20 Days of Christmas - Fairisle Sweater

Nothing says winter better than a Fair Isle Sweater. Fair Isle is one of the Shetland islands and it is from this area that the familiar pattern of knitting, using multiple colors came into play in the fashion world. The patterns became popular in 1921 when the Prince of Wales wore Fair Isle sweaters in public. You can see examples of true Fair Isle pieces by visiting this website, Mati Ventrillon. Her story is interesting and the pieces she creates unique and beautiful. It is is worth taking time to peruse her site. If you have the resources and are able to wear wool, one of these sweaters would be a once in a life time investment.

Obviously, my sweater was made on a machine at a factory and is strictly man made materials, but finding this Chap’s brand sweater at Kohl’s on the clearance rack last year was a win for me. I cannot wear wool, as it makes me itch and the price for one of Mati’s beautiful hand made pieces tops off at about $250. Since I don’t live on a chilly island north of Scotland, I think I’ll stick with my cheap fake. Ha, ha.

I was a bit at a loss this morning with taking pictures. My weekend was so busy and then I didn’t feel the greatest yesterday, so I didn’t get my pictures taken after work as I had planned. Frankly, I forgot. My brain has turned to its usual SAD slush! Ugg. Weeks of clouds takes it’s toll and while we had one sunny day on Sunday, one day is not enough to bring me completely out of the seasonal funk.

Anyway, it was so overcast this morning, I knew it was going to take more time than I had to get my camera to a setting that would take a decent picture outside, so I opted for my phone. Lots of these turned out fuzzy, so I apologize for the not so great photos.

Here is a close up of the pretty red, white and blue pattern. While typically that color combination is patriotic, on this sweater it seems more festive and Christmas ready rather than Fourth of July. I love the dark navy with the lighter more silvery blue and the red almost borders on pink.

This fun silver fringe necklace is one of my favorites and I like the way it pulls out the silvery threads in the sweater pattern. The other reason I like this necklace is if you get nervous or bored it is fun to fiddle with the fringe! Ha, ha.

Since I wanted to keep the outfit casual I chose to pair it with my silver sneakers which are a new addition to my shoe pile. I found these at a local department store on clearance. Today was the first time I wore them for a long period of time. They weren’t too uncomfortable, although by the time I was done shopping with my daughter at the mall, I was starting to feel a few spots that were rubbing. Oh well, I am sure they will still get plenty of use at my part time job and other occasions where I don’t have to do a ton of walking.

I think this works for a very casual Christmas outfit and the sweater could easily be dressed up with a cute pencil skirt or even a pleated skirt with heels. You could also go for gold, instead of silver for your accessories to change it up a bit.

One last picture just for laughs and of course this one turned out perfect! Ha, ha. Isn’t that the way of things?

I was looking out the window and saw a huge flat bed truck with a full load of wooden palettes doing a U-turn in the middle of our street. It was one of those, “All righty then,” moments. Ha, ha.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Do you own a Fair Isle sweater? Is this the type of sweater you would wear? I’ve included a few shopping links for a few that are more budget friendly. Remember, these are affiliate links. If you click on a link I get a few pennies. All opinions are my own. I appreciate your support, but even more than clicks, I appreciate your comments. I love to hear how I have inspired you or how you have taken a fashion trend or idea and made it your own. That is so inspiring to me.

Have a great evening.

20 Days of Christmas - Red and Green

It is the fourth day of my 20 Days of Christmas challenge and it has been fun to pull out some of my Christmas themed pieces and think about how to put them together in a way that is fun and stylish. I also wanted to revisit some of the traditional holiday color combinations and see how I could combine them in a fresh, trendy way.

Today’s outfit uses the two age old Christmas colors, red and green. Greenery has been used in decorating for centuries to brighten up the long, drab, winter months and is a reminder of the return of spring. Red, while associated with holly berries, is also in the Christian tradition, a reminder of the blood of Christ.

I started with this LuLaRoe maxi skirt which I have styled before on the blog, here. When I initially got this skirt, I thought it had a bit of a tropical vibe, but they celebrate Christmas in tropical places too, right? I decided to add this 3/4 length sweater to brighten up the outfit, though I think a green top with red accessories would have worked as well. The sweater is Croft and Barrow.

To make the look a little bit more youthful and updated I decided to top the whole outfit with my Mudd olive utility vest. I also thought carrying the green velvet cross body bag added a bit of trendy textural interest. I’ve gotten a number of compliments on this bag that I found on the clearance rack at Meijer, last spring.

As you can see we had some snow, so I felt my Croft and Barrow knee high black boots were in order for the day. I also had on black leggings under the skirt for added warmth. I was pretty cozy all day at work and even when my daughter and I took her dogs for a walk. I also had a 3/4 length tee under my sweater. Layers, upon layers. It’s winter time.

The finishing touch was this green and gold two layer necklace. The green went perfectly with the green in the skirt.

I really like these LuLaRoe maxi’s, although I think I had heard they were phasing them out of their product line. It looks like they now have a long, pleated maxi skirt. Whatever the case, it is easy to make your summer maxi skirts winter wearable by adding heavy tights, or leggings and boots.

Do you wear red and green at Christmas time? What did you think of this outfit? Would you wear something like this? I always welcome your feedback.

Have a great weekend. Be sure to follow along with the 20 Days of Christmas challenge on Instagram.

Photo credit Rebecca Trumbull.