I decided to be honest with my own fashion stupidity in this post, and you, my friends, totally came through.
You collectively picked chocolate brown in a landslide, which, if I may give myself a little credit, is what I would have picked if left to my own devices. But thankfully I was not, because the comments on that post were filled with other style tips that I have already begun to put into practice (read: I bought some purple tights on sale at Target last week and decided to renew my search for skinny jeans that don’t cause indecent exposure when I have to bend down and pick up my baby).
Saturday afternoon, after a fabulously sample-filled trip to Costco (hello, free lunch), DanO and I ran into Jo-Ann’s for some fabric dye. Actually, DanO ran into Jo-Ann’s, I sat in the car and fed OBaby. My valiant husband emerged from the craft store in one piece and with a bottle of dark brown Rit® liquid dye.
After OBaby was in bed, we got right to it. Dyeing that is.
Nothing cooler than a couple of 20somethings dying a cotton skirt on a Saturday evening, right? Don’t worry, we poured ourselves some chai tea first. (wearesoawesome)
Steps to our rockin’ Saturday night dyeing a skirt:
1. Wash the skirt, don’t dry it.
2. Fill the washer with HOT water, add dye.
{credit to DanO the hand model}
3. After the tub is full and the dye is fully mixed it (we let it agitate a couple of times), add the skirt to the washer.
{buh-bye, kahki!}
4. Set the washer to a 30min wash cycle (we had to set ours to the longest – 15 min – and then come back and set it back to 15 again). Let it fully rinse out.
5. Run the wash again, adding a dye fixative to the water instead of dye this time (follow same steps of filling tub, adding liquid, agitating and then adding skirt).
6. Dry the skirt.
7. Remove the skirt from the dryer for the moment of truth.
8. Find that the ‘Dark Brown’ on the bottle was clearly “PURPLE” misspelled.
O yes, my friends. After a highly democratic vote (in which people were given more pull based on geographic location, for shame) and much effort on your part to help a mama out, our best laid plans have been foiled by Rit®.
I tried to capture the purpleness on camera, which proved difficult.
Purple skirt on brown couch with browner boots:
Blurry purple skirt in sunlight with brown boots:
I was not kidding about the purple. But, you guys! I don’t think it’s that bad! I mean, I won’t be able to wear it with the tights I just scored at Target, but it’s not like it came out some hideous shade, or unevenly colored or anything unwearable. I actually think it’s kind of a fun muted purple tone. It’s growing on me.
I mean, I can still wear it with the brown boots, right? Would it work with the gray leggings? What color does one wear on top of PURPLE?
O gosh, here we go again.
I don’t know what to tell you about color scheme, but I do think the new color looks good with the brown boots. I like the muted purple too (despite it not being an original option)!
you most definitely want to wear purple with yellow. I love complimentary colors.
I think brown boots, purple skirt, maybe something in the lilac family on top and some kind of rocking yellow statement jewelry. Ferosh!
And holy spring, how cute would purple and yellow be coming into spring with some cute little sandals? Or for the Vikings game in a week…
I totally agree with the pop of yellow from some jewelry!
Sarah nailed it: Clearly, the Vikings fever in the air entered your washer/dryer and gave you a purple skirt.
I also like the idea of the gray tights. But the yellow would rock the house.
Goodness, that is defiantly nowhere near dark brown! I do like the purple-ness of the skirt. I have to admit thought when I ready purple skirt ,before scrolling down to look at the pictures, I was picturing a very Barny purple! Thank goodness I was wrong!
thought = though
ready = read
..yikes…
Purple is a great color – like khaki, you can wear this year round. I too like the yellow suggestion, maybe a great argyle scarf in yellow. But I think black, white, pink, and grey would all go nicely with it – depending on shade of course. Think of red too. Red and purple look great together (think MadHatter’s – us 50+ women! LOL) As for matching any of these colors with boots/leggings – well, that’s way beyond my skill set.
I think that, depending on the colour, you could actually wear the purple tights WITH the purple skirt. Think monochromatic.
Oh! You could also wear a dark purple shirt with your purple skirt. Or a patterned shirt that has purple in it.
I personally don’t think I’d do grey leggings with brown boots. I’d go tan, brown, black even but for some reason I don’t think I would do grey & brown. (I dunno. Ask Stacey and Clinton – they’d probably have the answer…)
Oh well. bruple isn’t so bad. :)
it’s kind of a brownish-purple. you can wear white with it :) or a dark brown color would look good i think.
I’d wear some kinda cream-colored shirt or sweater with it, I guess. I’m totally not fashionable at ALL :\ I hope you post pics of yourself in this little purple skirt!
