Summer brights
pic: the sartorialist
pic: vanessa jackman
Because, despite my ambitions to the contrary, summer is not always all about ice-cool pastels and muted palettes. Sometimes, as the mercury rises, we need to match the hot weather with some equally hot colors.
I’ve always been scared of adding color to my minimalist wardrobe, as it seems that that would be a way to quickly own a closet full of clothes that don’t coordinate with each other. On the other hand, we’ve seen time and time again over the last 18 months or so that the color-blocking trend is a.) not going away anytime soon, and b.) not necessarily about matching. In fact, many seem to go for a deliberate clash (Emma Stone in Giambattista Valli, anyone?).
The way I feel about bright colors, on a personal level, is that the fashion world will have to pry my navy cashmere sweaters out of my cold hands. However, I made a recent concession to all of the other colors of the rainbow by purchasing these:
pic: net-a-porter
The insanely comfortable J. Crew Lucca suede sandal, bought at a ridiculously low price in a final sale store event. They don’t look remarkable from the side, but from the front they give you an amazing, slender ankle. I paired these a few days ago with slim-fit dark denim and a dark neutral top, and it was just the amount of pop color that I could handle.
And on that note, having finally caved to the the neon color trend, that means that it must be officially over within the next 24 hours.
Oh my god, I love those shoes – so tempted to get them myself
They’re on sale on the J.Crew website (and really comfortable with a 2 inch heel)!
Stop it
I am actually trying to save my pennies for a Clare Vivier messenger bag – been on my mind for a while and a recent bout with a bad back has made me realise the need for a lightweight bag. I love my pebbled and glossy leather bags, but boy they are heavy!
Hahaha just admiring a pair of lemon yellow ballerinas yesterday. So pretty, and yellow has always been a colour I found easy to integrate into my very neutral wardrobe. But I just got a pair of ballet flats as a gift earlier this year so it feels indulgent to buy myself another pair..
Ah, yellow! I wish I could wear it. Lemon yellow ballerinas would look lovely!
Ah, love the vibrant color of the shoes! A nice foray into the world of bright colors.
I swear every winter/fall I think I’m done with bright colors and never want to wear them again, but as usual once the summer rolls around, it’s back to my instinctual bright, saturated colors and fun prints. In order for me to keep my closet small, though, I stick to a pretty narrow color palette. All my brights are somewhere within the red family (between peachy-pink and vibrant red) ensuring that colors will match. Most other pieces I own are navy, oxford blue, or olive green (+ plus white and black), so even though I’ve got colorful items I can basically pull two things out of my closet and be pretty sure they’ll go together. Now I’m more so working on ensuring that the silhouettes of the pieces I own work just as beautifully together as the colors do…
Whoops! By “brights” I meant to say non-neutral colors.
I’ve avoided bright colors for a very long time (feeling that orange and yellow and pinks and reds don’t look good next to my face). But then I realized that if you keep the color away from your face (hmmmm, feet?), you have to deal with less of the effects of it against your skin.
I like your approach to keeping your pop colors in the same general family!
The shoes are really pretty. They look more berry colored on NAP… On JCrew they look so bright. Ah I’m tempted…. They look really comfortable and I love suede. As you said, they’re perfect to add just the right pop of color.
You won’t regret it if you do! They’re quite comfortable….