This week’s post is an ode to, you guessed it, the colour brown. Before you swipe left, hear me out - there is a tone of brown for everyone. I rejoiced when, a few years ago, stylist Sulky Doll advised me that, as a cool Celt, I could wear brown and to focus on cooler tones, like taupes, chocolates, and mochas. With Who What Wear decreeing that “the 2024 answer to monochromatic dressing comes in the form of another edible theme: espresso bean”, I thought it was time for a shot (yup) of tonal inspiration.
Aside from feeling pretty darn inspired this week style wise, I have been feeling a bit ‘browned off’ (sorry!) and a step or two closer to ‘digital exhaustion’. The sheer volume of shopping and sale emails, group WhatsApp messages, and school emails for the modern woman can feel so overwhelming and the pace of digital life so unsustainable. These feelings are all the more relevant alongside our current exploration of a smartphone free childhood, driven by our eldest moving onto senior school in September and by our innate 1980’s ‘go outside and play’ sensibilities. If I’m feeling overwhelmed as a fully grown adult, how is my child going to feel being exposed to the perils of the digital world? The irony is not lost on me as I sit here preparing content for an online digital platform - thankfully, this is a kind one!
But back to brown. The seeds of inspiration for this post came from two of my favourite Substackers
and (see below), who posted some serious tonal inspiration this week. Note that we are all very different in colouring but it works on each of us. See, it’s all in the tone!The final piece of the inspiration puzzle was finding these incredible vintage Bally pumps (similar here) in my local charity shop for £5! They’re a deep chocolate tone and go perfectly with a vintage leather belt bought in the same shop a few months ago. Cute huh?
While this post is an exploration of my own wardrobe as a way to slow down and exchange scrolling for getting creative (see my previous posts Shopping my wardrobe and Slowing down), the idea is simple and can be broadened out as follows:
Choose a colour that makes you feel good.
Compile all of the pieces in your wardrobe from that colour family.
Combine these pieces into a tonal smorgasbord of outfits, never before seen!
Inspiration and outfits
Outfit 1
The inspiration for Outfit 1 is from
’s post - I love the simplicity of this Net-a-Porter outfit which follows the three colour rule or sandwich dressing rule, and brings in texture from the chunky sandals and cute woven grab bag. My recreation features the same taupe tone in an old Zara cashmere jumper, white vintage Levi’s 501s and my trusty Alienina rope bag which was one of my best purchases this year (preloved I should add). I would like to have had chunky loafers or sandals to elevate the look but I’m using what I own, so these Ancient Greek Sandals got a turn.Outfit 2
I’ve featured this image of
previously as I was lusting after some pistachio coloured heels (which I bought preloved) but I never thought to recreate it. Teaming a preloved H&M cashmere cardigan in a similar taupe tone with a hand-me-down skirt (from my sister, like in the 80s!) in a camel tone, and tonal accessories (my matchy matchy preloved finds) creates an outfit with real depth - I’m so pleased with this!Outfit 3
It’s no secret, I love
’s style - she’s the queen of brown! I love how she has kept her outfit super simple and let her brown woven tote bag and pumps do the talking. I flipped her outfit to match what I have in my own wardrobe, with black on top and white on my bottom half, and let my brown St Agni woven bag and Bally pumps have a moment.Outfit 4
Seeing as casual is one of my three style words, I really enjoyed recreating this high-low outfit again from
❤️. I mean, a sweatshirt over a satin dress, with delicate heels and a sparkly clutch - it’s genius! My recreation features my deep taupe Arket sweatshirt, burnt sienna Baserange dress, black Aeyde heels and an ancient sequin clutch from Primark (Penney’s for the Irish contingent).Here are a few more brown toned outfits I’ve posted on IG over the years, including one entitled ‘tonal gnome’ - guess which one.
Wish list pieces
More, you want more?! Well here are this week’s wish list pieces on our chocolate box theme.
Whistles knitted vest
I spotted this on Anna’s round up this week and, while I’m not a huge fan of waistcoats for myself, I love the chunky knit of this cute vest. There’s a deep v at the back suggesting it can be worn in reverse too. Such a gorgeous chocolate tone.
Faithfull Venezia dress
Linen, brown, and cute, and then I go and find it preloved here! Seriously tempting.
Sezane Claude bag
You might remember from my ‘What’s on my wish list and why’ post that I had my eye on the Sezane Milo bag in ‘natural heritage’. The colour is gorgeous and reminds me of the tone of my St Agni bag - not tan and not burgundy, just the perfect in-between. Well, I’ve updated this wish list piece slightly to the Claude, which is slightly smaller and which I feel has some serious French flair.
That’s all for this week but what a jam packed post of heavenly hues and beautiful browns! I hope you’ve a great week and to see you next Sunday, Jenny x
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Ah thanks so much Dea! Loved your inspo pics x
So good! I absolutely love a good brown, especially when we call it "chocolate" or "espresso bean"! Yum!! And I also love your take on all these looks; so good! xx