Color Palette: Rust, Canary and Navy

It's common knowledge that I love navy and brown. But here's a little twist on those familiar favorites: rust brown, canary yellow and navy blue. Hello! Is this fresh or what? The yellow perks the others right up and the rust is a litle more studious and unexpected than the usual chocolate.

Then I saw these other two pieces which I think appeal largely because of their colors. (Though the silk fabric of the skirt is always nice and the sculptural gathers on the blouse are unique-good.)




Silk skirt and silk georgette top both by All Dressed Up. All three images from Lucky, January '08.

Flippy Skirts

Lately I've been really excited about flippy skirts, like these two. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I broke down and bought the Frye Engineer boots I was drooling over a couple of months back and have been wearing them constantly with nubby tights and short flared dresses and skirts. There's just something so practical and cozy, but still pretty, about the look, even more so when a sweater is also involved. (The boots were also first rate for shoveling out after yesterday's huge snowstorm.)

I like the two pictured skirts because despite their girlish shape, they still have a touch of elegance. The very large scale lace is fresh (and a nice change from the more common smaller scale patterns) and the wool blend has the look of raw silk, which is lavish and wonderfully tactile.

Now if only designers could get on board with the fit of these voluminous skirts. Even on the tiny sizes, the waists are always huge. Who wants something so giant that it barely stays up on the hips and constantly swivels around? The wool blend skirt looks like it might be a candidate for a well-anchored fit, but the lace one sadly appears to be a low-rider.

Lace-trimmed skirt by Binetti. Gray and white wool blend skirt by 3.1 Phillip Lim. Images from Lucky, January '08.