I mentioned a few months back that part of what I was looking forward to about my new Light Summer color palette was embracing color again:
This palette made me realize that I had let myself get seduced by the neutral-heavy palette of minimalist Instagram style mavens. Although there’s a lot to be said for playing with texture and silhouette within a very muted, narrow palette, I came to recognize it just didn’t feel like me. (One of my favorite shirts is bright blue snake print, for Pete’s sake!) When I posted a muted peach skirt on Instagram asking for color suggestions to dye it, someone suggested “rust!” with enthusiasm and I just wanted to run the other way.
It’s been a breath of fresh air leaning back into color with this new color palette and embracing PATTERN beyond just a neutral stripe or dot. (Can you tell how happy those floral pants make me?) I’m excited to share more with you as I finish building my spring/summer wardrobe – whenever spring finally arrives!!
If you scroll through my Instagram feed (on the righthand sidebar, or at www.instagram.com/thriftshopchic), you’ll see I’ve run straight into the arms of the Light Summer color wheel and have barely looked back. Although I wisely followed advice posted early into this journey and got myself some neutrals to pair with my newly found multi-hued treasures, those neutrals have been mostly white and denim/chambray. When I’ve tried to jive with the minimalist-inspired style Instagrammers, the pieces just haven’t worked out. (See the first two rejects in this post.) They feel too…muted for me now.
But I realized a few weeks back that my Instagram feed wasn’t reflecting my rediscovered enthusiasm for color. I was still following cool girls with a heavily edited, highly stylized neutral aesthetic – partially because neutrals tend to make great capsule wardrobes, and partly because the ethical brands I want to, at least in theory, support seem to be allergic to color. (What’s the deal, Eileen Fisher & friends? Give us some rainbows already!)
I will always love the sight of a chic, slimmed-down wardrobe (like this one who is starting to introduce some color to her closet or this one, who isn’t and that’s fine). It makes me unaccountably happy to gaze at a thoughtful, selective wardrobe where you can see all the pieces and dream of future outfit combos – I guess because it exudes contentment: “This is more than enough and I’m happy with it.” Wardrobe goals, as the kids say.
And people who love color? Well, on Instagram at least, they tend to be maximalist rather than minimalist. A few folks I’ve followed recently have a great time with color but do so through repeated trips to outlets and/or internet sales. Splurging on retail ain’t really my thing – and honestly, giant thrift hauls aren’t, either. How do people keep track of/wear so many pieces? To each their own level of wardrobe volume, I suppose!
But if I can skip over the shopping aspect of how folks arrive at their cute looks (hint: don’t watch Instastories!), I find myself a lot more inspired, and having a lot more fun, following color-filled accounts. They rarely convince me to go hunt for specific pieces – I just enjoy the aesthetic, and the inspiration to pair together colors or patterns I haven’t yet thought of on my own. Starting off Friday with a picture of someone’s flamingo-print blouse just makes me smile in a way that cognac + cream + black capsule wardrobes do not.
So without further ado, here are a couple of colorful IG accounts I’ve started to follow recently:
Frances Ayme – a J. Crew-loving mom of 3 who calls Bermuda home:
Tarilyn – a 50-something Mainer with a passion for skirts and making life in New England look like vacation in Florida:
Alice – a midlife mom with a flair for pattern:
A bonus: these women reflect a greater diversity than the young, hip white women who dominate the IG neutral/ethical game. And it’s nice to see women who don’t blog or Instagram for a living wearing their real clothes!
Who are your favorite colorful Instagrammers (or bloggers)? Share the wealth!
Share this:
4 thoughts on “Embracing Color and Saying No to Neutrals on Instagram (aka Swimming Upstream)”
Leave a Reply
I wouldn’t have supposed you could look even better but you look wonderful in more color.
Very fresh and vibrant. You really come to life.
Thanks Vildy – it’s fun to wear more color!
I have the same problem! Haha. :D
While I love the idea of a capsule wardrobe, it’s just too structured for the number of colors I want to wear. I don’t go for quite as many prints, so that helps. I am settling for modules within my wardrobe that all go together. At a minimum a piece needs three different ways to wear it. It keeps things under control and organized without sucking all the joy out of my wardrobe. Like you, being light summer has put a lot of joy into it!
Yay for Light Summer joy! And I like the idea of “modules” – knowing a bunch of things will work together without limiting yourself numbers-wise. Good thought!