Pantone 485

A particular shade of red, it has just come to my attention, has become ubiquitous in my closet. So blatant is my predilection for this colour that I even recently received a card in the post emblazoned in this very hue and the classification “Pantone* 485” boldly printed below the splotch of vivacious colour.  It’s a colour that I think lends itself particularly to monochromatic dressing or colour-blocking. The folks at The Loft obviously agree with me on the colour-blocking at least: I picked up the most versatile scarf upon sauntering through the store with a young friend who is an avid fan of their wares (I, admittedly, am not as familiar with their offerings).

The large tomato-red, white, tan and black scarf made its debut as a top last saturday when a friend and I visited my alma mater, Emory University, for a production of the Emory Dance Company of which I am an alumna. Asymmetrically draped around my neck, I belted the scarf with a thin patent leather belt that matched the black border of the scarf and donned an old black blazer to both protect my from the fall chill and to finish off what would have been a rather precarious top otherwise.

I had just picked up a pair of silky trousers from JCrew in the shade the company calls Vibrant Flame the night before, just in time for them to pull together a look that was part monochrome, part colour block. As I write this, I  notice the vivante shade of red all over my surroundings: my kettle and my gratin baking dish in the kitchen, boldy pitted against cobalt blue on the dust jacket of a coffee table book on Matisse and particularly on the cover of automne-hiver (fall-winter)  L’espirit rive gauche, the store catalogue of my favourite department store, Le Bon Marché, where red blotches of paint dance in space against a crisp navy background. And then ofcourse, in my closet where my fire-hued pumps live; the pumps I rely on to complete the sort of look I was going for on Saturday, one with spicy colours tempered and tamed by an economy of line and simplicity of shape. Sometimes it is nice to blend in with the leaves on a fall afternoon.

What I Wore: JCrew “Turner” trousers, The Loft  colorblock scarf, JCrew Skinny belt, Club Monaco blazer, Tom Ford Nico sunglasses, Gianvito Rossi pumps, Céline Luggage Mini bag

Many thanks to Gail O’Neill of The Gaily Planet who is as much wiz behind the lens as she is in front.