In April I promised to share the colors I am wearing these days. (With the launch of Choose Color First everything got delayed.) Now, this week at Costco they had (deep breath) Halloween merchandise! And Christmas ribbon!!! But dang it, it’s only early August! And since our hottest months here in the Bay Area are August through October I’m still living in summer clothes. So here, finally, are some photos showing how I wear my palette colors in warmer weather clothes, and the “why” of each one.
First, my latest purchases. As a petite, coming in at about 5’ these days, the clothes I often can wear right off the rack are from Old Navy or Gap. That’s because they cater to pre-teens and teens who are generally shorter and have petite proportions.
That’s lucky for me. The tank is ruched on the sides and has cute little amber beads on the side tie. The crops are from a recent haul from Old Navy. (I had just taken the pants out of the bag which is why they’re still wrinkled.) In person, the crops don’t actually look that long. My hub took the pic and was standing on an elevated surface.
The chartreuse blouse was an old buy from about two years ago. This one from Everlane is similar.
Everlane gauze blouse $109
The belt bag was from Quince. But they no longer seem to have the burgundy color. This one from Walmart is very close and also comes in ten colors.
Belt Bag Walmart $14.99
The cap is many years old but Amazon always has a ton of them. This one below comes in dozens of colors and is better constructed for women’s heads than a lot of baseball caps.
Cotton baseball cap $14.99
From the same Old Navy haul I also got these rayon pants. They fit perfectly in length, have a great drape, and I love the color. It’s one of the “refined” colors in my palette. I love pairing them with the chartreuse top because they have similar saturation levels and make a colorful statement about refinement with playfulness. They come in regular, tall, and petite, and are on a crazy sale right now, so sizes are going fast.
Old Navy rayon wide leg pants $19.99
The blouse that I purchased with it was close in color but I prefer to wear it separately. I also bought it in olive green but they have sold out of that color. They will be my summer “jackets” or nearly tunics that I wear with tank tops and slim jeans.
Old Navy Linen and rayon blend loose blouse $36
On my website pop up you’ll see my pic in this yellow blouse. I bought it a couple of years ago at Chico’s. To be honest, (I’m starting a movement against the abbreviation of words, e.g., “tbh”) it’s slightly saturated for my yellows. But I love it and it just makes me happy. Here’s how I wear it now.
My rule:” when the color is more saturated than your skin tone can handle, adjust your makeup to make it work.”
This one is from a company on Amazon and it comes in 17 colors. It says it’s cotton and linen. I might buy one of the colors to verify that because this price suggests otherwise.
Oversized linen blouse $8.99
As I mention in Choose Color First, if you are mostly a summer color type, (or what my artist friend Judy LaMar suggested as Subtle Blended for John Kitchener’s work) you likely won’t have any yellow in your palette unless you have a strong secondary seasonal influence from another season, usually Spring.
The linen pants I wore with it are from Nordstrom a couple of years ago but they seem to have them yearly in their Caslon brand. It’s a perennial item. And of course, Quince always has them. These are available in multiple colors and one stripe.
Quince linen pants $42
And then the sandals, which are also from Quince. They remind me of my beloved Bernardos from the 1970s. And although I don’t wear black, I do include it in accessories, especially worn away from my face. Toe strap sandals are a next “new” (old) thing apparently.
Quince black tow strap sandals $74
Vionic has these on sale:
Vionic patent leather T-strap sandal $49.99
One fit caveat. The wide instep strap is high. If you have a high arch they will fit perfectly. But a lot of customers complained about that. I just made the heel strap one notch tighter and they fit me just fine. They are pretty comfortable and I’ve worn them out doing errands with no problem.
Many years ago I bought this pale blue blouse by Cloth and Stone, from Anthropologie. The sleeves are very long and I haven’t had them altered because I simply use the tabs to shorten them. This is a heavy, drapey beautiful cotton and the construction is excellent. It’s my very lightest pastel shade. We all have some pastels and they make us look fresh and often, younger. (The lighting in this photo doesn’t show the color – or my skin! – quite accurately.) The pastels in our red shades – light pinks, corals, etc. – make us look younger!
Although the color on this blouse below is deeper, I’m showing it because it is from the same manufacturer. Anthropologie usually carries several of this brand, but the only similar one right now a denim version.
Cloth and Stone denim blouse at Anthropologie $98
Summer wouldn’t be summer without stripes! This is from Zara, another old purchase. They have very fast turnover so you wouldn’t ever find it again. I adore this piece because it has a casual but slightly unexpected placement of the stripes. (You can’t quite see that because stripes often kind of blur together in photos and videos.) That suits my amount of High Spirited (gamine), my main style facet. But, basically, it’s simply an oversized, fine blue striped blouse that is likely available in several places.
Nordstrom has a light blue one from H&M. (It looks like they’re carrying a lot of the hipper mass merchandiser brands lately like Madewell, Mango, and H&M and a lot of them are on their semi annual sale right now.) So, at this price it has to be part polyester. Anthropologie has the second one is several colors, but sizes are limited.
Nordstrom – H&M Rayon and poly striped blouse $29.99
Anthropologie batwing striped blouse $98
I love my greens. And I love chartreuse. It’s a playful color in my palette. It makes me feel energized. This long sleeved one is pretty old, from JJill. I just Haven’t found anything similar there this year.
But this one from Banana Republic is something I might buy now if I didn’t have the one I’m wearing in the photo. But it’s a little tamer than my chartreuse.
Banana Republic striped blouse $79.99
Lastly, I wanted to show how I wear “designer” items. “😊 I bought it last year (which is why my hair is longer in this photo) on Etsy because I couldn’t resist. It has one of my reds and the background is a darker white – ivory – which is about as light as I can go in the direction of white. It reflects my High Spirited energy, which often allows for adding something “playful and unexpected”. I just had to buy it. I tried to find it again to give you a link but I’m guessing the company sued them for using their logo falsely. Some attorneys have no sense of humor.
I’d love to know how you’re incorporating color into your wardrobe these days.
