Amalienne, Mattie Rose, Camilla Maria Santarina, and all the other quiet Style Sisters have persuaded the rest of us to douse the rainbow for awhile in favor of black, brown, gray, blue, and purple.
Perhaps the coming of autumn, the most contemplative of the seasons, made us acquiesce to the gentle (but persistent) requests of the quiet ones. Or perhaps it was Paris Gray-Brown’s tendency to lecture us of late about social justice and inclusion and giving the downtrodden a chance (possibly the result of her having acquired a pair of large dark spectacles that make her look rather owlish and didactic).
She’s right of course, but my goodness! She reminds us of shredded wheat: correct but tiresome. At any rate, acquiesce we have, and we rather like the results. Here is today’s collection. The tiger jersey is from Chico; the skirt is an Alfred Dunner from Sal A; all pieces were 5.00 or under (or at least under 10.00—alas, our record-keeping still requires improvement …)
And here’s yesterday’s. The hoodie, from XXI, is soft as a cloud—the sort of thing you never want to take off.
It was very chilly (around 38), when we left the house at 7 AM, so we happily layered up. (Short skirts and leggings! All of The Style Sisters love that combo.) It felt so cold that we even added a scarf and a down vest from Land’s End—5.00 or so at the tiny thrift shop in our town. ( Just wait until February: 38 will seem absolutely spring-like.)
Quiet clothes have always been an occasional option for us, suitable for those days when we’ve all felt the need to disappear into private territory or tune ourselves to gray skies, rain, mist, fog, clouds. Usually, though, our jewels and other accents would be silver (to brighten black and gray) or gold and browns (to go with the earth tones). This go-round, however, they’re bits of the bright colors we usually wear head to toe. These purple jewels accompanied the gray hoodie ensemble.
Where will all this lead? We hardly know. But we’re listening more closely to the quiet Style Sisters than to the runways, which are proclaiming this to be a season of bold colors. Fashion, as Paris Gray-Brown often points out, is from without, and style (which all the sisters value so much more) from within.
Acquisition note: If you like the leggings (5.99) and the socks (3.00), hurry on over to Target; they tend not to last long.
Categories: Look What We Found at the Thrift Store!, What We Wore Today
Tags: Alfred Dunner, Chico's, Lands' End, The Style Sisters, Thrift Shopping, Thrift Stores, Thrifting, XXI
Look At Those Clothes! 
I particularly liked the pairings of the grays and of the earth tones. The quieter colors, to me, the more sophisticated colors, are in keeping with the temperature changes of the autumn. The layering makes such perfect sense that I am amazed that it is considered fashionable.
Yes, I do think that Americans are preoccupied with the weather. When there is so little that we can do about it, the question remains why such interest?
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Fashion does often have a tendency toward the impractical, doesn’t it? But then it’s the happy duty of the rest of us to transform designers’ dreams (or nightmares), visions, and wild imaginings into clothes real people can actually wear, without losing fashion’s exuberant, exploratory energy.
I agree that grays and earth tones often appear more sophisticated, but I think that has more to do with how bright colors are used, rather than with the colors themselves. For instance, take a look at this “Mondrian” dress by St. Laurent, the father of colorblocking. Or how about Phoebe Philo’s take on bold color for the spring 2014 ready-to-wear line at Celine. Sophisticated, oui?
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Oh, as as for Americans’ preoccupation with temperature, I once read a book in which the author (an Italian) suggested that it’s the result of our fascination with technology, with making things and fixing things and solving problems, and with our relatively effective government. In Italy, he said, the government does few things properly or on time, so people don’t have that American sense of being able to respond to circumstances in a practical way, let alone to control anything. (Hmmm; could be that with our current Congress we’re becoming more Italian every day …)
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