Here's this sweet little Mary bust again, in my kitchen window. I got the portrait feature on my cheapo phone camera to work --- it only kicks in if the camera detects a face.
Speaking of faces, and everything connected to them (like the rest of the human body), Nat's fourth style lesson landed in my email inbox today. Here it is, but I'll give you the rundown and my thoughts about it.
First of all, like any free mini-course, this is basically advertising, and you know that at some point the big hook is coming. Today is the big hook. The lesson is about building your wardrobe around your skin tone --- and how do you know what that is? Well, here's this whole paid program, see . . .
Still, there's a lot you can glean for free here. It's true that for the untrained eye, skin tone is hard to discern. That's why people pay other people who've gone through some kind of training, and this program is no exception. But there are some ways for even the untrained person to get this right, in a way that makes clothing choices easier and better.
*We've probably all heard the old tricks for determining whether your skin tone is "warm" or "cool." Do your veins look blue or green? Do you look better in gold or silver? Etc. But this is awfully subjective, especially the "do you look better" part. How do you KNOW whether you look better in gold or silver? Maybe you think you do, but you don't . . .
*That first test, the vein test, really just tells you how much yellow there is in your skin tone. I think this is the thing that is described as "warm" or "cool" --- how much yellow is present. A lot of yellow in your natural skin tone gives you coloring that's more apricot or peach than pink. The least yellow in your skin tone, plus the absence of pinkness, gives you an undertone that's almost blue. You see this in people whose skin is really, really white (like black hair, really white skin), OR in some people of color whose skin is really, really blue-black.
*So I almost think you could have three basic skin tones: peach/apricot, pink, and blue. But Nat has four, and they have kind of random names, but whatever. And I think you can test with some degree of accuracy simply by holding up something in a color you've identified as apricot, or whatever, next to your face. How close is that color to the natural tint in your cheeks and lips? Lips especially, I think, being very thin skin, tell us a lot about our coloring, and that matching your natural lip color is one way to get a color that will look good on you.
*Comparisons with a "control" color really can tell us a lot. I was curious to know, for example, what the "spruce green" color in Wool& clothing was really like --- was it a sage green, or what? I went out and picked a leaf off my sage and brought it in to compare with the color on the screen. Now, colors on screens are often inaccurate, and it would have been better to have the actual fabric, but what struck me was how very yellow the sage leaf was, compared with the fabric. I think of my sage plant as silvery green --- but it's not. That green has a much more distinct yellow undertone than the "spruce green" fabric color does. I don't have a lot of yellow in my skin, meanwhile. My lips are kind of bluey-rose-pink naturally, and my cheeks are pink, not peach. I haven't yet gambled on that spruce green color in a clothing item, but I wouldn't rule it out.
*Levels of contrast matter, too: between your skin and your hair, for example. Black hair and/or eyebrows on fair skin=high contrast. That kind of coloring can handle a lot of strong contrast and color drama. The more muted your coloring, the more muted the contrasts and colors in your clothes. You can be overwhelmed by too intense a color, or drained by a color that's not intense enough.
*But also, your own instincts come into play. Most of us do, really, have an idea of what we like. We have an idea of what feels right. If we take a daily selfie that includes our face, then we can start to see patterns of what looks great on us, especially when we look back. Our own eyes can deceive us in the moment, but a photo, revisited after some time lapse, tells us a lot of truth.
Anyway, the principle of identifying your skin's undertone and building your wardrobe around it is a pretty solid one. Knowing what that undertone is, then knowing what colors "go" well with that color, as complements or contrasts, can help you build a solid foundation of things you know you look good in. That's the basic gist of this lesson, and even though obviously there are teasers for going the paid route, it's still pretty helpful.
Also, rather than wondering whether a given color is "warm" or "cool," it might help to compare it, side by side, with a similar color you know is good for you. Is the new color yellower? or more blue? browner? grayer? brighter? While you can't always discern much about a color in isolation, putting it next to colors you know, even when the new color is on a screen, can tell you a lot about whether the new color will be a good gamble for you.
