Let's ban beige

The other day I had the overwhelming urge to change the background theme on the Blog. When I set it up at the beginning of the year the autumn leaves and brown fonts seemed warm and comforting, but now I wanted something brighter, blue, with a hint of travel and adventure. It must be Spring!

Colour coordination can make or break a successful capsule wardrobe. It is easy to create a variety of outfits when the colours mix and match. Some people, such as Sue Walker at Over 60 and over here! who blogs extensively on her style journey and Project 333, have successfully tried colour analysis to help with their wardrobe planning. I remember this well from the 1980s – I think I even had the ‘Colour Me Beautiful’ book at one time, although I could never really get my head round whether I was a winter or summer…

I’ve noticed a couple of trends in my wardrobe’s development, particularly with regard to the colour of clothes. Over the years I have been drawn to have a wardrobe consisting, at any one time, of a certain groups of colours, generally oriented around blue or brown. When I was working outside of the house I had two distinct wardrobes – one for work and another for home. As soon as I arrived home from work, the first thing I did was get changed. I never felt at ease around the house in ‘work clothes’ and likewise, hated going out in the evening after work in ‘work clothes’. I’m sure that this goes back to my schooldays, when I had to change out of my school uniform immediately I got home so that it didn’t get worn out. Hmm… this train of thought seems to be going along the lines of ‘saving it for best’.

Generally, my work wardrobe was black or grey, with the occasional bit of blue or perhaps a pink shirt. In contrast, my ‘at home’ clothes tended to be from the brown/autumn palette. I’m sure that this colour distinction was a sub-conscious way of keeping a barrier between these two areas of my life. Now that I work at home I seem to have got over this issue, though I can’t bring myself to work in pyjamas as some people do. Recently, I have felt drawn towards more blue/aqua/burgundy shades, especially with the new clothes I have bought from both Rohan and Quechua. Of course, this is partly due to the fact that those are the colours currently available, but I feel a definite move away from brown, and beige in particular.

Going blue - my (current) favourite scarves

 

Not that there’s anything wrong with beige. But, having recently spent a few weeks on a campsite in Portugal I couldn’t help but notice that beige is quite often an unflattering colour as the years advance. Certainly, it gives me a pale, washed out appearance. Beige, or taupe, sand, khaki – there are many names – is quite a popular colour with technical clothing manufacturers, especially those items designed for tropical or African climes. Think, Tilley hats and khaki shorts, Indiana Jones and Michael Palin. My early technical summer wardrobe had quite a few ‘beige’ items, but I won’t be buying any more. I’m pleased to see that most of the technical clothing retailers are now offering their ranges in jewel-bright colours that are easy to co-ordinate.