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The colour that has gradually infiltrated my wardrobe...

Bijou

Veteran

I don't think of myself as a wearer of olive, it is a bit murky for my colour preferences YET when I look in my wardrobe and look at what I wear, there it is! It is a nice neutral that seems to work with much of my wardrobe. I am not planning on buying any more, but I can't say I don't wear it, because clearly I do and like to wear it with pink, white, cream and denim, always just one piece at a time, never a column of colour.

My latest olive acquisition was a Uniqlo umbrella from the Jean-Michele Basquiat collection, my excuse is that I wanted a small compact umbrella and love the dinosaur and Uniqlo quality. My most worn items are the olive pants, an easy alternative to wearing jeans. I am looking forward to the cooler months when I will make sure my velvet coat gets some wear, it will be a fun match with the umbrella.

Do you have a colour that you think you don't wear, but actually you do?

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42 replies

Latest reply was from

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

Olive looks good on you! I am the opposite in that I have really *tried* to incorporate olive into my wardrobe (since it's meant to go well with earth tones & therefore my colouring) but I just feel *blah* every time I look at myself in it I do have a pair of olive cargo pants, though strictly for hiking only!

For me, it's probably pink - it shouldn't work on paper, but I have a scarf & tunic that work surprisingly well with orange. I think this shade referred to as hot pink? Second photo is a more accurate colour representation.

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Star

Veteran

I am on the fence about olive for me. I am cool toned and have never really been drawn to olive. However in the last couple of years my hair was copper-ish and suddenly olive infiltrated my wardrobe too, not intentionally. When I realised I was wearing a lot more olive than before I purchased olive ballet flats and a metallic olive handbag thinking they would be useful. Now my natural silver hair transition is almost complete and I am not sure if olive is going to work for me. I have noticed that some olives look better than others. I think light grey toned olives may still work. I was thrift shopping yesterday and kept picking up olive pieces even though I have decided to move away from it. I did not buy any but am really not sure which way to go with it - I guess time will tell. You are so right that it can be a really versatile neutral. Your pieces are fab.

Aurore

Veteran

Well, your olive seemd to be my white!

I came to a similar epiphany when I packed my wardrobe before moving house : "What, I have that many white items? Let's donate all that stuff I never wear!" Then only I realised I do wear all those white items - and love wearing them.

PS : that dinosaur umbrella is to die for!

Mirjana

Veteran

I have to agree with you about olive, the same with me. I like it but always something bother me. Love a olive pants , no luck with them and I decided not to buy a new pair for a while.
Your olive items are beautiful, enjoy wearing.

bella

(website)

Veteran

Great little collection! Olive is not a color that makes my heart flutter, but I got a pair of balloon trousers last summer that I enjoy wearing. I think your pieces are all very unique and interesting. The umbrella is super cool, I would totally carry it.

Brooklyn

Veteran

Nice collection! I love olive. And particularly love your olive velvet coat. I think it’s a colour anyone can wear - you can go for the grey versions if you like it cool or the brown versions if you like it warm. Or the more yellow versions if you like it bright.

I tell myself I don’t like pinks, yellows, and lighter colours but in fact I do like them if they are slightly earthy/dirty (dusty pink not pink, fawn not yellow, and so on).

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Looking forward to your WIWs.

I have been surprised to discover black, pink (fuchsia and frost pink), orange and yellow in my closet. I’m exactly opposite Brooklyn in preference for clear vs dusty in warm colors (all colors, really). I have posted about several of these little discoveries.

Aurore, I’ve made a similar discovery with black. Fun, isn’t it?

SarahD8

Veteran

That is a fun little capsule! I can see olive working really well for you in the color combinations you describe. I love the idea of the coat with the umbrella!!

My olive is probably red. I think I don’t wear it, but actually I have several red pieces that are favorites in my summer wardrobe.

Ion the flip side, I think I *do* wear ballet pink, but when I look in my closet I have hardly any.

Runcarla

Veteran

Very nice capsule. The velvet trench is gorgeous.

The number of navy blue items in my closet had dwindled over the years, but I’ve added five (!) new items (out of 6 purchases in total) since the start of 2022. (And I’ve had a navy mani on repeat )

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nuancedream

Veteran

I love your olive collection, Bijou! Mint green slipped into my fall and winter wardrobe, and it has been a refreshing addition that will I take into the spring and summer.

rachylou

Veteran

All your olive pieces have a lot of interest. I really like them.

My sneaky colour is probably pink. I don’t like it, but there it is(!) And I do wear it. There are a couple of tops that do the trick often enough. I suppose that speaks to my theory about needing to remember to look at ‘ugly’ things… sometimes ‘ugly’ items are what make whole outfits work.

JAileen

Veteran

Your velvet coat is amazing. I adore olive. I like it to be on the cool side, though. I had a few jackets and several pairs of pants, but I added a sweater and a couple tops, including a striped one.

I say I don’t wear black, but actually, I added several black things for my Scottie capsule, for my Radley bag.

