Color cravings: Bright and bold

One of the ways that Pinterest is really helping me hone my style evolution is that it's very quick and easy to click the "Like" or "Repin" button to mark down something that catches my fancy - and then later, I can revisit my style inspiration board to look at patterns and figure out what is really inspiring me. Right now, the biggest pattern is my a shift in the colors that I'm craving.

I found an image of Diane von Furstenberg pre-Fall 2011 collection that really struck my fancy and summed up a lot of the colors that I've been drooling over. There are the "spicy" colors that remind me of curry and paprika and cinnamon; there are the greens and blues (emerald, teal, turquoise.) And I'd throw some cobalt blue and white in there too. These shades work very well with tan/cognac, my preferred accent neutral.

Some of my pins that got me particularly excited about pairing these hues together:
http://pinterest.com/pin/102949541451974465/
http://pinterest.com/pin/102949541451746830/
http://pinterest.com/pin/102949541451793856/
http://pinterest.com/pin/102949541451893805/
http://pinterest.com/pin/102949541451951099/
http://pinterest.com/pin/102949541452157218/
http://pinterest.com/pin/102949541451993725/
http://pinterest.com/pin/102949541452125486/
http://pinterest.com/pin/102949541451741613/

No wonder I find myself pulling my patterned blue BR wrap dress and emerald chevron striped dress out every other week. I'm going to have to do some closet digging to see what else I can combine to play around with this concept. I have a coral and cream dress on order from Nordstrom that I think will be fun to play with too (provided that the dress works out.) I'm also very glad to have my mustard purse on hand.

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13 years ago

Anonymous

I'm so with you on the bright color crave Kari! Yum, yum, yum, thanks for sharing these pictures. The blues and turquoises are my favorite!

kellygirl

Veteran

Ooh, those are some rich color pairings, Kari! I can picture you in all of them. I'm getting hungry for curry now.

Kari

Me too, Kellygirl. There's a delicious pumpkin curry soup I have a craving for - maybe I'll make it for dinner sometime this week.

Transcona Shannon

Those outfit pics are gorgeous Kari!

cheryl

Great inspiration!

JennyAnne

(website)

I'm definitely feeling like all sorts of brights as well. The inspirations are fabulous!

Inge

Moderator

Gorgeous colours, indeed, Kari!! (I had bookmarked a few looks from that DVF collection too, I especially love the greens + blues for myself). You look stunning in these shades, so I'm very excited you are planning to play around with them even more! (I love those two dresses on you).

Jilly

Active Member

Love your color combos and inspiration Kari, especially that yellow purse!

Kari, you have been reading my mind! I am all about bright coral and turquoise right now!

Yes - I looove coral and turquoise together.

catgirl

I was just ranting on to someone about how THRILLED I am to see colors everywhere at last. I didn't realize how tired I was of the j. jill type palette (sages and denim blues and lavenders and "sun-washed" colors ) until the brights and deeps and jewel tones arrived!

Caroline

Member

Love it. Your pinterest links reminded me of one of my favorites (looks similar to your style and color): http://pinterest.com/pin/222224562833049363/

check it out! It's devastatingly cute

Me too, Una. Thing is, my mom looks GREAT in those muted earthy colors, but I need vibrancy and jewel tones and warmth.

Caroline, that chemise is very cute! I love cobalt.

cheryle (Dianthus)

Another fan of the turquoise and coral. I didn't think I could wear coral well and then tried on a dress in that color. I am hooked on it and have to resist the urge to buy everything in that color - well except for the cobalt and teal.

I don't mind the earthy tones so much - it's those in-between shades (not quite pastel, not quite bright) that were exhausting me. The j. jill catalog is really the best example of those shades.

http://www.jjill.com/jjillonli.....=253244915

http://www.jjill.com/jjillonli.....M&h=M

Ah, totally see what you mean. Yeah, not saturated enough for me either.

Jonesy

I adore these colors too, Kari, and I can totally see them looking smashing on you! So rich and vibrant!

I hear you on the J. Jill blahs--I feel the same way about Banana Republic a lot of the time. Their color palette just seems so washed out to me.

Aida

YESS Love (and crave and wear) these colors too, Kari! Especially digging links #3 and #4, those are exactly the colors I want to be wearing, and add in a healthy dose of orange. Thanks for sharing your inspiration photos! Now you've got me wanting pumpkin curry soup, that sounds delicious

Speaking of spices - if you want to drool over spices, http://www.worldspice.com/ is an awesome spice shop below Pike Place Market that my parents recently introduced me to. The scents in the store are heavenly, and the colors of the spices really had me wanting to incorporate them in my wardrobe.

Oooh yeah that's such an amazing spice shop! My husband and I stop by there every Valentine's to refill all of our spices and try some new ones. Our spice rack is, erhm, very full :} Did you get anything fun when you were there? Their tea selection is pretty good too, if a little limited. And also some really great salts!

It's such a great shop! I didn't pick anything up for myself this time, but my parents picked up a smoky spice blend that I can't recall the name of, and my dad stocked up on his favorite Berbere spice that he uses on everything: http://www.worldspice.com/blends/berbere
What's your favorite?

Hmm my favorites, let's see there are quite a few hehe! We mainly stock up on various peppers, and the ones I love and use most are Aleppo (sweet and lightlyspicy) and Urfa Biber (smoky and lightly spicy), and a blended mix that's amazing, Smokin' Hot Garlic Pepper (just what it sounds like, super spicy). The Jasmine Pearl tea they sell is fabulous, one of my favorites jasmine greens I've had. And their Italian Herb mix is just perfect! I think my favorite salts are the Himalayan Pink, Alderwood Smoked, and Black Lava.

(I didn't realize that their web site was working, it was down for a long time. I could do some serious online shopping damage there!!)

fashionista

Spices!!! my mouth's already watering...
Great inspirational colors. And you look lovely in bright colors.
I am now craving for some mustard color in my wardrobe!!!!

ManidipaM

Oooh, thanks for those, Kari! I'm approaching it of the other end, since in the bright bright curry-spice heat here that's fairly cooking me alive, I want a bunch of blues and greens --- but I've been craving ways to brighten them up of late, and enliven the old things a little. This looks like fun playtimes!

Maybe I'll have to post a series of "spices and greens" outfits, as I play around with this concept a little more. I'm longing for some coral necklaces now.

Aida, you used that delicious jasmine pearl tea in the tea mix that you gave me, didn't you? I looove the blend - I have some Teavana Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls, which I think are basically the same as the World of Spice tea, and it's just such a nice, delicate flavor. The Italian Herb mix sounds delish!

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