hard to pin down

"Taupe is a vague, unscientific color term which may be used to refer to almost any grayish-brown, brownish-gray, or warm gray color. It often overlaps with tan and even people who use color professionally (such as designers and artists) frequently disagree as to what "taupe" means. There is no single, generally recognized authority for such terms...This is the most popular color for leather sofas." - from wikipedia

I have added this new word to my fashion vocabulary - taupe. Why hadn't I realised that this cousin of grey, with a hint of earthy beige and a touch of lavender was the still-neutral shake-up I needed to my closet (I especially love the way it looks with navy)? Why hadn't I realise there was more to taupe than it being the shade of choice for Bottega Veneta's interiors?

At the Massimo Dutti sale, I corrected this failing and splurged on a new belt of the softest leather, and a glorious new long cardigan, plush like a comforter but loosely structured like a coat. Neither were particular bargains by sale standards (the cardigan cost as much as a jacket!), but I did mention my birthday is coming up, yes?





According to wikipedia's remarkably detailed breakdown of the various hues of taupe, I found out that their colours are known as purple taupe and medium taupe.

I also loved a silk chiffon skinny scarf with tiny tarnished gold sequins and a pair of leather stiletto ankle boots (all in the taupe spectrum of course) but well, gorgeous as they are to look at, they are unlikely to get much wear - hence not worth dropping a hefty sum on.

As with most things wonderful, I'm naturally not the first to clue in on this, and no doubt people have been appreciating the subtle hues of taupe for ages -




Photographers (from top): Tamu McPherson, Ari Seth Cohen

I think my desire for something to freshen things up a bit is the reason why I didn't bite on the grey sweat shirt - if I want to limit the stuff in my closet, I want what I buy to be something classically me, but something that jolts things a bit. In this case, that something is TAUPE. Woot.

Pictures (bottom two) from all the pretty birds and advanced style