Crimson and burgundy (or some similar version of red and wine) was a favorite color combination of my father’s and he is the inspiration for featuring this pair.  He passed away a couple of years ago and today would have been his 90th birthday.  In the last few years of his life, my father would lament each time he heard about the death of someone he knew, whether it was a family member, a personal friend, or a celebrity, at how young that person was compared to him.  Both of his parents had died at the age of 72 so I guess he felt like he was in uncharted waters by living 15 years past that age.

My father had just two daughters so living in a household of three women meant that he was subject to their scrutiny when he dressed for any occasion other than work.  There was one favorite ensemble of his that usually got a reaction from all three of us.  The ensemble consisted of a bright red shirt and wine colored slacks.  My father saw nothing wrong with the combination and at times, depending on where we or my parents were going, we might let it pass.  It’s amazing how much has changed in concepts of color and pattern mixing.

The sleeveless tunic sweater I’m wearing is a fairly new acquisition and to be honest, until recently the concept of a chunky knit tunic with no sleeves didn’t make much sense to me.  If it’s too hot for sleeves, then it’s too hot for a heavy knit and turtleneck, right?  But, I reasoned, they look so smart and can be a layering piece either under a heavier cardigan or over a t-shirt or blouse.  I found this one at Marshall’s so for the price, I was willing to give the style a try.

fwe-cmw-crimson-burgundy-101516-1

fwe-cmw-crimson-burgundy-101516-2
Sweater – Cable & Gauge; Pants – Mossimo; Jacket – Merona (listed for sale in my Poshmark closet); Pin – Chico’s; Boots – Guess

While it’s not quite the same bright color as my father’s favorite shirt, I don’t have much in wardrobe in the red family and my first instinct was to get the sweater in the other color offered which was gray. It was a pretty shade but I already have several gray sweaters so it would be hard to justify buying another and the crimson color seemed to be calling to me. Normally I would have worn the sweater with jeans or black or gray or perhaps even brown but a vision of my father in his favorite outfit popped into my head and inspiration struck.

fwe-cmw-crimson-burgundy-101516-3

While searching through my collection of brooches last month for Color My World: Loden and Teal, I spied the one you see in the photo above. I bought it (actually two of them, one to be given as a gift) several years and it fits so well with Fall that I made a mental note that I should wear it in a future post. As I was fussing with the collar of the sweater, I remember a trick I had seen to use a brooch to hold a turtleneck or cowl in place and my mental note signaled to me.  Who needs Siri?

fwe-cmw-crimson-burgundy-101516-4

My boots have already been featured in Purchase More Shoes: Fall Preview and Kick Off For Fall: Boots. They work well as the third color of the look along with the jacket.

Shop The Look

Let’s Wrap This Up

Now, onto the Fine-Whatever link up for this week. My featured contributor is another new link up participant. Stephanie, from Go Fashion Deals, describes herself as “being fabulously geeky and chic” (she hopes) and I think you see from this photo that she is definitely chic.

It’s easy to find style inspiration in fashion magazines or Instagram or Pinterest but are there people or events in your day-to-day life from which you get inspirations? Crimson and burgundy remind me of the wonderful man my father was and not a day goes by that I don’t think about him and miss his presence in my life. Happy birthday, Dad.

fwe-cmw-crimson-burgundy-101516-5

Let’s connect! Subscribe, tweet, follow, friend, love, pin, stumble … all options are available and waiting for you. I look forward to hearing from you. And don’t forget to add a post or two to the link up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Loading InLinkz ...

30 Comments

  1. shelbeeontheedge1

    Rena, I love this color combination and I really love that it is inspired by your father. That is such a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing it.

    I was like you about the chunky sleeveless turtleneck until this week! I layered a similar sweater under a jacket and realized how much more comfortable it was without sleeves. And previously I would always layer something under the sweater. But now that I discovered how cute it looks under another layer, I am sold. Then the temperatures rose to close to 70 degrees the day I wore it and I was totally comfortable with the heavy knit, high neck, and no sleeves! And I wore open toe mules as well. Another trend that has confused me is the open toe booties because my toes are the first thing to get cold. But it is working for me in this early part of fall.

