10 July 2009

Posted on | July 10, 2009 | 14 Comments

10 July 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

Brown ruffle top – J.Crew
Embroidered skirt – Talbots, borrowed from mom
Pink cami – BR, remixed
Black wedges – Connie, thrifted, remixed
Purse – Garage sale, remixed
Coral earrings – gift from dad

Endnotes:

After yesterday’s more clean-cut preppy look, I needed a good dose of floral and whimsy in my outfit today. So I borrowed this beautifully embroidered skirt from my mom and build an outfit around it.

To allow the skirt to shine as the centerpiece, I completed the look with a variety of neutrals. Now I’m well aware that many a fashion critic will argue that black and brown do not belong together, but I beg to differ. I subscribe to the Stacy and Clinton school of thought, which states that neutrals are neutrals because they go with everything, including each other. Thus, I have no problem with wearing a brown top and brown purse with black shoes.

What about you? How closely do you follow that old adage of not mixing black and brown? S.

Category: Beltless, Color Combinations, Reaching New Heights, Skirting the Issue, Teaching Outfits
Tags: black and brown > coral > embroidered skirt > floral > mixing neutrals

Comments

14 Responses to “10 July 2009”

evanadine
July 10th, 2009 @ 5:49 pm

i take it on a case-by-case basis. i agree that, being neutrals, they theoretically go together; however, sometimes, i just dont *like* them together. of course, sometimes i do. :)
piglet
July 10th, 2009 @ 6:26 pm

That skirt is lovely.
I quite often pair black and brown. Sometimes they can look bad, but mostly I like them together.
Jane
July 10th, 2009 @ 9:46 pm

That look is lovely. All the colours. patterns and textures work well with each other. Beautiful.
Kasmira
July 11th, 2009 @ 4:39 am

Talbot’s, for being such a stuffy chain, DOES make the cutest skirts!

Those earrings are precious too.
Anna
July 11th, 2009 @ 5:29 am

You are so right that neutrals go with everything. While I don’t wear black and brown together much (I’m just not a big fan of that color combo), I wear navy, gray, and tan with everything! Right now, I’m really digging navy with gray or black.
cognitivesiren
July 11th, 2009 @ 8:09 am

I think the key is the shade of brown — dark brown and black? no. A nice milk-chocolatey color? Heck yeah.
Julia
July 11th, 2009 @ 8:31 am

I never have qualms about wearing black with brown. I am all kinds of in to it, and when the brown is beautiful leather boots, I’m even more into it!!
Courtney
July 11th, 2009 @ 10:42 am

I think the key to not making it look iffy is not to put the brown and black on top of or right next to one another. Since the black and brown are sort of separated, it doesn’t make you do one of those, “Wait…are those the same color or no?” double-takes!
Kimberly
July 12th, 2009 @ 2:26 pm

What a pretty skirt!! Love the detailing on the top also!
Clare
July 13th, 2009 @ 4:01 am

That outfit is just lovely. The shape of the skirt looks so great on you.

When I wear brown and black together, I feel like the brown is transformed from a neutral to a color…a color that matches beautifully with black! I think it’s a perfectly delightful combination, and you wear it well!
ShopKim
July 13th, 2009 @ 4:24 am

I love this outfit! The skirt is great and the earrings are so pretty.

As for brown and black, I used to be very opposed to it. In recent years I’ve come around though and will pair them together when the need arises.
Cindee
July 13th, 2009 @ 6:10 am

very pretty outfit!
stylefyles
July 13th, 2009 @ 2:18 pm

that skirt is fabulous! LOVE!
14 July 2009 - Neutrals : academichic
July 14th, 2009 @ 7:49 am

[...] Some of you noted, that you believe a black and brown pairing to look more convincing and intentional when the two neutrals come to meet side by side. So today I tried to do just that; I layered a black cami under my brown top, hoping to show that black and brown were meant to come together in this look. By extension, it should look like no accident that my black shoes were added to a brown belt and brown purse. [...]