Cool lime adds zest to summer wardrobes
To perk up your wardrobe, add a twist of lime.
The trendy color is not the harsh shade of seasons past, but a softer, brighter lemon-lime eye- opener. Spring and summer, when clothes can cost less and don’t last long anyway, is the time to try it.
Angela Stephen, a Memphis drug court counselor, did just that for the recent South Main Art Trolley Tour, stepping out in a feminine eyelet lime dress from American Eagle. Stephen, who wears a lot of black, said she wanted to get out of her comfort zone.
The dress “makes me feel pretty,” she said. “I feel like people notice you when you wear a color like this.”
Try lime in a casual knit top, and you will find it works with half the pants and shorts in your wardrobe: It makes navy look new again and adds punch to white, khaki, olive and brown.
New Yorkers like it with black. More appealing to Southern tastes may be the of-the-moment pairing of lime and other bright shades with black and white plaids and checks. Nanette Lepore did this in her spring collection to excellent effect.
Southerners, always at home with the fruit punch colors, will wear lime with coral or any shade of blue and even hot pink. That puts us right on trend with designers like Oscar de la Renta, who paired bright contrasting girlie colors for spring. Ditto for Diane von Furstenberg, who used lime liberally in her spring collection and showed a lime blouse with coral silk shorts.
Marie Horrice of Dallas got her lime fix partly on the cheap. She put her money in a good-quality purse and snapped up a
knit dress striped in lime from Old Navy for just $10. She also bought a lime green purse by Michael Kors this spring and paired it with Aldo sandals trimmed in metal. Horrice, who grew up in Memphis, wore the outfit while having dinner on a patio with friends.
“I didn’t have anything lime in my closet,” she said. “It’s one of those fun colors. It pops.” She found, as many do, the lime purse functions almost as well as a neutral, working with most of her summer clothes.
One sour note in all this is that lime is a warm shade. If you don’t look your best in orange, gold or peach, lime won’t suit you either.
The usual advice is to wear it away from your face. But lime in shorts and pants will make your bottom look larger.
So instead, add zest to your wardrobe with lime accessories. You’ll find the color in jewelry and pumps as well as purses.
J.C. Penney, which has a lot of casual tops in lime from $8 to $21 at jcpenney. com, also has charming print wedges in the color by 9 & Co. for about $30 and flip-flops and thongs for $3 to $10.
Target. com has the color in several purses, including a Merona crossbody for about $23. A messenger bag, $22.49, in large lime polka dots, would be a juicy summer accessory. Barbara Bradley can be reached at barbarabradley10@gmail.com.