I have been thinking about this navy business since yesterday and was coming to add something similar to what Janet said vis a vis the more traditional styling aspect of navy garments and accessories . And back when I had a bigger work/ professional wardrobe and had lots of navy pieces , I had some outdated idea that I needed to have navy footwear to wear with all of this stuff …..and navy footwear is always hard to find so a lot of it didn’t get worn .

Yes, navy footwear can be hard to source, definitely! I no longer worry about that so much -- I'll just wear navy with black, if I want a dark shoe -- but I do keep my eye open for navy options, and then hang onto them for years when I find them.

It's entirely possible to find less traditional or classic navy items (see Bijou's jacket, for instance, and several of her other items) -- but in my experience, it is really hard to find anything with what you might call "edge" or any avant guard items in navy. Whereas if you are after edge, or any avant guard flair, you can easily source it in black.

I find that a frustration, for sure, especially during those phases when I feel like I would like to move my style more in that direction. (This seems to come up for me every few years and then I give up, LOL).

A lot of my own navy forms a sort of "core column" if that makes sense. Simple pieces that create (or could create) a column of colour under a more interesting statement third piece. Or simple separates that can let another piece become the focal point. So it's fine for me if they are relatively classic in cut or style. Still, I often admire the sometimes more interesting black essentials that Jenn or Gryffin (to take just two examples) can source. Sometimes it's easier to find grey items in more interesting cuts. But greys can be tricky as well.

Agreed .

Suz, you have a great navy collection. Navy is a gorgeous colour for you. The only blue I wear is denim.
I also prefer long or short toppers with my bottoms these days.

Suz - you have perfectly diagnosed my issue with navy. It's not the colour, but the fact that it is difficult to source items with a certain toughness or edge in navy. Knowledge is power - thank you! I will look out for those unicorn navy items.

I have gotten more comfortable combining navy with black, as long as the navy is light enough to easily be differentiated from the black! I bought a linen jacket/top by Young Fabulous & Broke (cheap as chips at Marshall’s) and have been wearing it over various summer tops with black pants and really enjoying it. I kind of like the way it can tie together black and blue elements, since blue is generally more flattering on my aging self than black now.

Related to this navy discussion… I made a spur of the moment purchase in Grindelwald in the Swiss Alps that was pricey but ended up being very smart! Years ago I had a great longer tailored jacket by Athleta that was useful for rain but didn’t look so gear-ish. But I bought it when I was smaller in the peak of my running years, and eventually it got too snug, so I let it go. Now I had been wishing I’d kept it because I’m slowly losing weight (or I was until spending four weeks in Europe!). So I’d been low-key keeping an eye out for a replacement.

I wandered into a Montbell store — a brand I’d not even heard of — to find some gloves because the next day we were going to the top of Jungfraujoch and knew it would be cold. I spotted this jacket and tried it on. The fit was great and the functionality is brilliant — packs up to nothing in a little pouch, very lightweight, sturdy zippers, a good functional but removable hood… and the blue is a very pleasant navy color. The blue even is an exact match with my old Tumi convertible bag that I take when I travel!

That jacket turned out to be beyond useful in Paris, because it rained nearly every day for at least a few minutes (sometimes all day!).

No pics of the full length on me, but a snap of us right after arriving at the Louvre in the pouring rain — our guide hustled us down to see the Mona Lisa before the crowds! My jacket was already nearly dry.

Navy loves you! It's definitely easier to pair with your coloring than mine. Black is still my main neutral, and probably always will be, but I have been liking navy paired with brown lately. Maybe the brown keeps it out of corporate territory?

Suntiger -- blue and brown are a classic combo, really, and brown would not only keep it out of "corporate" territory for those whose associations with navy lean that way, but also it is much friendlier to your colouring mixed with brown. I actually love navy and brown together, esp. warm browns like cognac or camel, or soft cool browns like taupe. When my hair was dark blonde, I wore it with these browns and loved it. Now that I am silver on top, I tend to go with white or grey as a second neutral.

Janet, I love your new jacket! It looks great and was obviously super useful for you!

Bijou -- you are great at finding the unusual and special items so I will follow your lead!

Style Fan, that is very interesting indeed about the toppers. I'll bet it is because you favour wide legs.