Stocking up on colored pants

I wish I had stock in colored pants. This spring, they are hot, hot, hot!

Here’s my surprise: here in the Bay Area, we’re pretty conservative about color. If I lived in Florida, I wouldn’t be saying this! But we like our gray, black, cream, and taupe around here. So when I’ve showing colored pants to clients and without any hesitation they are saying, “That looks great!”, I’m a bit curious!

These are smart women, modern women and they have no fear of putting large doses of coral, red, or royal blue all over half of their body. Has the world turned upside down?

I’ve started spending time in my clients’ closets getting outfits together for the spring weather (which showed up yesterday, may duck down again, but no matter what, we’re getting ready!). I’ve been showing them some ways to wear their bright purchases.

Here are two favorites that have been recorded on Wardrobe Sheets and are ready to go:

1. With a cuffed ankle pant in sharp leaf green (Talbot’s) I paired a navy blue Anorak jacket (also from this season’s Talbot’s collection).I added a gray t-shirt under the jacket and pulled out a recent purchase from J.Crew — a linen scarf with deep colors in a floral print, mostly navy blue and a gorgeous purple. At the center of the flowers are tiny dabs of a bright green. I mean tiny, like miniature sizes of M&Ms. So there’s a hint of connection to the green pants and everything else is darker and neutral so the pants get the attention they deserve.

2. With a coral slim jean (Not Your Daughter’s Jeans), I paired a wonderful white blouse with an interesting collar that stands up about an inch and a half (Per Se Collection). Over the blouse is a black poncho style knit cardigan with sides that are longer than the front and back (Talbot’s). We added a black and white checked scarf from her own collection (Max Mara) and wrapped it around her neck. It has great volume so the look is this hit of orange and then this hit of black and white vibrant scarf. The scarf is strong enough to balance the “color” weight of the bottom piece. When you look at my client, you see the whole head-to-toe look in perfect balance. Simple black ballet flats finished the outfit. Yum!

Although you might be tempted to look at those bright pant colors and want to match shoes, earrings, tops, or jackets to them, try working in the neutral colors first. We love fire engine red on fire engines, but head-to-toe on you or me? Well, that just might be too much red!

Tell me if you’re enjoying spring’s bright colors! I’d love to know how you’re working with them!