Matching Summer Sets

2021 Summer Trend

This summer's trend is rather matchy-matchy. Mainly tiny tops with matching shorts, short and long skirts, capris, and pants. The models wearing the trend look fabulous with their tanned skin and slim figures. Of course. (This photo was retrieved from wheretoget.com)

Nice: 

I have always been a fan of solid matching sets. Being 5'3" and with the probability of shrinking as I get older, solid coloured matching sets are the nicest for me. That means top to bottom solid colour even shoes. Accessories such as jewellery, scarves and purses send out a colourful punch and make the solid colour a canvas (a thought for another post). I get my fill of the colour trend of the season with accessories and it proves to be more cost-effective. Your "outfits' go a long way for a long time with this kind of clothing strategy. This outfit was available on jamesascher.com, but when I went there, it was sold out. 

My 2 No Thanks rules for matched sets:

1. No thanks to matchy brightly coloured patterns. 

And yes, Guys, the trend is yours as well! But as far as I am concerned, my No Thanks rules apply for you too. This photo was retrieved from www.outfittrends.com.

I once received a shorts & shirt outfit from a relative who had been in Hawaii. It was a swirl of hot pink, bright green, and fluorescent yellow flowers. I wore it once to a theme party. It ended up in a donation bag. I do hope someone found some pleasure in wearing it. 

Whether stripes or a floral pattern, if I absolutely had to, a pairing of pale colour — blue & white, beige & blue, beige & white, yellow, pink, mint green in combination with white is the closest I would ever go to a head to toe patterned match. 

2. No thanks to stripes for bottoms such as these from www.lyst.com. Imagine head to toe black & white stripes and all I can think of are 1920s jailhouse convicts.  There is a mixing stripes idea that suggests putting a horizontal stripe on top with the vertical stripe on the bottom or vice versa. I don't know. Maybe, but for me, I doubt it.

Note-worthy

Pyjamas! Head to toe matched sets — I have several.

The Breton Stripe

I always associate the Breton stripe with the French company Armor Lux and with being a French invention. I was wrong. Its origin is actually English and apparently, it was Queen Victoria who started the trend when she dressed her son in sailor stripes. 

Nice: 

I have one black and white striped Armor Lux here in Canada and another three back in France, one of which is a beige and white stripe, a white with black stripe, along with a turquoise and white long-sleeved one. I like the heavier cotton and the perfect crew neck collars. I limit my stripes to tops. My preference is the subtlety of the beige and white stripe.

Need:

For Spring 2021 Judith and Charles have embraced the Breton Stripe in more choices than just summertime tops. I don't yet have a blazer. "Need" may be too strong a word to use because I have enough clothing and really do not "need" another blazer. "Wouldn't it be nice if . . ." is a better phrase to use in this case. 

No Thanks:

I do not own any striped pants because I have never seen a pair that looks good. They run from looking garish to clownish on me. Good for you if you are tall enough to manage them. the closest I ever got to a striped pant was back a few years ago when I bought a trendy pair with a single strip that ran vertically down the side. I did like those pants (the ones here in the photo to the left).

Another "no thanks" is when two or more people in one group are all wearing black and white stripes. That happened to me once. In fact, one of our friend's husbands made a comment about not knowing he was coming to a Marcel Marceau convention when he saw the three of us. We laughed. What else could we do?

Noteworthy:

Striped accessories, shoes, bags, scarves, and even jewelry say "summer" to me and can be fun to add if you do not like wearing stripes. This Michael Kors bag is several years old now but pretty much a summer classic.

In the Garden: First Week Back

It has been a week since I have arrived in France and the only clothing I have worn for 80% of the time are my gardening clothes. It's a jungle in my garden. Our neighbour mows the grass areas while we are away and we pruned before we left. However the warm winter allowed the weeds and other unknown plants to take root amongst my irises, daisies, roses and peonies. We had a tree cut down in February and that has left a bit of a mess even though the tree cutters did a fabulous job at cutting wood for our fireplace and mulching the twigs for ground cover. We left the stump waist height to be the centre of a future garden "bar".

I have no special "garden work" attire. What becomes my garden clothes are rejects: things that have a tear beyond repair, a mistake with bleach, frayed ends, pilled polyesters and stuff I wouldn't dare being seen in public. 

