Well, to try to answer the concern over my "missy" comments...
1. missy is/was a term used frequently in the fashion industry years ago identifying a subcategory for fit and style. Yes, it had some negative connotations, but so does avant garde/punk rock/etc - really anything that veers from the norm. Norm being what is identified as current in the fashion industry.
2. this is only my opinion and those are just my words. Not speaking for anyone else here. I don't expect others to like my silver studded combat boots and weird skull earrings and scarves , the same way I don't like purple pullover sweaters or plaid shirts.. It's all in the eye of the beholder. I can appreciate quality and good design in any colour. I also think Suz knows me well enough to take my comments for what they are - just ideas. That's how creativity works: ideas flow, some are dumb and others are fantastic. Some may be questionable and not appropriate - take them for what they are.
3. I see Suz's style and overall look as quite sophisticated and somewhat dramatic , with her contemporary silver hair, and awesome attention to detail and awareness of current trends. My suggestions were with her in mind. No one else.
4. I think it's important to not get offended or perturbed by feedback provided to one person . If the question was: are these colours and styles "missy" or too mainstream for everyone interested in fashion? Then obviously the answer will be different.

Well, this is extremely interesting! Thank you all for your responses!

First off, apologies if I didn't express myself clearly. And, because it seems as if I need to calm a few worries:

1. I am not getting rid of blue or shunning blue; blue will always be my core neutral and colour. My wardrobe will always feature blue.

2. I'm not looking to add earth tones or any other colours that don't suit me. Chief among those tones are oranges and all yellows, including citron. I can wear it in a pattern and possibly in a bag or shoes or belt -- but not otherwise. Nowhere near my face. So I'm unlikely to add it except as an accessory complement, however great it looks with blue. And it likely won't be my first choice to add, since it is not particularly versatile for me, unlike, say, red.

3. I'm not really looking for suggestions of which colours to add -- I know that my complementary and accent colours are reds, berries and deep cool pinks including fuchsia, and purples/lilacs/plums. There are other colours that look good on me (some greens, teal) but I'm not interested in adding those just now.

4. I don't share some forum members' negative associations to berries/ plums/ purples/ lilac. I like those colours! Yes, they can look prim or overly prissy or dated (at times) but they can also look dramatic and rich. The way I see it, any colour can look current or dated; staid or stylish -- It's all down to the details of the items and how you wear them, as well as to personal flattery.

5. Lyn Slater has amazing style but is so not me. Having said that, she's currently on a pink kick -- so maybe I can learn something from her.

Phew! Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

Now, onto particulars.

JAileen -- rest easy. See above.

Anon -- I don't know if the opinion is general or typical of the forum or more widely shared. I don't share it.

LaPed, I think my lower contrast colouring means it's harder for me to wear HOT pink and citron. I do like vibrant pinks but they should be cool. Even my little pink bag is too "warm" (and it's fairly true).

Thank you for this -- exactly what I needed to hear and very good advice:

If I were going about this myself, my first inclination would be to examine my existing complements and figure out if there are any holes. Would I wear my lilac bag more if I had more accessories or prints that feature lilac? Do I need burgundy shoes for summer if I want to use my burgundy bag year-round? Etc.

Aquamarine, thanks.

Janet, yes, I know I could add some more cognac accessories -- I do like that as a complement in summer.

Lisa, thanks. I may add more cognac over the summer. I do like it. I actually have a lot of variation in silhouette -- that's where I've focused my attention over the past years.

Nemosmom, thanks! And green looks wonderful on you.

kkards, wise advice, move slowly, don't push it....

The Cat -- good strategy. Non-neutral bottom plus accessory (scarf). Or another way might be top and shoes. Got it. I'll bet you look beautiful in your combinations -- very cohesive.

Fashintern -- that is a big berry collection! Lots of options. It's good to know there will be something at retail. I will definitely check COS.

Jussie, you, too, look amazing in blue! And yes, I love charcoal and wear it. I am not in need of more neutrals. Pinks can work but pale tints are difficult for me -- wash me out a bit.

