Pix-Elated

So....I love yellows and golds. A lot of the walls in our home are painted various shades of gold and yellow and ochre, and we also have some gold soft furnishings. My first childhood bedroom was yellow (at my insistence). Yellow is a colour that energizes me. 

But yellow is also (after orange) typically my *least* flattering colour. I got a soft printed butter yellow shirt a couple of summers ago to try. I valiantly tried to wear it. But it made me unhappy. So after one season , I let it go. 

However, I noted here once that I quite like the very bright yellow of the safety vest I wear on my bike. 

Well, guess what? A little fashion bird suggested I might like to try an on sale sweater at BR in similar tone. Why not, I thought. It is returnable. 

Here it is. My wildest wild card yet! 

My review of this sweater: It is very soft -- merino/ cotton blend. Lovely to wear! Almost feels like cashmere! The fit is slightlyl smaller than most BR items. I normally wear XS at BR but I got S and I would not have wanted it any tighter -- the shoulders on this are perfect. It is a slightly cropped length but not overly so. So if you are thinking of ordering -- and the sweater comes in many colours -- you might want to size up from your usual BR size.  ETA: The sizing is also inconsistent. I got this sweater in navy also because a navy crewneck is an essential for me. It is a full inch longer than the citron sweater and slightly looser in the shoulders also, though no wider in the torso from what I can tell. 

The lighting is not great here. They call the colour Bright Pistachio Green, but it is more like a sour citron. There is an underlying coolness or acidity to it. 

I feel as if I could risk adding more of this colour to my closet -- what think you?  The trouble will be finding the right version. It can't be too warm or it won't work. And I can't go pastel at all. Has to be a bit shocking, I think. 

Thank you, Angie, for the recommendation! 

Angie's outfit formula on Friday reminded me that I seldom wear this absolutely beautifully made Lafayette 148 striped cotton dress. The picture does not do the fabric or construction justice. It's  impeccably made, with the kind of finishing that I rarely see, and I got it on super sale at the Rack -- it was probably the last one or something. There is so much for me to love here -- the low contrast grey and off-white stripe, the mixed stripe pattern, the deep pockets, the breezy, roomy skirt. And yet -- after its first year in my closet, I have rarely reached for it, and Angie's post, along with  Dee's post today about her new striped dress made me consider the "whys." (Thanks, Dee.) 

In terms of the style -- while I love so much about it, including the neat neckline and armholes -- it tends to feel a bit too classic or even "ladylike" for my style.  When I wear it with a topper like a distressed denim jacket, and a sneaker or an oxford, it works.  When I go too matchy matchy or ladylike with the accessories -- or really, when I try to go "one and done" with very simple footwear/ accessories --  it feels just a bit uptight, for want of a better word. It would suit a dramatic classic better than a gamine, maybe? <shrug> 

Still, today was hot and sunny -- a perfect day for this amazingly wrinkle-free cotton fabric-- and I decided to try it out.

I used to wear it with a pair of red heeled sandals, but those are long gone and anyway, I had to run errands on my bike.

#1 was my first try. Red earrings and flats and also my red bag. Verdict: too matchy matchy, and I didn't like the proportions of the long earrings with my longish face and flats. 

Next I tried with my EF silver flatforms and simple Enoki stud earrings, almost invisible. I didn't love it, but it was fit for purpose, I thought. Off I went on the bike. 

For, um, two blocks. 

Despite the length of the skirt, it was impossible to wear this on a bike -- it kept hitching way up my thighs as I rode, nearly exposing my undies to the world, something I am not eager to do! 

I quickly went home and changed into my sarong shorts....

I don't plan to get rid of this dress. But it's clear why I'm not wearing it much. Not only does it present styling challenges for me but it is also exceptionally impractical for my daily life now that I live in a suburb and spend as much time on my bike as I do walking. In Vancouver (where I bought it, and where I always walked or was on transit) it was not impractical. But for my current lifestyle, it's hard to casualize it enough. 

What I need instead: more JORTS!!! Please send links if you know of any. I scouted the mall today and found nothing that I liked. Preference for below the knee, not black or brown (though I would consider brown). 

Also, does anyone with a similar lifestyle-issue wear skimmers or bike shorts under dresses like this? I could consider that, perhaps? 

I got a pair of the Cole Haan sneakers that Angie featured this morning and tried them out today -- they are super comfy and lightweight! I thought the mix of textures in the shoe and top was fun, along with the floral mix in the pattern on skirt and top, in my first outfit here. 