Speaking of daring to be seen in public . . . on the first Saturday of the month in May, there are those who choose to celebrate World Naked Gardening Day. No not me. And yes they weed, plant and trim in the buff. Yikes! It's a scary proposition with all the creepy crawlies one disturbs when pulling weeds, snipping, digging up the soil, and transplanting. Not to mention all that buzzes and bites, albeit only occasionally. There are places I prefer not to be bitten and places I prefer to keep covered if not for modesty for health reasons. I suppose one does not have to worry about  the gardener's tan lines after the fact. 

The only true gardening clothing item I own is a pair of rose gardening gloves. With their rubberized palms and fingers, they are meant to protect the hands from thorns but in fact I find them the perfect all-round-work-in-the-garden glove. For actually working with the roses I hope to purchase the gauntlet style that protects up to the elbows.

Photo Source: Manufactum

One trip to the hypermarché and dinner at my neighbour's forced me to wear my usual comfortable casual look in France - linen cropped pants, a striped Armor-Luxe "pull" and my new Semler sneakers. I'll definitely be packing these for my vacation to the east of France, Germany, Austria, Hungary and my river cruise on the Danube. But that's another post. 

Packing my Armor-Lux "pull" and black linen pants.
Photo by JoyD.

Semler sneakers purchased at Traxx
Photo Source: Traxx.

Summer Sales Welcome Return to France

Basic Choices

Closet Content Analysis: Replacing the Worn Out during Sale Season
  
NICE             NOTE-WORTHY           NEED             NEW

I have returned to France just in time for the summer sales. However my timing is all wrong for the sales at Marques Avenue in Romans-sur-Isere. They start on Wednesday and I am on the road back to the south-west on Monday.

NICE & NEW: Officially it is the beginning of July that the sales start but I was at the Amor-Lux store in Romans-sur-Isere on June 18th where I picked up a light summer sleeveless top for only 16.00Euro. Amazing. It has a v-neck and is that pink tone in beige that is more becoming on my skin than the yellow beige tones. The armholes and neckline are edged in a satiny bias trim that is in the same tone as the body of the top. Nice!

NOTE-WORTHY: I had to buy a bigger size than my other classic Armor-Lux striped shirts. My other classic "marinieres" are a Size 2 whereas this one needed to be a 4. Yes I still fit the 2 "mariniers". When I buy at outlet malls, I often wonder about things like sizes. Could it be that this top at the outlet store was mis-sized since it was sold at a price one-quarter of what it would be in the regular Armor-Lux stores? It's a thought.

Bronze sandals purchased at Salamander. Photo by JoyD.

NEED & NEW: Availability too is often an issue at outlet malls. Since I am a popular size 7 (Canadian) / 37 (European) in shoes, I often cannot find my size. I had a beige pair of flat strappy sandals that went with everything. A strap broke and so I need to replace them. Although I did not find exactly what I was looking for, I did find a pair of metallic bronze flat sandals at Salamander for 49.00Euro in size 37, the last pair in that model.

NEED: I definitely need a pair of "sneakers" - not the thick soled walking or jogging shoes but lightweight canvas sneaker-style shoes that are casual chic and comfortable at the same time. I had a pair of white leather Keds that I loved but they are beyond repair. I just may drop into Marque Avenue before I begin my six hour journey back to the south-west tomorrow morning. Come to think of it, my beige suede flats are looking a little rundown . . . .

A Tradition of Black and White

Closet Content Analysis: Black & White 
Choices: anything black and white

NEED

At least one season in the year has to feature black and/or white and so it is again in the summer of 2013 that strong contrasting black and white is featured.

Black and white is easy: easy to buy, easy to wear, easy to coordinate and match, easy to travel with and for the most part, acceptable no matter where in the world you are. As well if you have a good idea of your closet inventory, and know what you NEED, shopping will be easy.

Armor Luxe black with white stripe pullover purchased in Arcachon, June, 2013.
Photo by JoyD.

I was in Arcachon (a seaside French city) a couple of days ago with my husband and brother-in-law and for the most part I was deferring to their shopping whims, which for the most part include wine and food. However, when I eyed the shop with Armor-Lux clothing, it was I who stopped short and said, "I'll be just a minute." I knew exactly what I wanted, a black with white stripe 3/4 length sleeve crewneck. Bien sur, je trouve - I found it and within three minutes had made my purchase. I love shopping when I know exactly what I NEED.

Armor Luxe white with black stripe pullover purchased in Romans, France,
August, 2010. Photo by JoyD.

This is now my third Armor Lux striped top. With this recent purchase, I have both a black with white stripes and a white with black stripes, and my black and white top NEED categorization has been fulfilled. The white with black stripe has long sleeves whereas the new one has 3/4 length sleeves. I am always pushing up the sleeves on this one so I am glad I found the other.