Jenni -- I think blue will always be around, at least in denim. It's true it might get harder to find other items, though.

Jessikams, I was hoping someone would get the reference to the song!

Opaline, thanks.

Rachy, you're right -- it's not long.

Cee-- cue up the stereo!

Gigi -- this is super helpful: For me, I have found that when I build complements, the recipe that works best is to have one bag, one pair of shoes, one main clothing item (top or bottom), and one or two other accessories (scarves, belts, etc.). I think this is one reason my burgundy complement gets a lot of wear. I have jeans, a top, a sweater, a scarf, a bag. And used to have shoes.

Taylor, thank you! Those other neutrals don't work for me, no -- I wear blue, grey, and white with a sprinkling of black as my neutrals.

Joy, thanks for enabling.

Carla -- thank you!

FI _ Sorry - this is more debate than I'm interested in and have time for. Don't worry about what I think

Cross-posted! A lively thread! Yay!!

Fashintern...I can't speak for Lisa or Janet or anybody else, but here's one association that I used to have to some of the pinks and berries (especially softer pinks, in my case, or to these colours in combination) -- overly feminine and either "little girl" or "old lady."

My mother was colour typed as a "summer" in the 80s when that was popular and oh my, all of a sudden she was wearing these hideous pink and purple polyester pant suits and looking saccharine. That is one negative association some of us may have to these colours.

Then again, I saw her in her old age wearing purple like A BOSS -- seriously -- it lit her up like you would not believe and caused people's heads to turn when she was nearly 90!!!

Coming back to comment again.

I see Suz's style and overall look as quite sophisticated and somewhat dramatic , with her contemporary silver hair, and awesome attention to detail and awareness of current trends. My suggestions were with her in mind. No one else.

Thank you, LisaP. Comments taken in the spirit delivered, with appreciation.

Suz - I know what you mean about Lyn S as "not being you" - and I suppose I look at your fashion forward wide legged culottes, paperboy waist skirt, silver boots, and pieces like that as pretty advanced styling. At least to me they are - relatively speaking. And I totally know that you are experimental in silhouette, and my comment there was a little vague. I just see a lot of you when I look at her!

Cardiff Girl -- wise words!!! Winter has its claws in us all!

Angie: yes, I will relax into it -- no rush. Just a note to self -- be mindful and try not to add more blue; instead, focus on building a few fun complements.

• I've suggested this since you went silver - try black & white, with silver and a bright. Like the Fire Engine.

• As for complements, I'm thinking a saturated lilac/lavender. A cool green, teal, some blush, citron accents, and OF COURSE - Fire Engine.

Lisa, I get it. She's even more dramatic and of course living in a big urban centre. I would like to incorporate a bit more of that drama and could stand to do so. But might not carry it off so well. And I'm less eclectic in my style or perhaps just less confident. A work in progress.

I understand your feelings. And I applaud your desire to explained your horizons a bit while keeping your solid baseline. As long as you don’t take your self-imposes rules so seriously that they make you miserable, why not? They are self-imposed, which means you can change your mind and buy a blue piece at any time! I myself have expanded my horizons in a similar way (more around silhouette) with pleasing results. If I see any berry items that I like, I’ll keep you in mind.

(I for one wish I had more fuschia, though I hope my new coat will help with that....)

Suz, sounds like you have it all sorted in your usual cerebral, calm, collected, disciplined, organized and open minded way. WOOOHOOO. I look forward to seeing it all come together, and champing at the bit to help out! It's exciting to have a project, and delve into the somewhat unknown

I forgot how well you wear cognac accents - which is a form of orange. Orange is the complement of blue - makes sense.

That's it, Angie. A project. I'm going back over my current "complements" or "would be" complements and examining them in light of your old blog posts and people's comments about how they build a complement. I've been intuitive and piecemeal about it, which is totally fine, but what happened was I didn't really build up a full complement of anything other than burgundy and red. And even those were not complete.

There you go, Suz. A great and solid place to start. Exciting!

