{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.}
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!!!
