13 March 2010 – Flower Power, originally uploaded by academichic.Sources:
- Pale pink top – TJMaxx
- Blue cardi – H&M
- Flower belt – really old J.Crew, hand me down
- Striped skirt – Talbots
- Floral tights – H&M
- Gray wedges – Report, via Solestruck.com
Endnotes:
I couldn’t let Tights Week pass without pulling out my crazy floral tights. I got these this past winter and only wore them once because they’re somewhat of a tough item to style, but I stand by them nonetheless and think they are pretty fabulous. They’re just so crazy and fun and colorful, so practicality be damned.
Last time I wore them, I timidly paired them with an all black outfit. They’re so loud that I was afraid to add any other color or pattern, fearing the whole outfit would spiral out of control and into bright clown territory. But I think the black was actually too harsh and did more harm than good. One insightful reader suggested I try lighter neutrals, so that was my starting point this time around. This pinstriped skirt appears almost like a pale gray and the pale pink top, while not technically a neutral, serves the same purpose a beige or off-white top might do. With a base of light colors grounding the outfit, I took the plunge and added some brighter touches.
Flower belt, originally uploaded by academichic.
Pattern mix, originally uploaded by academichic.Not only did I try color this time – bright blue cardi, coral flower belt buckle – but I even ventured into pattern mixing territory (pinstripe and floral). While this may sound like a recipe for disaster, I actually think this works much better than my ‘safe’ all-black version. What do you think? How else would you wear these tights? S.
13 March 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.
I definitely agree with you that this looks better than the all black. The tights remind me of spring so the wintery black dress seemed a bit off. Now you look fun and springy and ready for a picnic.
You are so cute! At first I started listing everything I liked about this outfit, but it turns out that I was listing — well everything. This is so cute, and that belt — what a great hand me down!
I like this look better than the black too. I’m pretty impressed with how you’ve neutralized the colour pop of the tights. Somehow, though, I think the shoes aren’t quite right. This is the problem with colourful tights, for me. They make shoe choices so difficult. I think I would like a darker shoe better, like maybe an almond toed flat in a darker grey or blue (maybe a few shades darker than the cardigan?). I feel like you almost need to ground colourful tights, without defaulting to black/brown which clearly doesn’t work.
Hope you don’t mind the suggestion – I really do struggle with the bright tights+need to protect feet from ground=tricky shoe decision equation myself and it’s interesting to see what you’ve thought of and what makes one thing work better or differently than another.
I also agree with you. The black was too harsh for the tights, whereas here, they don’t look out of place or scream “hey I’m wearing floral tights.” This outfit looks both balanced and interesting. Further, the tights aren’t necessarily the focal point, which makes a world of a difference with these particular tights.
Those tights are amazing!!
~Dana
I love the way this outfit looks, but if you needed to tone down the tights for another outfit, you could try them with boots so less of them showed.
I like this better than wearing them with black, and I think the flower belt works SO well here. These tights are completely awesome, but also tricky. I think the bold blue of the cardi is possibly a little bit too much. A softer blue, or a pink or green instead, maybe. Or a lighter brown to work in with the dark brown belt? And I think the shoes are perfectly OK and work well with the skirt, but at first glance they are a little bit invisible against the tights. Brighter shoes? I saw some pinkish ones in A’s peeptoe post recently that could work.
Just trying to be helpful, not negative . . . ! (Maybe you could challenge E and A to work up some looks with these tights as well?)
Love this look! I agree, they look much better against these light-coloured neutrals than against the black. Although I might go for a brighter shoe to balance out the bottom half. Then again, I love crazy brights, so I may be biased.
This is SO fantastic. It looks amazing! I definitely like it better than the all-black version. It totally lets the tights shine!
This is a darling outfit. I love the belted cardi and the shape of the skirt. However, I’m not a fan of the floral tights. The first time I saw them was on a pre-teen at a book signing. From a short way away, I thought the poor child’s legs were horribly disfigured. I like patterned tights, but not the splashy floral.
The combo is lovely! I never could have managed to put something together like that. I wanted to buy flowered tights, but don’t think I could pull them off. My hat’s off to you :)
I also suggest wearing them with boots (and a shorter skirt) to get that pop without it overwhelming your legs.
A little late to the party… sorry! Love how you mixed the stripes and florals. And that belt… Yum.