Luminous!

This spring and summer it is all about color.  Yay!!!  Fashion is giving us all a much needed sartorial cheering-up with bright, bold, happy color. This is a great change of pace after several seasons of pale neutrals and muted, drab colors that seemed, well, frankly depressed.  Even the reds and purples were a bit muddied.  Sigh.

Not typically one to go for muted colors – I am a saturated color kind of girl –  I did find myself drawn into this depressing state with several long bouts of serious black and grey ensembles this past season.  This coincided with Southern California’s rainiest season in a very long while, resulting in an epic case of the sartorial blahs.  The cure?  Clear, crisp Spring colors along with big doses of white and silver.

I started my color therapy by leading off with a super new trench coat from my favorite posh plus size designer, Anna Scholz.   This frill-trimmed, leopard lined confection is in an ever so slightly greenish glowing light yellow called Lumo, that is truly luminous.  With a slight empire waist, flared sleeves and flared skirt the fit is divine,  and the details make this the most charming coat I have ever owned.  I wear it with work clothes, denim, you name it.  I am so in love with this darned coat that I will be sad to see the rainy days go and kind of miss living in my hometown in rainy Oregon…well, almost.   

Now I am a big fan of color generally, and I am always trying to incorporated more of it into my wardrobe in the chicest way possible, so Anna and I are a match made in heaven.  Along with the amazing coat, I nabbed her clever, long “drawstring” cardigan in a bold, saturated chartreusey lime.  This cardi is great because of its amazing versatility – you can draw up the strings ala Roman shades to make it varying lengths to suit your figure and outfit.  And yes, a bold hue like chartreuse can be versatile!  Depending on what you pair it with this piece looks dressy, it looks casual, it is, in a word, sensational.  The first sunny day we had I wore it with white jeans, a white tee, and some white sandals with kicky colored tassels.  I have also paired the white top and jeans with silver sandals and a silver bag for a more dressy look.  The cardi also cheered up another neutral palette when paired with chocolate brown trousers and a pair of awesome snakeskin platform sandals.    LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! 

On a roll, I also got Anna’s chic little cropped cardigan in a fabulous watermelon pink (more on that in an upcoming article) that I have gotten many many complements on.  The cut on this little darling is so great I am eyeing it in another color.  And if that isn’t enough, Anna Scholz has also come out with a grey tunic embroidered in lumo that WILL be in my closet just as soon as my shopping guilt subsides a bit.  I love pairing chartreuse or yellow with grey, the combination is so striking and chic, and it is a great way to get some warm season mileage out of those ubiquitous grey pieces.

In a big departure from my usual posts, I am bravely featuring myself as a model.  My photographer is none other than Mr. Commando, my gracious and patient fiancé – thank you, honey.  Frankly, I am not totally in love with myself as a model and I am far more comfortable styling photographs than actually being IN them.  At five feet tall and a size 24, my frame decidedly does not do these clothes full justice.  Somehow these pictures do not look as good as I *think* I look in the mirror, but props to Anna Scholz for her beautiful clothing, which definitely look great.

Now, it is your turn.  Find a gorgeous color that makes you happy and illuminates your days and then start wearing it!