Thanks for all the wonderful comments!
Joy good idea about skirts. Also, the dark pants in my second outfit are actually jeans - they are LOFT curvy straight ones that I just bought. I had to shorten them a bit and take in the waist like I do with all pants but they fit really well otherwise. Nice to see they "read" like black pants.
Kiwigal/Sally, Brooklyn a brightly colored blouse is a good idea. The tweed has a little bit of a coral color in it but I will look at all kinds of colors.
Kiwigal/Sally Your name reminds of the vacation I took to your homeland about 20 years ago...just loved every minute of it. You live in one of the most beautiful places on earth.
BrieN it actually WAS waiting for me..it was the only one left in the Nordstrom I went to and it was on sale!
Firecracker those "black pants" are jeans as I stated above, and the "taupe top" is actually a cotton sleeveless top with an embellished front that I got at Anthrop several years ago It's both casual and dressy and seems to go with almost everything I own. Note to self on getting more things that fit this description. I do have a basic black dress although it's very casual but I'll give it a try, good idea!