18 August 2010 – Split Take Two, originally uploaded by academichic.
Sources:
- Dress: Max & Cleo, from BCBG Outlet
- Scarf: thrifted
- Shoes: Steve Madden
- Sunglasses: vintage
End Notes:
(With apologies for the harsh sunlight) Like S. I stood in front of my closet for a while trying to think of a monochromatic outfit that didn’t turn me into a muppet…and came out empty handed. On the other hand, I think I’m getting the hang of split complements.
A pink shoe (from the red wedge of the color wheel), a blue-green dress, and a yellow-green scarf as a belt…and voila. Again, it’s kind of quirky and maybe I feel a little bit like a mix of Strawberry Shortcake and Kate Spade, but it’s also punchy and fun and puts an unexpected twist on the frequently preppy pink-and-green pairing.
Plus, I’m wearing my new-to-me sunglasses and their funny inverted temples-with-wings, and they make me love whatever I’m wearing. My husband makes fun of my “bug eyed” sunglasses, but I remain devoted and I was tickled to find this pair at my favorite local vintage shop.
Several of you have commented on our “scientific” approach to color combinations and declared that you go by your gut instinct when it comes to mixing colors. I’m kind of fascinated by the implicit binary opposition between “scientific” and “emotional” approaches. Ever since middle school, I’ve been uneasy about the whole “right brain” versus “left brain” categorization and the suggestion that method and structure are somehow diametrically opposed to creativity and expression. Seriously, in seventh grade I had a little crisis (because that’s what seventh graders do) over what “side” brain I had and wanted to know if I could just claim a middle ground. A third space, if you will. (It ended up being something of a prophetic moment, I suppose.)
I’ve always thrived in situations where I have parameters or a methodology that opens up a new place or way to explore something. I find that structure feeds my creativity, or that a methodology helps me articulate and extend my intuition in really interesting and productive ways. I think this is a big reason why I’m in graduate school. I am passionate about shifting paradigms or interpretations of artworks within the boundaries of my discipline, using the methodologies that are available to me. Thus, the spill-over into my wardrobe “methodology” is hardly unexpected. I think that some of my favorite outfits have been ones that were created in response to some kind of challenge or within certain parameters!
Do you think that structure and creativity, “science” and “instinct,” are binary opposites? How do your proclivities — either for method or intuition or both — manifest themselves in how you dress?
Ummm, I adore this look – this is color perfection for this girl!
Interesting… I agree that science/creativity and emotion/logic don’t have to be opposing sides of a war. As an artist I often get the compliment, “Oh I wish I were creative like you” or the excuse, “I’d love to do that, but I’m just not creative.” My standard response has long been, “actually, everyone is creative.” And I truly believe that. Scientists are as creative as artists. Software engineers are creative. Accountants are creative, even – I’m not entirely sure if accounting itself is creative – that sounds a little sketchy. But that doesn’t mean accountants themselves can’t be creative people in many ways.
And I too, am an artist who likes boundaries and processes. I find them a very stable foundation for real creativity to take place. One of my favorite quotations is from Goethe – “It is when working within boundaries that mastery reveals itself.” (That’s from memory so may be slightly paraphrased.)
I hate to break it to you, but those sunglasses aren’t vintage. I own the same pair and they’re from Forever 21. I bought mine a month ago.
Beyond that, I adore the red and green in this outfit. Lovely!
I was told, back in the day, by my writing tutor that the greater the constraints in form the freer the writer was in terms of creativity…hence the joy of the sonnet and the triolet. I suspect the same applies to all kinds of human endeavours.
Also, I love this outfit.
gorgeous colors. I LOVE the deep red with the blue/green ness. and i love complementary colors, and the split thing is something i’ve never really thought of before. i kinda just mix random colors, but i’m gonna start paying more attention and see how the colors i choose fall on the color wheel!
I love blue green with lime green, it’s one of my favorites, although I might lean more to turquoise plus lime. That outfit looks 100% fabulous on you.
Thanks, all!
@Suze – So, I immediately whipped out my sunglasses again, all ready to take them back to the vintage store if necessary, but upon closer inspection I noticed a teeny little “AJ Morgan” printed on the inside temple. Unsurprisingly, Forever 21 has a little knock-off action going and if you look closely you can see the differences between their version on the website and mine. Of course, I guess I don’t actually know if these AJ Morgan glasses were made 20+ years ago (the general rule for deeming something “vintage”), but I’ll run with it. Whew, return trip to the vintage store averted. :)
I love all of these colours together! This outfit looks great!
@E- good! I was worried about a vintage store selling F21 sunglasses, LOL. Well, I’ve got a knock-off of your awesome vintage sunglasses!
I’m happy they’re not fakes!
love the colours. . the dress looks divine with the scarf..
as for dressing & everything else, i’d like to think i am in the corpus callosum linking right and left hemispheres. . possibly why i keep employing mixed methodologies– always going ‘this study adopts a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods’– and adamant about cross-disciplinary research.
fab colour combo!
I never would have thought of pairing these colors together but you make it work!
http://www.afashionfixation.blogspot.com
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this outfit! I would have never thought of pairing those colors, but they (and you) look fantastic!
I stumbled upon your blog earlier this year and it opened my eyes to a new way of thinking of color. I was ready for a change with my wardrobe but had a hard time stepping out of my tried-and-true (but boring) combinations. Your color “theory” helped me push past my old standbys and out of my comfort zone. I’m not innovative by any means now, but I’m trying to think of things in ways I hadn’t before. I’m an Engineer by trade, so theory is always easier for me to follow than free-form and things don’t just “come to me”. I do not feel creative, so it is easier for me if I have rules to live by.
There is a wonderful series at MIT featuring “The Artist Behind the Desk”, showcasing the incredible things that accountants create when not accounting… :)
Those shoes! I’m always the one drooling over the shoes. I have actually been looking for a style like that.
I just love this color combo! All the colors really pop against each other, but don’t distract from one another.
Amazing color combination! You are stunning.
Love this! Gorgeous!
I love all the colors in this outfit! It’s so vibrant.