Into The Woods…
My friend Karen just returned from a family vacation to Scandanavia, and reports seeing lots of pine green. Not just in the landscapes, but in wardrobes as well. I’ve also been noticing shades of forest greens (“Eden” in Pantone-speak) showing up with more frequency in this Fall’s collections. Some brighter shades too.
Trends tend to be a bit more amorphous these days, and predicted trends don’t always pan out. I find that can be especially true with colors, so I don’t put much stock in Fashion Week predictions six months ahead, but rather wait to see what shows up on the racks. To me, trends are merely opportunities to find better choices in those colors or styles we’d want to wear anyway, and that may not always be available.
Forest Greens, Evergreen
While olive/khaki shades seem to be perennials, not everyone likes or can wear them. To my eye, hunter, spruce or forest greens can be classic, elegant and, well..evergreen. These cooler greens aren’t in my Spring palette, but those of you with cooler palettes may find them a welcome addition.
If your coloring favors cooler shades, this sweater blazer is such a great throw-on-and-go piece. Glad to see they brought this color back for another season! (Available up to size 3x.)
Forest green can also be a softer alternative to black. Here, in a faux leather draped jacket.
For those whose style skews Bohemian, here’s a pretty cotton gauze top.
This top in Plus has nice shaping and fitted elbow sleeves that should layer nicely under a fall topper. Good for Romantics!
I love the look of bags in these evergreen shades too. This one is for you Classics. It’s a little spendy, but is as versatile as any neutral.
If your style is more casual (Natural Classics or Adventurers) here’s a functional and lightweight crossbody bag.
And finally, these loafers would look great with navy trousers or dark wash denim. Available in Narrow, Medium and Wide widths!
Are there specific colors you’re hoping to find in this Fall’s collections?
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Forest green is one of my favourite colours but I find it hard to get items that match to create a column of colour. Often items tend more towards teal not the deep dark rich green. I hope to add a few more items to my collection.
Recently received the forest green sweater blazer from JCrew. I ordered it back in May when it was on sale, but on back-order. Now I just need cool enough weather to wear it–at least another two months from now. Wonderful color. I still have a pair of forest green Bally loafers I purchased in London in the 90s. Classics never date.
I agree re the classics Mary – several trips to London, at least five years ago, resulted in a Laura Ashley forest green sweater jacket and a scarf with that colour, burgundy and navy. On the other trip re this colour I bought a pair of Oxfords at Russell and Bromley – burgundy suede, snakeskin and patent – wear them and the jacket with navy pants and a navy cashmere sweater and get many compliments! Don’t want to rush winter after the awful one we had here in Eastern Canada this year but love these colours – I had my colours done years ago — winter – no wonder I never wore “autumn” colours and won’t be buying any of those this fall but glad for Susan and others who will look good in them!
I adore this color! As a cool toned person and not a particularly gamine style wearer, I really appreciate your including a variety of styles and colors in your posts. I would not wear any of the spicier colors that seem to be everywhere this season. But this green is now on my shopping list!
This is one of my favourite and best colours, as is a cool (cherry or bluish) red. And so hard to find! I have pima cotton t-shirts in this colour in short and 3/4 versions from the Canadian chain Simons (founded in Québec City in the 19th century). So many green things are olive or scarcely green khaki. Simons happens to use a leaf in this colour as its logo. I’d be thrilled to find a coat in this shade.
My grandmother often wore forest green crocodile shoes and a bag with all black, or all brown tweedy suits. It was so elegant.
I’d love to find the right forest green bag for the fall/winter season.
This color had been on my radar also. If I can enable a little more Fossil has a collection in this color right now
https://www.fossil.com/ca/en/products/kalya-three-hand-dark-green-leather-watch-sku-es4662p.html
I tried on this color over the weekend. I have grey-green eyes and ash blonde hair and it was fabulous. I love everything the J Crew model is wearing above. I’m abandoning my seasonal color swatches. They didn’t spark joy, were impossible to find and didn’t coordinate with my existing wardrobe. I know what I love and what looks good on me.
