Blue Shift

There's always more than meets the eye, as the saying goes. Speaking strictly in terms of the color wheel, red would be the "warm" color and blue a "cool" color. Hence, it is easy to say that red is the color to wear for parties because bright colors evoke a burst of energy, and darker colors are to be avoided because they are too subtle. But blue is not dull and devoid of the high-powered glamour that festivities demand. Indeed, it's quite the opposite. If you look at color as a spectrum from a scientific point of view, blue light is rather high-energy because it has a short wavelength, while red is actually at a lower energy state.

As hard as I've tried to find the perfect Little Black Dress, I could not find one. I think I'm resigned to the fact that I may never find it, but that's fine. Instead, I've been finding blue dresses. Blue is subtle yet captivating. It slowly simmers with electricity.

[For the work Christmas party: Richard Chai for Target dress, vintage coat, Goldenbleu clutch (a sample sale find), Target diamond-patterned tights, D&G mary janes.]

I tried on the rose-print version of the dress here, and bemoaned the fact that I could not find the blue one. By the time I got around to looking for the clearance section of the Target website, it was all gone. Luckily, I found it in my size on eBay for a fraction of the cost, and it fits perfectly. It was meant to be. The dress actually hits right above the knee, despite what the camera angle suggests.

This Christmas seems especially cold, since an arctic storm rolled through. I've been told by several folks coming from the East Coast that when they got here, California was actually colder than from whence they came! Frigid weather like that tends to put a damper on my plans to wear a dress (I'm a warm-weather wimp). This year I didn't have to choose between warmth and vanity--while I was at Bloomingdale's to do some Christmas shopping, I found the perfectly fitting wool shift dress on the clearance rack for about a third of the original price. It has literally taken me a good few years to find a shift dress like this--something in a gorgeous matte fabric, elegant but amenable to being dressed down, classic with a modern twist. The button details on the shoulder, the subtle gathering at the collar, and the ribbon detailing on the sides and back are just perfect. This is clearly a dressy dress, either for special occasions or with a cardigan/blazer for work, but it is very easy to dress down. On the same shopping trip, I splurged on a hooded leather bomber, which has also been on my shopping list for quite some time. It is the perfect mate to the dress, among other things. Given how badly the stock markets are tanking, I dare say I can get a better return for a select portion of my year-end bonus on these two pieces than I would have if I put it in my 401(k). It's far more comforting to see the cost-per-wear ratio plummet than to witness the same for stock or cash value. (I'll leave my thoughts on deflation for some other day.)

[Diane von Furstenberg dress, Gap scarf (the gift from last Christmas that keeps on giving), Ray Bans, Michael Kors leather hoodie, Target tights, Ciao Bella booties. For the family Christmas gathering, I traded the tights and the booties for a pair of silver slingbacks with a cute bow on it.]