No, not in my coffee! I don’t even drink coffee.

Greetje, Dutch writer of the blog, No Fear of Fashion, usually wears bright, bold colours, but she recently published this post about a monochromatic cream outfit. I was immediately inspired to try a similar look from my own closet.

As I mentioned last week, those of us whose skin has warm undertones look ghastly (or perhaps, ghostly) if we wear white close to our faces, but we can wear off-white and cream.

It wasn’t until I saw the photos that I realized that this outfit didn’t work. Can you see why? In real life, the sweater isn’t quite as pink as it looks here. I’d actually call the colour oatmeal, but it is a pinkish cream whereas the pants are more yellowish. To my eye, at least, they don’t go well together.

That sent me back to my closet to see what else I could find.

I traded the cream chinos for this comfy old pair of soft corduroy pants. No longer cream; more like café au lait, but this is an outfit that works for me. The sweater is the same thrifted maternity sweater that you saw two weeks ago in my Second Hand September wrap-up post. I tried adding a pop of colour with a scarf at my waist as Greetje did, but that didn’t work with the length of my sweater, so I wore one at my neck instead. That’s the thing about finding inspiration in what other women wear. It’s not about copying. My final outfit doesn’t actually look much like Greetje’s, but she planted the idea and I worked with it.

I still think that I could wear a monochromatic cream outfit. I just don’t have the right pieces in my wardrobe. Apparently Diane Keaton does though. Here’s a photo of her that I came across while I was thinking about writing this post. I absolutely love her coat!