Color Chic: Cropped Military Jacket in Orange

Infusing color into your wardrobe during a season which is blanketed in white, is a great way to brighten up your ensemble, and orange is a fabulous color with which to start.  Optimistic and uplifting, orange brings vitality and rejuvenation while exuding confidence and adventure.*

1. Old Navy Cropped Wool-Blend Mock-Neck Coat in Orange
2. DKNYJeans  Soho Skinny with tuxedo seams in Mustard
3.  MIA -Rascal-1 in Tan

The 1, 2 , 3 style for today is orange cropped military jacket, mustard skinny jeans and tan motorcycle booties.  Styling colors can be intimidating, but it doesn't have to be if you use a color wheel. With bright colors, there is a tendency to pair them with neutrals, but matching colors adds another styling option(s) to your wardrobe piece.

 Academichic's color wheel and accompanying modules demystify this styling tool; because orange is mixture of red and yellow, you can wear either of these with this bright color.  Academichic notes that to avoid looking like a box of crayons, opt for a deeper hue (in this case I used mustard instead of yellow) in the matching color!  I anchored the outfit in a neutral tan. 

1, 2, 3, Chic!

1, 2, 3, Chic!

My Bravado element are these these Designer Glasses.  In Italy everything was designer, designer, designer, and everyone prominently displayed one label or another.  But in my write up, I mentioned that fashion should be affordable, and when I found these Designer Glasses alongside  Tommy Hilfiger and Guess sunglasses on clearance, I thought I had scored big, that was until I read the label or the Designer Glasses, they were precisely that Designer Glasses!  But that's our little secret! 



A. Orange scarf with yellow, pink, blue
and green accented butterflies and ladybugs.
B. Scarf Clip closed. C. Scarf Clip opened.



Scarves are an accessory which convey warmth instead of attitude; as a substitute for a necklace, a scarf can punch up almost any outfit, but styling scarves usually reverts to one of three options: draping it around the back of your neck, looping it once around the front of your neck and letting the ends fall in front or the standby, the European knot. My Attitude element today is not the scarf , but rather the scarf clip! And invaluable little tool that can help convey everything from sweetness when used to fashion a bow or fierceness when used to fasten the ends of the scarf when styled like a choker. If you get the opportunity to purchase one, do so in a gold tone (as pictured here) and in silver.

 

Khols Floral Perforated and Embossed Belt
GAP Two-Tone Leather Clutch in Camel

My Moxie pieces are a step out of my matchy-matchy comfort zone.  In the past, I would have found a belt and bag that matched my shoes perfectly, or would have gone without; today, pairing colors within the same color family is perfectly acceptable, even neutrals, like the tan boots, the lighter tan belt, and the camel in the clutch.
















How I Styled It?

While styling this outfit was as easy as 1, 2, 3, the tricky part for me is what to add to my three basic elements without detracting from them and, in this case, my scarf.  I looked for a my light mustard tank top, which I believe is stored for the winter, but I did find this t-shirt in a similar hue, with a gorgeous print of a butterfly.  Two things I would like to add: One, with a military style jacket, I prefer a nipped waist, so I moved the buttons on the waist closer to the mid-line to achieve this effect.  And two, the Soho style of these DKNY jeans are perfect for me because they have a relaxed fit in the thighs (my trouble region), and may not be considered a true 'skinny' fit for others.  SN

*Empower Yourself with Color Physcology.com