette. To see the current London palette you can see the pin I added to my board a few months ago with all of the colors. So far I have shown you Airy Blue and Passion Flower, and White Grape, Veridian Green, and Curds & Whey.

Today’s outfit is a mix of a bright jewel tone pinky red, a pastel very pale yellow, and one of the classic colors from their palette, a dark chocolate brown. May I introduce you to Pear Sorbet, Hibiscus, and Cocoa.

When deciding which of the remaining colors to put together I had to play around for a few hours to find the right pieces in the right combinations. I like how this turned out and it all started with this pale, Pear Sorbet, thrifted Christopher & Banks, plaid shirt. I am not as much into really pale colors like this, but I do think there is a place for them in our closets, especially in the warm weather months. This piece is as light weight as it is pale and will be great for when the temperatures go up.

The other piece I knew I wanted to use for the bright pinky red Hibiscus color was this thrifted Amazon Essentials vest. It is interesting how these darker or brighter shades of pink can look so vastly different. If I compare this to pink it looks almost red. If I compare it to red it looks pink. The wonderful world of color!

I have worn this tiered, knit maxi skirt on the blog numerous times. It is one of my regular go to’s in the the warmer months and is so comfortable. This is St. John’s Bay brand and is from JC Penney. You can see it styled with a spotted top, a green moto jacket, a bookish vest, and a long fringe vest.

To make the look more spring/summer like, I added a thrifted, pale yellow, St. John’s Bay tank top under the button down and left the upper buttons undone. I also added some layered jewelry.

I added my thrifted, leather Anne Klein crossbody bag.

Finally, I dug out this pale yellow pair of Universal Thread sneakers I found on clearance at Target a few summer’s ago, to complete the look. Sorry for the crummy picture.

What do you think of these colors? Do you like this combination of colors? Do you like pastels, and how do you like to wear them? I love to have your feedback, so please leave a comment or two.

When the weather does finally stay warm this bright vest will be put away until the cold weather returns, but I was glad to get one more wear in before summer actually arrives.

I’m including a few shopping links below. These affiliate links are brought to you at no extra cost. If you purchase an item through one of my links I get a little kick back. I appreciate all your clicks and purchases.

Have a great week!

Styling into the Holidays - Part 2: Holiday Work Party

It’s been five years since I lost my job at the university bookstore. As an assistant manager I was lucky to be able to wear business casual attire and sometimes went to work wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, especially if I was going to be book slamming - unpacking and shelving textbooks. However, once in a while I liked to get more dressed up to at least give the appearance that I was the second in command. Ha, ha. Today’s look is one that I might have worn during our holiday sales events.

When I was getting ready for my little photo shoot I decided to put volumizing powder in my hair. Unfortunately, I ended up putting too much in and I couldn’t even get a brush through my hair without nearly pulling my head off. Ha, ha, ha! I tell you what, us girls go through such feats to look beautiful. I tried to add some waves, but even the straight iron couldn’t make headway with my mess. So silly. There are times I really do feel like Lucille Ball. Ha, ha.

My thrifted, plaid Requirements blazer has been styled on the blog before. You can see that post here. It is a great piece, but doesn’t get as much love as it should since I only use it during the holiday season, which is very short. That is exactly why I pulled it out for this post. I really should try to wear it after the holidays. What do you think? Would you wear this before or after the Christmas season?

Denim skirts are trending right now, so I was glad to have another opportunity to wear this thrifted St. John’s Bay piece. This is a great pencil maxi whether you dress it up or down. My belt was also a thrift find.

I love this black turtleneck top that I found second hand. It is a brand called united.states.sweaters. It is soft and stretchy. A basic black turtleneck can be very flattering and can be dressed up or down. Just add gold or silver jewelry or a bright colored scarf and you take your outfit up a notch without really trying.

For my accessories I chose black for bag and boots and gold for my jewelry. My blag top handle hobo bag was a thrifted piece and a brand called Scarleton. You can find this brand on Amazon and they are very reasonably priced.

My black boots were a Black Friday purchase last year from Kohl’s and are Journee brand.

These gold tone jewelry pieces have been around for years, but always seem to keep their shine.

What do you think of this outfit? Would you have worn something like this to a holiday office party? What would you do with the pieces in your closet?

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it provided a little inspiration for your holiday get togethers, or just gave you an excuse to get dressed up to go to the mall or out to lunch with a friend. I have provided a few shopping links for similar items and I try to keep the price points more reasonable. These are for you to shop or to just draw inspiration from. These are affiliate links, brought to you at no extra cost. If you purchase something through one of my links I get a little kickback. I appreciate all of your support.

Leave me a comment or two. I always love to hear from you!

Pantone Autumn/Winter 2022: Lava Falls, Amazon and Arctic Wolf

Here we are, once again, looking at another color palette from the Pantone Color Institute. For the next few weeks I will be concentrating on the New York colors. In the past I have tried to give you both palettes, but with changes in life, so too come changes with the blog. For now, I want to bring you the New York palette which was where the institute was founded in 1962. From the Pantone website it looks as though the London palette was added in 2017.

For this look, I wanted to combine the bright red of Lava Falls with the energetic green of Amazon and see if I could come up with an outfit that didn’t look like I was getting ready for a Christmas get together. Let me know in the comments if you think I pulled it off.

My Lava Falls flag tee was a thrift store find this summer. Unfortunately, I didn’t have it washed to wear for Independence Day celebrations. When I was pulling clothes for this series, I saw the tee and thought, why not. Our gratitude for our country and our freedom shouldn't be restricted to one or two days a year, just like Thanksgiving shouldn’t be the only time we dwell on what we have to be thankful for.

This Amazon green sweater was new from Christopher and Banks a few years ago. I love a longer cardigan like this for fall, and an open front cardigan has no buttons or zippers for things like coats or bags to get caught on. Most of the time, I leave my cardigans open anyway to show off the top underneath, so an open front piece is a great choice.

Arctic Wolf is a creamy off white and these thrifted Gloria Vanderbilt pants probably tend towards a little more gray where as the actual Pantone color has more yellow undertones. However, you get the idea and when it comes to the color cream, off white, ivory or whatever title you want to give it, they are all in the white family.

For accessories I went with black to go with the black stripes on the flag. My black bag was an Amazon purchase a few years ago and is Aidebam brand. My sneakers are new to me, a thrifted pair of Vans high tops with a fun floral design.

For jewelry I added a simple choker pendant. I found this at a thrift store and love the pressed flower look of the pendant.

What do you think of these colors? Would you wear them together, or do you think red and green are strictly for Christmas? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I’m including a few shopping links for items in similar colors. These are affiliate links, which means when you click on a link, I get a few cents. If you purchase something through my site, I get a little bit more. I appreciate each and every click.

I just tested positive for Covid yesterday, after my hubby tested positive on Friday. Our two friends who came for the weekend have also tested positive. I feel so bad, but here we are. I would appreciate good thoughts and prayers, as with my asthmatic condition it puts me in a higher risk category. Thank you everyone!

Have a good week and stay healthy.