YES! I hear you. This color actually is in my Winter seasonal palette and I love it (and all the greens). That said except for black, charcoal, burgundy, royal blue, cranberry, true red and certain deep pinks, I just don’t wear many of the other Winter colors including pure white (not even on my wedding day), icy pastels,, light greys nor neon brights (esp. yellow.). They just don’t feel right and frankly don’t flatter me. On the other hand, I can really rock peacock blue, deep eggplant and certain shades of coral and aqua which are not in my palette but always elicit lots of “Wow, that color looks great on you!”
I’m curious about the resurgence in seasonal color and style typing. I went through this phase when I worked in fashion in the early 80s and “Color Me Beautiful” was all the rage. It was fun at first, but quickly started to feel very limiting, joyless and almost cult-ish. As I pointed out in another post, only a handful of “my” colors actually felt like me, while several colors that weren’t in my seasonal palette did feel right. For me, creating a signature style is 90 percent attitude, mixing unexpected colors, proportions, high end with low end items, and accessorizing to create an eclectic look all one’s own. For a while there, everybody starting looking like seasonal clones, but not like themselves. After about six months I tossed my swatch book (as did a lot of my customers). Anybody else have a similar experience?
These cool dark greens are my favorite colors-I snap them up when available!They mix so well with denim blues,violets,burgandies,roses.I am pale,my hair starting turning white when I was thirty,and have bluegreen eyes.Olive green is no friend to my coloring.
I tend to wear one colorful item against neutrals, so I struggle with forest green. Don’t want to look like a tree so brown is out. I wear with black mostly, and occasionally grey. I don’t think I’d wear dark green and pink, or dark green and purple. Green and navy seems very spring/summer-like to me. Of course everything goes with denim, so that’s a no brainer. I guess I could do forest and white jeans with grey boots? That seems too blocky though. Can you show a few more outfits with dark green as the focal point?
If you do wear black (which I do), this green is very good with black.
My first thought was that was so nice of you to send suggestions out for others even though this color isn’t one you wear. I have also heard the color pistachio will be on trend. I agree, we will find out on the racks for sure. Second, I wanted to say thank you to the reader who suggested epionce tinted sunscreen lotion for the face. I bought it and really like it. One of my favorite ways to try new cosmetics and toiletries is to buy a mini size and see how I like it. eBay is a great place to do this. I also like mini sizes for travel.
Interesting that you say that this green is a cool color. I would have thought that the fact that it has yellow in it would make it a warm color. Love the shoes and the bag, although the bag not having shoulder straps makes it not very practical for me.
Some greens are cool and some are warm. There is a green in every palette. As a soft autumn I would not choose the pine green featured today because it is cool even though it is a very pretty color. But I can wear a dark green that is warmer and softer.
The first bag has a shoulder strap (not crossbody), it just isn’t shown in that photo.
I love this color. I remember when it was popular in the 80’s.
I love this color! Funny enough, I have to discipline myself not to buy anything I see in this color, regardless of fit or occasion, just because it’s so hard to find. A top in this color makes my blue-green-gray chameleon eyes look very green. I echo the other comments in thanking you for featuring colors and styles that aren’t yours!
After Susan’s visit to Red Leopard, I became intrigued by the whole process. Someone mentioned a website 30somethingurbangirl.com which has a self analysis that I found very helpful. I ended up ordering the color palette packet in a Shaded Soft Autumn and found the colors to be spot on for me. For me, the typical Autumn colors are too strong. The Soft Shaded palette has colors that are softer subtler versions are what I am attracted to anyway. At 65 I have stopped wearing as much black as I did when I was younger. I still have many black pants and blue jeans that I will still wear, but these colors will push me to continue to incorporate more color. I find the color cards very helpful in choosing clothing online.
Yes! I am also intrigued by color analysis. Pinterest is full of information on color analysis if you are not able to have an analysis done in person. I have used the site you speak of. You can also find an excellent flow chart by looking up Headcovers Unlimited Color Analysis. It’s not a traditional fashion site but it has the best color analysis flow chart I have seen online. I discovered I am a soft autumn also. Soft autumns have neutral skin tone which is why we don’t fit into the traditional warm or cool categories. The warm but soft colors of the palette are perfect for me also!
Love the loafers Susan. I am so excited that they are available in a narrow width! So hard to find. Thanks for featuring them.
