True Colors

This week's Fashion Beauty Friend Friday questions were all about color...something pretty relevant to today's bright outfit! (Don't ask me why I have plastic monkeys sewn onto my skirt. It's actually work-related, I swear! (and ended up being quite worth it.)) Basically, the outfit started with my needing to wear the skirt. And if I was wearing bright monkeys on the skirt, I needed to color-coordinate --thus the red sweater and blue necklace. I was thinking about wearing red flats too, but that just felt like too much.


Details: black skirt, thrifted and DIY'd by me. Red sweater, thrifted. Red camisole, Express. Tights, HUE. Black oxford heels, Nine West. Necklace, gift.


FBFF Questions for 2.11 - Color War.
1. What color dominates your closet?
I've got a pretty balanced closet (actually, I organize it by color, so I can tell what colors I have very easily), though it's starting to lean more and more to black/gray/white/neutrals. However, I think the more interesting question for me is what colors dominate the things I actually WEAR on a regular basis. My regular outfits really become heavily dominated by black/white/brown, with some deep reds and blues, occasionally purple. I tend to go for more saturated shades; I'm not big on wearing pastel colors. I used to wear a lot more color... maybe that should be a goal for the spring, to get some of my bright-colored clothing out of the closet and into some outfits!

2. If money weren't an issue how would you change the color emphasis in your closet?
I'd add more accessories in bright colors...I won't necessarily wear a bright pink or yellow shirt, but I'd definitely do so in a belt, shoes, or a necklace!

3. What is your mantra about mixing colors?
I don't have many hard-and-fast rules, here. Black goes with everything. White also goes with everything. I prefer to stick with colors in similar tones - several shades of purple, for instance. I'm not so much a fan of mixing bright colors (though when I was a little kid, that was my primary style rule: wear really bright colors that "clashed" with one another.)

4. For you, how do you incorporate color into your outfits?
I mostly stick to one or two bold-colored pieces at a time, and tend to tone things down a bit with black, white, or gray. I have many more colorful skirts and sleeveless dresses than I do tops at this point -- a secret fear of mine is sweating (which is not an infrequent occurrence) and making dark sweaty underarm stains. So I'm really careful about what color shirts I wear, which I'm finding seriously limits the amount of color I wear.

5. Which blogger(s) do you think do a good job of incorporating color into their wardrobe?
Franca from Oranges and Apples always has amazing, bright color combinations! (If you don't believe me, check out the images on her FBFF post today...)
I really love Sal's color mixing. Bold, but chic and not over-the-top. Seeing her outfits inspires me to wear more color, especially in accessories.
Lyddie from Chic on the Cheap can really rock bold colors and fun combinations.
And Marie from The Joy of Fashion wears colors that just make me happy!



Interesting stuff to think about, and makes me want to try some more color mixing in the next couple of weeks - get out some of my less-worn clothing and experiment! This outfit's a start, with the blue and red in the same outfit...though paired with black. I also find intriguing how much in my answers I assume that "color" refers to bright colors in rainbow shades. Really, black and gray and white and brown are all colors too, so skilled use of colors could include outfits that mix shades of these, or even an all-black outfit with many different textures and layers. I would also include these in "colors," though that's not my intuitive definition.

Hope everyone's having a good Friday!