Welcome to a new episode of Friday Fashion.
This week I participated in a fashion event, an evening of dining with women and a talk on Fashion Disrupters.
I arrived at the venue wearing the outfit in my photo and someone greeted me with a big: “Mercy, mercy, you are sooooo visible!!!”
Perhaps the organizers expected to see invisible people at this event……I don’t know but I was surprised by the welcoming comment.
I sat at the table for dinner and a woman looking at my outfit said: “You need to wear more colors”. We both laughed, I am sure she was joking.
Then I looked around at my table and I saw businesswomen and women entrepreneurs wearing nothing by black and grey. Very sad.
All the women at the event had some very interesting to say, but their faces looked like the light was turned off. Society judges with the eyes in the first 90 seconds of coming in contact with us. The outer shell is what society sees first, and forms an opinion based on the colors we wear and the way we dress. Unfortunately, that’s the way it is.
I wonder what the colors I wore conveyed to the audience that evening: frivolous, carefree, shallow, girlish, attention-grabber, feminine, social climber, fashion slave……
(Click on the photo to view it larger).
Cheddar_BlueStone
These are the colors of Fall 2019, cheddar and bluestone, the shoes carry the same colors with one band and heels in magenta as an accent. Bluestone will show up in many collections this coming Fall.
Its profile is not pure, it is tinged slightly with a grey hue. Its character gives a sensation of calm and quiet. Its value is dull and that’s why it is called a muted color. I paired the bluestone colors with a cheddar lacy sweater (BTW, I crochet it) to enliven it with some light.
I am still wondering how I was soooo visible….. Ciao,
Valentina
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Copyright © 2019 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved
Valentina Cirasola is a trained Fashion and Interior Designer, born in Italy in a family of artists. Style surrounded her since the beginning of her life. Her many years of experience led her to offer consultations in both specializations and now she can remodel homes as well as personal images. She is passionate about colors and encourages her clients to express their individual style in their homes and with the clothes they wear. To better help people all over the world, she offers consultations online. She is the author of five books. Get your copy of Valentina’s book on colors: ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors on
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
and the latest book, paperback or kindle ©The Road to Top Of The World –Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/y7tuyfh8
Valentina Expressions 
Aug 30, 2019 @ 07:09:32
I found out (can’t remember when but certainly within the last ten years) that in Europe, probably around the medieval times, black clothes were very expensive to make (dye) and hence were deemed for rich people only. A black evening gown for a woman is indeed very elegant and sexy. But during the day? Really? ALL the time? Why is it that women in the West, as you say, are afraid of colour. How sad. I think of all the rainbow bursts of colour of saris and shalwar camiz in the Indian Subcontinent that women embrace. I think that black/grey/greige are colours that are comforting in some way and respect that many women don’t wish to draw attention to themselves. I personally do wear bright colours too but not to make a statement – because I reallly love colours!!! Yes, I do have a black coat in Winter but my gloves are red.
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Aug 30, 2019 @ 18:17:35
I love your black winter coat and red gloves, Josephine. As I said many times, women who are afraid of colors are not educated about colors. Being in colorful interiors or in colorful clothes is about exuding positivity and attracting positivity. It’s about feeling good, or healing some spiritual ailments. Colors are magic.
Thanks for the visit Josephine and for taking the time to comment. 😀
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Aug 29, 2019 @ 18:28:34
Just a few days before you wrote this, another ‘color-confident’ blogger shared a story, but sort of lacks the courage to dress in bolder colors:
https://hootiebirdsartjournal.wordpress.com/2019/08/22/you-cant-wear-that/
Once when I was in a museum an hour’s drive from the ones I’d had expositions, the tour guide kept looking at me. (I was with a group) Then he said, “Lisa – the Mola Series!” then added, ‘but you usually wear a lot of color….’
Ah, to be comfortable in one’s own skin, that’s the challenge! Creative people often learn to ignore what others think, but sometimes it takes practice!
I load pages when on line and read them when at home; you’ve published a lot of amazing posts – from stories about your home country to recipes and books and sharing glimpses into your paintings, etc etc. You were so right about the entrance to a home – and being able to use those lovely spaces. I laughed about the interaction between you and your mother!
You are a multi-talented inspiration, and for sure your glowing presence in a room makes those drab black and grey folks feel insecure. They would not know how to knit one stitch – and your cheddar/bluestone sweater is stunning!
Hold that lovely head high and know that those black-grey folks are most likely playing a role and dreaming of having the backbone to break free!
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Aug 30, 2019 @ 01:38:07
Lisa, thank you for writing this beautiful comment. After a long day working on my business it is a treat to find something this pleasant.
Truly, I cannot see myself not wearing colors or living in a dull home. Those who are afraid of colors don’t educate themselves on this subject, because if they did, they would know colors are the first things we see when we wake up in the morning. We see a yellow sun, a blue or grey sky, the green leaves of trees, the colorful fruit we eat for breakfast, white snow (for those who live in the mountains), a blue-green waters (for those who live on the sea). This alone should be sufficient to make them happy.
Most people want to fit in, like the blogger you mentioned, and play the role. The leaders like you, have the courage to do what they want and are most happy in colors, living a vibrant, colorful life.
Thanks for the visit and taking the time to comment.😀
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Aug 30, 2019 @ 23:19:36
“con mucho gusto’ with much pleasure i am glad that my comment arrived at a good moment!
pondering your love for color, and the fact that just yesterday i refreshed my memory on the story about ‘tetrachromats, and reading your reply just now — i wonder if your father was color blind (mine was, as are my two sons…) the way you described the yellow sun, the sky, and even the comment about the snow – made me think of a more recent interview with the first woman who ‘authenticated’ this hypothesis… most likely you’ve seen this, but i strongly suspect that you see more colors than many other people.
here’s the first article i ever read about it…. http://discovermagazine.com/2012/jul-aug/06-humans-with-super-human-vision and this: https://munsell.com/color-blog/tetrachromat-artist-concetta-antico/
there’s an event at the museo and i’m at a food court for wifi – time to dash home and change and show up at the event. i’ll wear extra color in your honor!
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Aug 31, 2019 @ 02:45:57
Lisa, my father and everybody else in my family was not color blind. We just had an innate appreciation for colors in our genes. Most of my family is made of artists who worked with colors because they understood them.Thanks for sharing the articles.
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Aug 24, 2019 @ 06:01:23
Valentina, interesting fashion evening with black and gray business women. Keep your vibrant colors, Valentina. You are alive. 📚🎶 Christine
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Aug 24, 2019 @ 16:34:11
Thank you Christine, I am very happy in colors. Create a great weekend.😀
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