Look, Ma! We’re not wearing black!

Ahh the winter staple, our good friends black leggings and black blazer. Black shirt is there too, cozying up to black scarf and gazing down at black boots. We love you black, but lately we feel like we are cheating the rest of the color wheel.

Cath is showing you how to avoid black in your outerwear–and in interior decor (that’s a bit of kitchen and dining room behind her).

She is wearing black gloves and a scarf, but I think the burst of red in her coat totally overpowers it-in a good way. The gloves are thrifted, the hat is from our mom circa 1980-something, the coat is Nordstrom and the scarf is by (local Atlantans) We Are the Process.

I only own black coats and jackets, so I couldn’t do brilliantly colored outerwear like Cath. Instead I broke out my neglected Ramona West dress. (Have you guys been to the Ramona West online shop? She has the best selection of vintage dresses and outerwear- and sells out of nearly everything right after it’s posted). I love how bright red/orange it is- it’s nearly neon.

I toned down the brightness of the red/orange with an olive color shirt (H&M), beige fringe scarf (H&M), brown tights (forget where!) and brown boots (about 7 years old from AE).

How many of you are guilty of the black uniform? How do you work on injecting more color into your closet and outfits?

We hope you guys have a wonderful, wonderful weekend! Cath and I will be pitching in at our local Martin Luther King Jr. Service Project. We hope to see some of you locals there!

We’ll also be donating to CARE and/or Red Cross this weekend. Our hearts and prayers go out to the earthquake survivors in Haiti. If you guys have any other secure organizations you know of that are helping out, please feel free to leave them in the comments section and we’ll post them here!

Updates:
The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
Check the Women for Women International page for their donation suggestions

34 thoughts on “Look, Ma! We’re not wearing black!”

  1. Those sunnies make Cath look like some kickas Faye Dunaway character from the 70’s! Um, and the fringe on your scarf is draped a little too perfectly. Okay, not too perfectly, but impossibly perfectly. Mine are always a tangled mess!

  2. Oooh I love the red and how the first picture matched the position of the girl in the painting behind Cath! Intended?

    Lar- you look too cute in that dress. I like the khaki underneath, it’s such a great colour combo and not at all Christmassy like it sounds on paper! So nice!

  3. ah there’s nothing i love more than a good color palate thats wasy on my eyes but also has good pop, esp in the winter, it takes away the glooooom. I also definitely peeped that copy of the deathly hallows on the bookshelf!

  4. how funny that you talk about the black uniform. I remember back in college when black was my uniform as a graphic designer in my school (or of graphic designers in general?) and I’ve been good lately wearing color but today, I went all black so weird. Lovely coat and dress ladies!

  5. Way to pump some color into your winter wardrobes! I love the how even with all the vibrant colors your outfits still seem wintry and warm. Lovely.

  6. Great post, but Lauren, I think the pix of your “boyfriend” on the bookshelf is looking very skeptical. Likes black only in hats?

  7. Hey Laur! You both look so cute! I have 3 black jackets/coats and the rest are other colors. I do like black for the stain prevention factor! I dont’ have to worry as much wearing my black coat as I do when say I’m wearing my light pink trench! I need to check out that vintage shop! Is that your condo? Love the granite counter and stools 🙂 Hope you ladies have wonderful weekends! xo, Mel

  8. Those sunglasses are pretty super fantastic. And red dresses always make me wonder why girls always go little black dress.

    I don’t have too much black in the closet-but a ton of grays and greens.

    ps. those bookshelves are awesome-not to be too big of a creeper but do you guys study Italian?

  9. i simply ADORE that last outfit. so chic and so cute! and btw about the booze on the kitchen table- lets meet up and make some drinks!

    and also i’d love to see more pics of your home.
    have an great weekend dears!
    xx ediot

  10. Cath’s jacket is so chic! Yet, Lar, I think your outfit steals my heart! It’s really great that you paired the olive with the coral and the taupe scarf. I mean YUM! The colors look amazing together, especially with the deeper neutrals on the bottom half.

  11. guilty!
    But I have a reason, in winter I wear coat all the time, and sometimes I don’t take it of, and almost all my coats are black, so I wear black all the time, but I wear colorfull scarfs and bags, so is not that bad
    Girls, is that your kitchen? It looks so awesome, I wanna see more 🙂

    kisses!

  12. nice that’s quite the booze collection going on there! And I love the brown boots. I’ve been on the hunt for my own for quite some time now, but can’t commit to any just yet 🙂

  13. Is it bad that I noticed the well stocked bar first, then the wicked sunglasses, the popping jacket, the great shift dress and finally the cool tights.? I definately need some colour love in the midst of the winter.
    And thanks for the links to Haiti relief. our church has a school set up in Port au Prince and everyone was outside involved in a basketball tournament (local teachers and children and Canadian volunteers) so they were saved but the school is gone. It shakes you to your core.

  14. I’m wearing all black right now as I type this. Whoops. The splashes of color you guys put together are awesome! And I’m digging the use of lace tights + boots here, Lar!

    And likewise, your apartment is awesome! I love seeing pictures of people’s living space. I’m trying to take more outfit photos around the house as the seasons and light change.

  15. The red of the dress echoes the reds of your organized books in the shelves and those red cute knickknacks. Did you try to organize your books by cover color? That is so graphic designer of you. BTW Lar, my husband N has hired me as a free lance content manager/admin for his design firm–which is fun. I’m learning how to do CSS, PHP (sort of) and a bit of site content management. A breeze with WP! Other stuff, not so much. I won’t even try Expression Engine yet!

    The glasses on Cath are stunning. She looks like she walked out of a 60’s picture in a winter scene. Colorful, classic, feminine and yet somehow definitely still relevant fashion-wise.

    I appreciate this about you two. So different and yet so feminine and charming. Eclectic and boho femme without being so overly bo-ho that you get all “bo-what the hell.” (as MK can sometimes get!)

    Shoot, I just love ya girls.

    xo’s,
    Mae

  16. You both look too cute. Love Cath’s sunnies and Lar, love your fringe scarf.

    Um, can we discuss how fabulous your place looks? I LOVE your kitchen & the fabulous granite counter. I’m kind of jealous right now. 🙂

    xo, Becs

  17. Those glasses were made for you! I love the colour pairings and those tights, yes please! When I’m down or it’s gloomy outside I’m so tempted to don black, but it’s actually when I want to wear vibrant colours the most – my way of saying “screw you gloomy weather” in a less harsh terms 🙂

  18. Both outfits styled very well!! love the red on both of you. 🙂 I don’t think I can pull off that color very well. Hope you ladies are having a beautiful week!

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