I include wild cards in my seasonal must haves because they are an excellent way to evolve and refresh your style. They can be new-to-you colours or silhouettes of clothing, footwear and accessories. Or a new way that you wear your hair, your make-up, or put together outfits. They are often atypical of your style, but speak to you in some way. Most importantly, they are things you don’t anticipate.
2017 has been my year for wild cards. They have an earth-toned and casual theme.
Utility Pants
Utility pants used to feel too casual, slouchy and masculine for me until Greg found a dressier pair for my birthday which are tailored and sleek. He liked the utility look, and I fancied the idea of keeping them polished and pretty. I wear them with soft blouses, dainty shoes, dressy bags and drapey scarves to create a Utility Pretty vibe. I loved my birthday utility pants so much that I bought a second more casual pair with embroidery. Both pairs were perfect for our Summer road trip.
Brown Specs
I didn’t think I would ever wear dark specs after wearing bright, happy, acidic apple green specs for four years. They were one of the best fashion purchases of my life, and nothing could top them. Greg threw a spanner in the works and chose a dark brown pair of Modern Retro cat’s eyes with orange inner detailing as my new pair of specs. That was that. It took me a while to get used to them, but now I love them as much as my green pair.
Olive
Olive matches my green eyes, but I would often feel blah wearing it. The colour didn’t spark enough joy. So I would stick to having one olive wardrobe item in my wardrobe at a time.
My Summer utility pants were the catalyst for change. I felt like adding a new neutral to my wardrobe, and since the dirty shade of green works well with my new brown specs — why not. White pearls, which I wear most days, brighten the colour against my face.
I’ve been building an olive capsule for Fall/Winter from scratch, and here are my items. I like that the shades of olive are different. Some tonal, some mismatched, but all working together. I plan to wear olive with navy, ink blue, denim blue, black, cream, gold, chartreuse, citron and Bordeaux. Maybe some pink, orange, turquoise and tomato red too.
Bordeaux
I was all set to purchase a new pair of cognac booties to replace the Pradas I’ve worn out. But when I stumbled upon these Bordeaux darlings I rethought my strategy. They are an extremely dark red, which makes them look brown. They bookend my new specs and work with the olive capsule. They’re also quite maximal, whereas I usually prefer simple footwear. A completely unexpected colour with bling. Wild card for sure. I’ll be adding a bag in the same colour to create a complement, and perhaps a light-coloured scarf with a subtle Bordeaux pattern too.
Small Crossbody Bags
I was the “anti-crossbody” gal, finding them awfully uncomfortable and cumbersome. But the small crossbody bag in a classic shape with a bit of glitz DOES work for me. If you asked me last year whether I would build an assortment of small crossbody bags for my style in 2017, I’d have said, “no way.” Now I have three small crossbody bags — one of them is OLIVE — and I adore the casually dressy and relaxed vibe. Never say never in fashion and style.
My wild cards have led me to a new leg of my style journey, which is part of the fun and keeps things interesting. No style rut, and no dull dressing moments. True to my style, but with an earthy and more casual flavour. You do run the risk of needing to purchase a support act to go with wild cards in order to create complete outfits that look and feel pulled together. Be mindful of that as you work within your budget and add wild cards to your wardrobe.
