Couture Counsel: A Difficult Neutral

So last summer’s sale was about the creepy crawlies, Prada style, and I was all over it like a cheap suit. And a few weeks ago I completed my trifecta with this recent online find, a swirly beige watersnake platform peeptoe slingback (I dare you to say that three times fast) with a sweet little bow, no less…

Gorgeous shoes to show off a pedicure and many hours of leg (barre) exercises, but…Houston, we’ve got a problem. Can beige be a difficult neutral in your wardrobe? Apparently, it is for me. And you know me, the first thing I do after bringing home a new pair of shoes is to match them to a bag.

Next to the Chanel beige claire, the bag is a warmer shade of beige against the now anemic looking shoes.

But heck, the skin on the bag is so delicious, how about another gratuitous shot ? It almost looks like, on my monitor, the lining of the shoes matches the bag more than the shoes themselves. But in person, the lining of my shoes is blush pink. Strange how colors relate to each other once you have them side-by-side. But I digress…

So…if the first bag is too warm in tone, how about going pale on pale with my dark white mini flap?

Uhhh…white and beige are like sisters from another mother, and father. Not really working.

So if I can’t match beige to another beige exactly, what about beige and a beige step-sister, taupe? And to make my brain hurt a little more, how about mixing two textures on top of the colors, like the snake against the ostrich?

Aye, me duele la cabeza. So in today’s Couture Counsel episode, I’m asking how you wear the beiges that surely lurk somewhere in your closet? Would you go for any of the above options? What happens if there’s not an exact match…do you suffice for “close enough” or just contrast it with another color all together to save yourself the headache?

I could, for example, just wear the shoes with the gorgeous dark matte gold bag that’s so stunning no one would care what shoes I had on!

Or pair them with a dark brown bag to match the deep chocolate specks in the snake’s patterns? But do you see the first photo with the tan-colored leather trims around the bow? Well, wouldn’t a dark brown bag look weird with tan, even if they are technically in the same family? Oy, my OCD keeps getting better! I think I need to take two aspirins and wait for your opinions.