Please help me with my winter ensemble

Me: Lightish olive complexion, kind of Mediterranean, with tortoise-shelly brown hair and browny-green eyes. I look good in black. I look like a corpse in tan.

Here is a collection I made: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/collection?id=4009394

I love those color combinations, although obviously I can't pull every one of them off. At the end is a burgundy coat similar to mine, along with a pair of booties I just bought. I admit it, I can return them for another color, but I was looking for a sturdy winter low boot. I also have a pair of knee-high black boots.

I need something to keep my head, ears, and hands warm, as well as two new pairs of pants. Can someone PLEASE make some suggestions as to color and style (the burgundy coat is here to stay) so that the overall impression reflects those lively color combos? I just can't figure out the commonality between all those ensembles I like. High contrast? Medium? Contrasting colors? Complimentary?

Thanks so much for any advice you have.

11 years ago

Kristin L

Veteran

I hope this isn't a silly question, but how do you define tan? Looking at your polyvore, I see a lot of tans/khakis. And I don't see what much black. I don't see much high contrast, but I see a lot of lighter colors and a few tonal outfits.

Based on your description, it sounds like you and I have fairly similar colorings. It may be a bit boring, but what about ink or navy pants for burgundy coat? And black or gray is always a good neutral to have on hand. I love color as well, but a lot of pastels and brights look terrible on me. What about trying to incorporate jewel tones and saturated colors?

tulle

The blue, brown, gray & black grouping stands out for me here. It should look great with your coloring, and it's practical for Winter and the perfect backdrop for your burgundy coat. I would look for a few more burgundy or cranberry red accessories, and maybe some silver or pewter metallics. Sapphire blue is another way to liven up these deep neutrals, and if you like pinks, they do wonderful things for dark colors, too. Sorry I don't have specific items in mind, but pants & tops similar to the ones in the pictures, and pretty knitted hats, gloves, scarves & bags in great colors shouldn't be too hard to find.

Suz

(website)

I wrote a reply to this yesterday which somehow disappeared.

Given the images you have I was wondering about a Burberry look scarf. As KL said, you mention that you do not look good in tan, but many of the tones here look tan or camel to me? So I wasn't sure...

If you truly look poor in warmer shades, the grey works really well with burgundy. But grey doesn't sound like a likely fit for your overall colouring (near the face in large amounts.)

Gigi

Regarding what to wear to keep your head warm, I would buy a couple of hats in neutrals (maybe navy and cream) and one or two in an accent color (whatever works with your current closet and natural coloring). I have done this, and it works well for me. I have two wool berets, one in navy and one in true red, as well as a dark purple cloche and a cream knitted beanie. The three styles and the colors are very different, so I can always find something to wear with an outfit. The most versatile is the cream beanie; the berets can sometimes skew my outfits a little too much into the "artsy" category, unless I'm wearing a very plain ensemble. And I'm glad I'm writing this post, because I had forgotten about the cloche and need to put that where I can see it so that I'll wear it.

For hands, I just wear a pair of plain leather gloves with all outfits. I quite honestly don't have very much outerwear, so I keep it simple and mix things up with the hats. I would love to be able to have more options.

I really like what you put together on Polyvore. It looks to me like the outfits are mostly medium contrast, with some high contrast.

I think that when you select gloves, hats, etc., the main things will be to be sure to include at least some neutrals. I think it is also helpful to have both light and dark items in each category so that you can wear a lighter-colored item if you are dressed in a very dark outfit and vice versa.

Jenava

Em, are you a deep winter? My hubs is a deep winter and I would follow that color pallet if so. I would go with black headgear and matching gloves/scarf if you look good in black...Or, if you want to be a little more out there, try a nice scarlett red with this burgundy coat.

If you are indeed a deep winter, I would re-interpret these outfits in the collection with jewel and dark colors. I imagine that pastels will look deathly on you!

ETA - another possibility is that you are warmer complected than Winter due to your green eyes - so a deep Autumn. In that case, just choose warmer colors. I've added two charts below for reference...You'll have to see which colors you look better in to decide for yourself...

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PS, those booties are so cool! You may want to think about black footwear, to bookend your hair.

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