Loved the J Crew forest green blazer and immediately bought it in a plus size. Although the style is traditional, the forest green gives it an unexpected punch. Can’t wait to wear it with navy, camel, brown, etc
Will become my new neutral
Yay! Green is my favorite color, especially this shade!
I couldn’t care less of what color is “a la mode”. I wear what I know works for me regardless. Same with various shapes, lengths, prints or lack of, etc… ! Forest green is a fabulous classic color that is easy to use and accessorize but please, not all at once!
No one is suggesting “all at once.” 😉
As a redhead with long hair (bright auburn (thank you, Mom!) with brown eyes, forest green is absolutely my best color. Because I wear jeans most of the time, it’s easy to wear. I can’t wait to see all of the forest green out there!
I love this color. I’m looking forward to adding this color to my wardrobe. It’s great that there are so many “new”colors that are considered neutrals these days, getting away from black, navy and tan!
Am enjoying your color journey reporting.
Another vote for green! I’m also an Autumn who cannot have enough green in my wardrobe. Thank you for featuring this shade.
Going to France for a month in mid-September. Hopefully forest green items will be showcased there as well.
I saw the green croc bag by Tory Burch this weekend in Nordstrom, it’s a stunner!
This color works great with navy and black. I’m also a spring, so it’s not one of my colors either but I think it could work for accessories!
Love forest green and several of the items you are showing here. A wonderful colour for fall and winter. So classy, and easy to combine with many other colours. I treasure the forest green light puffer jacket I bought a year ago and look forward to wearing it again from late September on.This year, I dream of finding a knitted dress and/or or an elegant midi skirt in forest green.
Love this color! I recently bought some emerald green slim pants and I’m planning to wear them with black. I’m a Winter. Those loafers are gorgeous…
Susan, by the way, your last paragraph, about testing, error messages etc., reminds me of this recent forum post at Youlookfab.com where your website was mentioned as insecure:
https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/secure-vs-not-secure-websites
I don’t know if you are already aware of it. If not, I hope you don’t mind that I hereby bring it to your attention. Whatever the problem might be, I hope you are able to fix it, as your well-written and inspiring blog posts have deserved many readers also in the future.
You might also want to write a comment to the above mentioned forum post at Youlookfab.com.
Thanks for letting me know. My site IS secure; some people may have received a warning last week while I was migrating to a new hosting service. I popped over there to put everyone’s concerns to rest. 🙂
Glad to hear that your site is secure. Thank you so much for confirming it at youlookfab.com as well as here.
This color was simply never on my radar. I see the coolness and now you have piqued my curiosity! I echo other comments on how delightful it is that you find such wonderful items. I also enjoy seeing the variety of body sizes you share herein. It’s another wonderful post, thank you!
Though I lean towards the blues, these are lovely choices. I recently purchased those exact loafers to add some interest to my clothing choices. I love them and they harmonize well with my wardrobe.
This only looks good because she’s young and skinny. On me, it would make me look frumpy, dumpy and drained. I’m not confident many women can wear this green next to their face, although it is lovely in accessories.
While the color may not be the right one for you, I disagree that one needs to be “young and skinny” to look good in this style. It depends much more on your personal style, body type, etc. (BTW, I’ve worn this style jacket in several posts, and think it looks just fine… 😉 )
I’ve been craving these boots: https://www.gudrunsjoden.com/en-us/clothes/shoes/product-85999-agave-36
Based on this post, I took a chance and ordered the green sweater blazer from J Crew in a 3X. Just picked it up and I love it. Doesn’t cut my widest part in half. And it’s just the color I’ve been looking for
Hi Maura, I’m so glad you like it! Thanks for letting me know.
Susan, are you replacing the Via Spiga shooties, in off-white from last year with the Everlane booties in bone? I was interested in the Everlane bone last year also, but they sold out really fast. I purchased the Via Spiga’s, and they are so comfortable. They are definitely more casual with a western influence, and may be too white for your color pallet now. I am neutral…somewhere between a warmed summer to soft autumn. It is difficult to be a neutral, I think.
I’ve hung onto them for the moment, though the Everlane boots feel a bit more in sync with my Gamine style profile. And yes, the Everlane bone color is better for me than the cooler white on the Via Spiga’s.