Chrismas in July

I don't really care for Christmas music at Christmas time. But when the sun gets hot in the summertime, I get the itch to sing Christmas carols. I guess the contrast just appeals to me the same way singing "You're the One that I Want"--especially "It's electrifying!"-- in the shower does. Did I mention I love awesomely bad jokes too? But we are about the clothes here, so let's discuss the tricky color pairing of red and green sans the Christmas conotations. Click the Read More! link to discover the super secret secret to wearing red and green together in the warm months.

If we're going to talk about red and green, we need to call in some experts. Style and color experts. The first is Vasiliisa, one of the foremost color mixing experts on Wardrobe Remix. She is in fact the one who showed me that such a pairing was possible.

The the easiest way to wear red and green together is to use a lighter shades of the colors. Lighter and brighter variations of red and green scream of the warmer seasons and bring images of watermelon and other summer fruits to mind. Here the brighter shades and fun check print of the dress invoke images of a picnic, not Saint Nick.

Here Vasiliisa is using the traditional Christmas colors and she's even sporting pattern on the skirt associated with the cold. She keeps it spring-y by combining it with warm weather accessories. Those shoes are unmistakibly summer-like and help bring out the warm weather nature of the miniskirt.

The colors on this dress are the same colors as my strands of multicolored christmas lights. Again, the trick to working these colors are the unmistakable warm weather accessories. She warms the outfit up with the sock and shoe combo. Her hair up and the sunglasses also speak of the sunny seasons. And the shape and cut of the dress is easily seen as a summer shape. She also mixes other colors in to take down the Christmas connotation.

Just want to wear Christmas red and green sans other colors? Let's look to Strawberry Kitten for help.

While being cute as a button doesn't hurt, Strawberry Kitten manages to make apples dance through our heads instead of sugar plums by actually wearing an apple. She then matched the shades of red and green on the shirt for a tasty combo.

Then she adds a leather jacket which really doesn't have much to do with this post per se, but I love a good kitty has claws look: a sweet outfit worn with some tougher elements.

Those two ladies make me want to trip to europe to see Finland and Germany, as opposed to the usual tourist spots as France, England, and Italy. Luckily, both of them blog. Vasilissa's blog is currently on a hiatus, but it's well worth it to poke through the archives. Stawberry Kitten posts pictures of her killer sense of style regularly and she also makes some of her own clothes.

Here's another look at my take on the red/green color combo. I went for using brighter shades of the colors and using a patterned piece featuring the color combo in a small dose. Then I picked up the red on the dress with the shoes and scarf.

Walking in a Summer Wonderland,
Ivy Frozen