Shopping - How SIA's brain works.

It constantly surprises me that readers want to hear what I am thinking. 

Not what I am thinking about a question they asked.

But rather what I am thinking about my own choices, my own opinions and ideas.

Its a good thing I dont tell them about all the voices in my head: "buy it", "dont buy it", "maybe it'll work" etc etc. 

Here is a sample of what went on today. In my head.

Bear in mind that I need nothing. Everything is a want.

I already have a million striped tees in every remotely nautical colourway, fabric & style ever imaginable. 

And then some.

Apart from some insight into the fashion voices in my head, you may get some value from this post if you have similar colouring to me. I have darkest hair, very fair skin and light blue eyes. My undertones are cool. Under most colour analysis, I am somewhere between a winter & a summer. Specifically I used to be a winter and my colouring has softened as I have gotten older (this is not unusual) into a summer palette. 

That means my colours remain cool but while I used to wear striking jewel colours fabulously (burgundy, cobalt, emerald, fuchsia, black), now, these colours are too strong for me. I look infinitely better in rasberry red, cornflower blue, mint green, rose pink and navy (never black).

Never have I been able to wear browns, yellows, creams, citric shades and that has never changed. These are all warm shades and they are all hospital colours for me. Meaning when I wear them, someone calls for an ambulance because I look ill.  

So here are the options which caught my eye.

First stop, Trenery.

At Trenery this one jumped up at me & did a dance. In neon with flashing lights. I loved the fabric which was thicker than most high street linens. 

$60, 90% linen, 10% nylon

I loved the colour named seafoam (more pale turquoise than aqua) and the contrast band which looked like a watermelon - but when you look at the overall item, it was almost turning a rust shade.  

Verdict: No
Why? I could live with the seafoam even though I know I look better in aqua (blues) than turquoises (green).
What I couldnt live with was the contrast band turning rusty. It was such a strong colour & it was just reflecting off my face & it wasnt a pretty sight.

What about its sister tee?

This baby was overall too pale for me, even though I liked the seafoam contrast neckline. In this case, because the neckline was a soft colour & such a small part of the tee, the rest of the item took over. I have pale skin & dark hair - so when a pale colour takes over, I run in the other direction.

Next one which caught my eye?

Trenery, $50, 100% cotton

White with red spots & a taupe ribbon finish. Gorgeous in reality - the photo does it no justice. But again too pale & too pale combined with taupe near the face just makes me look ill.

Next?
Always on the look out for blue tees....& linen is my fave tee fabric.

Trenery have a range of linen tees, including one in baby blue. Shoulders, sleeves, neckline, hemline, everything was good. But for some reason I wasnt doing cartwheels.

Trenery, $50, 90% linen & 10% nylon

Then I spotted its cousin plain blue tee, an almost identical colour but in a cotton/elastene fabric.

The web shows them as different shades of baby blue, but they are not - they are virtually identical. 

Trenery, $35, cotton/elastene

So I put one over one shoulder & the other over the other shoulder. The impact was instant. The cotton tee had a clear even colour by virtue of the weave. The linen was mottled & muted. Same colours - but different depth. 

So whilst the linen colour was great, when I compared it to something better, in a clear version of the same hue, it didnt rate for my wardrobe.

So next was a trip to Sussan, as you do...or as I do....

This "aquamarine" linen tee said "hello" to me. Nice cut, shoulders, hemline, sleeves etc.
But I decided it was too green for me. As a cool toned girl, I wear blues well. If you add yellow to blue & start the journey to aqua, then to aquamarine then to turquoise, I am best stopping at aqua.

Sussan, $50, 100% linen

On the same table at Sussan, was this 100% linen tee in a stripe. 

Sussan, $60, 100% linen

The orange & the pale colours didnt do me any favours & the cobalt certainly wasnt bright nor had enough coverage to look good on me.

And a swing by Target before going home, as you do......

This Hot Options baby was on the web - I havent seen it in real life yet....but noticing some similarities with Sussan...

Target, Hot Options, $20, 100% cotton

Target also had a beautiful marine blue tee in a lightweight polyester. The listing called it a "box tee". I think it was $29.

In reality, the tee was very long in the body & boxy. No wonder its called a box tee even though it has no boxes. Not flattering. But nice on the hanger.