As you’re building a wardrobe in your personal best colors, you should start enjoying what I call “happy accidents”. You bought item A to go with B, but when you get it home you find it also works with 3 or 4 other things too.
Remember, nearly any two colors that both look good on you can also look good together. But they may need a little explaining to the people who see you. A LINKing accessory can be the difference between:
“What a fabulously sophisticated outfit” and
“Was that the only shirt you had clean this morning?”
A LINK is simply a scarf or jewelry item that includes both colors you are wearing together. Ideally it includes an element of your personal coloring as well. See how it works in Karen’s wardrobe:
This brick-red shell and mesh cardigan can work nicely with both her brown pants and her camel ones. But see how the accessories create more harmony and unity in the look. She would probably wear either the scarf or necklace - not usually both at the same time.
The bright flowers and the red "pearls" echo the sweater color, the scarf's brown background obviously relates to the dark pant and the golden flowers and beads allude to the camel color of the pants (That pant color doesn't show very accurately on my monitor -- if it's no better on your computer, you may have to trust me on that match.)
The links also add pizzaz to a look. Remember that plainer garments like these are the most versatile, but then they need a boost to make memorable outfits.
Here's another example - the same two pants, this time linked with scarves and/or jewelry to a coral sweater.
A print garment can also function as a link - see how this animal print unifies the brown pant and turquoise jacket? Check back to lesson #10 for tips on picking prints that are perfect for you.
A link is the very most effective when it includes an element of your personal coloring as well as repeating the garment colors. That lets it link the entire outfit clearly and obviously to YOU.
At first it may seem that you'd need an awful lot of links -- and spend an awful lot of cash -- to connect all your outfits. But remember, we're building your new wardrobe in one unified color direction, so you'll quickly find the same accessories working over and over to link lots of garment combos.
Wardrobe consultants sometimes advise clients to spend as much as a third of their clothing budget on the accessories. Good advice when you're in the building process. But since accessories last a lot longer than most garments, and since they are not size or weight-sensitive (did you ever complain that you'd gained a few pounds and couldn't squeeze into your scarf or necklace ???) - you'll keep using them to link new outfits for decades with little additional investment.
Check your closet this week for solid garments that play well together and for accessories you alredy have that could link them into great outfits.
NOTE: Readers continually email me about selling my jewelry and scarves on my web site. Because I carry so many different styles and so few of each item, E-commerce just isn't feasible right now. But if you have certain colors you are trying to link, you can email me that info and I'll reply with pictures of suggested links from my inventory.
