Today’s Outfit Idea: Lady in Gray

All right, all you ladies who push your style aside because you’re too dang busy just trying to get your kids or your partner or yourself out the door in the morning – the Fastionista is here to ease your style fear.

Gray happens to be one of my favorite neutrals, so I’m in luck because it’s one of the hot neutrals this holiday season (yes, although it seems contrary to its name, a neutral can be hot). What’s great about gray is not just that it can pretty much complement anything, but there are actually so many tones within the gray spectrum. Beyond the common silver or charcoal hues, there are grays that incorporate brown tones, or green, or even blue. I’m in the mood to play with gray, so here’s what’s in my closet today:

· Gray pants: These are my pinstriped pants, and I’m choosing to wear them rather than a solid gray pant to incorporate both a lighter and darker gray (the pinstripe is the lighter of the two shades), and to start the visual interest right off with a pattern.

· Green T-shirt: The shade of my T-shirt is sort of a fern/drab green; that green that’s gray in some lights and green in others. There’s a bit of ruching at the V neckline to pretty the style up a bit, but other than that this is a relatively basic piece: a great layering piece to add some color in without distracting from the rest of the outfit.

· Gray Chunky-Knit Cardigan: The sleeves are a poncho style, hitting just at the elbows, and the cropped cut hugs right at the waist of my trousers. The light gray is the same shade as the pinstripes in my pants, and I’ll only button the sweater halfway up so that my T-shirt’s color and neckline show through.

· Accessories: I want to work a little color in, since everything is some sort of gray tone so far. Peach, pink, orange, yellow, and any tones in those families work well with this color palette, so I’ll start with a chunky peach necklace. The heft of the necklace mimics the chunky knit of my sweater. Next I’ll wear a peach glass and pearl fashion ring, and finish with my gray fedora.

· Purse: My dark gray tote picks up the shade in my pants perfectly, so I think I have to go with that.

· SHOES!: I have a pair of suede booties that were made for this outfit. They’re that same gray/green as my T-shirt – how can I go wrong?

Voila! There you have it: great fashion fast. And you, gorgeous lady, are ready to take on the world, Fastionista Style!

Be ahead of the trend and work these styles into your ensemble before they hit the mainstream.

Today’s Trend: Green: The New Neutral

Green, especially mint and olive shades, is coming on to the style scene fast, and could potentially boot red out as the must-have color (I suppose it’s appropriate for the holiday season for one of the hot colors to be either red or green). Because especially faded greens, as opposed to the rich or bright tones of emerald or lime, can qualify as neutrals, they can be used in a number of styles and color palettes. Start looking around now for the darker greens like olive and navy, as well as the lighter shades like mint and honeydew. You can incorporate these into whatever trend you’re wearing now via basic layering pieces like camis or T-shirts.