Meanwhile, personally, I find it a lot easier and more helpful to forego the "separates" approach to building my wardrobe. Instead, I've put my budget into dresses, so that for every outfit I have an instant whole, top and bottom, that basically looks great. I don't have to worry about what goes with what. I can manipulate the shape of a dress in various ways, but I can also just not worry about what shape I'm putting together, because that's done for me. I can have some tops and bottoms to pair with these dresses, but I don't have to do that unless I feel like it. I don't need four or five discrete items in a single colorway --- I have one, and then a constellation of accessories (which also go with everything else).
ETA: The one thing I have actually paid money for, from Nat's program, is her Brilliant Colour Combinations ebook. I don't follow it like sacred scripture, but it's been a great one-stop resource for ideas about what goes with what.
MEANWHILE . . .
The girls got off late yesterday afternoon in a rental car my husband ended up reserving for them, because the car-rental people in Asheville gave them inaccurate information, is I suppose the charitable way to put it, about whether any outlet would rent any car to two 22-year-olds with debit cards. ETA: That is, the rental-car company's office in Asheville (and no, I don't know which rental-car company it was) told them that a) they just had to wait 24 hours before they could complete a rental agreement and get a car, and b) that why, yes, they could just reserve one at the Charlotte airport, and everything would be fine. I sent my husband with them, because I was afraid it wouldn't be straightforward, as indeed it wasn't. Repeat: it wasn't fine, or wouldn't have been, if a Dad person had not been with them and wound up making the reservation himself, authorizing them (also himself and me) to drive this stupid car.
Anyway, away they went at last. We all agreed that surely the trip would all go smoothly from this point on.
We had salmon chowder for dinner last night, a total canned-goods feast: two cans of salmon, a can of corn, a can of carrots, a can of potatoes, sliced, and some evaporated milk. Add salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and a dash of Tony's cajun spices, and this dinner (prepared in ten minutes or less) is pretty darn good. I would not serve it to company, but I sure would serve it to us.
After dinner we watched a Miss Marple 2-parter. Then I took the dog for a walk around the neighborhood. Somebody was having an emergency: I had to step into a yard to let a firetruck, all lights flashing, navigate the narrow street with lots of parked cars, and round the corner. A few minutes later, an ambulance. So I'm watching the online news today to see what I can find out.
But first, when I stepped out the back door, what I was arrested by was owls, tossing a conversation back and forth across two backyards. I'm pretty sure I know what the conversation was about. They were both pretty adamant, and before long, one flew, a motion in the dark, across our backyard to the remaining big tree in Jane and Steve's yard, to join the other. The conversation got louder for a minute, then fell silent. More owls for us, I guess, was the upshot of it all.
AND . . .
Wearing today:
It's still pretty cool out, so getting in some Fiona time while I can, before the summer sets in. Fiona ties today with Sierra and Willow for three wears in May --- again, the average for this month so far has been 2.5 wears per dress, though today maybe will skew that upward just a little.
Last time I wore Fiona dog-walking, somebody on the greenway trail told my my dress was gorgeous. I mean, I can generally count on being the most dressed-up person walking the greenway on any given day, for the simple reason that nobody else is wearing a dress. Shorts and t-shirts, yes. Leggings and sweatshirt, yes. Whole sweatsuit, yes. Dress? Nope, that's just me.
So I stand out, but weirdly, I don't mind. I say weirdly, because for most of my life I have just wanted to blend in. When traveling, I've wanted to look like the locals. When at home, I've also wanted to look like the locals. I think perhaps this is because I thought that otherwise, I'd stand out as looking weird or dumb. That was my default assumption. It's a revelation to realize that I don't care that I stand out, walking my dog on the greenway, because I feel good. I feel that I look good. I look good, but not inappropriate to my surroundings --- my dress is good for walking. It suits the weather. And it suits me. It's effortless and doesn't impede my movements.
Anyway, I love it. Makes me happy to put it on. But then I can really say this about all my dresses, and this feels like an embarrassment of riches.
And I think the color works for me. Here I am with my medium-contrast, pink-skinned, green/blue-eyed face. The color makes my skin tone look even and bright, and my eyes pop. I'm 58, I just got up, I'm still kind of sleepy, my hair is having a humidity moment . . . but I look pretty good for all that, because I'm wearing a good color for me.
