Style Evolution #9: Exploring colour after 15 years of avoiding it.
Colour Curious. Giving myself permission to try on colour and see how it makes me feel.
For the last 15 (or so) years I made a name (and built a business) for myself by only wearing black, white, grey and neutrals. It was the contrasting thought circa 2012, a ‘pop of colour’ was the most overused phase that ever existed. The unique POV at the time of going minimalist set me apart from everyone else in the blogging space.
When the penny dropped that wearing colour wasn’t for me I was in New York for fashion week, where the outfits of high colour saturation were on steroids. I came back and cleared out my wardrobe. Only the other week one of friends recalled the dramatic epiphany of me throwing all my colourful clothes onto the bed asking myself, ‘why do I even have this!?’
I don’t regret doing it. And I also don’t want to do it again, the regretful buying decisions part, not the style epiphany part. I’m really content with my neutrals choice, it’s served me well and my style feels completely ‘me’. But recently I’ve also found myself curious. How would wearing colour make me feel, now?
The only way to find out is to try.
I’m also internally investigating what has brought this curiosity on, what has influenced this thought. Is it the dialogue around 90s minimalism fatigue? Is it the conversational tiredness of everyone referencing the same images, using the same words? No, this doesn’t actually bother me. You can talk about CBK, The Row, quiet luxury and minimalism, really, whoever and whatever you want, it doesn’t bother me at all - if it helps you get dressed I’m happy for you! What I care about is not being trapped inside the box I put myself in.
Tonal Gateways
Turns out I had already begun to subtly experiment over the last few years, giving myself permission to explore through ‘acceptable’ tonal gateways.
Blue denim was always allowed, and since this was ok I let myself then wonder how this colour would feel in other pieces. Soft launching with a classic sky blue shirt (the pregnancy timestamp dates this back to 2022) then led to feeling confident to try a higher contrast in a cobalt blue a couple of years later. These both passed seamlessly, wearing them regularly.
Moving away from the shirt silhouette is the next step. When shopping in person I started to be drawn to softer blues like this sheer tunic and bookmarked the thought.
