9th October 2007

Fashion senseless

posted in Frustration, Pop Culture, The Move |

Okay.  We have a new house.  I need to decorate.  I have some very specific ideas.

Apparently, my very specific ideas are out of step with the home improvement fashion industry–or perhaps the fashion industry in general.

After all, I think baby-doll tops are too, too ’70s for words.  And they make every woman who wears them look pregnant or fat.  Have you looked at any apparel stores lately?  Tell me what you see.  (Blog reader, blog reader, what do you see?  I see baby dolls surrounding me…)  Let’s put it this way:  last year, there were no baby doll tops.  This year, it seems there is nothing else.

No, I’m not planning to decorate the house in baby doll tops.  But the proliferation of BDTs is a symptom of what I’m about to complain about.

Each of those BDTs is brown.  Or muddy green.  Or a kind of putrid pumpkin orange.  Or a dim blue.  Or a combination of any or all of the above.

It’s well-known that at the beginning of the fashion year, planning a year out, an elite group of sorcerers psychics gurus madmen fashion color consultants meets to decide what are going to be the in and trendy colors next year.

I read an article about this meeting, and these consultants claim (apparently with a straight face) that they are not dictating the colors to be used, they are predicting, based on current trends, what colors will be popular.

You will not be surprised to find that OmegaMom finds this a truly hilarious concept.  OmegaMom is firmly in the camp of conspiratorial thinkers who despise the color psychotics fashion color consultants because she thinks they are a portion of the Illuminati Conspiracy To Rule The World And Crush Free Thinking.

Anyway, there I am, wanting to decorate, with some very specific ideas and colors in mind.  Are any of the colors I am interested in available?  Or the designs?  Hah.  No, what is available is the 2007 version of the ubiquitous avocado and mustard.  Dim, murky colors.  Gloomy.  Dark.  Bah.

I was able to find some lovely bright colors for our bedroom.  We’re going to paint it light sage and splash all this color around.

We found the (ugh) pale pink for the dotter’s bedroom, but trying to find, say, pink curtains is an exercise in futility…well, okay, I can find pink sheer curtains.  Whoop-de-damned-do.  I’m not going to put sheers on these windows, if you please; come next July, that kind of insanity would dump us all into the nuthouse ASAP.

But.  Bright colors for towels?  Nope.  And, having decided to indulge my girly-girl side with a little frill and frippery, my search for lavender and pink towels, plus a fabric shower curtain with flowers that are lavender and pink, has come to naught.

I went looking at sofas today.  Every damned piece of furniture at the store was dark.  Dark wood.  Dark sheets.  Dark sofa upholstery.  Dark brown and gold and green rugs.

Bah.  Picture OmegaMom muttering dire curses and shaking her fist at the cabal of fashion color consultants (servants of the Illuminati).

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 9:19 pm and is filed under Frustration, Pop Culture, The Move. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

There are currently 13 responses to “Fashion senseless”

  1. 1 On October 9th, 2007, GrannyJ said:

    You know me for my preference for either the primary colors (black, white & olive drab) or totally brilliant colors across the spectrum. Have you tried Linens & Things (do they have such in the tundra?) As for the Color Nazis, I learned many years ago when I was doing a lot of crocheting that if I saw a particularly wonderful color yarn, I’d best lay in a supply because the next thing you know, the CNs will have banished it & substituted one of their really icky drabs and TELL US THAT IT WAS THE COLOR WE HAD ALL BEEN ASKING FOR. Pfui.

  2. 2 On October 10th, 2007, Spacemom said:

    Ah- The internets come in handy. Check out “The Company Store” cataloge. They have great stuff.

    We have slowly painted our house. We used the “Pottery Barn” and “Historical” palets from Benjamin Moore. I found that I could pull in one bold wall, and then soften the rest of the room with a complmenting color.
    For example, our living room has a bold “New London Red” and the rest of the walls are “soft white”
    Our dining room is 3 walls of “moss” with the shared wall with the kitchen in “Natural wicker”

  3. 3 On October 10th, 2007, figlet said:

    And if you’re feeling really spendy (you know, pre-spending your Alaska Dividend Check for next year) Garnet Hill has great stuff.