Coming late to this, but Suz this sounds like a great project. I look forward to following along and I think I'll learn a lot (like you I have a lot of partial complements, built not so much intuitively as catch-as-catch-can).

In addition to La Ped's wise advice about looking at what's missing from your various complements, you might also assess your complements as a whole. It strikes me that the accent colors you've defined -- reds, fuchsia/berries, plum/lilac/lavender, and burgundies -- all sort of grade into each other, and you could potentially create tonal looks by pulling from different complements (burgundy and red, lavender and berry, burgundy and fuchsia, etc.). Thinking here about the "Venn diagrams" of complements that La Ped's approach suggested to me. So, what possibilities and shopping priorities might you discover if you looked at all of those accent items as a whole?

ETA: Another priority, though it has strong HEWI potential because so specific, is to look out for items that feature some combination of red/berry/lavender/burgundy on a blue background.

And, *whispers*, I think you should buy the blue suit.

Interesting side discussion on color associations. I am a big fan of most berry colors and am told I look sophisticated when I am wearing them. I didn’t add anything to the earlier forum discussion on turquoise because (although I adore turquoise jewelry), I feel unsophisticated wearing clothing in that color. But then I see on the forum some of those whom I most admire their style, wearing it in a very sophisticated way... very complicated. So many elements to style. That’s what makes it so much work (but so much fun)!

Yep the colour associations topic is fascinating. See I love pink, even though I know it’s definitely very Missy, it’s a good Missy for me.
However berries and purples look a little odd on me and make me feel frumpy. But I love the berry colours in themselves. In fact I like every single one of the berry finds Fashintern posted above..... hmm it’s food for thought.
Suz I also love your cognac accessories. I wonder if simply wearing more cognac leather items would give you the slight change your looking for, whilst sticking to your current clothing palette. It would lend an earthier, more grounded look to the blue, silver and berry outfits.
Great thread!

Interesting, for good or bad (?) I never had overtly girly or granny connotations for pink, mauve, berry etc ... （＾ν＾）
For me, they’re just another color.

To continue down the berry tangent, my own association with berry/fuchsia colours (and jewel tones in general, such as royal purple, turquoise/teal, etc.) is that they are "gear colours" because they are so widely used in women's lines by outdoor gear manufacturers. Because of that, I have a little bit of ongoing berry-fatigue and have a hard time including it in my non-gear rotation. I'm trying not to add any more to my gear collection either, but it can be hard to avoid. I have a berry-coloured Gore-Tex jacket, a deep pink windbreaker, and a blue/berry patterned top. My old running shoes were grey with deep pink trim and my down vest is black with a fuchsia lining. I have a striped berry dress that is great for casual or festive wear, and of course it's from Icebreaker!

All that said, I have a suspicion jewel tones are making a comeback in the fashion world. I like this emerald/marigold/berry look from the Uniqlo U collection. I think the appeal lies in the somewhat maximal and unexpected combination of colours. Maybe I need some goldenrod-coloured tights to go with my berry dress.

Suz -- I personally think you are killing it in the style department. I wouldn't change a thing.

Well this is all very interesting!

Suz, like you my wardrobe is extremely blue, with charcoal and light/pearl grey also strongly represented.

But this weekend just before reading this, I sort of made the opposite goal for myself-to embrace the blue, just go with it and not worry about all other colors that sometimes grab my attention.
In the last year or two I tried a purply fushia color that seemed like it would be a good change of pace, but I just didn't love it as much as blue!

So, my goal is to be wary of the draw of non-blues, because they just don't have the staying power for me. I like colors like orange, very light purply pink, etc, but not large swaths of them on myself. They are relegated to "complements".

Anyway, this is not meant to come across as advice or anything-I was just amused by our opposite resolutions. I'm looking forward to following your experiment! Good luck!