I also got the footbed sandal and am just trying it now. A little stiff in the leather up top but I know that will soften. I got them more or less as my summer "at home" shoe (though I will also wear on our deck). A sandal slipper, in a way. 

Cole Haan is either very very good for me....or horrid. I now own 2 of their sandal styles, 2 knit-top oxfords, and one sneaker. Alas, their leather oxfords are not narrow enough on the heel to work for me. 

By the way, the jorts are an instant workhorse! How could I have debated them for so long? Duh!!! SarahDB was so right. Pedal pushers! 

Over on  my other thread, Star asked what a "sleeper workhorse" is. 

I might just have invented the term, I don't know. But here's how I answered her: A sleeper workhorse is an item that may seem a bit difficult to style on first purchase, but shows its worth more and more over the course of a few years. Trendy bottoms are almost always sleeper workhorses for me. I may or may not wear them often during their first year in my closet. By year two, though, they are in full swing, constant rotation. This is a pattern for me. Fashion-forward bottoms that I like, even if I can't quite figure out how best to wear them initially, almost always turn out to be long-lasting durable items in my closet. 

Examples -- I started wearing cropped wide legs in -- I think -- 2016. They are far from fashion forward now but the style has worked for me well. I started wearing barrel style pants in 2020. Cargos, ditto. Full length wide legs in 2021 or 2022. All the items below have more than proved their worth. 

Maybe sleeper workhorses go along with being an early adopter? You need to find the right complements for them and sometimes that takes a while. 

How about you? Do you have categories of item that become sleeper workhorses? Or specific items that surprise you? Maybe, like Dee, you find them in your "donate" pile and rescue them> 

Thanks Angie and Brooklyn for the great reminder that joy per wear is as important as any other metric! 

Most (but not all) of these are occasion wear items that don't come out that often, but wow do they make me happy when I do get to wear them! 

Hi, all! Well, it's no surprise -- but after my two month experiment with tonal and monochrome outfits, I have learned that I'm still a contrast dresser at heart. ;) 

Despite my low contrast personal colouring, it seems I like mixing things up. 

Or maybe I just like going to extremes?  Because here's the thing...if I do dress monochrome, I like white out. Or navy. Or red. In other words, a dark or a bright or a light. 

I can do tonal happily in greys (on the right day). I can also do it in lilacs to blue or red/s burgundies (16...though that may not seem like a truly tonal outfit, and I get that...), or variations of blue, or variations of white/ cream with a hint of grey, or berries/ reds and burgundies. 

In fact, I like all those options a lot if there is enough textural interest or shine (which, ahem, usually introduces at least an element of contrast) or if there is some tone on tone pattern. 

I strongly dislike myself in pastel lilac monochrome (1) or tonal with pink (11) . Ugh. If I'm going to go monochrome, it's dark or bright all the way. I am sure I could do a midtone blue as well, if I had the elements, but no pastels, please! 

I think my next little experiment will be with pattern mixing. I do this a lot but I missed it during my tonal experiment, because I was using more solids or faux solids. So it will be fun to switch things up.

Those of you who also tried this experiment, did you make discoveries about what works and does not work for you? Are some colours better for you than others? 

Thanks for inspiring this personal challenge, SarahDB, and thanks to all who joined in! 

I have to make a quick 3 day trip to Vancouver which will include multiple kinds of activities in --- ugh -- not only. dreadful, but mixed-up weather (winter cold plus pouring rain and then warmer with rain.) And I am on foot/ ferry, and have to bring a few gifts to friends. And also need to go for a walk with one friend in the rain and then meet another immediately afterwards for dinner, hopefully not looking like a drowned rat. 

I have no idea whether this is going to work, but here's my travel capsule. 

I'll be layering like a pro -- wool cami under mesh top, with puffer and raincoat (and possibly a sweater as well, depending)...wearing waterproof boots for everything. Holiday reds planned for tomorrow but in the blues today....plus red for the trip out -- gloves, scarf, puffer under the raincoat...would far prefer a different coat option but this is the best I can do in the mixed conditions. I have an umbrella, too. 

Continuing my experiment with monochrome and tonal outfits. Blue is my easiest neutral/colour to work with because I have the components, in multiple silhouettes and textures. Here are a few options drawing on some newer items as well as older items. 

Outfit 1 (different versions, pics  1-5) features the new pleated wide wide legs from BR along with a matching mock neck. The trousers are so comfy! Lovely to wear. Highly recommend! 

