Just Linking: Leap Day 2008
Weekend reading:
- The Carnival of Modesty at MIntheGap
- Healthy beauty tips at eternal voyageur
- New commenter kpriss blogs at StyleFrizz
- The Ducklings Respond to the news of the coming twins, at The Duchy of Burgundy Carrots.
- Stylish new blog: The Style Observer
More weekend reading:
- new to the blogroll: My Wardrobe Today
- Fabulously Broke in the City’s massive wardrobe cleanout blog project
- new fashion magazine for teens without all the sexualized content. Thanks Meredith!
On the topic of silhouette, Chantelle sends in this comment:
The Body Shape Bible over complicates for the sake of offering something different i feel. As a stylist I have always believed that there are simply 5 female body forms, the most common being the rectangle. In fact I have created a website which profiles your body shape and provides you specific style advice to suit… it’s an automated personal stylist service and simplifies the entire ‘what body shape am i question’.
I tend to agree about the 5 basic body shapes, although I do still prefer to distinguish between the hourglass and figure eight. But I never would have guessed the rectangle as the most common! Perhaps that explains my persistent attempts over the years to stuff my rounded shape into that linear silhouette. Am I the only one who has always subconsciously considered the pencil the ideal female shape?
Have a lovely weekend!
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Oscar de la Renta Fall 2008 on Coutorture
What I would have worn to the opening performance of Little Mermaid last Friday night, had it been an option. 
And then, if I had this dress, I would proceed to wear it to every possible function for the next - oh, I don’t know how many - years. Until it didn’t fit any more. After all, with a dress this awesome, who needs variety?
More gorgeously wearable plumness at Coutorture’s editorial, The Only Oscar We Care About. Or view the entire collection. Or read their New York Fashion Week Trend Recap (honestly, I just don’t have the visual stamina to do much on fashion week myself).
BTW, I’m seeing this purple everywhere, which I take as a good thing. It’s one of the only bright colors which actually looks decent on me. The fact that it looks good on but doesn’t fit my usual color scheme makes it a perfect candidate for a dress.
Update: Or a swimsuit. If you come across one, please leave a comment and let us know where you found it!
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Choose the Opposite Color
Here’s more evidence that what I have thought concerning skin tones may not be correct (I’m so confused!):
We usually look our best - most vibrant and alive - wearing the color that is opposite our underlying skin tone. If the underlying skin tone is sallow (yellowish), choose colors that have red in them. If the underlying skin tone is ruddy (red or pink), choose colors that have yellow in them.
Of course it is true that hair and eye color further determine what colors make us look our best, but this does not change the red-yellow opposites rule.
It is interesting to note that almost everyone looks good in aqua-turquoise (a blue-green-white blend) and apricot-coral (a red-yellow-white blend).
Another intriguing fact is that few people look good in khaki and camel, both of which are devoid of red and yellow.
Help me test some of this!
- Can you identify whether your skin is sallow or ruddy?
- If so, do you find the opposite-color advice works for you?
- Anybody look hideous in aqua-turquoise or apricot-coral?
- Anybody look fabulous in khaki or camel worn near the face?
- If you couldn’t identify yellow or red in your complexion, would you characterize your skin as orange?
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Maternity for the Long Torso
Her Majesty, The Queen of Carrots, asks a tough question, tough for me because it’s been so long since I’ve been in maternity clothes. I’m expecting lots of help!
Her question:
On a very old topic, I went back and tried the measuring the four zones thing and found my measurements were almost the same as yours except my Zone 2 was even longer proportionally. And I do tend to gravitate towards sharp distinctions at the waist–belts, scarves, short jackets, strong color contrasts. So what I really wonder is, what do I do with this zone when I’m pregnant? I don’t have a full-length mirror, but I rather suspect maternity tops are making my legs disappear altogether. Or should I just be grateful to have lots of room to fit a baby in?
Yes, lots of room for baby is something to be thankful for. 
I’ve also heard a number of people say that because of a long torso they didn’t need pregnancy clothes as soon.
