The colors of late winter

 *Gorgeous colors via The Cherry Blossom Girl

I'm an odd duck...  I have this "thing" about color.  (I have a thing about tastes and smells and words, too, but I"ll leave that for another day).  I love colors.  Combining and contrasting and schemes. And I tend to feel very seasonally about colors.  I have distinctive sets of colors for different parts of the year.

In the spring, there are baby pastels and beachy pastels - carnation and coral and butter and lemon and seafoam and sky and lavender.

In the summer, there are the nautical all american classics - navy and royal and crimson and white and khaki.  As well as the tropicals - fuschia and turquoise and lime.

I even have late soft summer colors as I edge towards fall - chocolate and mauve and wheat and sage.

And then there is the full-fledged plunge into fall, segueing into winter - plum and mustard and forest and caramel, then ruby and emerald and amethyst.

But it is around this time of year I get stuck. I find myself around this time of year rather tired of the shades of fall and winter, which seemed so rich and mysterious and dusky after spring and summer, but now feel dull and gloomy.

And yet it's not really spring.  It's still chilly, sometimes frigid outside.  It seems premature to dive into spring colors now even though I long for their happy cheeriness.

So what are the colors of January and February?

I like winter whites - snow and cream and ivory, dove, the softest of grays, blush, the palest of pinks, and shades of nude.  Grecian silk gowns from the 1930s.  Smart ladies who lunch in winter white suits and classic diamond studs.  Ballerinas in worn satin slippers and sheer tutus.  New York fashionistas in minimalist sheer gray t-shirts with piles of gold jewelry.  Mohair throws and sheepskin rugs.  Ironic white doilies.  Bleached coral and crystal candleholders.

The image above from The Cherry Blossom Girl so beautifully illustrates this dreamy, sophisticated scheme in my mind.

Now, I'm off to find my grecian gown...