The idea of what to wear with a white sweater continues after the request from Heather in New Zealand. Heather was asking about tips on how to wear sweaters and what to wear with them to make them less boring and predictable.
Content for what to wear with a white sweater
1-Square scarf
2-Three different necklace options
3-Vest
4-Detachable collar
Quote of the day: “I’m not interested in whether the glass is half empty or half full. I’m interested in figuring out how to fill the glass.” Donald Kaberuka
Many of our basic sweaters are solid colored which provides a wonderful opportunity to use our accessories in order to make them less boring. In fact, Lesley concentrated snazzing up her black sweater which is another example of a basic sweater we all have in our closets.
Charlotte brings us over 6 ideas of what to wear with a white sweater.
And I tried the same ideas with a print sweater (that is oversized).
Jeans: Soft Surrounds c/o~~ Sweater: Traverse Bay~~ Shoes: AKK c/o~~Purse: Max Studie-thrifted
The White Sweater Outfit
My mom chose this cable-knit, crew neck, white sweater for her example of what to wear with a white sweater. Even though you might consider the cables to be decoration, don’t count on them to create the focus of a look.
Our accessories or styling tricks are a better option to give a solid-colored sweater more pizzazz.
What I really love about this white sweater look is how my mom wore light-colored jeans. You may be wondering if colored denim is in style? Trust me when I say, it’s nice to look stylish, but that doesn’t mean you have to follow the trends for everything.
Colored jeans are a nice option to the blue and black jeans we usually see in the colder months. The days are dark enough, so why not add some lightness to them with our clothing?
Charlotte even chose shoes and a purse that blended in with the peach-colored denim. What this does is draw attention to the top half and especially any extras added to the white sweater.
What to Wear with a White Sweater: A Scarf
Scarves are magical pieces of fabric. Because they are unstructured, you can make them bend and twist in so many ways. Sometimes this characteristic of scarves makes them overwhelming to us because we worry there is a right and wrong way to wear them.
My philosophy with scarves is not to worry about how to tie them. There are many ways and I’ll link a couple of other posts if you want inspiration.
But truly, remember that a scarf is admired because of the colors and fabric. Just draping it around your neck is all you need some days.
Other Scarf Inspiration Ideas:
How to Style a Scarf in the Summer-Even in the hottest months, there are ways to use your scarves to add pizzazz to an outfit.
Over 25 Attractive Ways to Tie a Scarf Including Options for a Short Neck-If you’ve signed up for my emails, this is one post I refer to because it’s a roundup of every shape and option.
For Charlotte’s examples of wearing a scarf with her white sweater, she concentrated on a color that blended with the jeans. This happens to be a square scarf that she folded in half diagonally and then draped around her neck. In order to “tie” it, she used a scarf clip.
BTW, Lesley wore a square scarf with her black sweater yet it looks altogether different.
Insider tip: You can find these scarf clips on Amazon easily, but there’s another thriftier option. When at secondhand stores, check for belts that have this same kind of buckle (no prong attached). Then you can disassemble the belt and use the buckle for your scarves.
3 Different Necklace Options to Accessorize a Solid Sweater
Necklaces are the perfect accessory for any top that is solid colored. Charlotte is giving us 3 different necklace options that can answer the question of what to wear with a white sweater.
Statement Necklace
I would define a statement necklace as one that is big enough to grab your attention by itself. While many women only wear delicate necklaces, the smaller necklaces often get lost in the large expanse of our sweater or top.
This is when a bigger necklace can create more interest in the look and make the outfit less boring.
Don’t be afraid of statement necklaces. There are many that aren’t heavy as they are made with leather, acrylic, or even cloth material.
Insider tip: In all reality, your scarf could be considered a statement necklace. Especially if you use my trick of braiding it.
With the statement necklace, Charlotte also wore bigger earrings since the necklace hung further down her chest.