A couple of thoughts, though, concerning maternity top shapes:
- I like the look of the cute maternity tops they have out now with a pretty ribbon tied just below the bust. If you had a top that was long enough, you could add your own ribbon. This breaks up the zone a bit. Tying a belt around the hip would also break up the zone.
- The other thought is to use this opportunity to wear the short dress as top look.
(Sorry- I know you’re not crazy about pink.)
Picture these dresses with shorts, pants, or leggings under.
What other suggestions do you readers have? Anybody else have this dilemma? (All illustrations via GapMaternity - Clothes.)
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How to Know You Are Ready to Get Married
My best ever piece of advice has nothing to do with what to wear.
Do you think you’ve found someone you should marry? Here’s how to know:
if you can honestly see flaws in the person that cause you to question whether you can live with them for the rest of your life, and you are willing to accept those imperfections, you may be ready to get married.
The flip side of this is:
if the person still seems perfect, you are not. Ready to get married, that is. You already knew you weren’t perfect, didn’t you?
Remember, nobody’s perfect. I would choose my hero’s set of flaws over any unknown set anyday!
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A Modern Take on a Classic Combo: Navy, Grey & Pink
Ack! - I have a ton of stuff I want to post about! I guess that’s a good thing.
Credit goes to Emily for creating this fresh spring palette, in response to a suggestion from Karen. Personally, I am loving the grey! Although I haven’t gone that direction in my wardrobe yet, it’s the gray (yes, I did that on purpose) which has always resonated with me; very crisp and clean. (Which reminds me of this article Vildy sent in about people who only wear one color. She and another person both commented that the grey/silver/pewter wardrobe was the only wearable one.)
Covering dark and light, warm and cool, clear and muted, this palette has it all. What would you have to add or change in order to wear it?
I might trade the cantaloupe for a candy pink, or else swap the ivory for white. I guess that moves it a little more toward the cool side, doesn’t it?
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My Spring Palette
Little things lurking in the back of the mind, percolating on the back burner, leading to the epiphany that says, “why didn’t I think of that before?“. And at the same time, “isn’t that how it’s always been?”
That’s how it was for me today, when my concept for my personal 2008 spring color palette gelled.
It’s no secret around here that I’m not a fan of black. Perhaps less well known is how positively fresh and delightful I find the combination of black, white, and pink. I have worn a variation of the outfit pictured here before, very successfully, I might add.
(How do you judge the success of an outfit? If I am comfortable and people relate to me in an open and friendly way, I consider the outfit a success. Compliments are frosting.)
I will use two variations of the same palette:
- black, white and (any) pink.
- (any) pink plus any analogous color (coral or peach or light orange, or a warm violet) alone or paired with a neutral.
In addition, I am having visions of the bright pink jacket in the first picture with a solid (as opposed to heather) light gray.
Why I should have thought of this before: my year-round palette relies on neutrals and pinks, with black and white used more as accents. Pulling out the other neutrals, the browns and grays, brightens the palette and dramatizes the colors, while maintaining the subtlety required by my soft coloring. Black and white together are still an accent, but balance each other in a way.
Now, on to the advisability of basing a mature person’s wardrobe on pink, a subject that occurred to me after Emily commented on the previous color palette post.
The psychology of pink:
- Pure red is the simplest colour, with no subtlety. It is stimulating and lively, very friendly. At the same time, it can be perceived as demanding and aggressive.
I wonder if I relate to pink because I’m simple and friendly, without being demanding and aggressive. Beth?
What are your thoughts on a wardrobe based on pink? Do serious neutrals provide balance?
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Spring Palettes
From our recent discussion about what we’ll be wearing this spring, what jumped out to me this year is an emphasis on color. Normally, since my personal coloring is fairly subtle, I gravitate toward low intensity color combinations: two neutrals combined with a soft color or monochromatic. However, right this minute I am craving a bit more color; perhaps an analogous color scheme such as orange sherbet and candy pink or navy and turquoise.
