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A Fitted Blouse From My Old Friends At Nara Camicie

When last we saw this aubergine tweed jacket, we were discussing the color of shirt one might wear with it. White seemed too bright.

Over the weekend, I paid a visit to Nara Camicie, the Italian boutique in San Francisco, where I found a fitted 3/4 sleeve blouse.

I love 3/4 sleeves for spring and summer. The Franco-Italian combination of tweed and stripes? Bonus points. And no, I wasn’t referring to my striped gray hair, but we’ll take our supporting aesthetic details where we can.

This is the kind of wild frivolity Quiet Dressers relish. Three colors at once! Blue and purple and brown! Also, pattern-mixing! Made me so excited I took a picture of my hand. Fortunately, a close up of the clothing tagged along.

The effect has me convinced that I’d also like a light brown tee. Do you hear me, Petit Bateau? Light brown! Get on it, please! Quiet Dressers everywhere, gasp in recognition. No one needs to know just how compelling we find these wardrobe tweaks. Next time I’m wearing the jacket and blouse with blue denim. Oh yes I am.

A series of small choices can have as much impact, albeit of a different tenor, as pops of color or exaggerated silhouettes.

46 Responses

  1. What a great photo! The combo of the pale blue stripe (almost Tiffany blue) and the brown is really great on you! By the way, there is a chocolate camisole and that could go under, and drum roll, please….a sweater that matches the mocha stripe in the shirt. I am just getting back from Italy but I will see what is in the store…you could get all “layered up”..

    Is that like “lawyering up”???

    1. Time or money, baby, time or money. That’s all it takes. Also, thank you:).

  6. Yep — that is “wild frivolity” for you! The colors look great with each other and on you and the blouse is a perfect spring-to-summer transition piece — the latter should keep your practical side happy amidst all the cavorting.

    Doesn’t it feel good to be so unleashed? ;)

  9. You are inspiring! I love this combination on you. The shirt, though fitted, has a perfect amount of ease and looks wonderful on you. I am also glad glad glad to see that I am not the only one wearing brown cords in May.
    And I thought you said in a recent post that you got your hair cut? This is the longest I’ve seen it- and it looks fantastic.

  11. Your new blouse is great. The way the stripes are grouped together adds even a little bit of extra “pop”.

  13. Of all things I look forward to wearing once I lose some weight, that blouse is at the top of the list. I just love that silhouette, although at the present moment it might yield a few, “And when is the baby due?” inquiries if I attempted it.

  15. I love the stripes, I love the 3/4 sleeves and I love the colors. Back in the day, burgandy and light blue used to be the colors of my polo team.

  18. Utterly you and fits so perfectly! (Guess I’m such a quiet dresser that I find this insouciant, too.)

  19. laughing out loud and not in a LOL way…but with a real smile. great text, great pics…
    bv

  21. Were you shopping for a blouse to wear with that jacket or was this a browsing/I wonder what’s new there trip?

    It worked out well.

    1. I was looking for a blouse for spring, and had in the back of my mind also that I wanted something blue for that jacket. This converged the two threads.

  22. Probably James Perse makes a light brown/mud colored tee shirt – it’s one of the staple colors, and I have a few things in that shade from them.

  23. The outfit looks good It would be great for fall & winter but not for spring & summer Its to dark & to heavy for spring & summer

    1. I think that’s true on the east coast, and in the south, but in San Francisco we’re always transitioning seasons.

  24. You have such a slim waist; the shirt looks cool on you.
    As a matter of fact, I too am suddenly drawn to a bit of brown, and taupe yes. Interesting!

  25. Terrific choice for you! It’s a beautiful shirt and the fit is perfect. My one Nara Camicie shirt is the best-fitting shirt I own, so I understand why you love the brand. Do yours have the same care label? “For a right upkeep ironing at low temperature is COMPULSORY.” This always makes me smile, and I wonder if the effect is the same for Italian speakers, with ” OBBLIGATORIO” the key word on the flip side of the label.

  26. I love your hair right now. I wish my greys were not the freakish sporadic coarse short baby-hair pieces they are right now (that I keep tweezing away, to be honest).

    This shirt is PERFECT with your jacket. Seriously, I am happy you had some luck in finding something layering-friendly!

  28. O so elegant, so intelligent! Add me to the fans of the three-quarter sleeve. There is something about the sight of a woman’s wrists and forearms that appeals in its paradoxical combination of delicacy and strength.

    Can you tell that I have button-front blouse envy? I will have to go to Campbell & Kate to find a blouse that doesn’t have to be secured with duct tape, safety pins, etc., to prevent inadvertent display of my underpinnings.

  30. Love the whole look. Might I suggest a black and wite Petite Bateau shirt to try with your outfit? What about an orange t-shirt? Am I too out there?

    Also, your hair is so divine. I recently saw a photo of Jenna Lyons, with her long hair, and fabulously bright lips. How about that on you?

  34. My first thought when I saw the first photo on your post, even before I went further:

    3/4 sleeves – Check.
    Stripes – Check.
    Winner.

    Not surprised that it’s from NaraCamicie.

    If I have to choose only one sleeve length to wear my entire life, it would be 3/4 sleeves.

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