Flickr Favourites: January 24, 2014

{Rose in violet ~ yoshiko314}  


{Plate IV for Les Choses de Paul Poiret by Lepape, 1911 ~ Silverbluestar}  


{1950s purple heather dress and jacket set ~ Small Earth Vintage}



{African pygmy hedgehog ~ Adam Foster}    

{Revlon's Ultra Violet ~ saltycotton}  


{Paul Poiret 1925 fashion plate ~ Starduste}    

{143|365 vintage purple ~ Cottage 960}    


{Heywood-Wakefield Furniture ad, 1955 ~ alsis35}    

{Buttons ~ sweetjessie}

{Modess 1959 ~ clotho98}    
{All images above are from Flickr. To learn more about a specific image, please click on its title to be taken to its respective Flickr page.}



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My goodness, can you believe that the first month of the year is already three-quarters over? How can that be, weren't we just busting out the pink vintage Christmas trees and tossing a turkey in the oven? Like it or not (and don't get me wrong, I do - it's always so fun to witness the first weeks of a new year unfold), already more than three weeks into January, and that means it's high time I officially reveal my colour of the year for 2014.

As you may have guessed by the images pictured here in today's edition of Flickr Favourites, it's the deeply elegant, sometimes playful, inherently feminine purple.

2013 focused on green, in the sense that I embraced this colour in a whole new light and tried (successfully, I'm happy to report) to add more to my wardrobe and wear those verdant pieces that I owned throughout the year. I developed a newfound love of green and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'll continue to sport it far more often than I did pre-2013 in the years to come.

Much as it struck me at some point in 2012 that I owned (for absolutely no particular reason) very little green, so too did I begin to realize this about purple last year, and by summer - with nearly half a year still to unfold - I knew that purple was going to be the next colour up to bat, so to speak, when 2014 rolled into town.

When I was a little girl, I can distinctly remember most of my grade school girlfriends preferring either pink or purple. I fell squarely into the pink camp and as such gravitated towards that colour in my wardrobe, toy, and even candy preferences while growing up. Interestingly however, purple is my mother's absolute favourite hue, and so via her love for it, there were always splashes of purple through our home (and her wardrobe). Perhaps because I was surrounded with it in that sense when I was younger, I didn't notice as much that there wasn't a ton of it in my closet.

I can certainly see that point with striking clarity now however, many years after I last lived at home and it's high time I followed my lovely mom's lead and injected some more purple into my wardrobe!

I have a few purple garments (such as this thin knit sweater and this 1970s does 40s jersey dress, which is my favourite violet piece that I currently own - as well as one of my favourite dresses point blank, it's the comfiest frock imaginable!), but not a ton by any means and in the coming months, I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for more both online and off (I'm really hoping some of Value Village's 50% of sales will be on my side in that regard throughout 2014).

I'd love to find a pair of purple shoes (I've not honestly sure if I've ever had one), more purple hats and jewelry, and of course additional garments in this beautiful colour as well. I love the ingrained ladylike quality of purple. That it can be youthful or refined, sassy or sultry, just depending on the shade at work. It's a peaceful, yet powerful colour and one that I tend to gravitate towards on either the lighter or darker end of the spectrum.

Lilacs and hydrangeas, both of which come in gloriously pretty purple varieties, have long been amongst my favourite flowers, so I'll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for florals including either of them this year (as well as other purple blooms). Just as I will those in the plum, eggplant (aubergine), and grape families, all food and shades I've long been a fan of.

Of course I'll wear and buy other colours this year as well, but I really liked having a specific colour to focus on last year and look forward to doing so again throughout 2014, both in my wardrobe choices and throughout some of this year's blog posts (such as this one! :)).

Are you a fan of purple? Love it, loath it, don't have have strong feelings either way? Care to join me in my quest for my violet this year? If you do, I hope you have tons of luck finding purple pieces you love and that you'll share some of your favourites with me all throughout 2014.

Here's to a positively, passionately purple year ahead!!!

Flickr Favourites: June 15, 2012

 

{1940s Revlon Ultra Violex ad ~ saltycotton}

{Pink teacup ~ movita beaucoup}

{1921 L'Aiglon Daytime Frocks ~ clotho98}

{Headbands ~ such pretty things}

{African pygmy hedgehog ~ Adam Foster}

{New shape of elegance ~ The Pie Shops}  
{Purple & yellow ~ Dicktay2000}

{Dior dress ~ FIT Library of Special Collections}
 
{1950s blush pink mohair cardigan with flower applique ~ Small Earth Vintage}

{1943 Glamour magazine ~ clotho98}

♥  ♥  ♥
Whereas in May I was all about the serene power of  blue, as we inch ever close to summer, I find that two colours have been dominating my wardrobe choices so far this month: pink and purple. Thusly I've been drawn to Flickr images featuring these perpetually girly hues as of late.

Pink, my very favourite colour of all time, is cheerful, super sweet, and evocative of everything from cotton candy to romantic roses. Purple is regal, subtly mysterious, gentle and also culled straight from nature. The two marry well, but are, of course, stars in their own right. Purple is my mother's most beloved colour, and one that she surrounds (and adorns) herself with often.

I too love purple, but as a quick inspection of my wardrobe reveals, it's not a hue that I own in abundance. I've been trying to remedy this point throughout 2012 however, and have picked up a dark purple cardigan and a couple of vintage dresses in this elegant colour over the past few months.

Purple comes in a myriad of shades, from the softest whisper of lilac to a bold grape, beguiling eggplant to inky indigo, and there's usually at least one or two of these tones that look becoming on most people.
Some find pink a little tougher to pull off and fear it can come across as looking too childish, but I personally feel that such does not have to be the case. Pink grows up in a hurry when it takes on a dusty hue or morphs into a rich rhododendron. Partnered with navy blue, grey, black, brown, and pine green, it can be downright sophisticated. Toss it in with some sunny yellow, fun aqua, or brazen red and it takes on a careful, spirited vibe that's endlessly appealing (not to mention highly redolent of many 1950s kitchens and bathrooms).

If I sought out blue in the earlier months of the season to pacify my soul and provide tranquility, then I'm looking to pink and purple this month to do quite the opposite. I want a hefty dose of energy to match that of summer itself, and find that gorgeous hues such as pink and purple - which are often bright, but needn't be garish in the slightest - can often do just that.

In a palette plucked from the garden, I'm eager to greet summer again, and hope that today's Flickr images will help provide you with as much inspiration this season (no matter what colours you're wearing) as they have for me so far throughout June.