This seems to be a reoccuring theme with me. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a 5'9" broad-shouldered hourglass who is a dark autumn (pale warm/olive skin, dark eyes/hair). I'm a museum technician and work in a casual environment in a historic building (hot in the summer, cold in the winter) and need to dress practically for the job since I get dirty, have to climb ladders and kneel on the floor, need sturdy closed toe and heel shoes, and can't wear most jewelry or metal embellishment on tops to work. I also live in the relative middle of retail nowhere, which means I do most of my shopping online (I have to drive 4 hours to get to the GAP). Last summer my shopping plans were disrupted by my organization suddenly implementing a dress code. The code is now defunct, except for the no shorts and no sandal policies. That said, I don't have much in the way of summer gear and we have been cold and rainy until this week and are now in the high 80s.

I will put my current summer wardrobe in finds. I get one wear out of summer clothing before having to wash it. I have recently been dissapointed with the quality of rayon knits, but there aren't a lot of other knit options out there currently other than basic tees. I'm not opposed to wovens, but being busty and broad shouldered combined can cause fit issues with some wovens (in fact, I just went up a cup size and several of my woven tops with buttons have had to been retired). I have problems with shoes that don't lace up slipping in the heel, but feel very limited as to what bottoms I can wear.

I'm a dark autumn and am having problems finding my colors this year. I'm drawn to the light blues and greys, but I'm not supposed to wear them.I really enjoy masculine/tomboy fashion and am on the RATE side and I see lots of pastels and light menswear colors but don't look good in that. I do look good in black, but get tired of a black and navy summer wardrobe.

Below are links to a dark autumn color chart, my pinterest, and a old thread with photos of me:

http://www.12blueprints.com/da.....d-apparel/

https://www.pinterest.com/ellyelf/capsule/

http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....-cowl-neck

This is turning into more of a rant than a functional thread. I think I'm just frustrated.

So, ladies, what do you do when you feel like your personal style is at odds with what looks good on your coloring or figure?

And what do you do when what is available in your budget isn't the style or quaility you want?

Sincerely,

Shirtless in Colorado and looking for shoes, pants, and tops