I love a good wardrobe challenge and will gladly use an opportunity to do or come up with one, but Column of Colour was by far the hardest one I did. This does not mean I did not enjoy it, I am actually beginning to think the harder the challenge the better the learnings from it are. Apart from getting better ideas what to focus my attention on in the future, I have yet again parted my ways with some wardrobe pieces. And that alone feels good. Distilling, distilling down to the very core of what it is I love wearing and why. (This is something that remained as the constant goal ever since my Flavia series of outfits.)


Why I did it?

It just happened. Like many things, the concept was not unfamiliar, but I was not paying attention to it until Angie shed some light on it in her blog post.


What was it about for me?

The idea of adding the third piece that actually emphasises the (base) column was that twist which got my attention and called for some action.


The wardrobe - what I wore and what I wore not

Although the dresses are ready-to-go columns I did not want to use them for my styling experiments. Dress for me is a dress, a standalone piece, while I viewed column of colour as a fresh concept - I interpreted it as "join two separates to create the overall one piece effect". So, I wanted to see what I could do about bringing different tops and bottoms together, and which third piece will play with them well.


The challenges

Pretty soon it became obvious that as attractive as it sounded, I could not do too many rainbow-y base columns because I did not have the building blocks for them. Apart from a couple, matching tops and bottoms in the shades other than neutrals do not live in my wardrobe. So, the trusted neutrals jumped in once again. It was not too bad in the end, because I had discovered yet another way how to view them. So it still is a win-win: existing pieces, new perspective.


Hits and misses

There were hits and one glorious miss (#5). But my miss must be my favourite of this challenge because it showed me what sort of outfits I am no longer about. Greater clarity is what I seek in these challenges.


My interpretation of Column of Colour following this series:

  • The base column is built from two unrelated separated which are close, or complimentary, in colour and texture.
  • My preferred is colourful, not neutral, base column. This does not leave too many options in my current wardrobe, but I will enjoy those the most. And I'll look forward to seeing colourful columns on others.
  • I like the base columns where there is no visual breaking of the vertical line.
  • My columns work best if there is high contrast between the base column and the third piece.
  • Very few selected extras actually enhance this style of outfits to my eye, so when it comes to additional decorating I will proceed with caution. Less is more.

Moving forward, I can with great certainty say you can expect to see variations of the red base outfit. It's by far my favourite of the lot, followed closely by the third outfit from the series. I also plan to experiment with the third piece to see what can take the role of contrasting the base outfit in order to enhance it. Suggestions welcome.


The next puzzle

Because I prefer unbroken column of colour, it became obvious pretty soon that this concept puts the proportions of the outfit in the forefront. So, going forward, I really, really want to nail the proportions and figure out what works on my body, from how to play by the rules to how to break them too.


The outfits

If you've read this far thank you for bearing with me. As always, I am more than happy to hear your thoughts and any kind of constructive suggestion or observation.

10 years ago