Mustard/greens

Women in the Passage worry (mildly, but we do) about looking dated. So, we might buy new clothes, but a wiser update might be via colour— if not the hue du jour, one that is a departure from our usual.

In the windows today, styles deliberately tilted toward classic, but in two current, energetic colours.

Pungent mustardy-gold 

The first is a cousin of the yellow family—not the bright safety-vest yellow, or the cheery lemon; this is the deeper gold of burnished brass. It's as if designers had a summit and said, "We have to have a new neutral!", because this one works with chocolate, grey, white, black, navy.

It is more intense than camel, and if camel drains you, try this ambered hue, or a pattern that includes a shot of it.



Clockwise from top left:
1. Boden Elie velvet dress; they call this colour "trumpet".
2. Club Monaco oversized turtleneck in "marigold"
3. J. Crew cashmere mockneck in "golden topaz"
4. Junge down jacket in "mustard"—but not quite as deep as the others.


Nuanced greens

The other update colour is green, in a range from from cool to warm undertones. (A colour consultant recently remarked that not all blues can be worn with other blues, but most greens can. I tried her advice and she's right; greens mix more flexibly.) The newest greens have a life beyond the crayon-box primary.


Left to right:
1. Boden Richmond trousers in "broad bean"
2. L.L. Bean pima cotton turtleneck in celadon; a good winter colour if you live in temperate weather but need a turtleneck.
3. White Stuff pocket jumper, lime green
4. Talbot's horizontal shaker-stitch sweater in "Highland green"; a more traditional green, but not too aggressive.

Certain makers are bettter than others for stepping into interesting colour territory; J. Crew sell some of the best mid-priced ones, especially in Italian-influenced patterns, and now offer a wider size range.

Boden get nods for colour, but most of their prints look thrown down by a computer. Once you level up to Stella MacCartney, Etro, Temperley and other pricey divinities, you will find these unusual hues handled with assurance.

Nuanced greens are rare among the mall retailers, though now and then somebody surprises you...


Mango green leather quilted jacket (limited sizes).

One piece in a new-for-you colour is all you need; yours may be another—violet, persimmon, freesia pink— because you ought to enjoy it. 

Nor is a colour refresh necessarily a big investment. Secondhand shops are terrific for trying new colours, even if you wouldn't buy—so are clothing swaps. If your hair is grey or you're thinking of going there, this post at 40+ Style on colours to wear with gray hair based on your original natural colour is worth your time.

Thirty-eight years ago, two girlfriends gave me the gift of "getting my colours done"; I still have my accordion swatch wallet. (And it's a good thing, because the consultant gave me so much champagne that I remembered little.) The assessment was accurate, but that mustard isn't in there—it must be some other season— yet it's a terrific accent.

How about you?



Comments

Laura J said…
Love green and as replacements permit adding that colour. So attracted to those mustard shades but challenging to choose a proper tone.
Leslie M said…
Green and yellow are not typically my colors, but I love them. Acid yellow is divine but, near my face, it is the quickest route to me looking like a zombie. I wish someone would give me lots of champagne and do my colors!

I recently decided to venture out of my comfort zone and ordered this green sweater. It hasn’t arrived yet, but think it will work with my “colors”. If not, at least I’m ready for St. Patrick’s Day.
https://www.pendleton-usa.com/product/womens-timeless-merino-v-neck-sweater-10041.html?dwvar_10041_color=2390&cgid=women#prefn1=refinementColor&prefv1=Green&start=5&cgid=women

Duchesse said…
Laura J: Yes, even just a little intensity can affect how a colour works on you. Good idea to test drive in a store.

Leslie M: I bet that champagne/colour consult could be arranged ;) Your sweater looks deeper than Kelly green but it would certainly do the job on March 17. Nice cut and it is washable.
LauraH said…
Love your colour choices. I haven't been shopping for a while and didn't realize that mustard/gold was having a moment. It can be so lovely and rich although a bit tricky with some other colours. Green is a different story, I tend to think of it as a foundation colour. A few years ago my garden taught me that all greens work together, just as you said. After all, Mother Nature can never go wrong.

And I think I mentioned before that an inexpensive folding bag can be a great way to add or test drive a new colour. https://baggu.com
Susan B said…
Found out when I had my colors done last summer (3rd time, & the most comprehensive) that ochre, "burnished brass" yellows are one of my best colors (as long as they're not too muddied). So yes, have been stocking up! Hoping for some good warm greens next...
I adore green and am so happy to see some cooler ones, though not venturing into teal. Forest green the ideal. I bought 3/4 and short sleeved organic cotton tees from Simons, though of course they don't go with everything in wintertime. I like that pullover, but the colours are VERY different in the photos.

