Color Me Two-Toned... Sort of.

It seems like every time I come up with a new color scheme, I like to claim it's my favorite color scheme. I've proclaimed my love for monochromatic schemes in several posts, and I've extolled the virtues of purple and green at least twice. Another one of my favorites is to wear all black, with one item in a bright color as an accent. Hence, today's outfit.

It was warm today - in the 60's - which, for December, makes me very happy. To celebrate, I wanted to wear light and bright clothing.

My green cropped sweater with 3/4 sleeves was an obvious choice, although what to wear with it proved more of a challenge. Black? White? A combination of black and white? Long skirt? short skirt? Pants?

After many try-ons, I settled for what you see here: A long black pleated skirt, a black tank top underneath, and black ankle-strap shoes. I wasn't sure how the ankle straps would look with the long skirt, but in looking at the photos, I can conclude that it wasn't a bad idea.

This skirt is a size 14, in other words, much larger than my usual size. It sometimes slides down a bit, but mainly it fits just fine, which has taught me a lesson.

When too big isn't

Most of the time, wearing clothes that are too big for you is a no-no (if you are built like a runway model, you might not have this problem). The one exception I've found is skirts with elastic waistbands. Go ahead and buy these as large as you want. You'll get more fabric for your money, meaning a more dramatic and flowy skirt, and the elastic will probably hold it up on you anyway.

The last piece to this outfit – and the one that turns it from just another green getup into a piece of art – is the necklace. I bought this recently on eBay, thinking black jewelry would be nicely versatile, and it is! It's actually a long, multistranded bead necklace, but it was just the right length to wrap around my neck twice and make into a chunky choker. Interesting effect.