I love orange. It's a beautiful color. I was thrilled to see it become fashionable. I don't know how long the trend will last, so I'm jumping on The Orange Train at every station now.Here's a new top I bought and like. I pulled out an old orange skirt to match it. With my (new) scarf and tights, I'm adding an unusual color that I believe works -- light purple. You wouldn't expect orange and purple to go together but they both have red (a primary color) as their base, so they kinda do. What do you think?
Photos below; opinions invited.
While I have your ear, let me mention that I just discovered three things. My real closet is full of male clothing. My fun female "closet" isn't real -- out of necessity, I store my female clothes in plastic storage bins. I'm not crazy about this because it obscures them from view and I don't always know what I have. Yesterday I tried to improve the situation by pulling everything out, cataloging it in my mind and then re-arranging it according to type (e.g., tops, skirts, dresses, fantasywear, eccentric items). Hopefully that will enable me to put together better outfits.
My first discovery is that organization is important. A structured closet helps us know what we have and find things to go with other things.
My second discovery is that I have a lot of clothes. The volume surprises me. I buy almost everything from thrift-stores or at deep discount so I haven't spent much money but the number of items is piling up. For the next few months, I'm going to stop buying new clothes and just use what I have. I could create a large number of permutations that will be interesting without having to add anything new.
My last discovery is that my method of storing clothes wrinkles them. Up to now, I haven't gone to the trouble of ironing clothes for photoshoots -- but that carelessness makes me sad. I feel wearing wrinkled clothes disrespects you and is inexcusably lazy. From now on, I vow to iron my clothes whenever they need it (which will be almost always). I want my dressing up to have integrity and if that requires a little more effort, I need to perform it. This is important to me.
I faced this situation when I pulled out the orange skirt shown below. It was badly wrinkled. I spent the time and effort necessary to fix that and now I feel proud to wear it.
Do you always iron your clothes? Or don't you mind wearing wrinkled ones? Does your storage method wrinkle them?
Before I dyed my hair, I used to like to wear orange--I have naturally dark brown hair, and I think it suits it well. Now I would just clash with myself! It looks really good on you though, and I love the ruffles on the top.
ReplyDeleteI'm not very good with clothes storage--I have too many clothes and my closet is much too small. Some of my clothes do get wrinkled but I usually don't really mind--also, I'm not sure how many of the fabrics I do wear even tend to wrinkle. I've never really noticed!
As far as ironing goes, I think you commented on my post when I stated that I despise ironing. It's a necessary evil though, because it does make your clothes look more presentable and you look like you put a little effort into dressing yourself. That being said, since I hate to iron, a lot of my clothes don't get worn until I get in an ironing mood, ha ha!
ReplyDeleteI love orange and especially worn with purple. This is a really great skirt. It compliments the brighter orange shirt since the skirt is a little more "peachy" looking. Your metallic shoes are really great too. Heather
Thanks, Heather. I did comment on your post and was thinking of your words when I wrote this.
DeleteOrange becomes you. I don't like ironing, but I dislike wrinkles even more. Is there a closet you could devote to your blog wardrobe?
ReplyDeleteI'm working on that. It involves some negotiation which is delicate.
DeleteOrange is a great color for you! Glad you decided to embrace the bold color. The color of your top is my favorite shade of orange.
ReplyDeleteAs a lover of linen, I'm down with some wrinkles. Sometimes wrinkles can look bad, but sometimes they can add to the texture of the outfit, like in a linen fabric. I don't mind ironing, but it involves pulling a lot of things out and borrowing one. I usually toss wrinkled pieces in the dryer for a few minutes with a very lightly damp washcloth and it steams most of the wrinkles out.
I usually only iron the Hub's work shirts and ties for crafting.
I absolutely love orange on you! I think it's a great color. Very bright and cheerful. I never iron my clothes. I don't even know how to iron.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.glamkittenslitterbox.com/
Twitter: @GlamKitten88
As our male receptionist says when he likes an outfit, you look "SASSY"! Orange loves you back, Ally.
ReplyDeleteI really only have one closet, although a second hanging pole collapsed a couple of months ago and some of my jackets had to sneak into Dear Hubby's closet. I hang my clothes up first by type, i.e. dresses, skirts, tops, outerwear, and then organize by color within those groups. My favorite thrift stores also organize by color.
I used to refuse to buy anything that had to be ironed, and I'd watch the dryer like a hawk to grab things and hang them up before they could wrinkle, but now I sometimes enjoy a nice iron. It's relaxing and you can see results immediately. I take a few hard to iron garments to a local discount dry cleaners.
I am sure you have heard of the term "Look Book". Since your storage is a problem, maybe you could use that sort of idea to catalog your things, with accessories and all. Then you could maybe just have a photo album either on the computer or hard copy. You could put pics on the bins of what is in them. Easier maybe. I'm thinking that would be good for me when my winter clothes come out and summer are stored. Anyway, you do look good in orange.
