Monday, 3 July 2017

#5 Over 50 Challenge: 50 Shades of Monochromatic

A monochromatic outfit - all white - for summer, shown by Is This Mutton's Gail Hanlon. Different textures from lace, pearls, leather and denim create interest.

The July challenge to our fab collective of over-50s fashion bloggers was 50 Shades of Monochromatic. I chose to style an all-white outfit. When I'm on holiday I always save a white outfit for the last day when I have a light tan, so the photos were taken "on location" by Mr Mutton in Kassandra Bay Resort & Spa, Skiathos, Greek Islands.

White looks great with a tan and against a blue sky, as Is This Mutton's Gail Hanlon shows in this shot for the 5 Over 50 Challenge: Monochrome.

I was keen to mix different textures of white - lace, leather, denim, pearls - and paired my Boden white jeans with a white lace panel blouse from Mango which has lovely floaty sleeves.

It was a bit too see-through for my taste (I didn't want to go the whole hog of "50 Shades!") so I wore a Pure Collection camisole underneath. Finished off with white sandals with perspex heels, white bow bag from Asos and large pearls. Plus my pearly white nail polish, Happy Anniversary by OPI.

White is a great choice for a summer outfit particularly if you have a tan - mix your textures to create interest. Gail Hanlon from Is This Mutton? is wearing a lacy blouse from Mango, white jeans from Boden, chunky pearls, leather sandals and white pearly nail polish

White can come in many shades and textures: lace, pearls, cotton, leather. Combine the textures and shades to create an outfit with impact for summer.

Close-up showing the lace detail of the top.

Now let's see what my four cohorts came up with.

Showing how stylish monochrome can be, Vanity and Me blogger Laurie is elegant in pale pink

Laurie from Vanity and Me is a master at using monochromatic, and is a picture of elegance and sophistication in her blush and white tones. I love the feminine drapiness of the skirt and the accessories she has chosen.

Showing how you can have fun with black and white and pattern mixing, Anna Parkes from Anna's Island Style in gingham, check trousers and a fun circles umbrella

Anna from Anna's Island Style was the only one to go for the black and white option with her funky trews and shoes, gingham top and circles umbrella. Superb pattern mixing! I love the black and white frame to her sunglasses.

Monochrome can mean different shades of one colour as blogger Jacqui Berry shows with her zingy yellow outfit and accessories

Jacqui from Mummabstylish is delivering a blast of colour with her gorgeous citrus lemon, all the more stunning for being photographed in a field of rape seed.

Ashley from Lazy Daisy Jones shows us several different colours in her interpretation of the 5 Over 50 Challenge: Monochromatic, including this all-white version.

Ashley from Lazy Daisy Jones also chose white as her monochromatic choice, with a lacy top and belted trousers, and beige sandals. She tried other colours too including yellow and black.

For the outfit details make sure to visit each of the blogs!

Check out the previous #5Over50 Challenges for May and June.

There's also a Pinterest board showing what we wore for the various challenges.