Rainy Day Blues

Jacket: Forever 21, Shirts: Banana Republic and Target, Skirt: Banana Republic, Belt: Old Navy, Tights: Target, Shoes: Target, Purse: ShoeDazzle, Bracelet: Stella and Dot (jackiekspang@gmail.com), Rings: LeVian and Random $6 Vendor (photos: Carrie Hawkins Foust)

Yup....blue tights. Colored tights are a trend that I have seen in pictures lately (most recently on Sarah Jessica Parker), but not yet in "real life". So, while shopping for black tights at Target I saw these bad boys and decided to give them a try. I love the idea of colored tights. They have the power to switched up a ho-hum look and lend a pop of color in an unexpected place. That being said, I got a little out of control and purchased not 1, but 3 pairs of bold hued tights to...ya know, switch my "hosiery" game up a bit. My first thought was to try to match my belt with my tights, but the blue belt I have is not an exact match, so it looked kind of "off". Instead of looking like I was trying to match and failing miserably, I decided to go the complete opposite direction and add another, and completely different color into the mix (and loved it). The lace top came into play because I wanted to keep the clothes all the same color, but my basic black shirt was boring. So, I switched up the texture and pattern of the shirt but stayed with black so the outfit wasn't completely all over the place. If this look is a little "out there" for you I would suggest starting out with an outfit all one color, adding colored tights and pairing them with a taller boot, so not quite as much leg is showing. If my version is a bit muted for your taste switch up the color/patterns of your top and skirt, and throw a pair of tights on that have no business being worn with the other colors in your outfit. I tell my girlfriend, Carrie, all of the time..."If you walk around like you can pull it off...you just did"! And yes... I definitely pulled this umbrella out of the closet FULLY aware that it matched my outfit. Don't judge me.