Yay Red Shoes!
So I've been buying stuff online because I can't be bothered to actually go to the shops, and now various orders are starting to arrive. A new pair of red flats arrived a few days ago, and some hosiery got here last night. That was enough to be going on, especially after yesterday's debacle; I looked like a frumpy, dorky, butch high school teacher. A vague description of three of the items I'm wearing are basically the same today and yesterday: men's sweater vest, jeans, and a collared, button-down shirt. But everything else is different.
I don't have any red shirts that fit me well, so I'm using red as an accent. (I wanted to wear something red today because it's the Chinese New Year.) The red flats from Torrid peek out from under my jeans hem. A red scarf is tied in a square knot around my neck and tucked under the collar of my white, button-down shirt. (I tried a half Windsor knot, but it just looked lumpy.) A pair of liquid polymer clay earrings I bought from AnKara Designs a few years back finish the look (they're red roses). The sweater vest and jeans are both navy, so I'm still following my old rule of wearing one color from shoulders to ankles. I dressed in a deliberate attempt to follow Sal's rules for wearing colorful shoes as seen here. Just the shoes would be okay, but the scarf and earrings bookend all this navy in between, as Sal advised:
REFLECTED ABOVE: Why does this technique come up so often? Because it WORKS, people. Just as the necklace/shoe pairings pictured in the first two outfits create shortcuts to cohesion, adding a piece of clothing that mirrors your brightly colored shoes will help those shoes seem like a natural choice. Cardigans, blazers, and shrugs or even scarves and shawls can work wonders toward drawing vibrant shoes into the mix. For a refined look, create some distance between the shoes and their colorful friend.
Beauty part is that I got a few compliments on how I look today, so I owe her one.
One other thing I've been thinking about: I can wear A-line skirts, which contradicts what I said in my last blog post. I just can't wear them without adjustments. My favorite skirt is a full A-line black cotton with a huge eyelet pattern in white appliqued on the hem. (Draws attention to my legs, which is a good thing.) As a quick fix, I stood in front of a full-length mirror and pulled the material in front of my belly up until the hem was roughly parallel to the floor, then pinned it in place. (I should see a tailor about getting this fixed permanently so I can use those safety pins for other things.) I wear tops that end at or below my hips -- I'd rather call attention to that curve than my flabby waist -- so this rough fix is always covered by my blouse, sweater, or cardigan. Problem solved.
I have a black tunic with a shawl collar and black pumps en route, which will make the skirt I mentioned and a red-and-black houndstooth skirt possible again. (Both skirts went out of circulation when my black cardigan got stretched beyond recognition, and Just My Size doesn't offer that cardigan any more.) I already have the tunic in sky blue, which would work with a navy floral skirt if I had shoes, but navy is sadly out of style at the moment, so finding shoes is difficult.
I have several other clothes purchases to make eventually, but once I make one more purchase I've beenlusting after planning on -- hosiery, heels that match my burgundy sweater vest, and a grey skirt with embroidery at the hem -- I'll take a break on clothes and save up for a camera so I can start documenting my efforts. I'll even recreate yesterday's disaster so I can have a Before picture ... because every journey needs a starting point, right?
I don't have any red shirts that fit me well, so I'm using red as an accent. (I wanted to wear something red today because it's the Chinese New Year.) The red flats from Torrid peek out from under my jeans hem. A red scarf is tied in a square knot around my neck and tucked under the collar of my white, button-down shirt. (I tried a half Windsor knot, but it just looked lumpy.) A pair of liquid polymer clay earrings I bought from AnKara Designs a few years back finish the look (they're red roses). The sweater vest and jeans are both navy, so I'm still following my old rule of wearing one color from shoulders to ankles. I dressed in a deliberate attempt to follow Sal's rules for wearing colorful shoes as seen here. Just the shoes would be okay, but the scarf and earrings bookend all this navy in between, as Sal advised:
REFLECTED ABOVE: Why does this technique come up so often? Because it WORKS, people. Just as the necklace/shoe pairings pictured in the first two outfits create shortcuts to cohesion, adding a piece of clothing that mirrors your brightly colored shoes will help those shoes seem like a natural choice. Cardigans, blazers, and shrugs or even scarves and shawls can work wonders toward drawing vibrant shoes into the mix. For a refined look, create some distance between the shoes and their colorful friend.
Beauty part is that I got a few compliments on how I look today, so I owe her one.
One other thing I've been thinking about: I can wear A-line skirts, which contradicts what I said in my last blog post. I just can't wear them without adjustments. My favorite skirt is a full A-line black cotton with a huge eyelet pattern in white appliqued on the hem. (Draws attention to my legs, which is a good thing.) As a quick fix, I stood in front of a full-length mirror and pulled the material in front of my belly up until the hem was roughly parallel to the floor, then pinned it in place. (I should see a tailor about getting this fixed permanently so I can use those safety pins for other things.) I wear tops that end at or below my hips -- I'd rather call attention to that curve than my flabby waist -- so this rough fix is always covered by my blouse, sweater, or cardigan. Problem solved.
I have a black tunic with a shawl collar and black pumps en route, which will make the skirt I mentioned and a red-and-black houndstooth skirt possible again. (Both skirts went out of circulation when my black cardigan got stretched beyond recognition, and Just My Size doesn't offer that cardigan any more.) I already have the tunic in sky blue, which would work with a navy floral skirt if I had shoes, but navy is sadly out of style at the moment, so finding shoes is difficult.
I have several other clothes purchases to make eventually, but once I make one more purchase I've been
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