Color Me Casual

My friend Vicki, who in the last two years has broken out of her tomboy shell, has encouraged me to introduce some color to my wardrobe. I have, for the twenty years of our friendship, always favored black and neutral colors. On occassion, I will throw in a fuschia or red, maybe even a funky print here or there, but primarily I stick with darker shades.

My mother has always wanted me to wear color also. She's the "artistic" type and has always dressed like a Puerto Rican on vacation; colors, prints and florals, very often in the same outfit. I don't think she even owns anything that's black.

I will often say "I do wear color!" when challenged on it, but then I look at my closet or my stack of V-neck t-shirts and see several shades of black, eggplant, burgundy and white; rarely a color in the mix. So today I went shopping and this is what I tried on:

Would you say I was spinning that color wheel like a drunk woman?? I didn't buy anything, but the yellow jacket was actually my favorite. It was a stretch denim (the stretch was kind of cool, I haven't seen that much movement ever in a denim jacket) and the buttons, which looked like rivets, were actually snaps. I liked that too. The ruffly tank on the right (which was a deep teal with tiny goldenrod and white flowers) looked really great with the yellow jacket.

I've been looking more at how other women dress and have been trying to get some ideas for how I can incorporate dressing down (in a stylish way) into my life since my profession really requires me to embrace all things casual. I'm not really good with the casual look, so putting something together that looks good is hard for me. I think I owned one pair of jeans when I met Ed and I have had a really hard time adjusting my wardrobe for this lifestyle. I don't do sweats and I'm not a jeans and sweater type of person.

That whole layering thing seems to be really popular - the long tee sticking out of the other tee sticking out of the sweater which sticks out of the jacket, topped with a scarf casually slung around the neck. Ugh. Layers can be a real problem for me as I HATE to be hot. As it was, I seemed to be the only person in Newfoundland who was sweating.

We'll have to see how this color thing works out and what I do for my wardrobe in the next few months. I plan on getting rid of everything I have and starting over with all new stuff for January, so maybe I'll stay away from the black and try to get into more actual outfits that incorporate some color. It's been suggested that I try more button down shirts, maybe some fitted jackets and dark wash, bootleg jeans. If that doesn't work, I'll be the only driver on the road wearing velour track suits with the satin stripe up the side.

With big hoop earrings and flip-flops, of course!