Core Basics & Personal Neutrals

Here's another sweater from my closet. It's getting old, worn out, snagged and stretched and I still LOVE this sweater. Now that I've lost weight, it's too big and hangs off my shoulders and I have to roll up the sleeves, which I hate, and I still LOVE this sweater. I picked it up for a couple bucks in a second hand store years ago and I've darn near worn it to death. It's easily dressed up or down and goes with almost anything in my closet. I LOVE it so much that I've been dragging it around to yarn shops trying to find yarn of the same color to make a copy.




This sweater works fabulously - even though the sleeves are long and dropped, the only two negatives - because the ribbed stitch creates a figure hugging shape that hugs even the shoulders. It also creates vertical and slimming lines. The buttons are simple and square reading subtly different. And yet, a sweater could have all those things and not be as wonderful as this one because it's the color that really makes this work. The turquoise is alive. It's strongly blue based, has high intensity, and a bit of shimmer.

Colors that contain grey are duller and have a low intensity. Colors that contain white are brighter and have a higher intensity. To simplify the concept, the more grey, the duller the color and the more white, the brighter the color. Obviously color is a huge conversation and can't be covered in one paragraph however, the intensity of a color as well as the specific hue are key ingredients in creating a color palette. I feel and look best in colors that are in the medium to dark range, of higher intensity, and are blue based.

Since I wear so much black, most people would say that black is my neutral color probably more because black is a widely accepted neutral. I believe that individually, we each have personal neutrals. Colors that we gravitate toward and work with well. I've talked about this before.

YEARS ago I read 10 Steps To Fashion Freedom by Malcolm Levene & Kate Mayfield. It was a wonderful book and I contacted them about working together. In order to go forward, I needed to commit to five specific hues and be willing to build my entire (and lifetime) wardrobe around those colors. It was a fabulous opportunity to work with some highly recognized and very talented people and I couldn't do it because I didn't understand and couldn't totally grasp what they were doing with this concept. Because I live in such a small town, buying clothing in only specific hues seemed an impossible task.

NOW... I get it... although I still don't accept five specific hues, more like a range of hues within specific colors. I've come to understand that personal neutrals are the colors that make YOUR wardrobe consistently work FOR YOU. They are the colors within YOUR color palette around which YOUR wardrobe capsules can easily and consistently be built. YOU colors. YOU basics. Individually, a person might have a long list or a relatively short one. Mine is short.

Black is on my list of personal neutrals. White is not. Nor is cream, tan, brown, or any shade thereof. Blue is on my list in very specific shades - denim, particularly dark denim, and a high intensity, electric navy which is basically dark but bright. Fuchsia is one of MY neutrals. From medium to dark tones, it mixes wonderfully with my life. I've been building my SWAP with it. Add more black to fuchsia and it becomes a deep, dark purple that is just as easy to work with as navy.




Black, blue, and fuchsia are MY personal neutrals. I wear them all year round and build wardrobes based on them. Purple is showing up more and more often. It may be a temporary neutral or become a classic. I'm not sure yet.

My other neutral is a blue based lime however, I wear it as an accent color in winter and a neutral in summer. I'm not as attracted to this color in its darker, approaching black, hues although they are just as capable as deep, dark purple of supporting any wardrobe system . It's personal choice. Most of its darker shades contain too much grey and are dull as opposed to alive. This is most likely because any higher intensity shades are elf-like, not the image I'm going for.

Even though I'm quite confident with color, I've decided to start collecting color samples on the design wall as well and play with them and see what happens. Play is an important part of keeping our style alive and fresh. I started the Fashion Pro & Con List yesterday and...




... Surprise! There are more items on the pro side than the con. Sometimes I feel like I'm so busy ticking off a list of no things without any yes things. It's one of those I'll know it when I see it kind of aspects of life BUT.... LOOK... lots of yes things and there'd be even more on the list except that I thought of a few while driving. I was in the car, the list was at home, and even if I don't write while driving. They'll come back to me. I'll just keep adding as things occur to me. Items written on the list include set-in and puffed sleeves, gathers and pleats, loose and fitted. I bet you can already figure out which side they're on!





Yesterday, I realized I wasn't going to make any further progress on the cardigan re-fashion until I filled in the neckline. The goal was no bulk and something with light femininity - an aspect from my list.

I used a 3" strip of the knit finished with a lettuce edge, zigzagged to the cardigan edge, and overlapped at center front. For those who asked, the lettuce edge is made using a regular sewing machine and a wide zigzag. The fabric is stretched while stitching over the edge and that creates the ruffle. The more stretchy the fabric, the greater the ruffle.




Right now, I'm working on the bottom. I like this pleated peplum idea for the back. It has an old fashioned, slightly tailored, softer kind of look. I'm not that thrilled with what's happening at the front but I'll deal with that later. One decision at a time.

I was going to talk about core basics. Like personal neutrals, what is a basic in one person's wardrobe is not a basic in another. HOWEVER... I've chatted on long enough today so I'll talk about that tomorrow.

Have a great day - Myrna

Gratitude - A free-of-everything-that-I-can't-eat cake and even a drizzled icing - YES YES! Although his situation is far more extreme, I could so relate to Roger Ebert on Oprah Tuesday and the loss of socialization that comes with the loss of food. Ta da - a "normal" cake that I could serve to company.