Monday, May 4, 2015

Harris Tweed, Wild Hair, and "Brownie" Looks


I wasn't planning to make a post for this outfit. I just threw it together on my way to therapy and didn't think it was anything special.


But Beau was so crazy about my new (vintage) Harris Tweed cap that he started taking pictures without my asking, which is rare, and asked to take more. He insisted that I just had to write a blog post for this outfit.


I think it's the way the colours harmonize with my own colouring that Beau loves about this cap. They bring out the browns in my features: my eyes, brows, lashes, hair, relatively dark lips, and, yes, my freckles. Beau likes it when I look, as he calls it, "brownie," by which I think he actually means "Jewish." My skin is very pale, which people don't associate with being Jewish, but my features are and body type are very very Jewish. So: "brownie" it is!


I like the hat because it's Harris Tweed. I may be wrong, but my feeling is that Harris Tweed is the best of the best, where tweed is concerned, and, as you know, I love tweed. It's not easy to find anything in tweed for women, let alone in Harris Tweed. This unisex, Harris tweed cap is indeed in my colours, so I snapped it up.

Boots: Ecco; Jeans: Reitman's; Blouse: fun 2 fun; Necklace and gold-tone bangles: gifts from Beau; Earrings: Burks; Ring; cap, jacket, brooch, purse, and orange bangle: vintage
The hat was an actually an afterthought with this outfit. It looked like it might rain so I grabbed the hat on my way out the door.



Mostly, my outfit that day was about the oranges. I don't know why but I always feel hip and funky in orange. Perhaps you can help me sleuth out the origins of this association for me. I think it has something to do with some aspect of early 70s fashion and music, but I really can't, as Jessica Fletcher would say, put my finger on it.


Orange certainly suits my "brownie looks", including my auburn hair, which was particularly wild that day. I think I'd slept on it wet. I'm not one to compete with my hair's mood on any given day. That's how one manages with curly hair: let it have its moods, dress to match those moods, and you'll be just fine. Try to tame curly hair, and you're doomed -- or heading for the straightening iron, something I've never used in my life. I wouldn't know how!


Unbeknownst to me, Beau decided that orange also suits my freckles. To him, this is a compliment so I'm going to take it as such, though I'll admit that I don't generally aim to accent or draw attention to my freckles. I don't mind them but I don't highlight them either. But Beau decided that I should highlight them so he got me this gorgeous, orange, garnet pendant for Christmas. I hadn't even known that there is such a thing as orange garnets but I'm glad there is. I love it more and more over time.

Beau said that orange garnets are believed to ward off bad dreams and anxiety. I've got PTSD, so I have nightmares and anxiety aplenty. I don't actually believe objects or colours have intrinsic special powers, but I still like to wear things said to have soothing or empowering properties. They remind me to work toward calm and, if given to me by someone who cares for me, they remind me that I am loved. So, in a way, they do have special powers after all.


Maybe I do too. What do you think?


Orange pairs very well with brown, gold, and copper, all of which go well with a "brownie" like me. Brown is an oft overlooked colour in fashion and jewelry but, if your colouring is anything like mine, you should revisit it. Do note that I chose to use my brown cane with this outfit too, so it would pick up on both my ring and my hair.

I got this brown ring many years ago for under a dollar at a garage sale in Cabagetown in Toronto. I recently realized that it's an original, Brutalist piece by Rafael and would go for about $100 on Etsy. It's nice to know but I don't want to sell it. I've always liked wearing it with my more funky outfits, even if it does leave my finger green.


I also have quite the pash these days for "pussy bows" as I've recently learned they are called. I'm really not sure why but I always feel very sophisticated when I wear one (as long as I don't think about their name). I've recently been on a bit of an online shopping binge, so look for more "pussy bows" (and flutter sleeves, which this blouse also features) in future posts.


I often pair this shirt with these caramel boots to harmonize my upper body with my lower body.
 

I just love the way they look but, honestly, they hurt my back. The hard heels send shocks up my legs into my lumbar region so I don't wear them as much as I'd like. Learning how to dress with a disability is a hit and miss process, but one thing I know for sure now: supple, rubber heels are my friends.



To match the boots: the purse, which I got for about 25 cents at a thrift store many years ago.

Though a curvy girl's waist is her best asset, these jeans are so stretchy that they bag and bulge if I tuck anything into them so I seldom choose to do so. To counterbalance the shapelessness of my blouse, I wore this bomber jacket to accent my waist.



I don't know if this works from the front, especially when the jacket is undone ...



... but I think it works pretty well from the back.


That's all, just another "just" style post. And so, with my brownie looks and wild hair ...


... and my Beau with his definite opinions about style, I will say goodbye for another day.

(Naturally, I'm sharing this on the Style Crone's Hat Attack and Patti's Visible Mondays on Not Dead Yet.)
qwerty

6 comments:

  1. Yay! Another great outfit and fun post! Love the photos of you with your handsome chap, so sweet. This is actually one of my favorite outfits on you - so playful, lighthearted, love the mix of feminine and boyish! The hat is just awesome and suits you so well! I adore blue and brown combinations, and warm orange-ish browns are some of my favorite hues. Orange is a happy color, isn't i? I feel so happy when I see and especially wear it!

    That bold ring is very cool, I would wear one like it too. And I think it's a pussy bow because it used to be fashionable to dress kittens, "pussy cats", in such bows, though in Russian we don't call it that way, it must be a Victorian thing or something like that (Victorian post cards with cute kittens come to mind). Yours is very pretty, I'd love to find more pussy bow blouses myself, and your would be definitely a desirable one to find!!

    Much love xxx

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  2. One more thing - about curls. Do you read Girl with Curves? She could easily call her blog Girl with Curls :). I remember she had a tutorial about her fine curly long hair - she always look great and polished, maybe if you want a little more predictable hair some day, you could use her tips. My hair is wavy when it's long, but not curly, and I keep it short, obviously, but I always admire women with long curly hair - the prettiest in my book!

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  3. I love your tweed cap, your accessories and your ability to pattern mix! Thank you for sharing with Hat Attack!

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  4. Love tweed caps! And they are the best in the rain...especially if, like me, you wear glasses. Can't stand spotty specs!
    Your brownie looks are magical especially with orange. Orange is very flattering and almost a neutral in my book. Not sure why it is not worn so much. Love the story of the pendant.
    Meant to say, I always love your canes, in this and the next post especially! Xo Jazzy Jack

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  5. I adore your curly hair - and this hat, and ring, and the whole idea of it! Thanks for sharing with Visible Monday, xo.

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  6. I love brown too. You do look great here. The Rafael ring looks very special. Maybe you could try painting the inside with clear nail varnish to prevent the green finger? Also, maybe a cobbler could put different heels on those boots so they are more comfy? All the best.

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