My Two-Dollar Red Pashmina

I picked up a red pashmina today for two dollars at a thrift store. It's 70% pashmina, 30% silk, made in India. That's 1.42 GBP, 2.57 Canadian dollars, or 3.11 AUD.

Now, what about that color? And really...do I need a pashmina?

In January I posted a story about colors that look good on everyone--quoting the Pantone Color Institute in a Real Simple article. The red of my new pashmina is one of those colors.

Imogen Lamport, of the wonderful blog Inside Out Style, has doubts about this shade being good for everyone. I tend to agree--not because I know about other people, but because I've basically given up wearing red. The few red pieces I've owned in my life have always stayed in my closet.

And there's this. Word on the Web is that pashminas are passe. Passe-minas. Or no: they were out, but now they're back. Is that right?

Then there's the fact that I don't know how to wear a pashmina. Seems like one tosses it casually over an evening dress. This is how many times I've worn an evening dress in the last five years: 0.

Regardless of all that, I couldn't pass up this deal. Even though pashminas are cheaper than they used to be and I suspect the one I got is on the cheap end, there's just something about a pashmina that my small town heart can't resist. I imagine something like this: It's a dark night and a cab awaits. I am wearing my little black dress. I say breezily to my handsome escort as I touch my perfumed hand to his wrist, "Attends un peu, cheri. I must fetch my red pashmina."

Restored: Colors That Flatter Everyone

Today I found a cashmere sweater at a thrift store while shopping with my sister. The sweater's a like-new turtleneck from Nordstrom's in a pretty teal color.

I don't normally buy this color, but I decided to throw the sweater into the five-dollars-a-bag bag when I remembered something I read a few years back. It's an article from Real Simple Magazine about colors that flatter every skin tone.

The colors are "true red," "Indian" teal, "mellow rose," and eggplant.

Here's what the article says:

"Some colors work for all skin tones and hair colors, because they fall into the middle of the color spectrum, meaning they're not too warm or too cool," says Leatrice Eiseman, author of The Color Answer Book (Capital Books) and director of the Pantone Color Institute (http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/index.aspx), the international authority on color.

The Pantone Color Institute site is also very interesting reading if you like color, or would like to know who the people are who decide what colors are going to be trendy next year in fashion and home decorating and stuff like that.

The 2009 "Color of the Year" is a brightish yellow-gold called "Mimosa." I'm not sure this color looks good on everyone--I know one person who won't be wearing it--but that's just me.

Moral of my story: With my new dark-framed bifocals, my cashmere turtleneck kind of makes me look like Velma from Scooby-Doo. It's not because of the color, though. I love the sweater. I that it cost me fifty cents. And I love the color: Indian teal.

Restored: Colors for 2009 Point to Rough Economy

Here are all the colors the Pantone Institute has picked out for 2009. Remember the "Color of the Year" is Mimosa.

A news article on http://www.iconoclast.com/ said: "It's kind of an odd palette. [W]henever they show this much beige, it usually means the stock market is in for a rough ride. Clearly, the fashion industry thinks the recession will still be with us for spring, but the little pops of bright color show at least a modicum of hopefulness for an economic recovery. "

I didn't know that beige is connected to a poor economy. Did you?

Leatrice Eiseman, who runs the Pantone Institute, thinks Michelle Obama's yellow inauguration dress was a good color for the economy.

[All original comments to this post have been lost.]

Everything You Need to Know about Fashion over Forty (or Fifty)

I started this blog because of a conversation the day I got my first pair of bifocals.

The lady helping me was admiring the frames I’d picked out, and I told her, “Well, my book about style over forty says plastic frames are flattering for my age.”

And she said, “You have a book about fashion over forty? What else does it say?”

So I told her about my book—two of them in fact—and as I drove home, I thought, what are the rules? And why are there rules? Should there be rules? Should we care?

To me, clothing is the tip of a deeper iceberg that incorporates who we are as individuals and in relation to the rest of the world. It’s not that clothes matter more as I get older: it’s that enjoying the beauty in all of life matters more; being authentically myself matters more; quality matters more; and all these things make a difference in how I dress.

I’m not a fashion professional, but a professional researcher and writer who has design and art training. And: I know what I like. My posts are a reflection of my own learning as I navigate the changes in my life and closet. The best part about writing in a blog is the give and take with readers. I continue to learn and find new inspiration. I hope you’ll join me!

To get started, here are my favorite posts about personal style:

The Differences Between Fashion and Style

Do This First: Read The Pocket Stylist

Elements of Design: Proportion and the Golden Ratio

Elements of Design: The Line of Beauty

Elements of Design: Line Part II

Colors that Flatter Everyone

What a Difference a Shoe Makes: One and Two

Risk Free Updates for Twyla Tweeners

Elements of Design on People over Forty (or Fifty, or Sixty)

Fashion Colors for 2009