These looks are for Team Cobalt. Shades of cobalt vary in saturation and are lighter and brighter than navy. Some are a very bright blue and others more subdued. To my eye, cobalt blue is an easy and effective match with black and white, and that’s how many of my clients wear it. Cobalt blue looks equally good with shades of green, which we’ll save for another day.

On to some outfit ideas. Note how extra great the combination is on those with black or very dark hair.

1. Cobalt Top with Black Pants

This is the easiest combination because most people choose to wear cobalt in the form of a top, and black bottoms are ubiquitous. Combine a cobalt top with black bottoms and finish off the look with black or white footwear. Here, the ribbed dolman sleeve pullover and pleather pants are an interesting textural combination. Wear a black skirt if pants aren’t your thing. Top things off with a black or white coat, cape or wrap.

2. Cobalt Skirt with White Top

Combine a cobalt skirt with a white top. Finish things off with black and white zebra footwear and black topper. Sub the white top for black if that’s more your thing, and bookend with black footwear instead of the animal print. Cobalt pants will work as well as the skirt. I see a black or white bag in the mix.

3. Cobalt Topper, White Top and Black Bottoms

Combine a black skirt, trousers, or pair of jeans with a white tee, shirt, blouse or pullover. Add black or white footwear. Top things off with a cobalt jacket or coat. This combination of pleated pleather skirt with long blazer has a trendy ‘90s touch, but feel free to combine silhouettes that are more to your taste. Black bag would look fab here. Add jewellery, watch, and eyewear as desired.

Who bats for Team Cobalt?

For anyone who has ever admired the style of a character in their favourite movie or TV shows: “How (and Why) We Became Obsessed With Dressing Like Our Favourite TV Characters.”

If you’d like to buy an outfit you spotted on a show, then Shop Your TV — a website with upwards of 500 shows with wardrobe archives that have allowed users to shop clothes episode by episode — is an interesting resource.

The Guardian recently started a TV style icons of 2020 series, celebrating “the small-screen stars who have given us sartorial inspiration this year.” I certainly enjoyed the Schitt’s Creek Absolutely Fabulous Fashion Overload instalment.

Fab Links from Our Members

Nuancedream says it’s disappointing but not surprising to learn that the commitment of some beauty brands to diversity and inclusion was fleeting.

Firecracker loves that some new US representatives are shedding light on how expensive it is for women to dress professionally, and how they are helping each other find ways to create a professional style on a budget.

Canadian blogger/vlogger Christie Ressel recently posted a video about how to build a capsule wardrobe. La Belle Demimondaine doesn’t think it has any new or groundbreaking ideas, but seeing it visually, gives her some ideas on how to create new outfits from what she already has.

Here’s a new trend for us all to love, quips UmmLila.

Fashintern directs us to this article about how fashion’s use of the term “urban” is problematic.

Talking about an “oldie but goodie outfit”, says Runcarla: Prince Charles recycles “occasion wear” from 1984.

She adds that the article above was probably a lead up to the royal’s sustainable fashion collection in collaboration with Yoox Net-a-Porter. She’ll take the Prince of Wales plaid suit.

A functional and versatile wardrobe has items that relate to each other. They can be mixed and matched to create outfits that look and feel great. One way to create such a wardrobe is through building and wearing what I call complements. 

A complement is a small group of accessories and footwear that match in colour, pattern or vibe, and can be worn together. Adding the items from a complement to an outfit makes it look more cohesive and gives it a punchy finishing touch. I create seasonal colour complements with footwear, bags, scarves, belts and sometimes eyewear.

It’s become second nature for me to shop deliberately as I create and embellish these complements. For example, I recently embellished a cold-weather blush complement. I bought a big pink cashmere scarf at this year’s NAS, which I knew matched the pink Furlas I had at home. Coincidentally, the scarf and bag also match an old cream beanie with pale pink pom-pom. Last week I committed to a pair of pale pink boots which perfectly match the rest of the items, and completes the complement. I can wear two to four items of the complement together, adding it to a slew of outfits. The exact items are shown in the collection.

Over the years, I’ve intentionally built cream, orange, watermelon, navy, chartreuse and citron Winter accessory and footwear complements with trendy classic and smart casual pieces. Some of them include polka dots but for the most part they are solid. I wear these complements over and over again, and year after year until they wear out (or the shoes no longer work for my feet). They don’t look dated, and add a grounding and fun aspect to my Winter looks. Plus, they are very practical, since I walk around in the elements many times a day. I’m thinking of building turquoise, shocking pink and red Winter complements too. But all in good time.

Here’s my very well loved citron and chartreuse complement. Sometimes I wear only two of the items at once, but have the option of wearing all four. I do enjoy items that match.

I’ve been looking for pale pink cold-weather boots and hi-top sneakers for years. Along with white, blush footwear is a wardrobe essential for my style. I haven’t found the right hi-top sneakers yet, but I have found the boots. They are Frye’s Billy Inside Zip Bootie that I got on Amazon for half the price. 

After a little doctoring with some additional insoles, they are very comfortable, the perfect-for-me heel height, and fit well. They are adequately crisp and refined for my sartorial preferences, and awfully pretty in the pink. They are a trendy classic, so I won’t get bored with the way they look. They are an exact colour match with two old blush handbags. They are perfect, apart from the impractical pink suede and my urban walking lifestyle in rather wet Seattle.

I wear white footwear year round and manage to keep them looking pristine, but pink suede is much harder to keep clean. I thought long and hard about it, and decided to keep the impractical purchase for the following reasons. First, it’s very hard for me to find comfortable shoes that look pretty, fit well, and that aren’t sneakers. Second, I’m spraying them with Suede & Nubuck Protector to help them stay clean and repel water. Third, I’ll wear them less frequently, and definitely not in the rain. Plus, I’ll keep looking for a pair of workhorse blush hi-top sneakers to do the dirty work.

As much as I advocate a practical-for-you wardrobe that you wear with joy, meets your needs, don’t save for good, and goes the distance — we’re allowed a few impractical purchases too. The occasional impractical purchase can be therapeutic and make fashion and style more fun. Wardrobe items do not need to achieve workhorse status to be winners. It can be special to save some items for good.