Low-contrast twinsets

Angie at YLF posted on Monday about blousey twin sets, which is instead of the traditional twinset of a sleeveless sweater shell and cardigan uses a softer blouse as the under-piece of the set. Ask Shopping Friend, she had a hard time pulling me away from twinsets (remember how you got me to at least wear button-downs with the shell over them, and then that was my uniform for a year?!), so putting a new twist on the idea with this look intrigued me. As much as I like layering and colors, there is something so easy about a twinset; it's like Garanimals for grown-ups!

Then I looked at my unposted photo from last Thursday, and the outfit I put together yesterday, and realized I was already doing a variation of that but going with low-contrast combinations.





The cream Gap boyfriend cardigan from Thursday has already been worn with a color-matching top, so I wanted to see how it worked if I went with a low-contrast top instead of a high-contrast one (which had failed in the past). As I have also done with success with that sweater, I added a scarf to bring color to my face. I also added my long pearls double-looped to hold the breezy scarf down and bring up the elegance of the outfit a notch. My brown NYDJ ponte pants and Clarks olive suede booties finished off the look.



Tuesday's outfit was more of a deliberate nod to Angie's post. I wanted to go with matching purples but of my tops and cardigans none had the right tones. Instead I used a lighter hue from a LOFT summer tee, and topped it off with a black patent skinny belt and my LOFT statement necklace to make it look dressier. Gap skinny pants and my Sam Edelmann embellished flats finished the outfit (only because my longer pants for heels are all at the tailor).



I like these color combinations; I had been falling into a rut of white or grey as my under-top, and I was as bored wearing it as you must be reading this. Now I can look at my layering tops and cardigans with a fresh eye! And I will confess, I have been missing wearing button-downs and have been on the hunt for ones I would like. I think looking for softer-fabrications might be the key to my success this time.

+++++++

I hope you all had lovely Halloweens. We had only a handful of trick-or-treaters, so of course have way too much candy in the house. Sigh. But we have had home-cooked meals every night this week, and I just found this recipe for Baked Rigatoni with Brussels Sprouts, Figs and Blue Cheese that I am definitely making tonight. Doesn't it look amazing?

Mark Bittman is a genius.