Let me be clear: this is not an essay on a maximalist turning into a minimalist. It’s an essay about a maximalist (cough, me, cough) who appreciates that now is the time to own the gray. cardiganIt wouldn’t make me any less of a maximalist, and I’d probably even enjoy it.
my entry into neutrals *involuntary shivering* It all started with blue jeans. I went to Japan last winter and wanted to buy something from there and take it home denim mark on capitalIn my dreams, I’d buy a pair of the kaleidoscopic patchwork bell bottoms that are so familiar to streetwear denizens everywhere, but blue jeans were in my budget. So, in a whirlwind of Japanese denim induced desire I thought, Well, okay, maybe I’ll try this whole “blue jean” thing. It seems like everyone else is doing it.
when i put the pants back on circulation At the office, my co-worker commented that he’d never seen me wear blue jeans. She was addicted to my variety of colorful bottoms, from my green tie-dye jeans made by a Bushwick artist to my hot pink CDG balloon pants, my Lower East Side-made orange cargos and countless vibrant pairs in between. Suddenly, I couldn’t stop wearing blue denim.
Well, my dear reader, it turns out that the blue jeans were just an introduction – a tickle, a gateway drug, if you will – to neutral people. Look, the horror!
The story continues. (Ironically) I was shooting social content on the “Vogue Editors’ Essentials: Favorite White T-Shirt” shoot. (Shockingly, I didn’t have a white T-shirt.) I asked our producer Fujio if I could borrow his sweater to combat my freezing temperatures, when the next thing I knew I was 10 degrees cold. Was hot, and actually, dare I say it, enjoying the dress even more? The sweater was brown, but that was what I wanted. It made my colorful, patterned pleated skirt really pop, and I appreciated its elegant silhouette even more, with the flashy aspect of its appearance no longer its only appeal. The sweater “pulled the look together” if you will.
I still love and wear my colorful items, but I realized that what neutrals gave me was a base to play with to enhance other parts of the outfit — whether it’s a shoe or a jacket or something special. Bold hair color moment. (Ask me about my orange hair era.) I believe that minimalists can find colors other than brown, black, gray, and beige that work for them, so it’s only fair that I consider this. What neutral colors will work for me?
Borrowing from the words of Coco Chanel, “Before you leave the house, ask yourself: Would a neutral make the rest of these bright ones pop?” So, Mrs. Chanel, my style resolution for you is not to take off one thing, but to buy a gray cardigan.
