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Written by Jane Stabler
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As a child, I think for many of us our earliest fashion memories
involve trying to choose our own outfits and being told what matches –
and more to the point, what doesn’t. Clashing colours and patterns are
pointed out ever so nicely when as a four year old, you try to dress
yourself in every shade of pink you can get your hands on. Since moving
beyond that phase, I have discovered some very interesting points about
this whole matching business. Ask Bronny takes a look at when
coordination becomes a little too much!
Firstly, matching isn’t always a good thing and I have discovered that
there is actually such a thing as too coordinated. Secondly and very
importantly, some of the taboo colour combinations I was told about as
a nappy wearing fashionista are actually now some of my favourite
matches. Take black and brown for example. I was always told never to
attempt to work the two into an outfit, because black and brown just
don’t go. And yet, my black and brown ensembles are now some of my
favourites. Who doesn’t adore a fabulous black dress with even more
fabulous brown boots in winter? Another big no-no of the fashion past
which has become an exuberant yes-yes of the fashion present is the red
and pink. What a fun, fabulous combination! And yet as a wee one, I was
told not to even go there. This pairing of colour isn’t just limited to
fashion these days either, it can be seen through homes, restaurants
and bars. It seems even interior decorators are throwing these past
mismatching myths to the wind.
There are obviously the eternal fashion combination mistakes, like
stripes and plaid, but a lot of the time these days pretty much
anything goes when it comes to pairing colours. The mismatching blacks,
of course, is still the eternal fashion faux pas. But when so many
other matches are now commonplace, and fabulous, it makes me wonder if
it’s just fashion that has changed, or our perceptions of what works.
When I am such a fan of my brown belt with my otherwise completely
black outfit, how could it have been considered such an incorrect and
unfashionable pairing not all that long ago? Similarly, how is it that
I feel utterly ridiculous in a hat that matches my bag that matches my
shoes when that was a fashion staple and the sign of a well put
together outfit just a few short decades ago?
As Ask Bronny always says, when it comes to fashion, it’s all about
self expression and working with what you know looks good on you.
Although that said, I’m not sure that coordinating your get up to the
extent of an all green ensemble (or any colour for that matter) is a
good look for anyone…Yes these days anything goes but there is still a
line, and I think maybe that’s the essence of what my fashion teachers
were trying to drum into me from very early on.
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