Dirt Coloured Clothes

Sigh. There's not much to say about brown clothing. It isn't flashy, no one will stop you in the street and exclaim, "What a cheerful outfit!", and it won't be memorable. At best, you can say, "At least it won't show dirt", which it won't because the colours are one and the same. It figures that brown would be the most flattering colour in my wardrobe. If there's an afterlife, I'm coming back as someone that can wear pastels.

I did perk it up a bit with green earrings and a brooch.

I spotted this jacket at Hand-Me-Ups, and initially balked at $20.00 for a vintage (80's) Geiger jacket. After checking it carefully for holes, flaws, etc. and finding none I convinced myself that it would last forever and be worth the investment. Yes, it was brown but I look good in brown whether I like it or not. The same trip, I found a second Geiger jacket from the 70's in teal, which I should think will be far harder to wear than brown. I bought that one too. At the desk, I found out I'd be getting them on sale, so I was pleased to be spending $16.00 instead of $20.00, but that's still far beyond what I typically spend on jackets. The quality is so incredibly good  that I've convinced myself it was money well-spent...but I'm still uneasy about it. The only way to get my money out of it is to wear it, so I spent no time putting together a very classic, very streamlined, very brown outfit.

They do make beautiful clothes.

 The shoulders on the jacket are just conservative enough to avoid screaming, "1983!" but there is a hint of the Michael Jackson jacket-thing happening. I had one of those (in white leather, with studs) and this is a different animal-particularly with the collar, but there's something in those shoulders, and the contrast tan trim that is only saved from looking horribly dated by the cuffs and waist. If you removed the funky shoulders, this jacket would work as easily for the 40's, as it does for the 80's. With that in mind, I paired it with this long, (I think) late 40's wool skirt by Sporteens. I spent the day at a couple of State Parks (Birding is too a sport) and I was happy to have something warm on my legs (it was blowing a gale today!).

 Practical boots because my vintage footwear doesn't visit parks.

 Before you laugh too much at the Flintstones watch, I should mention I own Bullwinkle, and the Jetsons as well. I went through a Fossil watches stage in the early 90's.

 Outfit Particulars:

Late 40's/early 50's Sporteens wool skirt-Hand-Me-Ups
1980's Geiger boiled wool jacket-Hand-Me-Ups
Poloneck-Goodwill
1960's clip earrings-New Life Thrift
Brooch-Thrift World
Fossil Watch-Marshall Field's
Boots-K Mart
1970's suede and leather shoulder bag-Goodwill
Lippy-Estee Lauder Maplesugar
Fragrance-Courreges in Blue

I'm starting to make peace with the fact that brown is apparently my best clothing colour, but it is hard to make the pieces seem distinctive. I suppose that's largely the same with wearing navy or black head-to-toe, but somehow brown just feels like I wasn't really trying. Every wardrobe needs a few items that look "safe" and "normal" but it might be better not to wear them all at once. Looking through my winter wardrobe, there's  a lot of brown.  I'm going to make a point of pulling back on my brown purchases for a bit-particularly wool, but finding such well made vintage clothing does tend to persuade me to purchase. What's a vintage lover to do?! 

I guess a Zoolander-esque look wouldn't hurt. I call this one, Brown Wool. 

I must get out to see Zoolander 2. 

There's still two days left to the Great Backyard Bird Count, and Monday is a Federal holiday. Now, what to wear to Heron Haven on Monday? A nice brown cardigan perhaps?

Hope you're having a nice weekend. So far, I haven't been shat on by any birds, so I'm counting my blessings.