ReplyDeleteWhen you first said you were pairing purple with that lovely orange I was all excited, I'm not sure if it's the photo or my preconcepted idea of purple, but I would have been more inclined to call those tights hot pink. They still look great but I was a touch dissapointed. I love orange and purple together, those colors look fantastic together, you just have to get the shades right so they dont clash :)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you with ironing, necessary evil, and yep I'm another one of those who just doesnt wear it if it needs to be ironed ... unless I really want to wear it, then the iron has to be found, I often lose it cause I cant remember what cupboard I hid it in.
Oh and biking gear doesnt need ironing, yet another reason to love biking!!
My fault: (1) I can't identify colors well and (2) photographs don't reproduce colors accurately. Upon reflection, I think you're right: a darker purple would have worked better. Thanks for the feedback, Brenda.
DeleteI love the color tights that you used tho, whatever color you want to call it they look great and with that scarf too ... sweet. I'm very impressed with your scarf I love them but am never game enough to wear them unless it's cold and I tuck it into my bike jacket.
DeletePurple and orange are excellent together. I love all the brights in this outfit.
ReplyDeleteI never iron. I loathe it. I keep meaning to buy a good steamer (the kind we had at the women's clothing store I used to work at years ago), but I haven't gotten around to it yet.
WOW! This is such a fun, colourful outfit, right up my alley (we are coloured tights soul mates!) That skirt is just beautiful, so glad you gave it the proper iron love! I will admit to being lazy when it comes to ironing but I recently bought a new iron (which doesn't dump water all over the clothes!) so hopefully it will be used more often!
ReplyDeleteOrange is such a fun color on you! I think purple is the perfect complimentary color to orange. When I was younger, I had a friend who I was going to start a musical group with and we were going to call it Purple Orange. We were so awesome.
ReplyDeleteCloset storage is so key to getting dressed in the morning. I have a closet with two sliding doors, and I've discovered that how or where I hand my items often determines how I get dressed for the day.
Great post!
Amber
Ironing makes me grumpy! I avoid it at all costs.
ReplyDeleteHave you made a Look Book? I take pictures of my clothes laid out in different outfit combos and store them in a folder on my computer called "Look Book." When I want to wear a certain item, say my green skirt, I'll sort through the pictures tagged "green skirt" and see what outfits I've created that include the item. Your past blog photos also make a good Look Book. It saves me time from having to think up new outfit combos every day.
Oh, and I adore the color orange. More please!
A Look Book makes great sense. Thank, Sage!
DeleteI love the orange and it looks great on you. It's one of my favorite colors and I wear it regardless of trend.
ReplyDeleteI do find myself ironing if a piece is wrinkled. Just a habit, I guess. And I'm in the process of organizing my closets too, which is taking much longer than I thought it would. But having fun finding things that I'd forgotten about.
Let me just start out by saying that I have never noticed you wearing wrinkled clothing. Ever. You always look so beautifully put together as if you put a great deal of thought and intention into your outfits. So I wouldn't be overly concerned with ironing. I do it...depending on the degree of wrinkliness. If it's very minorly wrinkled...for example a top...and I'm going to work...I'll just pretend in my mink the seat belt did it...as it probably would anyway and I would have wasted time ironing. haha
ReplyDeleteAnother little trick (and it's much quicker) is the "reduce noise" feature on some free editing programs. It smooths things out somewhat.
Secondly, you look fantastic! Love that orange color on you. Pretty top and scarf. The tights really work well.
Have you ever thought about getting one of those stand up racks to hang a few things? Might not want that out in the way though.
I see others commenting about their outfit organization. I take photos of "potential outfits" layed out of the bed and keep them in a folder to reference. I'm all the time coming up with new inspirations from other bloggers or Pinterest. Then in another folder I copy and paste outfits in order that I might wear them in the upcoming days/weeks.
"in my MIND" not mink. haha
ReplyDeleteFor the wrinkling problem… you could get a handheld steamer. Hubby got a travel one online. Including shipping, it was about $100… but it should last for ages!
ReplyDeleteFor storage, perhaps you could get some of the cheapo "closets" like I got when I cleaned my basement. Walmart… about 15-20 bucks each. You could set them up in a quiet corner of your basement or spare room, perhaps? Then your patient wife won't have to relinquish her precious closet space!
Orange really suits you!! No matter how hard I try..I just can't pull it off :( xx
ReplyDeleteOrange and purple deffo go together! They knew it in the 60's / 70's mod / psychedelic era already :)!
ReplyDeleteThat outfits suits you and love the bracelet & heels.
Btw, I hate ironing. Usually I spray a little bit hot water from an atomizer bottle on a wrinkled piece while it's hanging on a hanger, and then I beat it a bit. usually the worst wrinkles are gone. Or then I put it on a hanger and hang it in the bathroom while I take a shower, the steam makes the wrinkles go off.
