I have a confession. I was a beige person for the longest time. My closet looked like a very expensive sand dune and I told everyone I liked it that way, which was a small lie I told myself.
Then my sister Jenna handed me a mustard scarf one October afternoon and said, “just try it, you always say no.” And I put it on with my navy coat and I looked in the mirror and something clicked. That was the day I fell for color again and tbh guys – I haven’t looked back since.
So now I’m pretty much the person who plans outfits around one bold pairing. Blue and yellow, mostly, but also blue and grey, and a few surprises.
If you have been living in neutrals like I was, or you just want some ideas to shake up your week, here are 20 combinations I keep reaching for.
20 Color Pairings I Style On Repeat All Year Long
Navy Cardigan With Grey Tailored Trousers
This is my Monday morning armor. A soft navy cardigan buttoned to the top with grey tailored trousers looks pulled together without me actually trying very hard, which is the dream.
I add little gold earrings and loafers and suddenly I look like a person who has her life sorted out. I do not, but the trousers say otherwise. A blue and gray outfit like this one never lets me down on the days I want to disappear into competence.
Grey Denim Skirt With Burgundy Knit
Grey denim is such an underrated thing. It feels a little more thoughtful than blue denim, a little quieter, and it lets a rich burgundy knit do all the talking.
I wore this to a friend’s birthday lunch last fall and got asked twice where the skirt was from. It was old. It was so old I could not even remember. That’s the beauty of grey denim, it just keeps going.
Grey Denim Jacket With White Barrel Jeans
Barrel jeans took me a minute. I will not lie to you, the first pair I tried on made me feel like I was wearing a laundry sack. But then I found the right rise and now I am a convert.
White barrel jeans with a grey denim jacket is a soft, easy, weekend-errands kind of look. Nothing matches too perfectly, which is exactly the point. A little bit of contrast in the denim tones keeps it interesting.
Grey Denim Jacket With Black Slip Dress
Here is where the grey denim jacket earns its keep a second time. Throw it over a simple black slip dress and you have taken something that reads as evening and made it wearable for a coffee run.
So it goes from dinner to daylight with one layer. I love a piece that works this hard. The jacket softens the slip dress and the slip dress fancies up the jacket. Everybody wins.
Navy Trench With Grey Wide-Leg Trousers
A navy trench is the coat I reach for when the weather can’t decide what it wants to do. Which, where I live, is most of the year.
Paired with grey wide-leg trousers it has this quietly elegant thing going on. I feel like I should be walking briskly through a city with a paper cup in my hand and somewhere important to be. Usually I am just walking the dog. But I feel fancy.
Orange Bag With Denim Maxi Skirt
A denim maxi skirt is one of the most useful things I own and I resisted buying one for YEARS. Silly of me. It swishes when I walk and it goes with everything.
The trick that makes it sing is a small pop of color, and an orange bag does exactly that. An orange and blue outfit built around this skirt looks intentional and cheerful without being loud. The orange wakes up all that blue.
Navy Trench With Grey Knit Dress
On the coldest days I skip trousers entirely and just wear a cozy grey knit dress under my navy trench with tall boots. It is basically a blanket I am allowed to wear in public.
And it looks so much more put together than the effort involved. That is my favorite kind of outfit, the one that runs on comfort but photographs like I planned it.
Navy Leggings With Oversized Grey Blazer
Navy leggings and an oversized grey blazer is my school-run uniform and I am not ashamed of it. Comfort on the bottom, structure on top, everyone thinks you made an effort.
I finish it with white sneakers and a tote big enough to hold snacks, a water bottle, and the seventeen things my kids hand me on the way out the door. It is the outfit that gets me through the busiest mornings.
Blue Puffer With Grey Wide-Leg Trousers
When it is properly cold I live in my blue puffer. A short cropped one over grey wide-leg trousers keeps the whole silhouette from feeling like a sleeping bag.
