Racy Reds

I've just spent two nights in a very boring hotel for work, but what a delight to be able to browse all the wonderful colour that people are finding in the world this week. I love it!

So today we have red... Red and I have a history that hasn't always been an easy one. I have red hair. And for some reason that led me to believe that I should never wear the colour, so for years I avoided it, even though I was drawn to it. And then I went with a group of colleagues to a seminar on 'Personal Presentation for Corporate Women' (yes, I used to be one in a former incarnation) and part of the session was about colour and how red was an indicator of strength and confidence that every woman seeking success should have in her business wardrobe if she wanted to be taken seriously by her male counterparts (it was the 80s!). Anyway, long story short, I hated the seminar, and am no longer in a corporate environment, but I took it as an opportunity (officially sanctioned) to buy a red silk scarf... and I never looked back. Red and I made friends.

Guitar wire beads - I bought this set of beaded bracelets in the same shop as the above-mentioned scarf. The scarf is no longer with me (I am actually not sure what happened to it) but the shop remains an absolute favourite to this day. And I love these beads and baubles strung on guitar wires. I've had these for almost ten years now and I still enjoy wearing them. The combination of the deep reds with the subtle metals is just lovely and they make a very gentle tinkling noise when I move. 

African butterflies - another favourite bracelet, a souvenir of a trip to Namibia. I was working there for several weeks some years ago and was fortunate enough to spend the weekends travelling with my hosts to see some of the country. What a magical place it is. I'm generally not an arid landscape person - lushness and greenery make me very happy - but Namibia converted me to the desert. It's indescribable. Sea and desert adjacent to one another, sand dunes the size of mountains, entire plants the size of a coin, and the most vivid sunrises and sunsets I have ever seen over land, to inadequately name but a few features. I love this bracelet because it brings to mind that beautiful place and I most recently wore it to a work-related dinner function with a black dress, and several of these tiny feather butterflies in my hair...

A touch of rose - I love having my prettiest accessories where I can see them even when I am not using them and so I have these occasionally-used evening bags and the red flower corsages hanging against the wall in my bedroom where I can enjoy them every day. They dangle from the bottom of a heart-shaped wire frame, designed to hold cards or photographs I believe, which was my gift from my office Secret Santa last year. I still don't know who the Secret Santa was but I love the gift. It's probably not something I'd have bought for myself, especially in that particular shape (not wild about heart-shaped things for some reason) but it actually looks really pretty against the wall and I've found its great for hanging bits & pieces like this on!

A stopped watch - I don't wear a watch - never have - but I own several. And I love them all. Gifts to me from special people over the years, who just don't understand how I manage without one, they are all beautiful and different. All of them have batteries or winders that have now run down so that they no longer work. This one with the red leather strap is one of the very prettiest, a gift from my sweet brother, R. I think of him whenever I see it and although it doesn't tell me the time, it tells me that he loves me and he knows how happy red makes me. And I still manage to be punctual. Always.

Red is for Tango - I love a paisley print and it works so well on this lovely skirt, which is one of my favourites for dancing (and which apparently needs a press!). It's soft but slightly fitted, with a bit of a flirty flare at the hemline and allows great movement - perfect for an Argentinean Tango with a tall, dark Tanguero. Sadly neither Tango nor Tanguero have made an appearance in my life recently but if the opportunity arises, at least I'll already have the skirt. 

Red comes in several flavours - I snapped this shot of the handbags I have hanging on the back of the door in my guest room and without even having to rearrange them, they reveal that I have reasonably eclectic tastes in pattern, and that I'm quite fond of red. The one on the left is a great shopper that came as free gift with a magazine (don't you love those?) and has proved really useful. I love it. It's big and strong (can hold a week's worth of groceries) and the graphic floral design really cheers up a shopping trip. The leather one with the embossed butterflies and flowers is just big enough to hold everything a girl needs on an average working day, including a fold-up brolly, and who can resist a butterfly bag that still manages to look quite smart? Not me. The one on the right was something I bought when I was living in Paris. It's obviously not particularly Parisian but it reminds me always of that amazing city and how lucky I was to spend time there. And I like the pattern, the muted tones and the fact that it's beaded but still quite casual. I love to wear it with jeans. It's something that people often remark on and a year or so ago I was waiting in a queue in Marks & Spencer's when a woman came up to me and asked, in a lovely French accent, where I'd bought it. When I said Paris, she gave one of those expressive Gallic shrugs with a sigh, as if to say, "Aah, I should have known" and wandered off. That made me smile.

Reds can be invisible too - in the foreground here is the little zipped pouch that I use when I travel to hold whichever of my accessories I'm taking with me, most recently that included this wristband that I wore yesterday, and which I just unpacked from my little suitcase. In the background are two of the fragrances I like - one is a sample of Lauren, by Ralph Lauren (great for travelling, samples), and the other a gift from a friend who understood my love of vanilla and woody, spiciness and mixed this lovely warm fragrance specially for me. What an unusual and very personal gift. I was surprised and delighted! Although she's now returned to Australia, and the scent is almost finished, I think of her whenever I wear it or look at the beautiful red bottle she chose to put it in. Like all things, I have a variety of fragrances I wear, ranging from the green - light and fresh - to the red - warm and spicy - depending on my mood, the season and the alter-ego who's making the selection on the day. I have no signature scent, except that a hint of vanilla is something they almost all have in common. It's my favourite. I believe that less is definitely more when it comes to perfumes (it should be a subliminal sensory experience rather than an overt one I think, don't you?) but an outfit just isn't really complete until the invisible accessory has been added. And some days a red scent is just the thing. Now what shall I wear today?

Have a happy red day!

♥

P.S. It's not that I forgot about pink. I literally do not have a single item of pink in my wardrobe. There's a story behind that too, and it has to do with red.