If I am not supposed to wear black or white…

[ChoccyJules]

….next to my face (this from having my colours done years ago), what on earth can I wear with a skirt I’ve just made? It’s a fab retro fabric of orange, black and white and I can really only see it going with a plain black T shirt.

Definitely a brown or green

I'm a warm spring so also try not to wear black or white next to the skin.
Can you wear a cream or ivory, or warm dove grey?
Or what i sometimes do is wear a black top but with a brightly coloured scarf or big necklace with it

I'm a big fan of wearing 'your' colours, it really works; but in this case by far the best top for the skirt is either black, white or an orange very close to the orange in the skirt. Black T shirt and a big gold necklace would look great.

I’d wear that with a black long sleeved t shirt or white shirt. Or a black or white thin jumper. Do you wear a lot of orange? Do you have tops in lighter shades you could try it with?

there’s another thread running about “what advice have you taken from Mumsnet” and your skirt issue has reminded me of one - no matter how much you like an item, unless you can think of three items in your wardrobe you currently own you could wear it with, or if it’s a full outfit (ie a dress or jumpsuit), three occasions you’d wear it, don’t buy it.

its a bit late now as you’ve gone to all the trouble of making it for me to say this, but for next time- if you don’t wear black or white tops, this sort of pattern is going to be tough to style well for you.

I would go for charcoal grey with that.

Green top! Either khaki or a rich dark green!

So I think it was Colour Me Beautiful and I was either soft & warm or warm & soft (apparently they are different!). Bear in mind this was 18 years ago and I am sure aging will have changed things a bit.
If I wasn’t worried about looking washed-out (thanks lady from nearly two decades ago) I would naturally go for black with the skirt so am going to try that with a gold necklace. As people have said, it’s a helpful guideline not an edict.

I think before going out and buying a black or white top (if you don’t already have them) I’d try laying the skirt out with all your various tops you already own. You might be surprised what will look good.