This is pretty much monochrome, except for the belt, which is called Dutch blue (a slightly lighter, warmer blue) and of course the buckle.

I then tried it with different outerwear, more tonal than monochrome, but kept the bag blue (thank you, Angie) to see how that might feel. Verdict: despite being dark, monochrome ink or navy feels very "me" and I am comfortable wearing all blue, assuming I can add a bit of shine. If I have to wrestle together a travel capsule, a base of navy is my friend. 

Notably -- the addition of the slight bit of contrast with the bag strap, and/ or the flecks of white in the infinity scarf (thanks, Ms. Mary!) made me much happier with the outdoor version of this outfit. Monochrome or tonal is fine...but I still like a hint of contrast via light/ bright, or shine. 

Outfit 2, (pics 6-9) shows the same mock neck in mid-blue, with my new wide leg flocked menswear pants from Anthro. How I love these trousers! They are floor skimming with the black Eccos and a bit too long with the silver boots that I also tried. I probably should hem them, but oh, I love the drama of the length and might just leave them and wear with the footwear that works. I have at least 3 options to wear with them at this length. 

The trousers are dark navy with a faint grey/white check, and black velvet flocking. Fun texture, a mix of femme and boyish that feels completely me. They are probably meant to be dressy, but I will dress them down a bit, too -- as here, or with denim. And they're super comfortable! This was to wear for an at home date night. I didn't try to play around with outerwear for this version since I wasn't going anywhere. 

I'm learning a lot about my preferences from this experiment and also trying combinations I might not otherwise have tried. 

Yesterday dawned foggy and cold and ended up sunny and cold. I needed to bundle up to ferry Mr. Suz and the adult child to various appointments. 

After one day of greyscale, I was ready again for colour! Here, I'm trying tonal lilacs, with colour wheel adjacent reds/ and pink hues and incidentally also showing a few Top Picks (from various years!) 

1. For outside, I have my J. Crew stadium coat, plus burgundy hat, scarf, gloves, and red bag, with a strap that combines the tones. Shoes are cream. The pants are actually a very different lilac -- closer to mauve -- and on first glance I did not think they would work at all with the bluer lilac of the coat. But once I had the whole thing on, it seemed to blend ok, at least to my eye. That was a good discovery, because I really would not have tried them together if not for this experiement. 

2. Taking off a few items. 

3. The inside outfit -- sweater is a different again lilac background (closer to pink) with red and burgundy pattern. 

4. This is another lilac tonal outfits worn since buying the pants. The sweater is magenta; the scarf has various tones of lilac, red, burgundy, magenta in it. 

5. Here's the near monochrome version with the BR sweater. I did not wear this in real life because I sent the sweater back. I decided that a whole outfit this pale just didn't feel "me." I need a lilac that is more mid-tone, that has a bit more "oomph". Plus, as an outfit, this felt "off" for me. A bit too sweet for my personal taste. I do like lilacs and pinks but prefer to mix them up with rougher textures or other colours because otherwise I don't feel like myself in them. 

Taking inspiration from DonnaF's  thread about sweater vests, and one of Carla's comments on my thread of yesterday: "When I did a lot of quilting, we talked about patterns that read as solids, and how much interest low contrast or tonal prints added to a composition. Of course it would be the same with garments! Maybe even a good thing, where texture is lacking?"    

Well, let's see. Here, I'm trying it in greys. This is something a bit tricky for me. Grey is a key neutral and looks good on me (I think) but I can easily depress myself if I wear too much of it, especially this time of year! But the sun is supposed to come out this afternoon, and I have to ride my bike downtown. I wanted something practical. 

The pants are charcoal, not black, and they have a faint check in a lighter grey. The shirt is black and white gingham that can read as a false plain (but gives me that pop of light that I crave). So it's a very subtle pattern mix. The vest is medium grey, as are the boots.

Strangely enough, I do not own a grey coat (I donated my two older grey coats in the last few years. They still fit and were in good condition after a decade's solid use, but I was so tired of wearing them.) This oyster jacket has a slight grey cast and is the best I could do for greyish outerwear. If I were not trying this experiment, I would certainly have reached for the red jacket instead! 

If I weren't on my bike, I could have worn different boots for perhaps a bit more pizzazz. But I do feel very much myself in this outfit -- it does fit the Laid-back Luminous Garçonne persona due to the boyish nature of the vest and shirt, I think. 

Here's a collection of other items I can play with in greyscale. If i veer toward pure white, I would have more. 

I welcome comments and co-experimenters!