Nail Polish Vomit

Skirt: The Limited, Shirt: Forever 21, Tank: Banana Republic, Shoes: Aldo, Rings: Boris & Natasha and ShoeDazzle, Necklace: Express, Bracelets: Ivy & Leo, Watch: Michael Kors, Bag: ShoeDazzle, Earrings: Marthe Pinaire (photos: Carrie Hawkins Foust)

According to British Vogue, "loud and proud color combinations make for a dynamic, confident look". I couldn't agree more! Color Blocking is one of the hottest trends of late 2011/2012 and all of the vibrant, bright colors out now make it fun and easy to pull off. You don't have to worry about matching. Actually, the whole point to to pair two totally different colors together in a bold, obvious way. The inspiration for this outfit came from my nails. I picked out a bright purple/pinky color and then painted two fingers on each hand a coral/red color. These two colors compliment one another, but they definitely do not match. The photos of the polishes actually make them look more similar than they are in real life. I love my fun little manicure. So, yesterday morning as I was getting ready for work I decided to take my manicure colors to a whole new level by pairing a pinkish-purple top with a orangey-red skirt. I could have worn this with nude heels to make it a wee bit less obnoxious, but "go big or go home", as they say. I slipped on my purple-pink suede heels, grabbed this great pink bag that I recently got in the mail, and at about 2pm, slapped some red lipstick on. It looks like the nail polish that I picked out got violently ill and threw up ALL over me, but frankly, I am fine with that. This outfit may be a little too loud for most workplaces (especially mine), but I got lots and lots of love today from women who stopped me to comment on it. We ended up discussing more "tame" ways to work color blocking into your wardrobe. It is so easy with all of the colored denim out this season. It's everywhere from Neiman Marcus to Target. Go get you some! You just might love them. But... if bright, Crayola-inspired jeans paired with an another, equally loud hue scare you just a touch (I can hear some of my friends now..."I can't do that, that's too much for me...no way, well...not yet anyway"), then start slowly by pairing them with a white, black, or tan top. Baby steps. You cannot blend in with loud colors on, so heads held high, mamacitas, walk like you effortlessly pull it off and before you know it, that's exactly what you are doing! WORK IT!