The proportions are the secret here. Puffy and short up top, long and flowy down below. My husband said I looked “like a marshmallow but a chic one” and honestly I will take it.
Yellow Onitsuka Tigers With Navy Pinstripe Trousers
I bought yellow Onitsuka Tigers on a bit of a whim and they turned out to be one of my best purchases of the year. They add a jolt of sunshine to almost anything.
With navy pinstripe trousers they look playful against all that seriousness. This is the outfit for when I want to look like I have a fun job even though I mostly answer emails. The yellow shoes carry the whole thing.
Yellow Onitsuka Tigers With Denim Maxi Skirt
Those same yellow sneakers show up again with my denim maxi skirt, because a good pair of shoes deserves to work overtime.
This is peak casual weekend for me. A white tee, the maxi skirt, the yellow Tigers peeking out at the bottom. It is one of my favorite yellow and blue outfits because it feels so easy and yet the color makes it look considered. That splash of yellow at the hem gets me every time.
White Denim Jacket With Butter Yellow Dress
Butter yellow was everywhere this year and I understand why. It is so soft and flattering, like custard in dress form.
A crisp white denim jacket over a butter yellow dress is spring bottled up. I wore this to a garden party at my friend Dana’s place and felt like I belonged in a photo shoot for lemonade. The white sharpens the softness. It just works.
Orange Bag With Butter Yellow Outfit
Now this one surprised me. Orange and yellow together sounds like it should not work, too much sunshine at once, but it absolutely does.
A little orange bag against a butter yellow outfit is warm and joyful and a bit unexpected. It is the kind of pairing that makes strangers smile at you on the street. I have tested this theory. It holds up.
Navy Striped Top With White Linen Pants
The navy striped top is a classic for a reason and I own approximately four of them, which my husband finds hilarious. They are all slightly different, I promise.
With white linen pants it is the easiest summer look in the world. Breezy, crisp, a little coastal. I feel like I should be eating something involving lemons on a terrace somewhere. Instead I am at the farmers market, but the vibe is there.
White Ankle Boots With Denim Skirt
White ankle boots are a bit of a commitment. I know. But they do something wonderful to a denim skirt, giving it this crisp, slightly retro finish.
I keep the rest simple, usually a fine knit tucked in, so the boots get to be the star. They also make my legs look about a mile longer, which is a small miracle I am not going to question.
Green Scarf With White Knit And Denim
A green scarf against a white knit and blue jeans is one of those combinations that looks like you did nothing and everything at the same time.
The green is unexpected, sitting there between the white and the denim, and it lifts the whole outfit. Jenna gave me this idea too, actually. She has excellent scarf instincts. I am slowly learning from her.
Silver Ballet Flats With Black Denim
Silver ballet flats sound fussy but they are secretly a neutral. That is the trick nobody tells you. They go with everything, especially black denim.
So on a night out I pull on my black jeans, a simple top, and the silver flats, and there is just enough shine to feel like an occasion. Comfortable shoes that still feel a little special. That is the whole goal, really.
Cropped Denim Jacket With Wide-Leg Jeans
Double denim used to scare people. Not anymore. A cropped denim jacket with wide-leg jeans in a slightly different wash is one of my favorite looks in the entire rotation.
The key is mixing the tones so it does not look like a costume. Lighter jacket, darker jeans, or the other way around. I add a white tee underneath and I am ready for basically anything the day throws at me.
Plaid Shirt With Denim Cutoffs
Summer, camping, that friend’s lake house we borrow every August. This is the outfit. A soft plaid shirt with denim cutoffs and nothing complicated about any of it.
I tie the shirt at the waist if it is warm or button it up if there is a breeze. It is the least thought-out look on this list and probably the one I wear most. Funny how that happens.
Red Trench With Grey Tailoring
And to close, my most dramatic pick. A red trench over head-to-toe grey tailoring makes me feel like I am the main character in a film about a woman who has secrets.
