October 10, 2018
Our retired heroine likes wearing black with pastels – she knows that it makes her iconoclastic, and she loves that! Back in January she took a long weekend trip for which she packed linen shirts, lots of scarves and lots of bracelets. In the spring she took a road trip – she packed a variety of tee shirts that she loved… And during the summer she was invited to a family wedding – her favorite colors worked out just fine (with a little attentive shopping!).
What up with her this fall?
You Got WHAT?
Yes, her dear friend got season opera tickets – including tickets to the opening night gala!
Before she does a bit of shopping for her weekend, she takes a long, hard look at her inspiration work of art, just to make sure that in her excitement, she doesn’t go off the rails with purchases that don’t make sense.
Shopping is done – what she held onto in style discipline, she completely threw to the wind with her budget! (that’s okay, she normally is very careful with her cash…)
And now she’s taking the train into the city…
Earrings – Poppy Finch; tunic – Eileen Fisher; scarf – Vera Bradley; watch – Olivia Burton; bag – Miu Miu; pants – Eileen Fisher; booties – Eileen Fisher; blue coat – Tahari
(why yes, you’ve seen the tunic, pants and boots before – simple classics are VERY versatile…)
She doesn’t want to pack too much, but she does plan to stay at least 1 night after the opera, and possibly 2, to take advantage of being downtown. So many things are going on this time of year!
Scarf – Kate Spade New York; earrings – Oscar de la Renta; Cashmere crewneck sweaters – Uniqlo; floral blouse – Erdem; bag – Attico; slingback pumps – Nina; velvet skirt – Eileen Fisher
Before she loads up her tote bag, she spreads everything out on her bed to make sure that it’s all harmonious. She’s not wearing a bracelet this trip, because she doesn’t want to fidget with it at the opera! (she might be just a bit excited…) Plus, the sleeves on her astonishing, extravagant blouse don’t need anything additional!
While she’s standing there, she envisions the variety of ways in which she can wear these 6 garments. Dinner, sight-seeing, window-shopping – ready for it all!
Her friend could have chosen any number of people to be their guest at the opera – she feels very special! Of course, this has always been a particularly favorite friend of hers…
love,
Janice
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THis is one of my favorite color combinations with enough color variety to make me happy. I would probably tweak the black near my face with charcoal gray.
Oh, this was a lovely nostalgic trip for me! When I was in my early 30s, I had season tickets to the San Francisco Opera, and my entire wardrobe was made up of black with pastels! Fond memories.
I love to see multiple accent colours since all the tables are made for only 2 so it helps. It is all good as well as all accent colors belong to the same family. I can’t wear pastels but I swap this with earth tones. And this autumn I decided for brown as my dark neutral for the first time, but the choices are so limited that I decided to allow black again. So this is very usefull, based on this I can visualize what I want, I don’t mind swapping in my mind earth tones instead pastels, and cream and brown instead of gray and black.
I have lots of black that is not worn much since it not as flattering now..but this gives me lots of inspiration..though the colors may not have quite as much contrast. Thanks!
That Erdem blouse is perfect for the protagonist! (I would happily take this entire wardrobe…) – nancyo
I grinned from ear to ear when I found that blouse. Sometimes my patience pays off in the best ways!
hugs,
Janice
I love those sky blues with black; I wish light blue was in my palette.
How do you feel about boho touches, Vivienne? I’ve seen you use raw amethyst rings and the like. I like a touch of nature about my outfits.
I think on the right person, things like unpolished stone jewelry can be lovely. I’m not opposed to many things in the world of personal attire and adornment, if it’s right for the individual! (and we’d like to try to be environmentally and socially correct – i.e. avoid sweatshop products etc. of course…)
hugs,
Janice
I really love this palette. Black and pastels make me think of being in the ballet studio as a kid: our class uniform was a black leotard with pink tights and pink slippers, and to this day I love that color combination.
It seems to me that since this heroine has season tickets to the opera she will need an evening capsule of dressy garments, perhaps including some of the lovely velvet separates Eileen Fisher usually does for the holiday season ….
I love this whole colour scheme. That shade of blue and that shade of blush are so beautiful with black and SO very flattering on so many skin tones. This is a perfect capsule. And that double breasted Tahari coat is an absolute dream.