    Thanks for the link up and have a fab weekend!

    Shelbee
    http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com

    • Rena

      Shelbee, I’m glad that you like the color combo and to hear that I’m not the only one who late on the sleeveless turtleneck bandwagon. But I still have a hard time embracing open-toe booties even with the warmer fall/winter weather we have in SoCal. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

  2. robjodiefilogomo

    Hooray for the brooch love!!
    I just wore mine this way 2 days ago, and it was not only pretty but functional for keeping things in place—-see, we do get smarter as we get older!!
    I laughed at your dad story—my dad wasn’t very stylish oriented either—I had to keep buying him clothes so he didn’t embarrass me–ha ha!
    I really like the tan coat & boots to break up the colors!! Nice job!
    Happy weekend!
    jodie
    http://www.jtouchofstyle.com

    • Rena

      Jodie, lately I’ve been thinking of all sorts of ways to wear my brooches. Our dads were products of their day and I think that most men nowadays are much more fashion conscious than our dads were but you still run into a few that could use some guidance.

    • Rena

      Nancy, he did have his moments and I was surprised at how well the colors do look together. Thanks for stopping by.

  3. I chuckled throughout reading your tale about your Dad’s sartorial choices, Rena. My father believes a clean shirt and pressed pants would be good enough to meet the Queen in so I must say that yours and his colour choices were truly quite dandy. I do believe the only red mine wears is the one mixed into his fave plaid shirt, and the bold stripe across the chest of his sleep jumper (which reminds me ever so much of Freddie Kruger) GRIN no matter what I bought to add to his wardrobe, my dad would always revert back to his comfort pieces. After a while, I just bought him more plaid shirts. I mean, can’t beat them …. blah blah blah.

    I must say, I never thought of wearing shades of red before. And I love how it turned out, Rena. I really do.

    • Rena

      Red was definitely my father’s favorite color and since he had little say in the decor of the house, I guess the only way he could express it was with his clothes. When buying him a gift, if there was a color choice for an item like a jacket or sweater, we would opt for red because we knew he would love it. Sheela, I’m glad you found the post entertaining and that you liked the look of the color combo.

    • Rena

      You’re very welcome. Thanks for stopping by again (and I hope adding a post to the link up).

  4. The reds look great together, and I love that your dad’s unusual choice was your inspiration. I can actually see a sleeveless chunky knit working quite well here in California – let’s us wear winter clothes for a bit longer… Plus, I imagine it much easier to wear under jackets without all the “arm bulk.”

    Thanks for the link up & Happy Sunday!

    • Rena

      If there is one thing I don’t like, it’s “arm bulk” under a jacket. I don’t know why it took me so long to get with this trend. I’m glad that you like the mix of reds, Andrea. Thanks for stopping by.

    • Rena

      Oh, I love the 3 B’s! And I’m with you Jacqueline on the burgundy love … I’ve been adding a lot of it to my wardrobe this year. It’s so flattering.

    • Rena

      Thank you, Patti. My parents birthdays and mine are all within a week of each other so it’s hard not to think of him at this time of the year. I think he would have been tickled about the blog too.

  5. I love this look! Great color combo. I used to think just like you regarding sleeveless sweaters, but now I realize they are far more practical than a real sweater because you can so easily layer them.

    • Rena

      Thanks for letting me know that you like the color combo and that I’m not the only one late to realize the wonders of the sleeveless sweater.

  6. I cannot stop wearing shades of burgundy and crimson, lately. Great sweater. You look fab! Do come by and linkup with me, as well. Thanks, Ada. =)

  7. Rena

    Ada, I know how much you like shades of red because I see you wearing them a lot (and looking amazing too).

  8. What a fabulous color combination and so cool it was inspired by your dad. I must say, I am smiling that he enjoys wearing bright clothing. 🙂

  9. I have been wearing burgundy non stop lately. It’s a favorite color of mine

    michellespaige.com