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Cardiff girl

Veteran

I should think that Olive is a good colour for you as a blonde,l wear it a lot in the summer with lighter colours too.It’s my summer neutral.Funnily enough black seems to be worming it’s way back into my wardrobe after me giving it up years ago!

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

Haha @Aurore & @SF when that same scenario happened to me last year (but with black), I packed it all up into a separate suitcase to use as a capsule wardrobe for when I return home (hopefully soon...)

It was sobering to see that I had enough black in my wardrobe to do that in the first place! But hey, lemons to lemonade - right?

Joy

Veteran

I love your olive pieces, especially your velvet coat and the dino umbrella. My sneaky colors are hot pink and burgundy. Neither are very flattering but can make an outfit.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

That is a hilarious line and so acute -- a colour you don't think you wear, but you do.

I need to give that some thought and investigation since if I am lying to myself I don't yet know it.

Love your olives!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Ohh, Sarah, love your counter question! For me that would be green. I always think that I wear it, but when I look at my closet, actual green pieces are few and far between!

Zaeobi, I wouldn’t want to pack up all my black and set it aside. As I said above, I don’t think of it as something I wear, but when I look at my wardrobe I see that indeed, I wear it quite often. Part of this could be because of different climates. I think I actually didn’t wear it until I got to Berlin in the mid 90s, when I added several pieces. When I got back to the US, I sometimes wore it in Ky, Ohio, and DC, but much less in Georgia, Texas, in a small city in East Germany and in Florida. So I really didn’t remember wearing it, but being back here, it was just as Aurore said—I discovered that I wear it quite a bit.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Nice olive items, and across a range of the colour! Are your eyes green, perhaps?

kkards

Veteran

Olive was a color than started to sneak into my closet a couple of years ago…and in the last 2 years olive had kind of softened into a sage green. Jokes on me, because I’ve always told people I don’t like green

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Sal

Veteran

Love your olive capsule. It is a colour I love to mix with light and bright colours- i like the balance. Definitely a good alternative to denim.

I don’t know if any colour has snuck in to my closet. I did add a denim shirt and a denim jacket after almost swearing off them. I love them both too. You provided some of the motivation for the jacket Bijou- your denim jackets are so cool and have longevity.

I still have a lot of black despite trying not to rely on it.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Lovely olive items! Well I started to enjoy olive in 2013 with just one pair of pants and have only built from there.
I guess it is more tones of colours I don’t like- like I love yellow but it must be bright and clear, not mustard.
I am not sure that there are many colours that are not in my wardrobe!

Helena

Veteran

Hmmm, I think what Suz said applies to me too!

These are excellent olive items and I can see why they work well for you ... a perfect neutral for your lights and brights. Like Angie, I'm curious is your eyes are green? Mine have a lot of green in them and I was just pondering whether to give olive another go ...

Anonymous

Gorgeous coat!

Style Fan

Veteran

I am definitely on Team Olive. Your olive pieces are fabulous. I pretend I don't wear black, but I do. I don't wear black near my face because it makes me look tired, but I have several black bottoms, black bags and black pairs of footwear.

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Jenn

(website)

Veteran

That coat is to die for. I think there's something super fun/playful about olive combined with brights, especially pink, so it makes total sense to me that you'd gravitate to it.

Sloper

Veteran

Go team olive! It's a perennial for me, for decades.
Speaking of eye color - I have hazel eyes - wonder if that's why I like the way olive looks on me?

Colors creeping into my wardrobe - warm brights like orange, magenta, red.

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Sally

Veteran

Like you, I wouldn't say I try to wear olive but I do. I find it easy to wear it in shorts ...as black is too hot. I also have recently found my old olive shirt dress which I am wearing every week. I find it an utilitarian colour as it blends well with other colours but I'm not wearing black or denim my other go-to practical colours.

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

I don't think it's a bad thing necessarily to have a 'sneaky' colour in your closet, but I packed mine up in order to let the other colours shine more. Plus it's now easier than ever to throw outfits together that automatically *work*, instead of having to spend time fiddling with the value contrasts etc.

That might just be because black lends itself to interest in other ways though (like texture, shine & silhouette). I'm not suggesting everyone else in this thread make an all olive/ pink capsule - or go for it, if you want the challenge? Idk

Bijou

Veteran

I'm glad I'm not the only one that has a sneaky wardrobe colour. It gave me quite a shock to see how much olive I have and wear.

With the items I have, I bought them for reasons other than the colour (the dinosaur, the velvet fabric and coat shape, the trousers for the fit, the shirt to wear with a skirt) and so acquired these pieces despite not being in a preferred colour. As Rachy wisely says, it is often 'ugly' items are what makes the outfit work and I like how grounding olive can be when worn with other colours and patterns.

@ Angie and Helena, olive sort of matches my eye colour. My eyes are teal in colour (with more blue than green). I look good in emerald, mint, teal and turquoise because of the green in my eyes. I like wearing emerald or bronze eye liner because it brightens my eye colour.

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