I’ve been looking for a pair of non-neutral Summer trousers and J.Crew’s Teddie Pant caught my eye. As a lover of sour citron, it’s the colour that appealed to me the most. The flare cropped silhouette is trendy and pretty, and the fabric is reasonably dressy. My white ankle strap footwear would work with the silhouette.
Before purchasing the pants, I thought about: WHEN and HOW I would wear them. They’d be nice to wear working with clients and going out at night. Check. Then I applied the wardrobe orphan prevention test by asking this question:
Can I think of at least three different, complete outfits that combine this item with other items in my wardrobe?
Combining the citron pants with a white support act is a slam dunk since I have plenty of white tops, shoes and bags. I liked the idea of combining them with a light blue and a citron patterned top, which I also have covered in my wardrobe. Perhaps ink blue and pearl grey tops would look nice too, since I have some of those. Plenty of options, so I ordered the pants. With a column of citron in mind I also ordered a citron over-the-shoulder top.
The citron pants and top arrived. For all sorts of reasons, the lovely over-the-shoulder top was not for me. The Teddie pants, on the other hand, were great, so I set aside some time to create outfits with them to make sure they earned a place in my wardrobe.
The first thing to sort out was the footwear, which had to be extra complementary with the length and width of this type of cropped pant. My chunky gladiators and ankle strap pumps were a great match for the pants. Broad ankle straps close the gap creating a continuous line on the leg. The low-contrast white lengthens things further.
Next up were the tops. Embracing the chaos of outfit creation I went to my closet and tried on all the tops I thought could work with the citron pants. You HAVE TO try on the outfits, and not just hope they work out in your head, and I can’t stress that enough.
I liked some white top combinations a LOT more than the others. I also liked the citron pattern and light blue top options.
I did not like the tops and toppers that created a high contrast with the citron pants nearly as much. So ink blue, black, cobalt and dark denim were out. The pearl grey tops muddied the saturation of the citron, which didn’t float my boat either. Some of my white tops looked blah so they didn’t make the cut. Here are the items that did NOT make the grade to wear with the pants.
The four tops below, however, made the grade and I was very pleased with the combinations. They look pretty, crisp and modern. A cropped white cotton pullover for a fitted look. A silky lemon print for playfulness. A boho-lite blouse for Retro. And a light denim linen peplum for flouncy fun.
My very faded denim jacket worked well as a topper because it’s low contrast, while the white buttons pick up the whites of the outfit accents. I have three white bags, but liked my structured satchel best with the looks. Here is the completed capsule in a collection.
It may not look like the denim jacket fits over all the tops, but it does so quite comfortably. I can interchange two pairs of shoes with each of the combinations with the tops depending on my preference for heel height. I’ll leave off the jacket when it’s sufficiently warm (the tops looking equally interesting unlayered).
After doing the small mix-and-match capsule exercise with an outfit creation session, I now know exactly how I’ll be wearing these citron pants. As I was laying the capsule out on our bed, Sam gave his nod of approval.
