A Vision in Green

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For today’s blog post, I wanted to experiment with putting together a monochrome outfit. I’m usually not a huge fan of monochrome looks—I think they can appear cheap if done improperly—but I figured I should try it out again for myself. One of my favorite inspirations for all-over color and just super funky outfits altogether is Blaire Eadie of Atlantic Pacific. Her outfits may be the very definition of impractical, but I can’t help but love her whimsical pairings and color combos. I was inspired by her to create a more wearable monochrome look for the wintertime!

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Something I’ve noticed in Blair’s monochrome outfits is that they always have a wide range of textures. I think one of the reasons I have been unsuccessful with uniformly colored looks in the past is because I tried to pair like fabric with like fabric, making me look like a walking cotton crayon. (It’s hard to explain why I think some monochrome outfits look cheap, but the best mental image that is coming to mind is a denim jacket paired with jeans of the same wash.)

For today’s look, I tried to pick items with various interesting textures—I’m not sure I did a great job achieving my goal, though. I started with this felt-like olive green jacket with black pleather sleeves. I love this jacket, but I’ve stopped wearing it in recent years because of a hole in the armpit area (I stitched it back together myself, but as is the case whenever I try to hand-sew, the stitch quickly broke open again). I thought the black of the sleeves would pair nicely with my tall black knee boots and add a touch of edge to the overall look.

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For the base of the outfit, I wore this cotton green bodysuit and an olive green midi skirt made out of a sponge-like fabric. While the skirt does have a texture to it, it doesn’t really show up on camera, making my top and skirt appear as one fabric. My dad even commented, “I haven’t seen that dress before.” I think a better use of texture would have been to wear an olive green sweater instead of the bodysuit, to add a chunky knit to the look. Olive green sequins or lace would have been interesting, too! Of course, I don’t own any such pieces, so the bodysuit had to do.

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When I think of a true monochrome outfit, I think of pulling off a look using nearly identical shades of the same color. Several different iterations of this outfit could have been created by using a lighter green top in lieu of the olive green bodysuit, or by using a different shade of green for the skirt. But for today’s challenge, I wanted to stick to using almost the same shade of olive green throughout the outfit. The only areas I deviated in the shade were with the lighter green clutch and the hair scarf, which I wove into my braid for a more interesting look. I think those hints of a different hue were necessary to add interest to this outfit, since the textures weren’t as visually stimulating as I had hoped.

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Overall, I like how this outfit came together, and I felt very pretty in it. I think it almost looks like a female version of an old-fashioned military uniform, with the olive green, the pockets on the jacket, and the tall boots. The green clip-on earrings and maroon lipstick were the perfect touches to make my face pop.

Did I love this monochrome outfit, though? I really liked it and would wear it again, but I’m not convinced I was totally successful in my monochrome pursuits. I still need to get better at mixing textures because without that visual interest, wearing the same color all over can be quite boring. I’m looking forward to experimenting with single-colored outfits more in the future!

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What about you, do you ever wear monochrome outfits? Do you like the look or prefer super colorful (or conversely, neutral) outfits? I was thinking of trying a maroon monochrome outfit next, with a lace maroon shell, my burgundy pleather jacket, and a maroon/purple plaid skirt… But now I’m thinking I should try an all-over grey outfit instead. Or is grey too easy? I do think neutral monochrome outfits are a lot easier to achieve than choosing a bolder color.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by the blog today, and I hope your week is off to a great start!

 

Miles of smiles,

Grace

 

Olive Green Bodysuit: Francesca’s, $20, last worn here | Green and Pleather Jacket: Dillard’s, $50, last worn here | Olive Green Midi Skirt: Nordstrom Rack, $25, last worn here | Black Knee Boots: Clarks via DSW, $100, last worn here | Hair Scarf: Hand-me-down, last worn here | Green Clutch: Hand-me-down, last worn here

12 comments on “A Vision in Green”

  1. It does look like a dress but that is not a bad thing! I really like the texture you added with the jacket. I actually just had to sew two spots on a dress I picked up last week at a consigment store. I don’t know if the rips at the hem details of sleeves were from me doing it or it was like that and I didn’t notice but because of the material, my sewing is not noticeable. I like the dress too much not to fix it. Well done on this monochromatic look! I will be trying a cream monochormatic look for the next Sunday showcase with my sand camo pants. Hopefully my idea translates in reality!
    http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

    1. Thank you Mireille! And ah yes that happens to me sometimes, when I notice a stain or hole after the fact and am not sure if I did it myself. Haha! Glad you could stitch your dress up.

  2. I love wearing monochromatic outfits, especially green ones because it’s my favourite colour! I think you did a fabulous job here. I love the addition of the scarf in your hair too.
    Hugs
    Suzy xx

  3. I totally thought that was a dress too! I like how you paired all these pieces together – I don’t think I have enough green in my wardrobe to try something like this but I could certainly do it with blue, haha!

    Thanks for joining the #WeekdayWearLinkup! Hope that you had a great weekend 🙂 We had a couple fun Christmas gatherings 🙂

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