Fab Collab: Pastels for All Ages

It’s that time again when the ladies from JTouchofStyle and I pool our memories and photos to create a Fab Collab that spans the generations. Since it’s springtime, we’re diving into the sweet tradition of pastels in Spring. Over this coming week we’ll share style-memories from our past as well as ways we style these colors today. 

My story kicks us off, but I hope you’ll come back to see Jodie’s, Nancy’s, and Charlotte’s stories too. As many of you know, each of us was born in a different decade: Charlotte is in her 70s, Nancy is in her 60s, Jodie is in her 50s, and I am in my 40s. As a result, our memories offer quite a range of fashion history!

Below is a sneak peek!

The Old Rules of Pastels

Growing up in the South in the Seventies there were two fashion rules everyone knew and abided by.

Rule one:
On Easter pretend you’re a Monet painting and swath yourself in pastels.

Rule Two:
After Labor Day, lock those colors away and act like you’ve never heard of them.

Okay. So I’m exaggerating. Kind of.

But we did (and do) love our pastels for Spring. Below is the outfit I wore to the graduation ceremony for my dad’s doctoral degree in Memphis, Tennessee. The ceremony took place sometime in May or early June and I made sure to have a pastel-colored outfit to wear to it.

Traditions Change

Eventually my life took me out of the South to live in places like Washington, DC, Minneapolis, and Seattle. With each move the palate of my wardrobe got darker. That is, until we moved to Phoenix where the whole game changed.

Pastels tend to be lighter weight in fabric as well as color. That means I wore these colors I long associated with Spring year round!

My friend Suzanne over at SuzanneCarillo.com was under the impression when I saw her in February that the only colors I wear are pastels. (Okay. She knows that’s not true because I buy half my wardrobe from her Etsy shop and none of it has been pastel!) Still, I can see where she might get the idea that I wear these colors a lot. When we had our blogger meet-up in Arizona in February I wore the cardigan you see in the photo below a million times. It’s just a great layering piece for “winter” in Phoenix.

Continuing the Tradition

Even after all these years living all those different places I equate pastel colors with this time of year. It’s kind of a sweet tradition–reflecting through fashion what the world is starting to look like outside. It’s a celebration, really.

So, to celebrate this tradition and to kickstart our first Fab Collab of 2017, I give you a look I have been wanting to share since last May. (For whatever reason, the timing just never worked out before now.)

Both the dress and the topper are vintage pieces I bought at Lula Vintage in Saint Paul, Minnesota when I visited there last year. Lula specializes in clothing over 25 years old. They’ve been holding high vintage fashion court at the corner of Selby Avenue and Snelling Avenue South since 1992. The owner knows her vintage. She wouldn’t be caught dead selling low-quality stuff.

If memory serves, both the dress and the topper date back to the 1960s. They’re made out of silk and, apart from one barely noticeable seam coming undone on the jacket, they are pristine.

You can see from the back how the seams of the jacket come in at the waist. What’s harder to detect is how roomy the bottom part of it is. It adds a little swing and movement when I walk.

I wear the topper over other things as well–including a dress I have plans to share in the next few weeks!

The dress I’m sharing today is a very light-colored baby pink. I don’t use this word often, especially with regard to something I wear, but it really is precious.

The back has a belt with two buttons. I love that detail! So Mod!

My grandmother’s long-strand “pearl” necklace seemed a fitting touch for this outfit that celebrates so many Spring memories. The other necklace suits the occasion nicely as well. My sister gave it to me for Christmas this past year. The stones in the pendant are hard to see here but they once sat atop a “Mother’s ring” my grandmother owned. She had two and my sister had matching necklaces made out of them–one for her, one for me. Even my sunglasses have special value — they are my mother’s from the 1960s when she was just a teenager.

The shoes are the only modern item in this entire ensemble! They’re Calvin Klein and I bought them on Amazon. They’re still available here if you’re interested.

Thank you for joining us on this Springtime Fab Collab! I hope you’ll check back in over the course of this week to see how Jodie, Nancy, and Charlotte create their own pastel celebrations Then and Now.

 

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