This set of colors comes via wear palettes, who distills the palettes pictured in The Sartorialist’s photography. By viewing these two in bloglines I am able to view just the palettes first, without the outfit picture, which I love! If I were to build a spring wardrobe without pink, this could be it.
Vildy shares her spring wardrobe inspiration:
I’m thinking my spring wardrobe is centered around my new this year plaid coat (jacket length to me), vanilla background with black plaid plus threads of raspberry, copen blue, yellowish olive.
Karen also recently shared her palette she began working on this past fall:
brown and peacock or dusty turqoise blue, tan and olive. I also have a black/white/red/cream/gray theme going. But blue//brown/green are my signature colors, I know just the right shades that are wow for me and it is a time saver to pass over colors that I know aren’t going to work well for me.
Note the wisdom expressed in her final statement.
Further Spring 2008 color inspiration:
- Pantone Fashion Color Report Spring 2008 pdf
- Boden Hot Picks - Women’s
- Got a bright idea? Shop your shade and find colorful looks at gap.com
Well, I’m inspired! Perhaps I’ll take the camera into the “lab” and play. In the meantime, have you any inspired color combinations on your mind for this spring?
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On Being Content
Oddly enough - ever since my recent purchase of a winter weight, casual lifestyle segment, upper layer - I have noticed in my wardrobe ruminations a feeling more rare than it ought to be: contentment. While I am still without the *perfect* pair of jeans, I am content to wear what I have. And every day I have a clean cashmere sweater to put on!
Wardrobe development concepts contributing to contentment:
- The development of a uniform template. Underlying the success of this concept is the necessity to actually own at least one of each piece. These will often be staples.
- Knowing how many of each piece I really need.
In pulling links for this post (on an absolutely gorgeous, sunny, late winter day here in the mountains of the Great Northwest!) I was reminded that spring is typically my most challenging season. I’d love ideas from readers! Spring’s coming. What will you be wearing?
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Inspiration and Balanced Colors
With thoughts of cool and warm colors on my brain today, this magazine cover arrested my attention. Subtly elegant, note the effect of the composition: the models, in warm versions of “balanced” colors, stand out as in living color against the cool gray background.
Vanity Fair [2-year subscription]
Vanity Fair [1-year subscription]
What do I mean by “balanced” colors? Well, in my mind, I have always thought of red and green as colors which could be either warm or cool depending on the exact shade, or they could be warm/cool balanced. Other colors, such as blue or orange, are always either cool or warm. I mean, what’s a cool orange, right? One you just took out of the refrigerator … (bad joke!)
So just to test my theory, I looked at the Color Theory page of The Science of Dress, where I found no support for my mental meanderings, but instead found the following.
So, let us continue………….here is how it works:
| If you have a warm undertone in your skin, you will have a cool undertone in your hair. Ash-blonde hair is also cool. |
If you have a balanced undertone in your skin, you will have a warm/ cool balanced under- tone in your skin. |
If you have a cool undertone in your skin, you will have a warm undertone in your hair. |
After this, she goes on to show a beautiful, real-life model illustrating each combination. For both the cool hair/warm skin combo and the warm hair/cool skin combo she recommends using the hair color to set the color tones used in the wardrobe. For the balanced example she recommends using wardrobe colors which are either balanced or a combination of cool and warm.
So, after all this, here’s what I’m wondering: how many of us have always thought we must be either cool or warm, but are in actuality more balanced?
I know this: I have a strong preference for mixed color compositions, like the magazine cover here (which I think would also look good on a chocolate brown background, but then slightly cooler tints of color might be better). My daughter with the auburn hair has fair skin with alot of blue showing through, almost a purplish pink or magenta blush (like when her ears get pink); could be a warm hair/cool skin combo. My other daughter, who has always looked fabulous in cool colors such as magenta and navy, recently dyed her hair auburn and - guess what? - it looked great!
So what about you? Could this really answer some long-held confusion? Next week, some simpler topics!