Suz, sorry for being late to this thread. I have just skimmed through all the responses quickly. I think what you suggest makes a lot of sense. I understand it just as expanding your wardrobe to include more items in berry (in a broad sense of the colours). Personally, I do not like strict rules for my wardrobe building, because there will always be good reasons to break them. Who knows, maybe you will see the most perfect blue item (a dress or a blazer, shoes perhaps?) during the year and why not adding it if blue is the foundation. So no rules, just guidelines. I admire your wardrobe, it is so cohesive and every item has its place and is perfect for you. If you add more berries, I am sure it will be fabulous. What about a statement bag in one of the colours you mention, then easily complemented with a scarf? A magenta bag is actually on my personal radar. I am a winter in my colours and some of the colours you mention work very well for me too (perhaps brighter and "stronger" nuances of them). So I personally really like magenta, true red, cyclamen, fuchsia and some shades of burgundy, although I like to combine them with black and very dark navy. I will let you know if I see some items I like in these colours.

Suz, just wanted to add some scarves in these colors, maybe something like those?

Now I have to go back and read. But here are a couple of color pops I thought today you might like. The hyacinth is definitely you. The green, I don’t think I’ve seen you wear. But it could work with your darks.

I look forward to seeing this new direction - I may or may not share a few issues. But it certainly ain't broke!

Well that was an interesting read. Suz you know exactly what you are doing, and I have no doubt you will accept a perfect blue item that comes your way while putting your particular attention on the beautiful berries et al that are out there. Looking forward to more great style from you!

Shevia, thanks. I absolutely will accept the perfect blue items that fall into my lap, and no doubt a bunch will!

Karen, thanks!

Ummlila -- love the purple, though it's quite cropped for my current tummy....but they might carry more of that colour -- they often do coordinating stuff there. Plus, fast delivery!!! Aritzia arrives in one day to my current address.

Katerina, exactly!! I need scarves just like yours! Will do a hunt. Also, I agree that there is no need to be strict. A guideline is better than an absolute rule.

Awww, Sterling -- thank you. You're sweet.

LaPed, totally -- gear! I just bought a pile of gear in purples and berries. And I actually love it. But...I ought to be careful of overkill.

Opaline -- I think your position is sensible!

Jussie, I think we often gravitate to what suits us. Pinks look amazing on you -- and you have a beautiful ingenue type presence that makes them seem romantic and sweet yet also strong. Whereas some berries might be too "muddy" for you or too saturated. You look great in clear brights.

Excellent point about cognac for me, by the way. I think I'll add some in a print as well as in a bag. (I already have belt and sandals).

Fashintern, maybe starting a separate thread on colour associations would get you more replies. I tend to think that some colours (like blue) attract associations that are widely shared, though of course influenced by culture -- whereas our feelings about other colours (like berries) could be more idiosyncratic. Purples can be creative -- or wacky. Pinks can be sweet and romantic or wild (depending on saturation and "heat") and mixing the two in berry tones could make one seem approachable or overly feminine in a work environment. It also depends on how it looks on you.

I am a "summer" yes -- so-called true summer, so the more saturated tones of summer's palette look best on me. I can also wear certain "spring" brights (turquoise) and can even "get away with" black.

Sarah, good point about tonal variation. I do in fact play with this -- burgundies and reds, reds and berries/ pinks, various blues (sometimes with black). and really like the effect. But I generally need something light or bright to mix in. I'm not high contrast personally but a tonal outfit without any bits of white or bright is too subdued for my personality.

Texstyle -- that is really cool! Thank you!

I used to wear rust tones when I dyed my hair red. Loved them. Now, though, IRL, it doesn't work. Even a brownish burgundy can be too "brown" for me. I'm sad because you are right -- they bring out the eyes and are really rich with blues!

Wow Suz you already got so many replies, but just wanted to say I never thought of you as wearing too much blue. In fact, your red lipstick, smile, and also the red cardigan are seared into my mind. They really stood out on your blue canvas. Totally amazing.
After walking around stores yesterday I think there is going to be a lot of cool pastels to choose from. I think you can add those colors as major pieces that would still work with your existing blues and use brights like berry, fuscia, citron, etc in accent pieces.

I like your idea and think it sounds like a fun, easy way to add some variety into your wardrobe and outfits without making any wholesale changes. I can understand how even though you love something (like the color blue) you can also get bored with it occasionally.