It’s been years since we’ve seen shades of turquoise make a fashionable comeback. From blue shades to greener hues, turquoise reminds me of the poolside, beach, Mediterranean sea, Southwest jewellery, and Tiffany’s. There’s a shade of turquoise for everyone, so take your pick. 

Many of my clients like to wear turquoise in the Spring and Summer with white, lilac, dark blue and emerald green. Some prefer to wear turquoise away from their face through items like handbags, shoes, rings, bracelets, or toenail polish.

Turquoise is one of my favourite colours, so I’m thrilled to see it back at retail. I’ll wear turquoise in all wardrobe items except jewellery, since I stick to solid gold and white pearls. When I wear turquoise in an outfit, I like to combine it with white, tomato red, shocking pink, watermelon, citron, navy and lime green. I prefer turquoise as a solid, but won’t say no to a pattern.

At the moment, I have ONE turquoise item in my wardrobe, and it’s a four year old Furla. That’s shocking for someone who loves to wear non-neutrals and turquoise. So I’ve been on the hunt to add turquoise to my wardrobe for a while.

At first, I thought I wanted a turquoise top, dress, skirt, jacket, coat, or pair of pants. I’m open to adding some of those items to my wardrobe eventually, but for the moment I’m getting my turquoise fix with a wig. It’s my wildcard purchase of the year, and an unexpected wardrobe workhorse.

Rainbow hair is extremely popular in Seattle, and I’ve been toying with the idea for a while. It’s trendy, different, dramatic, and another way I can incorporate happy colours into my style. This way I don’t need to commit to permanent turquoise hair, and to the time and expense of maintaining it. Since my short blonde hair grows slowly, it’s handy to have instant-long hair with vivid colour when the mood strikes me to switch things up. This styling technique works well when you’re an impatient mood dresser like I am. Coincidentally, my new wig complements my old Furla. Bonus.

Sam’s wearing a turquoise wig too. He needs a stylish disguise when he’s being a regular dude and not a superhero. Cascading blue locks that match his collars were the way to go. Playful, fabulous with earth tones, and alluring. The ladies are smitten, and playdates are aplenty. The power of statement hair is not to be underestimated.

Our new blue wigs work well in our homes in Seattle and Salt Lake City because the decors are rich with turquoise accents. I never thought it was important for my style to coordinate with our home decor, but this level of matchy-matchy makes for a richer life, which is trendsetting in itself. 

Could food be the final colour coordination frontier? I’m thinking a cup of turquoise tea, with a nice piece of turquoise cake, because, why not!

A new size in women’s jeans, Anthropologie is extending its size range, anti-pollution make-up is trending, and more news from the fashion trenches this March.

• New make-up brand Grace is making mascara wands more accessible for people with disabilities.
• Here’s a look at Jason Wu’s Spring collection for Eloquii.
• Calvin Klein is closing its ready-to-wear business.
• Amazon has launched its first skincare line with everything priced under $40.
• Zara is introducing a customization service that let’s you embroider your name onto denim clothing.
• Good American is bringing out a brand new size in women’s jeans: size 15 — which is being called a solution for ‘size in-betweeners.’
• Kohl’s has launched a new women’s plus-size private label brand: EVRI.
• The Guardian reports that sales of anti-pollution make-up are soaring.
• Reformation and Madewell are jumping into the sustainable swimwear market.
• New York City has launched a campaign to keep unwanted clothes out of landfills.
• Anthropologie is adding sizes 16W-26W to their range of apparel offerings

Interesting Fashion Quote

I thought what writer Lindy West said here about being styled so often with a bright red lip and glamorous almost 1940s-style hair was thought-provoking:

“You know, it’s interesting: I absolutely love that look, but it’s not actually my look. Whenever I do press or have my picture taken, people just tend to style me that way. And I do think it has to do with size. I think folks can have such a hard time imagining that fat women can be beautiful that they think the way to make it happen is to over-style them. When it comes to beauty for fat women, it has to be this super exaggerated hyper-femininity. I’m always styled like ‘old Hollywood glamour.’ I have this fantasy about going to a photoshoot and having them say, ‘We’re gonna do a natural look. And you’re not going to wear a bombshell, pin-up dress. We have this weird smock for you.’ I dream of someone saying that to me. Just put me in a smock and do something weird with my face! Fat women don’t really get to be glamorously androgynous, you know?”

