Wednesday 15 January 2014

How now brown cow....





You know how I have strange feelings toward some colours.
Some feelings are easy to interpret. Like the feeling I get when I wear pink or red. All confidence and blushing cheeks and twinkling eyes and light hearted laughter and completeness.
But other colour feelings are a little trickier to interpret.
I have had a long held feud with the colour blue that I am slowly rectifying and making amends for with me dabbling in some delightful blue shades of late, and absolutely loving.
And I have a lifelong issue with brown. Its not that I don't like brown on other people. I do. I really do. And I envy their ability to wear the colour. But I think the crux of my brown abhorrence is that with my brownish hair, and brownish eyes if I actually wore brown I would turn into some sort of forgettable, fugly piece of 70's brown corduroy furniture. And who wants that?
So I stupidly steered clear of all things brown (even when I sooooo wanted those awesome tan boots!) because "I DO NOT WEAR BROWN".
And then a little while go I saw this dress for a couple of coins at the op shop. And yes it is most definitely brown. A rusty red brown with a cream pattern dancing across it, but still brown. But it was also such a lovely, easy style with sheer material, full skirt and comfy elastic waist to make it perfect for the heat wave we are enduring at the moment (sorry to all those snowed in, freezing-their-butts-off people across the globe!). But surely I could not wear brown. Could I?
But I DID buy the dress! Sure, it languished for a while in the wardrobe, but then I gathered all my courage, threw away my silly preconceived ideas and rules about brown and I did it.
I wore it!


I can't say that I wasn't self conscious in this outfit. I was. I was pretty sure I heard a man whisper " mumble, mumble, brown, mumble." And all heard was, "Damn she looks like a bad piece of old doctors waiting room furniture!"  But the point is I wore the frock, and I will wear it again. Because it is good to challenge ourselves and get out of our comfort zone ruts .And it really is a lovely shade. For brown.

 
My brown frock gave me the chance to use my cool vintage basket bag that hardly ever gets to play outside.
So there you go, breaking the rules, being a huge brown rebel and revelling in my devil-may-care attitude. Who would have though I had it in me!
Do you have clothes rules? Have you ever broken your own rules?
 


14 comments:

  1. you look stunning! it's a beautiful dress, and I love the bow detail, I'm so glad you broke your rule's, you definitely don't look like furniture! your bag too and shoes too have made me very happy! do understand the 'brown' issue haha! my high school uniform was brown, even the socks were beige or as the school called them 'fawn'! but I bought a brown dress last year and we like each other very much! I think the only rule I have broke recently is stripes (due to my shape and plush bosom!) and I like them too x x x

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    1. Yeah, I had to add the bow - it was brown overload otherwise! I hear you on the uniform issue - I think that is where my problems with navy stem from, my horrid old uniforms. I would like to dabble in some stripes more, so here is to breaking rules! XXX

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  2. pretty woman wore a brown dress with off white dots ... and she was pretty woman! you look great in this dress ...
    i just found my so called pretty woman top today (brown with white big dots) and i cant wait to wear it soon.
    ... oh, i would love to steal your cute wicker bag!

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    1. Oh, I completely forgot about pretty woman's dress! And she looked gorgeous! You have made me feel so much better about my brown dress :)

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  3. Not all shades of brown are the equal; the colour of your dress has a coppery tone which brightens it, some very dark chocolately browns are too dense for my liking. I felt similarly to you about brown, but have finally worked out that some browns, with the right accent colours, are fabulously flattering. And your dress is gorgeous, has all your trademark elegant, ladylike style, and looks a million dollars with that cute bow, flowers and bag.
    So here's to breaking rules - our own, or other people's! xxxx

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    1. You are so right ( so wise in the ways!) about the different shades of brown. I like this reddish tone but don't think I am ready for darker brown yet (baby steps). Cheers to breaking rules! XXX

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  4. I haven't really worn brown since the seventies when I made a brown corduroy bomber jacket and matching flared trousers. I still shudder when I think of it. Your dress on the other hand is lovely.

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    1. That sounds like a classic outfit! Now I think about it, I seem to remember my mum dressing me in some terrible brown pieces in the 70's so I am going to blame my mum for my feelings towards brown!

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  5. I am being totally honest in saying you have nothing to fear by brown. It looks wonderful on you:) I think what makes this dress extra special is the heart print. It's lovely and very retro. I am making a concerted effort to get into prints. I'm normally a kinda solid type of person (except polka dots, love polka dots). As I have been playing around with vintage patterns, I've been making the effort to also get into the novelty prints. You look lovely dear Brooke! I also really dig your shade of lipstick.

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    1. I used to just wear solids too but now I just can't pass up a cute print. Love them! I do want some novelty prints - always looking for them. Am not even sure what lippy I am wearing. I tend to have on a few different shades (whatever is on hand) by the end of the day but tend to keep to either browny reds or muted pinks.

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  6. Doctors waiting room furniture wishes it could a tenth as marvelous as you do in this charmingly pretty brown frock. I understand your aversion to certain colours (for a long time I kept most shades of orange and yellow at bay, as I didn't think they did me any favours), but really cannot stress enough how truly becoming and beautiful this rich, warm shade of brown looks on you.

    ♥ Jessica

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    1. Thanks so much! It is funny how we create these aversions and rules of what we can and can't wear. I am yet to wear orange, so that might be one to try soon.

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  7. I don't like rosy pink on me - or any pinks at all. At least not out in public (I do have some pink pyjamas though). I think this colour does not go well with my ginger hair. And orange would be in that list as well I guess - for the same reason.
    But that dress you bought i really pretty and suits you very well^^ My favourite colour would be green^^

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  8. This dress is just the cutest! As is your wicker bag (nothing says warm weather, to me, quite like a vintage wicker box bag!)

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