Wednesday 9 November 2011

Purple Phase: purple with shades of grey

Hi, hi.

The eagle-eyed amongst you - or those of you who live in England -  might guess that the photos in today's post were taken a couple of weeks ago now. Because right now there's no way you'd get me to pose in my back garden in short sleeves and sandals.

Today I'm wearing 2 pairs of socks, legwarmers, boots ... and my arms are buried beneath so many layers they might just be turning into coal at the bottom.

However, today's colour palette is perfectly suited to this cold turn in the season and it's appropriately cool and wintery:
Ahhh grey. Lovely, lovely grey.

If you thought I had a lot of purple clothes ... you need to see the mountain of grey billowing from my wardrobe.

Grey really is my new black. Where I once would have turned to black as the default shade for my basic items [t-shirts, tights, socks, cardigans ... especially the cardigans. If it's grey .. and a cardigan ... I have it] I now turn to grey as a softer alternative.

Particularly with purple:
While black and purple certainly do work together there's always the risk of it going a bit Goth-y. Which is perfectly fine, if that's what you're aiming for [I've been there, done that, bought the eyeliner] but there's less contrast between grey and purple so the overall effect is lighter: 
And yes, that is indeed a purple bag I'm brandishing ... because, after remembering that I had 2 pairs of purple shoes [in this previous post] I also remembered there was a bag lurking on a hook somewhere ... beneath the other bags ... of which there are a few! So I dug it out for the occasion.

I don't think I'd use the bag if I was wearing an outfit with a lot of purple in it already [looking like Barney has never been high up on my style agenda] but as an accent of colour amid the grey, with just the dress to co-ordinate with, I think it worked!
Dress: H&M ¦¦ Bag: Primark ¦¦ Jacket: TopShop ¦¦ Jeans: Primark ¦¦ Sandals: Moda in Pelle ¦¦ Necklace: Lemon ¦¦ Scarf: handmade gift from Kirsty Neale 

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To be honest I'm getting quite attached to blogging about my clothes. Putting outfits together was possibly the first creative thing I latched on to as a toddler so I don't think there's any possibility of me changing now. And it's reminded me of how much I enjoyed doing the My Year in Outfits project a few years back.

So, after the Purple Phase is over, I'm thinking of continuing to blog outfits every now and again and would love to know what you think.

Note: If you think it's the worst idea you've ever heard, ever, there's a good chance that I won't listen to you and will carry on regardless ... just so you know ... ;-)

I'm not sure how I'd work it yet without a focus - like 'purple stuff' - so:
  • I'm open to suggestions on what kinds of outfits I'd blog;
  • What, if anything, you might like to see;
  • What reasons there might be to blog an outfit. [Other than I like playing with clothes! Or maybe that's enough in itself?!]
  • Challenges you might like to set me! And ...
  • whatever else you can think of ...
[Unless you're going to say 'don't bother' in which case ... I'll be putting my fingers in my ears].

OK, then ... over to you ...

Julie :-)

10 comments:

  1. Just thought I'd let you know that I too appear to have acquired some sort of grey fetish. I didn't realise that I had until winter rolled round & then lo & behold... grey!

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  2. Yep - lots of grey here too ... and chocolate browns. My eldest daughter (14 - my god how dare she be 14!) Is a huge, HUGE advocate of grey shades. If she spots a handbag, shoes, cardi's, vests, jumpers in grey she instantly switches the puppy dog eyes on. Not at me. I am immune. But to Craig - who is a complete sucker for the puppy eyes. Idiot that he is.

    yes - I'd love to keep seeing the outfits. Have you seen this woman? I found her on Pinterest. http://www.carolynalexander.co.uk/#795881/what-I-wore-today-NEW

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  3. The best advice I can give is for you to blog about whatever you want ;-) Simply enough but for me it works :)
    And I'd personally like to see some more outfit posts because you seem to have a similar taste in colors as I do. So lots of inspiration for me :)

    Many Greetings :)
    Mandel

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  4. I seem to have adopted the poem "When I am an old lady I shall wear purple" Not that I'm an old lady mind you!

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  5. I'd loved the glimpses of your year in outfits so go for it :)

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  6. Grey is a bit of a staple in my wardrobe, it tends to not show the animal hair as much as black :)

    i have quite enjoyed your sense of fashion and would be happy to see more.

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  7. Grey is awesome and so less harsh than black. I steer away from black a bit now as heaven forbid I start to look a bit 'crow-ish' :)

    I have loved your clothes posts, so please do bother.

    What about a seasonal post with a capsule wardrobe, what you would pull out of your wardrobe for that and what new things you would add to it to update it and then how you would wear them. I would find that interesting and useful :)

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  8. I'm a great fan of grey - wonderfully simple yet elegant. I have thought of getting rid of everything in my wardrobe except for grey and white/off-white, with colour reserved for jewellery and scarves! So any posts about clothes I'd welcome. I like the idea of the capsule wardrobe... :)

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  9. Great accessoring - I am enjoying seeing your outfits. My guilty pleasure is looking at fashion blogs.
    I have made another layout using your colour palettes:

    http://melgetsscrappy.blogspot.com/2011/11/falling-in-love-again.html

    Thanks!

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  10. For he first time in this series, I can say: "I wear this combo too!" :) Love lavender and grey (esp. charcoal grey) together ~ As far as posting outfits, I would love for you to enable us with your great combinations and maybe share some outfits like on polyvore with a current source so that we can run and buy them! :D

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