When a dress is worn over pants, it becomes a tunic. The combination is an acquired taste, and one I personally like to wear. In this case, the bottoms are NOT leggings. They’re cropped flares or straights, full-length bootcuts, skinnies or cigarette pants. 

These combinations are black, but feel free to wear any colour palette. The column of colour is dark, dramatic and streamlining. Note that the dresses are straight or gently A-line, which adds structure and polish to the outfits. Pick a bag and topper that works with the outfit to complete the look.

1. Bootcut Elegance

Combine a shirtdress with a pair of full-length bootcuts and add pointy-toe shoes. I’d have preferred to see metallic, white or red boots here, but black works well. The shirtdress is fairly fitted, which adds structure and polish to the outfit. Bless those perfect pant lengths.

2. ‘90s Ethereal Layers

Combine a fluid wrap dress with cigarette pants that are split up the front. Add flat sandals, and Bob’s your uncle. The V-neck, slits on the hems of the pants, and the sandals break up the expanse of the black by showcasing some skin.

3. Arty and Architectural

Combine an architectural dress with cropped cigarette pants or skinnies, and finish off the look with loafers, flats, oxfords, shooties, pumps, mules or sandals. The tapered pants offset the volume of the bottom half of the dress. I’d have liked to see metallic, white, snakeskin, leopard or tan footwear here instead of black.

4. Long and Streamlined

Combine a straight midi shirtdress with cropped straights or cropped flares, and finish off the look with oxfords, mules, sandals, pumps, loafers or flats. It’s a good idea to leave some of the bottom buttons unfastened so that you can stride more easily. Although this shirtdress is not a button-through style, it’s fairly roomy and slippery, which makes the combination more comfortable to walk in than you expect. Add jewellery, eyewear and watch as desired.

I wear my version of this outfit formula regularly in warm weather. My version breaks up the black with red, pink and white. I combine a black embroidered dress with black cropped flared pants, and finish off the look with white loafers and bag, or pink ballet flats and red bag. White pearls and red specs too. I add a denim jacket for the chill. The exact items I use to create the outfits are in the collection below.

You’ll find the best assortment of swimsuits in stores in March and April, so this is a good time to have a look at what’s on offer online if you want to refresh your swimwear capsule:

• Target has launched a new size-inclusive swimwear brand, called Kona Sol, with everything priced under $50.
• Popsugar rounds up 17 swimsuits that ring in under $100.
• They’ve also found 21 throwback styles that recall decades past.
• Here are 15 leopard print swimsuits for the animal print lovers among us.
• If you need a bit more support, these underwire bikinis might be worth a look.
• With everything from playful paisley designs to bold bloom patterns, floral print swimwear is hotter than ever according to Popsugar.
• More a fan of a solid black piece, then have a look at these.
• All the pieces in Madewell’s first-ever sustainable swimwear collection are made from recycled plastic.
• In the mood for a belted swimsuit? Then check out these.
• 11 curve swimsuits that are under $100.

Fab Links from Our Members

L’Abeille found Genevieve Valentine’s rundown of Oscar outfits very interesting: “She pays attention to ‘the statecraft of appearances,’ so she analyzes the outfits in terms of what they are probably trying to say, and whether it was effective.”

Angie and the Seattle Times had a delightful conversation about laundry, stain removal, clothing maintenance, and how to pass on wardrobe items in an ethical manner.

Runcarla reports that Virgin Atlantic has decided to drop mandatory make-up for its female flight attendants.

Nemosmom found the art of sashiko-inspired visible mending to be fascinating and beautiful. 

A tabloid called Gigi and Bella Hadids’ books ‘hot accessories’. Fashintern says: “Yet another way of asking if women can be good-looking and smart at the same time. I have no opinion on the sisters, but have gone on record against color-arrangement of books in home decor.”