Outfit Triage: A case of the Mondays

Do you ever have one of those days where an outfit just doesn't seem to come together?  It's as if you can't seem to make the pieces work despite your best efforts.  You start to suspect it might all be in your head, but you can't shake the feeling that you missed the mark.

That's how I felt on Monday, and I blame my khaki Stevie Cords.  I don't usually wear light pants; I don't think I've worn khaki pants for months and I wasn't crazy about my outfit then, either.

The outfit you see here marked my third or fourth attempt to style these pants that day.  There was a pile of clothes on my bed to prove it.  I think this go-round worked better than the others (which centered around the Keeping Tabs Tee with various cardigans), but I think I stumbled upon this outfit due to blind luck in pairing items and not due to any kind of grand design.

Clearly I missed some basic truth about khakis.  WHAT IS IT?  Please, share your expertise with me, readers, or forever doom me to a life of flattering dark pants.  A fate worse than death!  (Oh, kidding.  Please, fate, do not smite me for that comment.)  Seriously though, how do you wear your khakis?  Any khaki mantras I am missing here?  I need someone to write out  some rules for khaki-wearing that I can adhere to next time I try to assemble an outfit around these guys.  (And there WILL be a next time, because the AG Stevie Cords are the perfect pant.)

The one thing that I loved through all variations of this outfit were my new teal Seychelles pumps, acquired in last week's 6pm.com sale.

I lurve them!  I lurve them so, so much!

I've been saying this everywhere my IP hasn't been banned (that's just a joke...as far as I know...), but I think teal is an awesome neutral.  It goes with EVERYTHING and still adds a wonderful pop of color to an outfit without being too intrusive.  Like a nice solid yellow pump, I am struggling to think of an item in my wardrobe that would not be enhanced or complemented by these lovely pumps.

Shirt: Finessed Turtleneck (Anthro) (M)

Cardigan: Mohair Souffle Cardigan (J.Crew) (M)

Belt: (thrifted, $3)

Pants: AG Stevie Cords in Khaki (Anthro) (28)

Earrings: Trefoil Posts (Anthro)

Necklace: Childhood Secrets Necklace (Anthro)

Shoes: Code Pumps (Seychelles) (9) (TTS)