How did I know it was a good color? Well . . . to a great extent, long experience with wearing colors in this family, but I can take apart the reasons why I'm continually drawn to it. They are simply: this shade of teal works well with pink. It picks up tones in my eyes. It's intense enough to balance with the contrast between my fair skin and my medium-dark hair. It neither drowns me in its darkness, loudness, or intensity, nor drains me by its pallor.
Still kind of liking these lower-key glasses.
Finishing my coffee, then off to walk the dog, then find a bridal-shower gift for tomorrow.
PS:
I did go looking for cropped pullovers, because I had them on the brain. Got a VERY good secondhand deal on this soft green Anthropologie sweater, which is a merino/cashmere/cotton/rayon blend. I'm a little too warm after my walk to have kept it on long enough for a photo, but it's a good length for my Fiona --- which means that really, it'll be a good length for all my dresses. The color --- a soft, not-too-yellow sagey green --- goes with all of them, too. I love that it's cropped but not too boxy or bulky. The fit is very slim and close. I can see tossing it in my backpack on a hiking day, for the cooler evening in Blowing Rock afterwards --- I think it'll be pretty warm in the winter, but it's not so heavy that I wouldn't use it for a mountain night in the summer.
So I am looking, even out of season, to fill in things I've reflected on as needs, as I run across the exact right thing, which is really key. This sweater is exactly what I was looking for, in every way. I might keep running my eye over the search page for cropped sweater merino, or whatever search term I put in, but because I'm not in a hurry, I can be really choosy. I won't pay over $20. I won't buy anything bulky --- I have bulky already, and it's the antithesis of what I'm looking for. And I'm looking for real cropped lengths, to hit where the waist of my Fiona dress hits, or even higher.
The other thing I'm keeping an eye out for, precisely because it's out of season and I'm not anxious to get it, is leggings. I'm looking for natural fibers: preferably merino, though I don't really want to spend the money right now, but also bamboo or even cotton. There are always a lot of Pact organic cotton leggings up on Poshmark, at varying price points, and I am keeping my eyes on those, because it's not hard to snag an affordable pair. I'd prefer something other than cotton, but for the price, a good, heavy pair of cotton leggings is hard to beat. They'll be soft, they'll breathe, they'll feel good. Yeah, they won't perform like merino or even bamboo, and they might not be ideal for travel, but I have really liked the cheap cotton-blend leggings I've had.
So I have my feelers out for that kind of thing as well. I'm looking especially to replace my navy cotton leggings, because I wore those into the ground and loved them, and also to find some charcoal-gray ones to replace a synthetic pair I liked the look of, but not the feel. IF it transpired that we were taking some kind of significant trip this summer, I would go ahead and invest in at least one pair of merino leggings, but for the time being, I'm idly watching the good cotton ones to see what might turn up at a price I can't say no to.
A quiet Saturday so far. Dora and I walked a full 3 miles, and now I'm waiting for my lunch to heat up. After lunch, I'm going to walk again (sans Dora) up to Main Street to hit the antique malls, to find a piece of pottery for Mo's shower gift.
PPS: Back from my second walk, which was cool and rainy-ish. I got my umbrella out of my car and brought it with me, but fortunately didn't need it. Anyway, now that I'm back, I have taken a few minutes to try on and photograph my new sweater.
It's not super, super cropped, but it does hit at my natural waist, and it does fit slimly, which I think will work really well with the shape of all my dresses. It's a fine enough knit, too, that if I wore a belt I could tuck the front in a little bit for more shape, if I wanted.
It's light enough, again, to be a good backpack addition for mountain evenings after hiking this summer. AND it'll be an excellent, lightweight, warm top layer through the winter.
I like the color a lot, too.
It seems to do nice things for me, and it will combine very prettily with all the grays, blues, teals, greens, and purples that make up my core wardrobe. I think there's maybe a little mohair in the knit, too. It's a blend of lots of things.
I'll be watching for even more cropped lengths --- but again, for fine knits, not a lot of weight and bulk. Maybe it's weird to be planning my winter wardrobe already, just as we're heading into summer, but my mind likes to do that, so I guess that's what we're doing.