Why I’m Loving Neutrals

Welcome to Dressed for My Day! As we draw closer to Christmas I find that my mind is less on party outfits and gift buying and more on the truly meaningful things in life. I’m feeling a little reflective and quite contented. Maybe that’s why I keep reaching into my closet for my neutral colored sweaters instead of my more festive looking pieces I thought I’d be gravitating toward right now. In fact, as I type, I’m wearing the exact grey cashmere sweater I’m featuring in this post. (I honestly didn’t realize that until right now!) So I thought today would be a good day to share with you why I’m loving neutrals right now.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love me some color. And there are days when a gal just needs to add a little color to her outfit. Plus, color communicates something about us as we wear it. At this time of year and all year long, a splash of color can communicate joy, vibrancy and warmth.

But if push comes to shove, I’ll almost always reach for neutrals at this time of year. Does that surprise you? Here are a few reasons why.

First, neutrals are easy to coordinate. I can pull black pants from my closet and wear them easily with any of my other neutrals: a camel colored turtleneck, a brown pullover, an ivory blouse, a black silk shirt, you name it.

Next, an outfit of all neutrals looks beautiful without much effort. In fact, when wearing all neutrals, I find that less is more. That’s why I tend to keep my jewelry simple and pared down when wearing an outfit built with neutrals.

I find that when I wear all neutrals, I actually shine more than my clothes. Does that make sense? It’s similar to what happens when you frame a work of art in a black or brown or white frame. The colors in the piece of art are more vibrant and true than if they were framed with another color. Similarly, when a jeweler is showing you a diamond she’ll place the gem on a black cloth, showing off the vibrancy of the stone.

Of course, that means it is important to add color elsewhere when wearing all neutrals. You can add color with soft makeup, pretty nail polish and a bold lipstick. Of course, you could also add a colorful scarf, maybe simply tying it to your handbag.

I also love to wear all neutrals because they create an instantly chic appearance. There’s just something about the pared down nature of an all neutrals look that seems more “expensive,” luxurious and sophisticated.

I think all neutrals looks chic because the simple combination makes you look as though you didn’t try very hard, but you somehow managed to look effortlessly beautiful. Call it “accidental style” if you will! It’s as though you just threw on a few things from your closet without really analyzing them and…voila! Whereas when you wear a multi-color coordinated outfit like this one (which I love, of course) everyone knows you had to spend some time matching things up just so. Make sense?

Finally, I’m enjoying neutrals right now because tonal or tone-on-tone dressing is very on trend. And that fashion trend is splendidly easy to pull off with the neutrals I’ve stocked in my closet during our year of Building a Wardrobe that Works for You. Tonal dressing is also elongating and slimming.

So yeah, I’m reaching for my neutrals a lot these days. I’m especially drawn to grey, black or camel, plus any combination of those colors. If you’d like to see more of what I’m currently wearing, you could check out this post or this one.

I didn’t share a lot about the details of today’s outfit, but if you have any questions I will certainly answer them. The sweater is sold out, but the pants are available and run slightly large. (I’m wearing my usual 8, but they’re quite roomy.) I’ve linked to these and similar items in the shopping widget below.

I have to share a funny with you. In the middle of writing this post, a package arrived at my doorstep. It was this jacket and the coordinating pants. Guess what color I had selected. No! I ordered the red pop!!! And it is drop dead gorgeous. I can’t wait to share it with you. Hahaha!

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Blessed for My Day

It’s time to celebrate! Christmas is upon us. Let’s take time today and each day this week to simply revel in the mystery of it all. Luke 2:14 is one of those verses that kinda makes me stop in my tracks and ponder. “…those with whom He is pleased???” Really?

You know what? We tend to wallow in shame sometimes. And yes, we need to feel the full weight and gravity of our sin when it’s appropriate…before we’ve repented of it and turned back to God. But once we’ve accepted that gracious gift of forgiveness, we need to let go of the shame and guilt. God loves us. He is shamelessly and extravagantly and wildly pleased with us! And on Christmas morning He sent His precious Son Jesus to rescue us from the mess we were in.

Mysterious? Yes! But gloriously wonderful and worth celebrating. Happy Birthday, Jesus!

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” ~ Luke 2:13-14