Lots of good ideas in this thread, and by “good ideas” I mean things I agree with Too many to mention them all, but I will say that I don’t think of special occasion wear or things I can’t wear right now because of a nearly unprecedented global situation that will eventually pass as orphans. I’m probably not a great person to comment, wink wink, because I think it’s entirely normal to have things in storage, on site or off, for years and then happily bring them back into the fold. Liking things “for now” doesn’t really make sense to me. If I like a thing, I probably always have, and I expect I’ll continue liking it. If my tastes change at all, it’s probably in the direction of being more open to things.
I don’t purchase complete outfits any more, and am not into fully matching color schemes. I’m happy to wear classic pairs like cognac and black, but also like interesting combos across the color wheel, like teal and cognac, or combining several shades (tones, tints) of the same color, like OJ orange and orange sherbet. (My palette has remained stable forever—and it’s about the same as my mother’s and sisters’, so even clothes shared from them fit right in). Shape-wise, I’m on the conservative side of trends. It is possible to mix shapes in my closet badly, & I have the posts to prove it, but those probably result from me reaching out for something new & different *because* my things tend to all work together very easily. Put those together, and there’s a low chance of orphans for me.
Like Suz, I think of your closet as also fairly mix-&-match. Why don’t you do as Carla suggests and post the items you’re working with? I bet there’s something green that would work with each of them I can’t remember if you have most of your items in Finds. If you’re like me and your Finds are full of stuff you like but haven’t bought, you might want to make one giant collection of what you own, so we can make suggestions from there.
Final thought: I’ve been seeing insta posts about schools having lunch tables for kids to sit at when they don’t have anyone else to sit with, and then other kids come join them. They’re all very heartfelt and sweet. You could think of these pieces like that, nothing wrong with them, just don’t have a buddy right now.
ETA Suntiger, maybe the coat will lead you to create more social occasions even that weather!