I do have more trouble with mustard or gold tones - no problem with actual mustard or gold. Many mustard fabrics frankly make me look sick.

I have blue-green eyes and they flash far more when I wear green than blue -denim seems to incorporate blue, a bit of green and grey, making it an easy non-colour for many people. My hair was very dark - almost black - before greying. Like many such women, I had it coloured "reddish black" (a Parisian colour that doesn't exist in nature) before letting it go grey.
Sam said…
A memory. Thirty years ago my then 13 year old daughter, who was experiencing the mega emotional difficulties of being 13, only wanted The Limited. She has porcelain skin with pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes...a stereotypical Scandinavian natural beauty in blues and bluish reds, etc, but not so much in olive or golds or autumnal colors. That season The Limited specialized in colors perfectly tailored to black girls, and our Green exchange student was in Heaven, but they had not a single blue or "blonde" color. There were tears and tantrums! That was the end of my thinking The Limited were marketing geniuses.
Sam said…
correction of typo, our exchange student was a dark-haired olive-skinned Greek beauty. She was thre years older, luckily, as I surely couldn't have survived fashion dramatics from two girls at the same time. Her mother, a very stylish woman, visited us and took home a suitcase full of The Limited. I didn't get it....to me, locally at least, they were clothes for an eight grader.
Duchesse said…
lagatta: What is is about teal? I agree that fabric texture can really affect a colour!

Sam: Funny, isn't it, how some manufacturers seem to go all-in on a particular palette? I walked into someplace recently and saw a sea of beige and camel, which I like very much but makes me look embalmed.
Duchesse said…
Susan B: I remember you writing about that... I "visit" other seasons but that little wallet still contains a good resumé of what I wear most.
Duchesse said…
Sam: So funny, I thought you meant she was a WOOFer! Your reaction to the mother is the same I have when people bring suitcases full of Monoprix clothes back from a trip to Paris; I find the quality dispiriting. It may look OK briefly but does not hold up.
Teal, just a personal dislike - on myself, not anyone else. Idem turquoise, but not the stone. I have very strong, visceral reactions to colours. My criticism of the over-40 site would be the opposite of Sam's (with respect to her very fair daughter) per skin and hair colours. Except perhaps for the woman in the purple coat, all the models are whiter than white. There are no models with black, brown or olive skin. A bit more diversity would have been nice in both cases.

I actually bought something at Monoprix in Paris, over 30 years ago - a printed blue dress like an African caftan to wear during an extreme heatwave there. I only wear it at home but it has held up for decades, unlike most of their cheap merch.
Carol in Denver said…
Color is my weakness; I am drawn to interesting garment colors like a moth to a flame. I have the LLBean celadon turtleneck, which I wear with an acid green jacket and burgundy pants. Burgundy is a great neutral; it looks good with so many colors, including that mustard you featured.
Duchesse said…
Carol in Denver: Thank for that detail, that's a wonderful combination. I love burgundy but so many makers offer a dull, dried-blood one— including the usually excellent Eric Bompard. I almost ordered something in "Dahlia" but when in Paris I saw it was lifeless. A vibrant burgundy is a terrific almost-neutral.
Bunny said…
Beautiful colors, if I want to use them on my paint palette. Next to my face that mustard is simply horrible, no other word for it. It is exquisite on my freckle faced red haired daughter but on her mom with the silver and black hair, black eyes and fair rosacea tinged Irish skin, just no. As far as the greens. I can wear those. Will you notice me? Will they flatter me? Haven't found one yet that wouldn't make me blend in with the local forest surrounding our property. It's just a boring color, made to surround a magnificent bloom, which I am not. I will pass on these two. I am playing a bit of discover as my hair silvers more and more and it is fun going away from the jewel tones of my life. Just another journey to take!
I agree, I love that colour range, in paintings. It doesn't really go with the colours I have at home, but could provide a nice contrast. I'd look ghastly in those mustard tones.

How I wish this Pendleton pullover in one of my favourite colours was available here. Find ordering from the US very complicated: WOMEN'S TIMELESS MERINO V-NECK SWEATER dark spruce (most would say forest green). It is at deep discount and would join my other merino pullover in the freezer compartment.

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