O, I do love that purple color, even if it wasn’t the intended outcome. I can’t really give any fashion advice, because I really have none. I felt very frumpy next to all the cutely dressed moms at Cupcake. I think I might be in desperate need of a What Not to Wear intervention… ;)
I think it would be fun to wear cream colored tights and a shirt with it and add your green jacket for some pop of color.
I really like the purple color and it goes well with many seasons. Mix any bright spring colors with it and in fall you can use lots of other muted colors or neutral colors. A patterned shirt or shirt with any kind of design or embellishment on it would look fabulous too.
For tights I’m not sure if gray would work, I think it would depend on the shade of the grey. A darker grey might look well but it would have to work more with your boots then the skirt.
For spring you could totally rock some awesome wedges with the skirt! I love wedges.
Take a girlfriend shopping with you and bring your skirt. Try on various types of shirts, colors, and accessories to see what would work. Get a feel of things you like with it. Then get Starbucks afterward as a reward for all your skirt deying and color matching shopping awesomeness!!!
Oh…sorry and after though just as I clicked submit.
Look for floral patterns in the new spring clothing. You could find a solid color shirt and maybe pair it with a floral scarf or shoes [like flats]. Or a cute new floral purse.
Heck go for the floral shirt! Keep everything else simple and with in the colors on the shirt :) Oooh I can’t stop thinking of all the possible ideas now. You are going to look awesome!!!!
I like it! I’m a huge purple fan though.
We were just talking about possibly dying our white Ikea chair cushions to cover what the kids have done to it… maybe I won’t go w/ dark brown ;)
That didn’t make sense. I like purple, but not for a chair. For a skirt, it’s the first one I’d chose. Doh… way to show off a head cold while typing…
The purple skirt looks unique! You can wear a white, black, gray (faintest shade) or cream top with your “new” skirt. :) You can go boho-chic and wear boots and an interesting belt with it too! The possibilities are endless! :)
I think I like it better “burple” the chocolate brown.
Younger girlie Allie said to tell you… skinny jeans + bodysuit = never em”barrassed”.
(a bit crass, but clever and true.)
Hmmmm, I’m a little confused to as why it came out that color but I think it’s great and you can wear it in Spring too! : )
Brown schmown. I like the color of the skirt. Embrace fate. If you want to wear grey leggings then I think black winter footwear might be in order (I do think a floral shirt with a grey long cardigan, a “waist” belt, the skirt, grey leggings, and black boots might be the hint of spring necessary for minnesota transplant survival). The brown boots will still look good with cream? on top…something cozy with texture…with a “waist” belt or a tie around the waist? You could do brown patterned tights with that I think but that might give the wind too much access to your shins. I really don’t care if you take my advice at all. I just love how much women like to dress up other women (a.k.a. real life dolls) based on the responses to your “dress me” posts. Also, it was 52 degrees in Portland today…feel free to shed a little tear…so long as it doesn’t freeze before it falls!
i like the color of the skirt but holy moly, rit sure screwed that one up! i now you will rock the purple right out of that skirt when you wear it! you’re just that kinda girl!!!!
Yellow and purple. The skirt looks good from the pictures. Green also goes nicely.
Clearly not dark brown haha but I love the purple. It looks great in the picture with your boots.
Hmm… Well I have to say that I think you got lucky with your skirt turning purple, I think it’s a great color. Also you can do so much more with it then brown. Now do not wear the grey leggings with it! You could wear the purple tights as long as they weren’t the same color purple. I would suggest black tights (maybe with some ribbing or texture or just opaque) with your brown boots, then you could pair it with a cute long sleeve black, brown, purple, cream, or white shirt (though I suggest black or brown). Top it with a cute open cardigan or a long boyfriend cardigan of a basic color white, cream, black, or grey not the same color as the shirt, and then wear a fun colored scarf. You will look so adorable and wintery. In the spring and summer you can pair this skirt with bright colors and flip flops or you can even dress it up with heals and a classy top. Anyway, Good luck! Im sure it will look great no matter what you try.
P.s. you could also wear a belt at your waist over the cardigan for a trendy look.
Coming from someone who has dyed lots and lots and lots of fabric, if you are not happy with the color (even though I think purple is lovely), you can dye the fabric again. I would use the same dark brown this time–
For the future dying projects you may encounter, my recommendation would be to use a dye that you put in a bowl, or a bucket. It tends to make things a bit darker. It is fun to see the way things turn out. I have had good luck with powdered dyes that you add water too :)
Yellow, brown, purple, even some green too :)
purple isn’t a neutral really, but i think that skirt basically is (it’s a great color!) and with a light neutral tee or tank, you could wear really any color cardi or scarf or whatever. subtle, bold, greens, yellows, grays, pinks, browns, reds, blues, patterns, anything that strikes your fancy. plus it’s a wonderfully spring-y shade. =)