Orange Is In

Of all the trends to turn modest, colors are the easiest. Today, Polyvore sent me an email (you know, those junk ones that I don't ever actually look at) and the title of this email was "Orange Is the New Black." Although it's pretty likely to have been intended as a play on words due to some TV Show out there that I don't watch, my reaction was still something along the lines of "Ha! Yeah right! Black is always going to be the most popular clothing color." However, when used to apply to the change in winter to summer clothing colors, I allowed it a second thought. Although no color will ever replace black, orange is a color that is everywhere this spring/summer season. It does seem that everywhere I turn, there is some fashion article with the colors peach-orange and mint. However, that's not the only way orange is worn. Orange and white is always a nice combo and if you call pull off the bold splashes of color, (which is not what I can usually do), then orange and turquoise is another fun style.

  Now, here's a little fun fact!

 In the theory of color, cool colors (green, blue, and purple) make the warm colors (red, orange, and yellow) pop. However, each one color has another one color that makes it pop the most because it is on the exact opposite side of the color wheel. These are called complimentary colors. If you notice, the orange shades are opposite the bluish ones. In fashion you'll tend to see orange shades paired up with blue shades quite often. Now, even though peach-orange and mint aren't exact complimentary colors, they are really close to being complimentary.

PLEASE NOTE: This is only part of color theory and only applies to what colors make other colors pop. It does not actually mean that you should always pair up your clothing in this way. As I mentioned before, orange and turquoise is a really fun combination, but all that brightness on me washes me out. For me personally, more subtle shades or the combination of bright and neutral (instead of bright and bright) are often more flattering. Depending on your coloring, certain shades of certain colors will look better on you. The color theory behind the colors that look best on you is called Season Color Analysis, which I don't have time to get into in this post.

Back to our original topic: orange is in. Orange is a fun, warm spring and summer color and I can guarantee you'll start seeing it more and more. However, you can't just look at dresses, tops, and shorts; I find that it's just as commonly found as the color of bags, sunglasses, and especially jewelry. My cousin works for Premier Designs and while I was looking through one of the catalogs, what color did I see a lot? ... I don't think this needs answering. The amount of orange was not overwhelming, but it was very, very common.


So yeah. Orange is in... so what? That is usually a pretty important question to ask when looking at trends. I'd say to look in your closet and find everything (if anything) orange, just for the fun of it. How often do you wear these articles of clothing/accessories? If you find that they aren't pieces you wear much, then see if you can match some of them up with something and experiment by wearing them places. Try adding some cute jewelry with it too! Just have fun with the little challenge! If you're already into wearing orange, then awesome for you!

~Mariana

Catching Up on Time and Happenings

It's been a while since I last posted anything, sadly, but today I sat myself down and decided I was going to write at least something. Usually I use the weekends to write for this blog, but recently every single weekend has been full. One weekend was dance performances.

I must say, dancing is one of my favorite things to do, especially when it's the type with a partner. It is really just so fun! Especially when your partner is as enthusiastic about dancing as you are. Anyway, my class performed a swing and waltz, which were both so fun! The style for the swing was 40's, so we dressed up in the dress-styles of that time and some of us even went as far as hair and makeup. I was one of the people who went all the way and I enjoyed putting my hair up in the barrel rolls and applying colors to my face that I would only ever use for costume. When it came time to wait in line because we were going on soon, I was incredibly nervous. Everyone else was too and that made it easier. It was also made easier when I realized that that would be the last time I got to dance for a few months until the start of the next school year, which made me suddenly miss the classes.

Little did I know that there are dancing opportunities outside of class.

There was a weekend or two of camping somewhere in these past months along with the yearly, community Mary-Fest, a day full of outdoor activities, that ended with an (as of this year) annual camp-out with with my friend. We're trying to make a tradition of it, just for fun. These were all great fun, but there is another highlight that I want to speak of more than these.

After church one Sunday, I looked down at my lovely Sunday-dress, said goodbye (for then, not forever), and exchanged it for jeans and a plaid, button-up shirt. Then I split my hair into two sections and braided each. Then, I tugged on my sturdy cowboy boots and smiled. I was going with my family to a country themed couples shower for some people who live in my community. [note: the outfit is pretty much the same one I wore in the Country Couture post, only with darker jeans]

I get there and see many of my fun friends and it's all really nice... then things got great. No, it wasn't the brownies. As I am simply chatting with one friend, Julia, I hear a last name shouted that I hadn't heard in a long time. Excitement surged through me, or rather hopped around inside my chest like an energizer bunny, and I yanked Julia's arm and started pulling her towards the 15 passenger van that had just pulled up. Those are not uncommon vehicles around my community, due to the sizes of the families, but it was the people filing out that I was dragging Julia towards. I've already apologized to Julia, but I must now apologize to you in advance in case she has some trouble writing for her makeup page because of her arm. Just kidding, she's fine. I know because as soon as she saw where I was dragging her... well, it no longer appeared to be dragging but rather a race.

A family that had moved away to the other side of the country a long time ago and rarely were able to visit had just made a surprise visit. This family was also friends with pretty much everybody and were just such amazing people. I should also mention that they are really fun people, too.

After saying hello to everybody and catching up with them a little it was time for country line dances. Line dances are fun... but it became more fun when one of the older boys of the family said they knew a dance they could teach us. It was a partner dance, (though not a country one, which was totally fine with this not-so-country-girl). Everyone paired up and got in a circle. After a series of walking and jumping steps the girl would spin from the outside to the inside and then from there she would spin back. The boy would step forward and then everyone had a new partner. We did this over and over and it was a blast!! So yes, there were more dancing opportunities outside classes than I thought. Anyway, the dancing was awesome because everyone was super happy and fun. I am so glad that the family was so outgoing and loved dancing! That day was simply amazing, even with falling down the stairs and colliding full force with one of my friends during girl-tag.

Just a quick note on dancing: Guys, when you can dance and enjoy it and will actually dance, you are awesome in many girls' eyes (not romantically, mind you)! Remember, partner dancing is not girly because it requires 50% girl and 50% guy. All you fun guys and fun girls need to realize that when you just let go of the worry of what people might be thinking about you and you just get into the dancing it is SO FUN! Yes, it's hard, but when you stop caring you might find that other people are actually thinking that it's really cool. All of you out there who do dance, kudos to you!

I'm sorry there was so little fashion, style, and clothing mentioned in this post, but I have some ideas for upcoming posts that will be much more fun. I thought it best to at least write something instead of nothing.

~Mariana