For a more philosophical take on black and white stripes, I will quote Shel Silverstein's thoughts . . . 

I asked the zebra, "Are you black with white stripes? Or white with black stripes?" 

And the zebra asked me, "Are you good with bad habits? Or are you bad with good habits? 

Are you noisy with quiet times? Or are you quiet with noisy times? 

Are you happy with some sad days? Or are you sad with some happy days? 

Are you neat with some sloppy ways? Or are you sloppy with some neat ways?"

And on and on and on and on and on and on he went. 

I'll never ask a zebra about stripes . . . again.

But if you ask me about stripes again, you can also check a couple of other posts:
Stripes in the Summer from June, 2012
Spring 2013: Black & White Stripes Always and Again, from February, 2013

Updating your Closet for Summer 2013

Closet Content Analysis: The 4 Closet Basics

Choices: 2013 Summer Updates

NEED     NO THANKS

The 4 Closet Basics: pants/shorts, skirts, tops, and cover-up (one or all of the following: pullover/blazer/cardigan for cool evenings). 

If solids predominate in your closet then you . . . 

NEED for Summer, 2013: A blazer/cotton pullover/cardigan, skinny pants/shorts, skirt or top in a floral print

NEED for Summer, 2013: One of the four closet basics in a black and white stripe or graphic print

If you you don't see either of the two as a future purchase, then you . . . 

NEED: an accessory such as a floral canvas bag or a black and white striped shoe.

If you are a solid lover and the florals and graphics are a NO THANKS, then you . . . 

NEED: a bright colour in one of the four closet basics.

NO THANKS

Judging from the ugly and repugnant things that are sometimes in vogue, it would seem as though fashion were desirous of exhibiting its power by getting us to adopt the most atrocious things for its sake alone.

- Georg Simmel

Please do not let it be so; however Fashionista.com is proposing that overalls, yes, read that again, overalls are the 2013 summer must have. The British call them dungarees and the French call them salopettes and I call them awful. In the 80s I remember having a "shorts" khaki pair. I didn't think they were awful in the 80s but now I wonder how in the world can anyone want to wear them - trend or not? Even on the most gorgeous model, they look horrible. Can you imagine? On the rest of us who don't have model proportions I don't even want to imagine. Just say NO THANKS. Fashionista.com presented 10 allegedly "cute" pairs - I'm still feeling a profound NO THANKS to all of them. I have visited several websites and blogs, extolling this trend, from the U.S.A. to Paris and the photos I have seen do not flatter anyone.

NO THANKS: You do not NEED overalls even though many bloggers are calling them the must have trend for the summer. If you are experiencing this trend for the first time, then you will want to have a pair. I won't debate that. This is an age thing and so take the following piece of advice in the spirit of trends and age: if you have worn it once as a trend, and the trend is back, you know to definitely not to do it again.

See the former post on trends:
Choosing the Trend for You

Spring 2013: Black & White Stripes - Always & Again

Choices: Just How Many Stripes?

Nice           No Thanks           Note-Worthy

Two Spring 2013 trends are black and white, always or again, and stripes, always or again . . .

Always . . . it seems that stripes reappear every spring in  some form and if you scroll through the images of stripes online, you will find many celebrities, male and female, in stripes, from Coco Chanel through to Jackie O and Andy Warhol to present day celebs.

Again and again. . . Kelly Rypa caught on camera in the summer of 2009 . . . 

Retrieved from http://media.onsugar.com/files/ons1/192/1922564/29_2009/d23ce0001dbb0f73_Kelly-Ripa.preview.jpg on February 16, 2013

2013 . . . Dig out the stripes, any stripes: vertical, horizontal, blazers, pants, skirts, shirts, sweaters - like black and white, they've been "in" before and this spring designers decided to kick them up a notch again. 

Here's a look at the 2013 stripes. 

Retrieved from http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/style/2013/01/02/the-springsummer-trends-of-2013/ on February 17, 2013

No Thanks: That many stripes - very scary - in the trousers, in the top, in the skirt - just may be too much of a good thing.

Alexander McQueen retrieved from 

http://www.kristopherdukes.com/2008/01/02/alexander-mcqueen-shoes-striped 

on Feburay 15, 2013

Note-Worthy: As always, when a new trend arrives, I suggest and continue suggesting that you introduce it through your accessories - in this case, stripes in your shoes, stripes in your purse, stripes in your jewellery . . . . 

Nice: Other than my Amor Luxe tops, and perhaps a few accessories, I know that will be the extent of stripes for me in 2013.