Projects

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Uninspiring Colour Combinations

I ventured out today, and the roads were clear as can be-no sign of the snowpocolypse of a couple days ago. I needed flowers. Mr. ETB thinks they're an extravagance, but I consider them a quality of life investment. I came home with a lovely arrangement of pink, green, and white carnations and daisies with plenty of greenery to keep it interesting. They'll last more than a week, and I consider it ten dollars well spent. Every day is a special occasion, why would I want to limit my enjoyment of flowers to Valentine's and anniversaries? That would be like saying I shouldn't have more than two pair of shoes. *Shudder*

Look closely, and you'll spot a Brown Creeper blending in with the bark. They're notoriously hard birds to photograph, but I was able to snap this one quickly. They hop along the sides of trees like a woodpecker or nuthatch. They're quite small, and easy to miss given their colour.
I've been forced to stand here holding up the wall, like Atlas balancing the world on his shoulders. If I step away, who knows what could happen? I'd better not chance it. Someone go get me a beer.


I bought this jacket a few years ago because I liked the feel of the synthetic material-slinky, stretchy, but still tailored. I'm not afraid of the 80's (though the shoulder pads on this one are bordering on too much) and I figured it would be versatile. Well, it isn't. At all. Brown and black ought to be simple enough, but the length of the jacket, and the shade of brown makes it nearly impossible to find something that works with it. Today, I was already dressed in the blouse and skirt when I remembered the jacket. It was really by chance I was able to put it togther because all the time I've spent thinking about what to wear with it never quite worked out. Funny how that goes. What you can't see as it is obscured by the bow is the band collar. I like the idea of a band collar much more than the reality. Still, I was happy to finally wear this jacket even if it took me three years! 
 The 1980's were a good decade for stripes. I had a well-loved pair of pink and white pinstriped trousers, and some wide-striped jeans.
The bee's keys. Why wear one brooch when you can wear three? 

Outfit Particulars:
1970's Act III blouse-Goodwill
1970's Lady Devon pleated skirt-Goodwill
1980's Emil Rutenberg jacket-Hand-Me-Ups
BCBG shoes-Goodwill
Tights-Walgreen's
1960's/70's Handbag-Thrift World
1970's Key brooch-Goodwill
Bee pins-HAnd-Me-Ups
Earrings-K Mart
1980's belt-Hand-Me-Ups
Bracelet-garage sale
Fragrance-Sung by, Alfred Sung (well, it went with the 80's vibe of the outfit)
Lippy-Some random lip crayon in an orange-red shade
Is it me, or is the brown/black combination not worth bothering with? I have some two-tone shoes, but for anything like a jacket or dress it just seems pointless. Have you ever seen it done in a way that made you take notice, or is it just a combination that's doomed to be boring? Do tell. 

7 comments:

  1. I don't think it's boring. If it weren't for the disco spectator shoes I'd think it was 'career wear' with a bit of a quirk. See there, you've shown the consumeristic western world a perfectly chic & professional looking outfit can be had for mere pennies on the dollar!
    Flowers are an absolute necessity. I recall when the Sheikh & I were first married I spent a whopping $150 on seeds & plants for our new garden. The Sheikh said, "Why you spendz all dat moneys on plants? You needz dis, I donts needz all dis!!!" ($150 is a whopping sum where most men only make $2 a day.) When he saw it all in bloom & I placed a vase of cut flowers on the dining room table every week he said, "Dis eez nice, eet make the house look nice, we needz dis!" So there.

    http://calmlycookingcurry.blogspot.com/2016/01/kerala-style-mutton-curry.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brown and black works on leopards!

    I wear it, but then I have quite quiet tastes. I can think of lots of people who probably would find it too restrained (boring!).

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think your outfit looks tres elegant! I also think brown and black can work together and look very sophisticated.

    In the photos with the brooches the jacket appears much lighter than it does in the total outfit pictures - it actually looks cream and black striped; that colour combination would have worked really well as well with the chic skirt and blouse. Love the brooches and those wonderful shoes!

    Tree creepers - never seen one in real life - yet, but how lovely they're in your garden!

    x

    Veronica
    vronni60s.blogspot.com



    ReplyDelete
  4. @Bibi
    I'd have to hit Mr. ETB over the head with a vase of flowers to get him to notice...and he'd probably only notice the vase!

    When I still worked in the professional world, I kept to separates in navy, kelly green, and yellow. It made getting dressed so much easier-but it was the preppy-era, so I could get away with it. I had a couple suits I wore as needed, but otherwise I was boring as hell.

    @Mim
    You have the advantage of great hair to liven-up black and brown. I'd forgotten about leopards-you're right, they always look exciting. You also reminded me of a jacket I have packed away-so thank you.

    @Veronica
    Thank you. Maybe it is the lack of light this time of year, but I'm really wanting bright clothes in my life. I don't do sophisticated that well anyway (I've always been a bit frumpy but interesting).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Think of browns and blacks as a particularly luscious selection of dark chocolates: avoid the cheap milk chocolate tones et voila! Of course, one requires the gold foil glittering at the edges. Those angular earrings are perfection with stripes! And those shoes!

    $10 for flowers? I make do with the $3 bunch from Aldi's. They begin as long-stemmed lovelies in a tall vase; they end their tour approximately 2 weeks later as nubbins in a mug. We needz theez!

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Beth

    Our Aldi's flowers don't seem to last more than a few days-you must have a better spot on the delivery route.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Argh! I just realized all the comments I've been diligently posting to your blog haven't gone through thanks to a pesky iOS problem! Bloody hell!! Bloody, sodding, mobile devices (grumble, grumble, grumble).

    Just wanted to say that I'm positively *drooling* over those wonderful shoes. If I could wear high-heels, I would wear those puppies non-stop.

    Black and brown (with some gold) is an AMAZING combination!! I'd rock that outfit, but I may swap out the blouse for a kitchsy black, Star Wars tee-shirt (I should also mention that my youngest daughter/stylist sometimes shudders when she sees my ensembles :)

    Glad to see you survived the snow....it's actually bearable here in Thunder Bay, the temperatures have been in the balmy -5 degrees Celcius!!

    happy thrifting ;)

    ReplyDelete