Ultimate Gray and Illuminating

Since I started my tradition of wearing the Pantone Color of the Year on New Year's Day (or the day after!), this will be the first year that there have been two colors for the price of one! Every once in a while, Pantone chooses a two-tone combination to be its "color" of the year. Is it cheating? Perhaps, but it's not my place to critique their color selections—it's my place to wear them.

I was initially unenthused by this year's choice of "Ultimate Gray and Illuminating"—after all, I unwittingly wore Ultimate Gray for my Pantone outfit in 2018, and would never find it an interesting color even if it hadn't been done before. The other half – "Illuminating" – variously described as a "bright," "vibrant," "cheerful," "warming" yellow, sounded a lot more fun, except for the fact that I don't really have anything yellow in my wardrobe.

Well, anything, really, except that one sweater I've been wearing and rewearing since at least 2016. The thought of my best option being a tired-out old shirt with a boring pair of gray slacks sent me into a funk...until I realized this was the perfect excuse to shop for something new! I am forever trying to get more warm colors into my collection. Though lately my sights have been set on goldenrod, 2021 seemed as good a time as any to shift to an even more sunshiney shade!

As soon as I saw this yellow zippered hoodie on Swap.com, instantly my spirits soared and my imagination went into overdrive, calculating all the fashiony fun that could be had with such a lively layering piece (you know I'm in a good mood when I start piling on the alliteration and inventing new words!).

Most importantly, it was a velour hoodie! I missed the velour tracksuit trend the first time around. Though I had a coworker at the grocery store who wore her Juicy Couture almost every day (and was, although she never knew it, the one who gave me the courage to trade in my jeans for yoga pants and start donning knitwear for work), I myself never got to  jump on the tracksuit bandwagon.

But better late than never, as the Unfashionista always says (since last month!), and I've been hearing from reliable sources that velour is cool again! So yes, I had to buy the hoodie. At 9 dollars, it was more than I pay for a shirt, but within my price range for a jacket (maximum 10), so I felt I'd be excused for overspending, especially for such a worthy occasion.

I paired the hoodie with a grey camisole and some Ultimate Gray workout leggings that I recently retired from actually working out. Poorly designed for athletics, they are neither very flexible nor very breathable. About the only thing they're good for is anchoring an athleisure outfit while just happening to be the Pantone Color of the Year.

The icing on the bottom was a brand new pair of light grey sneakers with metallic racing stripes, which were neither Ultimate Gray nor Illuminating, but complemented the colors in a way that I liked.

In this very loungey ensemble, I am at perhaps my finest representation of Quarantine Chic. Now that I've hit the pinnacle, there's nowhere to go but down. You hear that, COVID? Time to get lost. 2021 (and its promise of real pants) awaits!