Between Yellow and Red

Perhaps a color more suited for Halloween-time and the fall season, a bright pop of orange is a welcome sight in winter and in my cold weather wardrobe. 

Though maybe not my signature color (for which I am still searching), I am increasingly attracted to the sunny hues that rest somewhere between yellow and red.

This recent attraction is something of a surprise, as orange has always been a color I've avoided.

After pondering my relationship with the color (what a thing to ponder), I guess I must attribute my orange aversion to what I've figured to be a misplaced distaste for the 1960s (gasp! It's true).

Growing up in the 90s, the 1960s were very much still alive in my small rural hometown. Grandma's house, along with many others in town, was filled with the classic 60s color palette of green, orange and brown. Grandma's orange and lime kitchen, her orange and brown living room with the metallic floral wallpaper, and the crazy orange linoleum in her laundry room, were all symbols, to little me, of how resistant to change and out of touch our little town was. I'm not sure I knew then that this color palette was necessarily representative of a certain era, but I did know it was outdated, and to me, tacky-- something to be avoided. 

So, while brown and green were embraced in my wardrobe, orange was cast aside for years with the thought that it was an incredibly tacky color and something meant for Grandma's outdated linoleum and ugly living room (truth is, I'd kill for that living room now. sigh.). 

And, I suppose, even if Grandma's outdated home decor hadn't intervened, I may have still avoided the color for fear that it would match my hair and I'd look like a giant carrot (we'll file that under #gingerproblems).

Embracing orange feels a bit like discovering a new land and, given my coloring, a bit like coming home-- perhaps it might be my signature color after all!

Scarf-- 1960s, Salvation Army

Dress-- 60s Carol Craig, last year's birthday gift from my beau, purchased at A Second Time Around, Wilmington, NC

I always love to do a little research on a garment when it has a tag in it. Carol Craig pops up in department store ads from the 1940-60s. Here's one from the St. Petersburg Times, October 11, 1966:

I desperately wanted to find an ad with an illustration of this dress, but no such luck!

Small rhinestone brooch-- Salvation Army

Butterfly brooch-- Gift from a business acquaintance

Once I added the brooch to the scarf, I suddenly got a very Joan Holloway/Mad Men vibe from this outfit. Now if only adding something as simple as a brooch would give me her figure.

Tights-- Angelina ballet tights via Amazon

Shoes-- Aerosoles Railroad Pump

Also seen here. This is my go-to leg/footwear combination this winter.

Fur trimmed coat-- thrift shop find...? I can't remember. Possibly one of my earliest vintage purchases!

I wore this ensemble to a farewell dinner for one of my beau's co-workers and stopped in at an nearly empty, high-end housing development for a few pictures on the way. Though the coat seemed overkill when I left the house, and in the sunny drivers seat of my car, standing out in the raw winter wind for photographs made me glad to have it to slip back on. I often feel foolish in fur here, but I have it, I love it, and I'm going to wear it.

 I love it, and I'm going to wear it-- seems I should have worn that phrase thin by now!

I suppose my above expressed aversion to orange and my changed feelings on it are just a couple of my, let's call them "charming," idiosyncrasies, but is there any color you just don't like or won't wear? How do you feel about orange? Let me know below!