Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Am I Blue?

Not depressed, tho' my carpool woes continue, & I really have no idea how I'm getting to work from now on. Also, it's raining here in Silicon Valley -- I dodged sprinkles while taking these photos. But really, this is about the color blue. It's one of those colors (blue, also green) that I don't wear much. I don't have anything against it. Blue isn't like yellow, which looks weird against my already-yellowy part-Asian skin, or orange, which is just too clown-crazy for my taste. Blue is a nice, calm, respectable color.

But every time I buy a piece of blue clothing (with the exception of blue jeans, because I do rather like those), I end up not wearing it very often, & the blue garment is eventually sent off to be traded or thrifted.

Is this because my mother dressed me in more blues & greens as a child, in a 1970s attempt to be gender neutral, when I desperately wanted to be a pink-ruffles-&-frills girly-girl? She even painted my childhood bedroom a deep, nightsky blue, telling me that glow-in-the-dark stars would show up better on it. As a teenager, in the next house, I painted my room lavender purple, much more feminine, & demanded floral-print Victoran-esque bedding.

What I'm wearing today:
Blue knit dress, Ruche.com
Black knit camisole, NY & Co.
Grey cardigan with sparkles, ModCloth.com
Purple floral scarf, Old Navy
Black tights, Calvin Klein
Black boots, Clarks
Gunmetal & rhinestone hoop earrings, NY & Co.


I thought this dress was more purple when I ordered it online, despite the description saying "blue." This is the second wearing, & other people like it on me. It's comfortable & flattering in the fabric & cut. We shall see if it survives the fate of other blue garments.

Are there certain colors you don't wear, even if they might look good on you?

6 comments:

  1. That is a very flattering color on you. You can rename it purple if it makes you feel better - I do that with pinks. I *hate* pink (my mom wanted me to be girly & I wanted to dress like my brothers, so there was some pink/blue drama early on). Unfortunately I look good in hot pink, so I call it "bright purple" to get over the psychological block.

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  2. My mom did the Color Me Beautiful consultant thing when I was a kid. She insisted that I was a Summer and should wear the same colors she did. My mother has blonde hair, blue eyes and very fair skin. I have brown hair, green-gold eyes and medium skin coloring. My color is actually resistant to typing because my eyes are warm and the rest of me is cool.

    I've discovered that navy makes me look sick and that I can't wear pastels in large doses without looking washed out. When I went gray young, I dyed it darker because I knew from the experience of bleaching that I would look vile as a blonde. I still fight against the impulse to pick up Summer colors because of childhood training. I know I look good in purple, fuchsia, black, certain grays and white (and dark denim jeans) so I try to stay within that palette. Some seasons that means shopping is impossible.

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  3. I love that blue dress on you!
    You should keep it, honestly. It looks good in that blue/black combination because it isn't a dark blue.

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  4. Colors can definitely hold SUCH emotional places in our lives. This blue is gorgeous on you, but if blue makes you feel blue, forget it!

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  5. I love that dress on you. It is a great color to pair with black and grey, and I love the touch of purple you added! The whole outfit looks comfy and chic all at once.

    Sophistique Noir - Dark, Elegant Fashion

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  6. LovleAnjel - Great idea to rename it!

    lazysubculturalgirl - Wow, that's rough, esp. when you have such unique coloring.

    Sal Kaye - Yeah, this blue seems to work with black, so it's prob. a keeper.

    Sal - I do love the fit & the fabric is divine. So the dress will prob. stay (summer will be the real decision-maker!).

    VictorianKitty - Thanks! It's a fairly non-goth outfit, but it worked.

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