The Budget Babe made an interesting comment about this week’s post on Spring 2010’s new palette in action:

“I love colors, I really do, especially as found in nature…but why must “happy” always be intertwined with bright colors? Gray and black are happy colors for me.”

I mentioned this to Greg and then he said: “I think black and grey are happy colours too. Just like Chris Cornell is happy music for me, even though it is quite dark, because it makes me happy”.

Hmmm. Chris Cornell’s music makes me happy too, so this got me thinking. What makes a colour a happy colour? Is it the colour itself, or the way the colour makes you feel when you wear it? Or both? Why do bright, saturated colours conjure up feelings of fun and happiness? Is it the associations with a warm sunny day and the blossoming of Spring flowers?

I do think of bright colours as happy colours. But I can feel just as happy wearing a fabulous black garment as I can wearing a bright citron item. I find black and white colour combinations happy too. In fact, I think of white or off-white as one of the happiest colours of all.

What do you think? Can colours like black, grey and brown be happy colours?

In a recent post on how 80’s fashion redeemed itself I also mentioned my general distaste for 90’s fashion. The beginning of the decade had an overflow of bad 80’s looks and this was followed by a long stint of grunge, flat black from head-to-toe, ice-cream toned power suits, pastels, short tops worn with low rise jeans, long flowing skirts, lots of beige, ditsy floral prints and opaque tights. Think of TV shows like Beverly Hills 90210, Friends, Seinfeld, Ally McBeal and Melrose Place to get an idea of what we wore back then. Not so fab.

However, my general aversion for 90’s fashion is not entirely fair and one of our readers made an excellent point when she said:

“Angie, I can’t wait to read your post in a few years eating your words about the 90s! I didn’t think the 90s were THAT bad. What I liked: minimal shoulders (this suits me well), chunky heels (they are practical) with boxy toes (forgiving on the feet), and minimalist make-up (no clownish blush)”

The 90’s had its great fashion moments for sure. Apart from toning down the big hair and clownish make-up looks of the 80’s, the decade brought back the tailored silhouettes of the 40’s and 50’s. Bootcut jeans and trousers were a fashion revelation. Freeing garments from gigantic shoulder pads was another revelation. Square-toed shoes are fun and I’m a big chunky heel fan myself. And stretch! Fabric technology exploded in the 90’s when woven fabrics included a very welcome spandex component. This was unheard of before then.

The 90’s paved the way for the truly modern and versatile fashion of the 00’s (pronounced “the noughties”) and for that I am grateful. But I am still very averse to strong 90’s looks like maxi skirts, short tops, low rises, beige and most elements of grunge. As we head for a 90’s fashion revival, I’m champing at the bit to see how designers improve on these trends.

What does 90’s fashion mean to you? Did you enjoy the looks of that decade? Which 90’s trends, if any, would you like to see revived?

Are horizontal stripes flattering? It is an ongoing style debate. Some say yes, some say no, and some say the answer is very dependent on body type. I believe that everyone can wear the right kind of horizontal stripe. They come in all widths and colours and the tops themselves come in countless silhouettes. It’s a question of selecting the most flattering combination.

There are three main things to consider:

1. Stripe width: I’ve found that a fairly narrow jailbird stripe, say a centimeter wide, is universally flattering. Super wide stripes tend to look like rugby jerseys and narrow stripes make you feel dizzy.
2. Stripe contrast: Stripes in strong contrasting colours are a lot bolder than stripes in monochromatic shades. Contrast in general is a personal preference, but the bolder the stripe, the more careful you need to be.
3. Stripe regularity: Some designs distort the effect of a horizontal stripe across the body and this is usually more flattering than a perfectly regular stripe.

The Michael Kors top (above left) is a good example. The stripes are just over a centimeter apart and the icon circle distorts the flow of the stripe, creating some interest and giving the eye pause. But the pairing of black and white stripes is very bold. Too bold for some, and this top would have also looked great with a subtle grey and black stripe.

The stripes on the Free People cardigan on the right are much wider and I usually don’t find them as flattering. But the contrast between the stripes is less distinctive, AND the pattern has been broken up with the effect of front waterfall ruffle, AND you can wear the top open which accentuates your long lean line. These details make all the difference.

I guess at the end of the day, you either like stripes or you don’t. If you do, you’ll find ways to make them look flattering. If you don’t, you needn’t bother.

Heel heights have been soaring for several seasons. It’s reached the point where three inch heels are considered average, as opposed to really high. Walking in anything with a heel higher than three inches is a challenge for me. But even if I could glide along with the best of them in higher heels, I’d still hold off from wearing them. Shoes and boots with four to five inch heels look off to me somehow. Distorted. The foot is so unnaturally arched that it looks unattractive.

As pretty as these peds are (and they’ll certainly give you extra height) I can’t help but think that they’d look better with a lower heel. From an aesthetic point of view, I like the visual impact of three inch stacked heels best. The foot is arched but does not look distorted at this height. For comfort, I like one to two inch heels best.

Am I alone in thinking this way about the aesthetics of heel heights?