  4. 4 On October 10th, 2007, Sister Carrie said:

    Oh, I so know what you mean, both with clothes and decorating. I can’t help you with the sofa, but I think the key with towels and such is to go downscale. JC Penney has bright pink and lavender towels, and the nice thing is that you can order on line and they keep the same colors for years in case you need replacements.

  5. 5 On October 10th, 2007, PAgent said:

    I remember walking into a mall to go clothes shopping when I was in grad school. You could stand in the middle of the mall and turn slowly, and all you would see was earth tones. A million subtle variations in tan and ecru, filling the window of every clothing shop in the mall. I like primary colors, and I was completely out of luck that season.

  6. 6 On October 10th, 2007, SBird said:

    Yes, online shopping rocks. Try Pottery Barn Kids for pink cotton curtains–they also come with blackout lining, and in gingham or plain. We bought a big light-colored couch that was in stock and ready to be delivered from Pottery Barn too, I think.

  7. 7 On October 10th, 2007, Spacemom said:

    hey- your omegamom.com email is bouncing? Check with siteground…

  8. 8 On October 10th, 2007, jouette said:

    some seasons it really is impossible to find any.thing.what.so.ever. ugh.
    congrats on the house and getting to decorate it though!

  9. 9 On October 10th, 2007, kris said:

    someone beat me to mentioning peneys but i am sure kohls would have bright stuff too and target. the brown/blue thing is really big now. we did our living room in that and it looks nice but to have the whole house in it would be a bit much, especially if you did the REALLY dark browns. i like the sagey stuff.

  10. 10 On October 10th, 2007, cd said:

    More internets….

    Try Land of Nod http://www.landofnod.com for curtains; I believe they still stock a pink eyelet curtain that is cute. With it you could do a blackout roller shade or blackout pleated shade hung first on the window (in front of the curtains).

    The kids’ outlet of The Company Store http://www.companykids.com (don’t quote me on the URL) probably will have nice choices in bright towels. Might also check there for pink curtains. They do have a “horsey” line of girls bedding that might include comforter, curtains, etc.

    Good luck with the decorating! I totally know what you mean about the color nazis. It’s definitely a conspiracy.

  11. 11 On October 11th, 2007, chicagomama said:

    The other thing to think about is going to the fabric store (IRL or online) and picking out fabric that is what you what. Most fabric stores have a much bigger selection of colors/styles than the regular stores do and this really isn’t an easier sewing project than a shower curtain or window curtains. Truly. Good Luck.

    Oh, and I will nix Kohls for towels. I just don’t think their towels endure frequent washings well. Penneys is a bit better, but it might be worth spending a little more for better quality.

  12. 12 On October 11th, 2007, chicagomama said:

    oh, unless you want to replace your towels more frequently (which you may want to, then Kohls is great for price/replaceability).

  13. 13 On October 11th, 2007, omegamom said:

    My goodness! What a lot of great suggestions!

    First off, thanks to all who grumbled with me about either the color consultants or the proliferation of particular colors each year. This is a pet peeve of mine, which I’m sure all of you can tell is something my mom instilled in me. ;)

    SpaceMom and CD–My bursts of color for our bedroom are direct from The Company Store.

    Figlet–Garnet Hill is verra nice!

    SBird–I hadn’t even thought of Pottery Barn. I’ll bet that’s where you got the oh-so-cute costumes for The Bee.

    CD–The Land of Nod is verra nice, too!

    ChicagoMama–I’ve thought of just getting fabric for my shower curtains and curtains in the dotter’s bedroom. Alas, I don’t have a sewing machine… And I agree about the towels; cheap doesn’t hold out very well, and a little bit more expensive is better.

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