Bohemian Casual – How to Style a Kimono Jacket

Kimono Jacket: Cotton On
Top: Express
Jeans: DIY (similar)
Belt: Cotton On (similar)
Sunglasses: Jessica Simpson

All of those wonderful light cotton kimono jackets are a great substitute for a traditional cardigan and perfect for warm weather. The bright colors in this one are what drew me in, and I love how wearing it made me feel like I’d wrapped myself in a thin cotton blanket.

They are a bit different, but don’t be intimidated by them! I initially thought that it wouldn’t be that versatile, but this jacket looks great on pretty much anything! Here I’ve gone more bohemian with the loose fishtail braid and the tribal belt. The looser fit jeans gave me the casual and effortless look I was going for.

Tip: Try pairing the feminine floaty kimono jacket with something a little more masculine, like the boyfriend jeans I did here.

I also really like pairing the less structured kimono jacket with more fitted pieces, a fitted dress goes great, and so do a plain white tee and shorts.

Do you have a kimono jacket? If so what are some of your favorite ways to style it? I’d love some style inspiration!

Indian Traditional Wear

I have a little bit of an unusual post for you today, but I hope you enjoy it just the same!

Growing up in the U.S. with a close circle of Indian family friends, my formal party attire has always been mixed: sometimes dresses and skirts, and sometimes in traditional Indian clothing. Indian traditional clothing ranges from an Indian styled skirt and top called a gaghra, salwars which are like a tunic and a matching pant, half-sarees (a pseudo saree that’s really a skirt that you then wrap a short piece of cloth around), and the well-known sarees.

For me sarees were always the Holy Grail. Sarees are typically worn by adults, so I had to wait to reach a certain age before being able to wear them, but now that I’m old enough, I can’t get enough of them. For those of you who aren’t familiar with sarees, they’re literally six yards of fabric that you pleat and fold into an outfit.

They’re typically paired with a matching underskirt and a blouse. There was a time where a blouse was made of the same fabric as the saree, but nowadays it’s more typical to wear a contrasting, but still matching blouse. Here I grabbed an older blouse that I had, did a little bit of alteration to open up the back a little more, and paired it with this saree.

Sarees are amazing. They look flattering on anyone and any body type, and there’s so much room for self expression in them. You can pleat and wear a saree in multiple different ways depending on how you want it to hang and what parts of the saree/your figure you want to show off. And then you have the blouses that can completely transform the look of a saree from old to young.

I guess you could say the closest equivalent to a saree that you can find in western fashion is a convertible wrap dress, but even that can’t possibly come close to capturing all of the richness, culture, and color you can find in sarees.

This particular saree I wore for a wedding I attended yesterday, and I’m always astounded how comfortable they are. 6 yards of pleated fabric, a few pins and a blouse, and still I had no issue rocking it up on the dance floor.

P.S. I’m excited to tell you guys that I booked an appointment on this Tuesday to get me some straight bangs. I’ll also be coloring my virgin hair for the first time! So keep your eyes out for an unveiling of my new hair come Tuesday.

P.P.S. Be sure to let me know in the comments if you’d like to see more posts like this in the future!

How to Combine Colors Wrap-Up

Colors are always a great way to add some fun to an outfit, but they can sometimes be a bit intimidating. The right colors really help an outfit shine, but the wrong colors can just look messy and thrown together. But once you read these simple techniques on color combining, you’ll be a color mixing master. Your most crucial tool in this will be your color wheel.

You can see that the colors on the wheel are ordered as they would be on a rainbow. These color relationships can be then easily used in putting together any color schemes, clothing included. Don’t feel like you’re limited to the shades pictured on the wheel. Any darker or lighter shades of each color wedge shown can be used interchangeably. For example instead of red you could use a pink.

1. Analogous Colors – Colors right next to each other on a color wheel (i.e. cobalt, teal, and green or fuchsia, red, and coral). Pick any two or three of these colors to incorporate into the perfect outfit. Here I used teal and cobalt blue:

2. Complementary Colors – Colors that are directly across each other on the color wheel (i.e. purple and yellow, blue and orange, red and green). These two colors work to intensify each other, so on an outfit that’s predominantly one color, add a pop of its complementary color. Here I used a touch of purple to intensify the the yellow:

3. Triadic Colors – Colors equidistant from each other on the color wheel (i.e. red, blue and yellow, or fuchsia, mustard, and lime green). Pick two colors from a triad and combine them together for a mix of color that is bright and fun. In this outfit I used a bright orange and a darker green :

While not officially part of the combine colors series, these two posts are honorary members of it:

4. Pop of Color – If you’re still not feeling ready to jump into color mixing, incorporating a pop of color into a neutral outfit is a good way to dip your toes in. Here my bright teal t-shirt brought some color into an otherwise neutral outfit :

5. Denim as a Neutral – Your standard neutrals are your black, browns, grays, and navy, but one that’s sometimes forgotten is the timeless denim. You’d pair any color with your jeans right? Well the same applies to any other denim piece you may have in your wardrobe. Here I used my denim button-up as a neutral to balance out my bright yellow skirt:

I hope that these five ways to combine colors help you incorporate more color into your outfits. The world could always do with more color! What are your favorite color combining tricks?

