Color capsules - banish brown?

I really love the idea of clothing capsules, as I think it will help me out of my clothing rut. I have purged my closet and found that most of my neutrals are black and gray, so I decided that I would keep those as my only neutrals, aside from white in the summertime.

I have a very few things that are brown -- A couple of tops that should be tossed, a silk tank with brown& black in the print, a pair of brown boots, a few cardigans in different shades of brown, and a gorgeous cashmere long, open cardi that I absolutely adore. I feel a little guilty about the boots, which were an incredible deal this summer (Boden, $65). But aside from the cashmere cardi, I was all set to erase brown from my life altogether -- until today, when I bought a black ponte dress that I loved, which turned out to be a very, very dark brown. And it looks fabulous with my favorite brown cashmere sweater.

So ... I don't really have enough items with brown in them to have a real capsule. I don't have any bottoms at all. Is it ridiculous to keep a dress that can only be worn on its own or with the one cardigan? Or should I return the dress and call it a day. And what about the boots? I'm not sure the dress and the boots even go together.

13 years ago

Anonymous

Brown and grey are hard to 'match', at least for me. But if you have any turquoise, blue or burgundy, that would be lovely with the brown. Also what does black or brown look like up to your face?

I just recently purged black up by my face, or kept scarves that I could wear with the black

Not sure if I helped, but food for thought

Krista

Veteran

I'm not sure if this will help or not, but I've started pairing brown with grey and/or black and I really like the combinations of these neutrals together. I'm phasing out brown a little as well, but I do have some beloved pieces that I plan to keep (capsule or not) because I know I can wear them with denim, gray or black and be happy with the look.

I got the idea of pairing grey with brown when I noticed my husband wearing his grey suit with brown wingtip shoes. It was such a refreshing and handsome change - I've been smitten with the combo ever since!

ETA: I think A and I cross-posted!

jen

Active Member

I have no brown or camel in my wardrobe, completely washes me out!

Well, the dress would only be worn with that cardigan, even if you had a complete capsule, right? So what difference does it make? You're not going to be wearing the dress with bottoms, but with toppers.

Ann in New England

Thanks for your interesting ideas. For JR: you make a very good point, and one that had not crossed my mind since I am so focused on the idea of 'capsules.' The only problem might be my lack of brown bag and possibly shoes to go with the dress. Since I thought the dress was black, shoes weren't a problem, but now I'm wondering which shoes I own will look good. Tomorrow will be play day, but I think you're right, it doesn't matter.

I also realize that I have no idea how brown or black look against my face. I'm not sure I even know how to judge. Thanks, A., I'll have to investigate.

I'm also going to play with brown and black.

qfbrenda

I don't wear the color brown next to my face, but I couldn't live without brown shoes/boots, brown belts, a brown bag, etc. I have come to really like gray and brown together and often will wear my gray cardigan with cognac boots. Brown and black play together nicely as well.

Caro in Oz

I love brown & black & brown & grey together - I wouldn't purge them until you are sure they don't work (speaking from experience here).

shiny

I prefer to wear my black dresses, skirts, pants with brown boots. So I'm not black from head to toe. It makes for a more interesting combo. Brown and black can look rich and sophisticated together. And I agree with Krista about grey and brown as well. I particularly like charcoal gray with chocolate brown.

The problem with brown is that it has a way of infiltrating your entire closet, next thing you know, you are buying warm-toned autumn colors like orange, orange-reds, beige, camel etc to go with it. Which I can pull off but I do think I look better in cool tones (red-blues like burgundy and cranberry) and cream/white rather than beige camel... and I look horrible, absolutely horrendous, in ANY shade of orange. And gravitating this direction doubles my closet, but not in a versatile way.

And yes black can also infiltrate your closet too!

It sounds to me like you have just the right balance right now. Follow the 80/20 rule: if 80 percent of your closet is gray/black/cool tones, then there's no harm having 20 percent be brown and warm tones to mix things up a bit. It's when you are 50/50 that wardrobe mixing gets to be difficult.

Isabel

I agree with the others : I really like brown and black together and brown and grey. But even if you don't wear those combinations, almost every color that you wear with black and grey will also go with brown. I say keep for now.

DonnaF

Ann;
What color is your hair? If it is brown, if I were you I would always keep some brown in my wardrobe to bookend with my hair. Or keep brown if it picks up a color in your eyes!

jayne

you have gotten good advce here, but to be simple, sure, it is fine to have a dress that is worn one way. I would accent with black, not more brown, or even navy. Dresses are usually not capsules anyway, because we don't mix them with other things unless it needs a topper. Angie had a post about capsules about a month back where she mentioned this.

Mander

(website)

I purged most of the chocolate-y brown stuff from my wardrobe, because I never wore it and it's not a great color on me. Somehow I have always felt strangely self-conscious about wearing brown -- a holdover from school, when brown was strictly for dorks, I suppose. But I have kept a few things that I liked anyway, and have recently developed a strange hankering for tan or beige! The mind is a strange thing.

In the last couple of years I have seen many people wearing black or grey together with brown or tan. The multi-tonal look could also be a way of tying your brown items together, perhaps -- for instance, brown dress and boots, tan belt and bag?

Laurinda

"Banish" is such a strong reaction. I'm coming from the other side, after brown-burnout in the 1970s (you know who we are) aside from leather goods I had NONE in my wardrobe for maybe 30 years or so. I have enjoyed welcoming back a few choice pieces in the past couple years.

You've all been a great help. I tried on the dress again this morning, and topped it with just about every cardigan and jacket that I own, and just about every pair of shoes. And I am completely, absolutely smitten with this dress. I have about 20 different ways to wear it -- I just need to get a belt, scarf, bag and some jewelry to make it pop. Your assurance that I can mix browns in with blacks and grays makes it much easier for me to spend the money on those items.

Thanks!

Beth Ann

Glad you've got is worked out! I wanted to say that one of my style goals for the year is to incorporate a little brown in my black neutrals. I've "avoided" brown for decades, and while I have no desire to feature it, I will at least enjoy rich cordovan accessories and little bits of warmth to ground black and give depth to my deep purples and teals.

Sounds like you're doing great work in that closet!

Although I don't look good in all shades of brown, I have brown hair and find that certain shades of brown that blend with my hair color are great for pants, shoes, etc. I don't like brown near my face, either, and I'd say my best neutral--BY FAR--is gray. My advice to you, then, is that if your hair is brown or blends well with brown, don't evict brown from your wardrobe unless you have shades of brown that don't work well with your hair. Brown can be a useful bookending color. Hope this helps.

texstyle

Darn, I was going to say if youf want to purge any chocolate brown it's one of my favorite colors. ;-). I also like deep brown with charcoal and also deep brown with some shades of spring green look nice.

That's great - happy for you.

My hand is up Laurinda.

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