In my mind, "standby" is a synonym for fast fall-back option (FFBO). Something I can put on without trial and error, something I know will work. I wore a couple of them in recent days, and in between, I wore a new pair of trousers (outfit 2 below). Despite having tried out some different outfits with the pants ahead of time, I had some trial and error before heading out the door. I was pretty happy with how it came out. I will say I think the pants looked better in the mirror than they do in the photos. They felt quite Katharine Hepburn-like to me--a thought put in my mind by MuseumGal's comments on a couple of my recent WIWs.

The outfits:
1-3 (worn to work): dark brown ponte skinnies (NYDJ); layered-front tie-dye knit tunic in browns, cream, gray, and black (made by me); long charcoal cardigan (Halogen); black suede booties with gray turn-down cuff (Paul Green); brown and gray wool coat (made by me); black satchel (Elliott Lucca, Olvera).

4-6 (worn to work): stone wool crepe tuck-front trousers (made by me); cream, red, and blue-gray floral chiffon peasant top (made by me); charcoal cashmere high-low hem cardigan (360 Cashmere); gray, black, taupe, and cream ombre plaid coat (MICHAEL Michael Kors); gray gloves; black and burnished gold cap-toe pumps (Anyi Liu); black satchel.

7-8 (worn for a day off): maroon long sleeved ribbed tee (Stem); mauve and gray print wool cap-sleeve sweatshirt (made by me); dark straight leg jeans (Kut from the Kloth, Stevie); espresso moto boots (Miu Miu); taupe trench (Calvin Klein); black satchel.

Thanks for looking! Comments and suggestions welcome.