“More is more and less is a bore.” said Iris Apfel.
When life becomes predictable, it can get boring. And while that suits some people, it’s definitely not for me. I’ll never forget the time when Kerry, Jackson (who was 6 or 7 years old at the time) and I were headed to Bermuda to spend a long weekend. We had planned the trip for months and were super excited to spend several days with friends that we hadn’t seen in ages. I carefully planned my outfits as I dreamed of pink sandy beaches, straw hats and frozen drinks. We packed the night before to make sure that we were ready to leave bright and early in the morning and went to sleep with smiles on our faces.
I’m not going to assign blame, let’s just say that there was a significant miscalculation of transit time and we missed our flight. We arrived at the airport many minutes after the plane had taken off. A phone call from our car to the airline advised us that the next flight wasn’t until 9:00pm that night – and it was fully booked. We sat in the parking lot as the news sank in. Jackson was in the back completely oblivious, I had my arms folded across my chest and my husband’s forehead was leaning on the steering wheel (oh dear, I hope I didn’t just reveal whose fault it was).
After Kerry made the call to let our friends know that we missed the flight and we weren’t going to make it at all, he looked at me with his puppy dog eyes and said “Well, I guess we better head home.” I think I snorted at him and said “We are not going home. We have our passports and bags packed for somewhere sunny and warm. Unless you want two miserable people on your hands, we’re going somewhere. Today.”
I don’t want to brag, but I think I scared him. We parked the car, went into the airline terminal and started looking at weather maps, the next departing flights and hotels. Four hours later we were pulling into Magic Kingdom with one very happy boy.
That’s a long introduction to what this blog post is really about. Today, I want to blog about the importance of doing the unpredictable in fashion. One of the fundamental principles to achieving great style is to mix things up and do the unexpected. That’s when it starts getting interesting.
Anything suede is huge this year and florals are making a comeback. This elegant Kate Spade top has flecks of olive-green mixed among the vibrant pinks and I thought it would be fun to wear it with an Army green jacket, distressed jeans and the brightest pink suede shoes I could find. It’s a mash up of a feminine flower-print with a traditionally masculine jacket and ripped jeans that actually look dressy with these flirty tie-up sandals!
One of the most fashionable friends I have gave me some advice that has always stayed with me about combining colors. She said “It doesn’t have to match, it just has to go together.”
Flower Power