Combining a Long and Short Necklace
We have talked about layering necklaces many times in the past. I will link to a couple more of those posts below. The advantage of having more than one necklace is that you can have more than one focal point.
Charlotte is wearing a short necklace near to her face that adds some color to her complexion. This shorter necklace doesn’t rest on the white sweater so if you wanted, you could wear the same color as the sweater and make it look like the sweater had a higher neckline.
Then by adding a longer necklace to the mix, you also give the look a vertical element and create a “vee” shape.
Both of these necklaces are in the orange and peach color mix and tie in the color of the jeans. Since there is a necklace near her face, my mom kept the earrings smaller, yet the same peach-orange color.
Even more examples of layering necklaces
How to Layer your Necklaces
A Guide to Styling Necklaces with Layering
Two Long Necklaces Worn Together
You can combine necklaces in many ways and this example shows Charlotte with two longer necklaces. One of the necklaces is longer than the other, but they are still long compared to the short one in the previous example.
In this idea of what to wear with a white sweater, my mom didn’t match the color of the necklaces but used brown accessories for variety.
Notice the longer earrings since both necklaces are further away from the face. BTW, if you don’t want to bother with layering your own necklaces, you can purchase them already layered together.
Insider tip: It is NOT that you can’t wear big earrings with a short necklace. I want everyone to remember that rules are not applicable to style because style is personal and we are all unique. But if you are looking for some guidance about how to match earrings to your outfit, check out this post.
Wearing a Vest over Your Sweater
Just as Lesley wore a long vest over her black sweater, Charlotte is showing that same kind of layering. Charlotte’s version of the vest is a shorter one, yet still covers the length of the sweater.
You can always layer over these basic sweaters to give an outfit more interest. Don’t rule out layering a jacket or blazer over them too especially if the jacket or blazer is oversized. But a vest is a nice option because you can see more of the sweater with the sleeves showing.
In order to tie the green color of the vest to the overall look, my mom wore green earrings. This is exactly why accessories can make any outfit shine because this creates intention.
Detachable Collar
This is not something I would expect everyone to have in their wardrobe, but it can always be an interesting accessory. A detachable collar is one that you can put on at the top of your sweater.
This crocheted black collar is from my husband’s mother’s collection. I wanted Charlotte to showcase the idea since it contrasted nicely against the white sweater. I’ve worn it once with a white dress, however, black is not my best color. Yet it’s one of those pieces I can’t purge because of sentimental reasons.
For all I know, it could be meant to be styled backward and have the button in the back.
These kinds of detachable collars are sometimes part of a sweater or jacket. If that’s the case, you might benefit from storing it with your scarves, separate from the piece it was part of originally. Then you’d think of it as something to accessorize any sweater or top.
My mom has some collars like these that she calls dickeys. In fact, my first EVER knitted project was a dickey (it’s been long since purged, haha). Anyways, I always love a collar with a crew neck sweater, and you can have the collar without the bulk around your middle with these dickeys.
I found a pair of them with embellished collars on Amazon if you’re interested. These can be a wonderful item to bring the focus near your face.
Do You Struggle with Crew Necks?
I know Charlotte tends to prefer crew neck tops and sweaters because she feels more covered that way. Yet if you follow the “rules”, stylists will tell you that they can be unflattering. Of course, flattering is very subjective, so hopefully, you don’t get caught up in too much of that banter.
Yet, I see many crew neck options available at the stores and online. So if you are looking to figure out what to wear with a crew neck clothing item, then you’ve come to the right place because we’ve discussed this before.
Focus Options on Choosing Necklaces for Necklines with a Crew Neck Top– Charlotte shows even more options of necklaces and scarves with this teal top. The only commentary I had with these options, is when you match the accessories to the top as my mom did, you just don’t notice them as much.
Insider tip: My advice is to find colors that contrast with the color of the top or sweater.
Crew Neck Sweater (Styling Discussion 3)–This is one of the first posts on this site with the original models. It shows each of us wearing crew neck sweaters with different accessories.
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