Thanks Ket!

Cat2, I don’t think T & S were anti colour. Quite the contrary. They said colours looked better with other colours. They didn’t like women’s over reliance on black as a neutral that goes with everything. My preferences relate to the fact that I wear long pants and long skirts. If I wear them in black with a coloured top, I think it can flatten/dull the colour of the top.

Angie and Val MN, thanks for the turquoise advice!

Val MN, I think that turquoise (which is lovely) leans into a royal blue. That’s a colour I have also been considering because it’s available as a RIT dye.

Angie, 1, 3 and 4 are spot on for me. 2 might be a little clear. Nice to be compared to your mum

Wow!!! Absolutely stunning as usual and yes OF COURSE your post is of interest!

I really like seeing how you took a risk here, and also how you committed to the experiment with multiple items in different shades of your new color. It seems to me that was in some ways key to your success, because then you could figure out the nuances of which combinations you prefer. More chance of finding the ones with high happiness factor. As usual, I'm taking notes.

I cannot pick a favorite among your outfits. As a fellow peacock palette fan though, I can't help but muse on other ways of achieving that combination. My eye is drawn to #20, with the blue-black skirt and lilac top. If that were combined with green accessories (I am imagining kind of a pine green -- saturated but not bright) could it yield a peacock effect?

Oh also! I really like your lilac and burgundy combinations -- you inspired me to go change my clothes, and I like the result much better than what I was originally wearing today.

This is such a cool experiment and reintroducing lilac is definitely a success! All of them look great but I'm particularly drawn to the teal in #17 & #18.

It's incredibly instructive to see the way the different colours look laid out in this manner for someone like myself who doesn't feel like they use colour as effectively as they could (I rely on patterns).

Thanks SarahD8. Yes, I think committing to several items was key. I expected to like the lighter tops with the skirt more than I did, but they won’t go to waste because I can wear them with darker bottoms. It’s making me think even though I like low contrast, the palette still has to be medium to dark. So if I try to wear any lighter item, generally I need to up the value contrast with other items in the outfit to balance it. That’s not the case if I wear darker items. I will try a green necklace with that combination. Turquoise might work too. See my pics below.

Thanks RachelNZ, I used to rely on pattern a lot in summer too. Right now I’m drawn to solids more. I’m trying to establish a look that’s not too neutral dependent, IYKWIM. I feel using colour rather than neutrals offers more of an opportunity to wear something distinctive. Of course pattern is also distinctive but a little less versatile from a mix and match perspective.

I am definitely not a tonal dresser, although it is pretty, and I love the shapes of everything. I do really love the jewelry--I love all types of jewelry. And I never thought to do a matching cuff on each hand.

Darn it! I'm so bummed I missed the pictures. I read the whole thing and was excited to see all the outfits.

Hi Cheryl. I’ve opened up the photos for you

Thank you! So much prettiness! You look fabulous in all of your combos and the purple and teal makes my heart so happy. P.S. I love those tanks!

I go back and forth with lilac. It’s mostly because of unfounded associations that it was the colour of choice for women in their later years. It’s unfortunate because it’s one of my better colours, and I do have a raincoat/trench in that colour that I quite like. I’m trying to get over this association.