What a revelatory experience! In particular, I enjoyed her chapter on colour palettes. There's a tendency, of which I am guilty, to build a wardrobe consisting mostly of neutrals. In my case, I seem to gravitate toward grey and black. Not until I saw photos of myself wearing my Audrey Coat did I realize the effect of this on someone with greying hair. Boring, boring, boring. But how to incorporate colour without losing control over the essence of one's wardrobe? See Chapter 10 of Rees's book for guidance. She suggests choosing nine shades in total: three main colours, 2 neutrals, and four accents. Here's one of her examples:
I've rendered the chart in words rather than nice little blocks of colour, but here is the palette translated into yarn and fabric so you can see the total effect. The light wasn't cooperating (nothing to do with today's partial eclipse--we're too far from the centre of action), so I'm including two pics--one in sunlight and one under an overcast sky.
Bottom Row left to right above:
-white (accent) linen from a top I already own,
- navy (neutral) linen/cotton Essex (Sonya Philip's Pants #1 in XS),
-teal (main colour) washed linen from Merchant and Mills (Sonya Philip's Dress #1 in S),
-pale grey (main colour) Quince & Co's Lark in Frost (in the process of becoming my new aran pullover),
-icy blue (main colour) Quince & Co's Chickadee in Glacier (shown here as Bibliogloves, but my Modern Gansey is in the same colour but in Osprey),
- plum (accent) in Cascade 220 in #8885.
Top row left to right:
-dark grey (neutral) in Sandnesgarn's Silk Mohair, and
-black (accent) in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Coal.
As you can see, I've built my palette around colours I already own and enjoy wearing. With the fall season approaching, for the first time I feel I have a concrete plan for wardrobe-related purchases. Liberating, not constraining!