How to Combine Colors : Color Triads

Skirt : Forever 21 (similar)
Belt : Cotton On (similar)
Shoes : Audrey Brooke
Top : Unknown

So a color wheel is really just the result of taking the three primary colors : red, blue, and yellow, and mixing them with each other at different ratios. These three colors are all equal distances from each other on the color wheel and form a color triad. All of the other colors on the color wheel are also part of their own color triad.

Color triads are groups of colors that are bold and complement each other well. For the purposes of putting together an outfit, I’d recommend only using two out of the three colors of a color triad. At the same time, since triadic colors tend to not be as intense as complementary colors you can use larger doses of color in your outfit.

Here I paired an orange with a deep green. I wouldn’t have thought to pair these two together, but I wanted to experiment with a color combination I hadn’t tried before and I really love it. It’s bright and fun, but doesn’t look like it was thrown together.

As you can probably tell, it was pretty windy during this photoshoot, and while keeping my hair from flying all over the place was a pain, I love how delicate and romantic the chiffon looks fluttering in the wind.

Which of the color triad combinations do you think would be the most fun to experiment with?

Also, be sure to check parts 1 and 2 of the “How to Combine Colors” series: Analogous Colors and Complimentary Colors.

Featured Fashion Link Roundup 4/21

I’m excited to inform you that Dress Up on a Cloudy Day has been featured once again on IFB’s weekly fashion roundup! This week one of my posts from my “How to Combine Colors” series has been featured. If you haven’t seen it already, I hope you take a moment to check out my featured post : “How to Combine Colors : Analogous Colors“, as well as the other post from the series : “How to Combine Colors : Complementary Colors“. Keep your eyes peeled for more tips on how to combine colors!

Make sure to also take the time to check out all of these other great posts in the roundup! Some of my personal favorites are Nothing to Wear’s post on hairstyling for beginners ( I’m definitely going to try to experiment with some of these in future posts), Fashion Moriarty’s post regarding “Are female politicians reduced to what they wear?“, and tips on how to achieve your creative goals by Celeste from Fashion is Evolution.

Featured Fashion Link Roundup

• Anna Lou Elliott: 3 ways to wear white: for day, night and work
• Attire Club: What We Can Learn From Superheroes
• Cosmolawitan: Dove: Empowering Women With Its Ad Campaigns
• Dress Up on a Cloudy Day: How to Combine Colors : Analogous Colors
• Fashion is Evolution: 4 Tips for Pushing Yourself to Achieve Your Creative Goals
• Fashion Moriarty: Are female politicians reduced to what they wear?
• Hey Mishka: 5 Globally Conscious Festive Accessories For Summer
• HH Designs: Glamping: My Overall Lack of Roughing It…
• Lara Lizard: Test : Are you the cutest creature of the social media? 
• Incognito: On how Man Repeller got me thinking about fashion in Japan
• Modestelle: Mercedes Benz Australia Review 2013-2014
• Mis Papelicos: My 6 Easy Steps to Happiness
• Nothing to wear: The Rookie Department: Hair Styling For Beginners 
• Runway to Style: 7 Style Guidelines To Look Your Best at Prom and More
• Style Bizarre: Blogging: How important is your location?
• The Curatorial: Vale Jewelry: Algorithms and Delicate Jewelry
• Undercover Dress Up: Interview with lolita icon Emilka P.
• We Are Ready Made: Irreverent Youth
• Wild Beauty World: War Paint
• Youth Savage: Fashion Blogging vs. the World

How to Combine Colors : Complementary Colors

Top : Forever 21 (similar)

Skirt : Macy’s (similar)

Scarf : Unknown (similar)

Shoes : Charlotte Russe

In art, you put two complementary colors next to each other to make them both appear more vivid, and this same technique easily translates over to fashion. Complementary colors are colors that are across from each other on the color wheel. Here I used the complementary colors yellow and purple in my outfit.

As complementary colors tend to really intense, I’d suggest to tend to the darker or lighter end of the color wedge for each color, and to also limit one of the colors to   an accent color like I did here.

My favorite complementary color combinations are turquoise and coral, mustard and purple, and cobalt and orange. I’d also suggest to avoid the pairing of red and green because it typically reads very Christmas, but other than that, feel free to experiment!

If you haven’t already, take a moment to check out part 1 of this series :

How to Combine Colors : Analogous Colors

How to Combine Colors : Analogous Colors

Top : Old Navy
Jeans : Forever 21
Shoes : Jessica Simpson (similar)

As the weather gets warmer, people tend towards brighter colors, and while colors are fun, they can sometimes be a little intimidating. But there’s no need to fear color. Picking colors that go together is really very simple, and with this color mixing series I hope to show you just that.

Putting together colorful outfits is easy when you have this powerful tool :

One trick to putting together colorful outfits is to use analogous colors : colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. In this outfit, I’m using the analogous colors blue and aqua.

You’ll notice that each color wedge of the wheel has a light, medium, and dark section.  Here I used the darker blue and the medium aqua, but I could have just as well switched those out for any of the other shades. Any of the colors within a wedge can be used interchangeably.

Tip : For something a little more subtle, you can wear a piece of clothing in one color, and add on accessories in a different but analogous color.

What are your favorite analogous color combinations?