Style Evolution

For my first day as a day student at Choate, I spent a long time picking my outfit. It was 1982 and the Official Preppy Handbook was my bible; I took every word from it as truth (that's how everyone dressed so how was I supposed to know it was actually satire?), and I wished so much I had a name that lent itself to a cool nickname (Kristen or Kris was so blah). The night before, I laid out my outfit reverently on the bed: kelly green chinos, a white button-down shirt, and a bright yellow sweater to tie casually over my shoulders.

My dad dropped me off on campus that morning, and all the other students were in navys, darks, subdued colors, or grey. I looked like a clown escaped from the circus in my neon colors. I was mortified, and I remember immediately stuffing my yellow sweater in my locker, and crying in the bathroom because I had ruined all the anticipation and excitement about my first day with my hideous pants. I was never going to fit in, I was never going to be cool, and I was never going to be a true preppy like they were.

Slowly, over the next four years, I studied and copied a lot of their looks so I wouldn't stick out anymore. Sweatshirts and pearls were a big look; I wore my pearls rowing on the crew team, just like everyone else. We wore skirts and blazers to dinner, and oversized button-downs, and I don't really remember what else. But I never cried about my outfit again.

Flashforward twenty-five years to my Choate reunion. I'm heavier than I want to be, but I have a fashion blog with several hundred readers, I get compliments on the street on my outfits all the time, I feel pretty good about the way I dress. I have lots of colors in my wardrobe, I love a good print, and I read up on all the trends. I know a lot better than to show up in a clown costume this time.

Except I did, again.

All the women were in expensive neutrals. Not just black (my office wears all black, and it looks terrible) but muted tans, browns, greys, blues, with just the right dash of (still muted) color. Their jewelry has only gotten nicer since the days of pearls with sweats; there were a lot of mixed-up bracelets in gold or silver on their arms, and they all had the perfect jacket and shoes for each type of weather (and we had all weather that weekend). They had defied the stated dress code and were almost all in jeans ("We're too old for them to keep telling us what to wear" was a common phrase). Whereas I had packed all my cute, patterned, bright dresses, leggings, and my costume jewelry. Stuff I wear every day on the blog and to work -- and it suddenly looked wildly wrong.

I didn't cry, but I did have several anxious moments. High school all over again! Luckily, this time I had other clothes with me, and I selected more of the toned-down pieces to wear. And it kind of surprised me, because they looked good together. My eye wasn't used to that: two neutrals together? Not having the color be the focus of the outfit?

I've been thinking about neutrals ever since. It wasn't just that I felt out-of-place again; once I had calmed my own returning teenage anxieties, I was able to look at them again and recognize that the neutrals they were wearing all looked really, really GOOD. it wasn't just the all-black uniform like the ones the women in my office use as a cop-out, it was the variety and richness of the colors and tones they used. There was still a lot of creativity and life in their outfits, despite the lack of bold colors. It was the first time that I had seen neutrals done naturally and really well on live humans, not just in magazine spreads.

That has spurred on my own creative juices; can I find a way to wear neutrals that doesn't bore me or suck all the liveliness from my skin tone? Can I work in some of my favorite colors without going overboard? I don't want to ban them from my wardrobe completely, but I would like to find a way to mix it up so I keep it fresh and interesting for myself.

So now when I shop, I check out the neutrals first. Navys and blues are starting to make an return to my closet. But I have to be honest, it is awfully hard to not grab the fuschia or yellow or purple version! :)

As I was having this epiphany, Sal posted a great blog about Color Isn't Cool. Her stance was that neutrals often are more chic and are cooler than bright colors, but she's happy to be a dork in her colors. I'm not so happy to do the same right now, so I'm going to give neutrals a try.

No worries, I still have lots of color in my closet, so you'll be seeing that too! :)