A Brown Rant

Recently my older sister sent me a link to this sort of, I don't know, living life sort of website/newsletter that Gwyneth Paltrow apparently does. It's called goop, and I really liked some of the things she wrote about. (The name sort of makes me wonder if it's supposed to be GP's initials, and maybe she has two middle names that both begin with 'O' kind of like my daddy has two middle names that both begin with 'G.') Especially, I liked a book she found, called Spent, about how everyone is exhausted all the time these days, and how to not be. I'm in.

Anyway, one of the posts was about a gray tank and black leggings being the basis for a lot of wonderful, classy outfits, and the black and gray got me going on a rant about how brown is so, sort of, just, out nowadays, it seems. I ranted to Kristin in an e-mail, and she insisted that I reprint the said rant here. So, here:

"Right now I have totally cleaned the kitchen and am rewarding myself by looking at goop. :) I really love the 'get' about the black leggings and the gray tank. :) I have a yellow tunic, and I could get gray leggings instead and wear it with gray ballet flats. I think gray is the new black, really. Brown is definitely not as in as it used to be. Remember when brown sort of first came out? It was so chic, and you wore it with pink or blue or green or white or yellow, and later, even black! And now, it's like, eh. Well, I still really really like brown sweaters though, or even winter-y accessories, like gloves and hats, or furry boots (but even there, gray is more now, don't you think?) or just a natural leather color like that bag that I can't believe you got at Target. :) But shiny brown business-y accessories and pants are just, I don't know, out, I feel. They make me sad to think about. Do you know what I mean?

(PS don't feel bad if you have something brown!! I trust your style sense, I just, I don't know, ever since I started having this feeling about brown in general, I have just never complained about it to anyone. So you're the first. What do you think? You know, like, when you see someone dressed up for work, and they have on brown, like a brown suit or shoes, (or both--how horrible--shoes are excusable though, especially if they're boots or if you're wearing something else exciting) or if you go to Kohls or Walmart, and see a bunch of brown purses, you're just like, "oh dear" and you have a yucky feeling in your tummy because you know someone's probably going to buy them.)"

I really don't want to make anyone feel bad about wearing brown, but maybe anyone who wears enough of it to make someone's tummy hurt should be made to feel a little bit bad. It seems to be mostly people I don't know who do that, so I guess there probably will not be any lucky happenstance of their actually reading this. I like it as a color, (it's the color of my eyes!) just not a fashion statement or a yucky, plumpy purse.

I must admit, again, that I was mad about brown clothing when it came out, really, I was. (Here's a blogger friend of mine making a bit of fun of me for that now.) I have some nice brown pants and a particularly beautiful and well-shaped shiny brown purse, and a very fun brown and white polka-dot tunic I got in Germany, from which I am deliberately taking a break. I just feel that it's wise.