So this is the first of a series of posts where I ask you to help me with a fashion-relate dilemma. In this case the dilemma is what to wear with a sweet guava top.
Some time ago I had the chance to come across a Harlow blouse in sweet guava in my size and for a decent price on the JCA Weekly Exchange. I already own the ivory version (see this post) and I regretted not getting also the sweet guava one (and/or the honey glaze one) because I absolutely LOVE this blouse, it's so feminine and classic and it will never go out of style (I can picture myself wearing this when I'm 80). So I got it and I was very excited about adding it to my closet.
However as much as I love the color per se, I find particularly challenging to find a cardigan to pair with it. I think that the blouse is mean to be worn alone in the first place but it's freezing here and I would like to wear it before spring, if not right now (it is REALLY freezing and there is nothing that could convince me to wear something different from a cashmere sweater these days).
Anyway, I have tried it with different cardigans that I already have and I'm not very happy, so I hope that you have some great ideas for me. While I was trying to find a cardigan to pair with it, I have realized that my winter color palette, and in particular my cardigans' color palette, is neutral bordering boring: besides a bright papaya cashmere V-neck cardigan from last year and the pinkish Michelle that I bought at the sample sale, everything is beige or black/charcoal or navy. There isn't a single splash of color, so I wouldn't mind taking advantage of the current great sale prices to buy a cardigan or two in a bright color.
But because maybe you don't remember the blouse, I wanted to show you a picture of it worn alone first. The jeans that I'm wearing in the pics are not the best style for this blouse but I was focused on the top half of my outfit, so please don't let the jeans distract you.
A similar style (plus the ruffly placket) from the current fall/winter collection, is the Solid Loulou blouse, that also comes in sweet guava, so if you have this one and you have found what to wear it with, I would like to hear it!
The first pairing that I have tried is the most obvious one, a black or navy cardigan. I picked up the navy Portland because it was longer than my black cardigans:
That's a safe choice (I think that nobody will point at me and say that I have a weird color taste if I go out wearing this); however I also think there is too much contrast between the sweet guava and a dark color like navy.
So I tried a heather grey, which on the opposite, is a little bit too fade for sweet guava (please mentally substitute this cardigan, which is old and too short, with something like the mohair souffle one):
I think that in the lighter palette a snow would work better, but snow is typically a color that washes me out (the last time that I have tried something in snow, the SA said that I could do better and said by a SA it sounds like a granitic truth).
Now for the unexpected pairings, I tried it with my cotton-cashmere waterfall cardigan in spice olive from this spring:
Unexpected it surely is, but is it also nice? I can't tell, what do you think?
And finally the following is the best I could come up with. You could call it an orgy of pastels but I kind of like them together, it's very delicate and it "respects" the spirit of the blouse. I'm talking of my croquet cardigan in amethyst from last spring. Did I tell you that I love this cardigan?
I think that this is how I'm going to wear it until I find another option. The bonus is that the cashmere in this cardigan is much thicker than any cashmere sweater that I have seen this fall/winter season (I'm still wondering why this cardi was part of the spring collection), so at least I'm going to be warm.
An option that I have been considering is buying a sweet guava cardigan for a total guava look. But because the bling cardigan (that comes in guava) I had put my hopes in is so flimsy, I am left with a cashmere crewneck and I don't know if I want to spend money in a cashmere in this color.
Do you have a blouse or cami in sweet guava? What do you pair it with? Do you have any color pairing suggestion? Which one of the options that I have showed you do you like the best?
Please share!
