Colour, prints and polka dots

#OOTW

If you follow me on social media you would have seen this past week was all about colour, prints and polka dots. A surprise even to me, but on Monday when I woke up, I picked up some of my black pieces and I just wasn’t in the mood.

Well, not a complete surprise when I think about it.  I am fortunate enough to be working on some side projects (which sadly I can’t share with you just yet). Within these projects I’m exploring colour, materials, prints, and patterns, and I’m finding that everywhere I look, my mind is overwhelmed with inspiration and ideas. The surprising part though was that I felt like I was craving colour in my clothing. Not something I would normally go for as I usually fulfil my colour needs with accessories, red shoes, lipstick and even household accessories. This week though, I wanted to wear colour. Not just colour, but prints and patterns and to explore these against my canvas of black and white.

I took full advantage of this starting the week with this print dress and polka dot tights. You’ve probably seen this dress before. I bought it for summer but with a few extra layers this dress is going to be great in the cooler months. I matched it with a green cardigan and black boots. The tone of the green is perfect for me, warm, comforting, and colourful without being too in your face. I found this green really brought out the warmth in the print and added a softness in comparison to wearing say a black cardigan. The black and white polka dot tights, well they are just fun and provided a touch of monochrome without being the feature of the outfit.

Next up, another green, polka dot and print combination but something completely different. Let’s start with the top and this is a perfect comparison to my green cardigan. The green shade of this jumper is what I would describe as an ‘in your face’, apple green. It is bright, and there is no hiding from it. I decided to embrace it so out came my black and white polka dot trousers and leopard print heels. Lucky I was in the mood for such an outfit as I can imagine on a different day and a different mood, this outfit could be torture! Thankfully it was everything I was looking for that day, comfortable, smart and fun!

I knew it was going to be hard to top this outfit and I was starting to have withdrawals from my red shoes so out came what I call my winter dress. Although not technically a print, this thick, wintry fabric has very thin woven threads of blue, grey and brown and to me it feels very bright thanks to the cream backdrop. I paired it with black, ribbed tights and the star of the outfit, these fabulous rubys.

The week wasn’t complete without a patterned shirt. I love the clash of the straight blue and maroon lines against the tiny white flowers. I actually wore it with my green cardigan from earlier in the week and for the same reasons. Again the green added a layer of softness and just for kicks, another colour to the outfit. I naturally went to put on my red flats but I wanted to keep the focus on the shirt so I wore a pair of navy blue heels and under black jeans it was a nice overall line from head to toe.

For anyone who wears a lot of colour, you may be wondering what the hell I’m on about. But if you are anything like me, who uses colour only in small splashes, a week like this doesn’t come around often so it was fun to experiment, to try different combinations and to feel good in them. After all isn’t that the point of creating outfits, to make us feel good?!

xo