If those don't help, then I must Iron >.<
x, Lara
http://rockteraptor.blogspot.fi/
You are very cool color orange! you are very sweet))
ReplyDeleteI hate ironing, but also hate wrinkles ((
I also buy too much and promise to stop, but this is unrealistic)
Orange has been my favorite color to work with this year. I never used to like it and then all of sudden it's like a switch was flipped and I fell in love!
ReplyDeleteThis may be one of my favorite outfits on you to date! It's a great color on you and I adore that skirt!! And I think orange does go well with purple!
And I iron when I need to. I hate it. I don't have a lot of storage room in my closet either, so stuff gets wrinkly after it gets put away, so I never iron until I need to wear something that is wrinkled!
Orange and hot pink (fuchsia) look amazing together ( the color of your tights is fuchsia right?)
ReplyDeleteIn regards to ironing, yes - everything i wear is ironed. I'll only wear items that are not ironed when i layer them.
Ally, orange is definitely your colour! You did a beautiful job with your makeup, and your scarf is just perfect - the print / colours and the pretty way you've tied it.
ReplyDeleteI care for and store my clothes to minimize wrinkles - I'm still where Lynne used to be: totally hate-hate-hate ironing! I generally really avoid buying things that crease easily or will need ironing.
Love the scarf, very pretty! My favorite color is orange, and it looks great on you!
ReplyDeletePretty outfit Ally. I have a big problem with unironed clothes - I'm quite a pain, to the point that I iron all my own work clothes because things need to be just so. I have a little steamor in my room for dealing with the wrinkles that often appear from storing ... I love linen, but don't buy items made in the fabric often because of how much it creases. Pedantic is the word to use for me in regard to ironing and wrinkles.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day
Purple and orange is a great fall color combo Ally. It looks like the color of the tights is also picked up in the scarf.
ReplyDeleteI'm like Wendy. I DO NOT walk out of the house without ironing my clothes. I think it was drilled into me from the cradle.
If you have some spare room or even a coat closet why not just hang up a few of the things that are most prone to wrinkling.
you've got moxie to wear orange and pink together!!! I only just recently jumped into the Orange Train lately, and I have to say, I wish I did earlier! Orange is lovely.
ReplyDeleteI like to buy clothing that doesn't need ironing. I have an iron, but I hate to bring it out. UGH. To keep me from having to iron, I hang all my clothes. Then I get to see them too!
I hate ironing and moreover I iron only when there is no chance to skip it. My mom has addiction to ironing, always ironing and working on her clothes view. I remember how she made me be late to school etc. because she found wrinkles. nightmare
ReplyDeleteI'm lazy. I hate ironing. I just always bring my clothes in the bathroom while they're on a hanger + let the steam do the work, haha! This is a really cute outfit. I love orange as well. That bracelet is really cute too. Reminds me of some of the bracelets I saw over at Outfit Additions.
ReplyDeleteThose colours are brilliant on you! More!! Orange works with a suprising number of colours. Navy (actually, most blues), brown, purple, grey, green, pink, red, black, white.... When I lost a heap of weight and the meds had my depression under control I treated myself to a session with a stylist. Well worth it. One, apparently I have an hourglass figure (woohoo!). But she was lovely enough to say I had great clothes, but what I really struggled with was putting them together. After a bit of discussion and some examples, the "AHA!" moment was looking at a watercolour of a wren over the bed. Look at the colour combinations in nature and man-made objects. What pleases your eye? Stop, look and figure it out. And keep the proportions in mind - sometimes you just need a touch, other times a big chunk.
ReplyDeleteAnd I rarely iron (most of my clothes are hung). It uses energy (electrical and mine) and is bad for the environment :) See - an ethical excuse for laziness!
Even linen and damask tablecloths look lovely with the wrinkles striaght from the clothesline.
*And* I've got a couple of lookbooks. There's pictures from magazines in folders, images from the web on the hard drive and I bought a copy of Dress Assistant (http://www.dressassistant.com/index_win.html) to help me organise my clothes and think about different combinations. It's been worth it's weight in gold - not only in helping me wear my clothes but also in stopping me buying more from ebay....
As a frequent traveller, wrinkled clothes are always inevitable. I absolutely hate ironing as well. One way I've found to help reduce wrinkles when packing (or storing) clothing is to fold it lengthwise, and then roll the clothing, instead of folding into a square. There will be less creases, and actually leaves more room in your suitcase or storage bin!
ReplyDeleteAlso, a great alternative to ironing is to use Downy Wrinkle Releaser spray. It's very simple. Just place the garment on a flat surface, spray, smooth out the bumps and creases with your hands & repeat on the other side! Of course, it won't get out any stubborn deep wrinkles, but it definitely helps cut down on ironing time! Dries quickly and smells pretty good, too.
P.S. The orange looks great! :)