sanzo wada-approved color combos to break you out of a winter rut

+ recent japanese ebay finds

Dec 03, 2024

Good morning everyone. It’s officially December in California, which means the neighbors are putting up their holiday lights in short sleeved t-shirts and open-toed Birkenstocks. On my way to Berkeley Bowl, I see Priuses with fir trees haphazardly strapped to their roofs with rock climbing rope, like precarious expedition yaks.

Honestly, most days I do not feel the holiday magic.

I hate the cold and the dark—no amount of festive decor makes up for the depressing 5pm sunsets. But there are moments where I have to concede that California winter is extremely romantic. Like when you’re wearing a slightly oversized turtleneck sweater, cheeks flushed red from the whipping San Francisco winds, running into B.Patisserie to order a pear kouign amann and black sesame latte.

While a typical winter wardrobe conjures a solemn color palette of blacks, grays and browns, I gravitate towards the opposite. I love wearing color year-round! And in winter, I find color indispensable for its therapeutic, mood-boosting effects. I’ve written before about Western fashion’s chromophobic impulse—the way white dominant culture has historically been afraid of color—and how it manifests in fashion. Every year, color trends in Western fashion typically center on “a pop,” something that will pair well with neutrals. Minimal, unobtrusive. Brands also push market-tested seasonal color trends, like the rust and sienna frocks that hit our inboxes every September without fail.

While I agree that sometimes it’s not that deep, you just want to wear some bright socks or a brown floral dress, I believe it’s worth pondering whether systems-level chromophobia is hindering your fullest personal expression. Sometimes we don’t even know that we like something—simply because we’ve never seen it.

In the spirit of Sanzo Wada’s “Dictionary of Color Combinations,” here are some color combination ideas to break you out of a winter rut.

I treated this as a challenge to get more imaginative with color combinations in my own closet. For example, I would never think to pair tangerine orange and teal blue (my sibling reminded me those were the color of their braces in the 2000s), but I was actually very pleased with the results once I picked the right mix of textures, patterns, and materials.

With each example, I do a full outfit breakdown of what I’m wearing, where I bought it, and helpful sourcing tips.

Last month, I came across a wonderful natural-fiber forward Italian brand on Japanese Mercari and ended up getting two silk skirts and a prada ugly-chic green cashmere knit for $60 total, all featured in this post.

Here’s outfit #1:

pink panther pink + olive green + charcoal

I enjoy coming up with my own color names—this pink just screams PINK PANTHER to me. Pink and green is such a fun combination, I really love it despite the Lily Pulitzer/Southern preppy associations. The key, in my opinion, is to go bright with the pink and muted with the green, or vice versa. Avoid doing bright + bright, basically. And don’t forget this Molehill tenet: every sweater you own is also a scarf. Easiest hack ever for adding color and layering with things you already own.

Wearing:

vtg green prada sunglasses
renato nucci ugly-chic green cashmere knit (found this on japanese mercari, SUCH a goldmine brand for quality basics and it came new with tags)
jil sander pink cashmere knit from poshmark
vtg 1996 prada tile miniskirt
clyde leather gloves
le bon shoppe schoolgirl socks
freda salvador elba loafers
vtg 1999 miu miu butterfly knot bag (check depop and japanese ebay often)

oh, and a silver cuff from seller “cathedralrock” on ebay (very good bargain auction prices)

kabocha orange + indigo + pewter

At first glance, this outfit reads quite gray-dominant. The photo does not capture the textural tension well, but IRL the shimmery metallic gray of the skirt sizzles against the cozy ribbed socks and velvet sandal straps. I love the warm kabocha orange which acts as a direct high-contrast complementary color to the indigo blue.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I’m not a beanie or baseball cap girl at heart. I like them once in a while, but it’s bonnets that truly tickle my fancy.

Wearing:

clyde flannel plaid bonnet (they have a winter sale rn, the bonnets are really popular and most are sold out but consider the leather version or lurk on secondhand)
wmenswear selvedge engineer’s jacket (this is the denim jacket that changed my mind about denim jackets because the sleeves fold up nicely for my short arms and it’s not too cropped. i met lauren yates, the designer, this summer and her dedication to sustainable indigo dyeing in thailand is very inspiring).
emma rothkopf pointelle long sleeve tee
renato nucci silk lace skirt ($20! gorgeous bias cut)
le bon shoppe schoolgirl socks
vtg 1997 prada platform sandals (nicole saldana makes a similar style, here’s a pair under $100 on vestiare)
vtg 1999 miu miu shearling purse
RYEP cashmere fingerless gloves (stocked only in these crunchy little patchouli california gift shops…)

This may be my best sleeve layer-work yet. And I find it beautiful how the stitching on the jacket mirrors the lines of the pointelle shirt.

cardinal + cobalt + mustard

This is for the primary color hoes. I wanted to play with a version of red, yellow and blue—but rather than styling a traditional colorblock look, I want to achieve a more integrated effect through loads of knitwear. The sweater is plausibly mustard yellow, but in classic Missoni fashion the knit stripes create a whole high-vibration color story in itself so it’s whatever color that jumps out to you.

Wearing:

giu giu cardigan as a bonnet
prada prescription glasses from kaiser (lol)
missoni sport wool sweater (cool skirt here, similar cut sweater here)
chambre le fan knit dress, folded down at the hips
le bon shoppe cashmere socks
vtg miu miu kitten heels

tangerine + teal + white

I don’t wear this iconic Issey Miyake dress enough, so I knew I wanted to style it with a winter twist. When I was puttering around my closet in the dress, my eyes were drawn to these teal socks which matched (sort of) the blue bubbles in the dress. My friend loaned me this rabbity angora crop top and I threw it on, wondering “does this WORK???”

I’ll admit I fidgeted around with this for a bit, but ultimately decided it did work once I pulled in the orange suede bag and fingerless gloves. It feels very FRUITS magazine!

Wearing:

issey miyake pleated column dress
roberto collina angora knit (reasonably priced angora knits on japanese mercari, check it out. i returned this top to my friend but ordered a yellow one for $10)
vtg 2000s celine goldfish charm purse
dueple socks (brand has closed, sad)
suzanne rae mary janes
RYEP cashmere fingerless gloves

That’s all for today. I am headed to a Substack writer’s holiday event tonight so maybe I’ll see some of you there?! Not sure what to wear yet :)

Did you buy anything cool/fun/extremely utilitarian from the holiday sales?
Any recommended coping strategies for seasonal depression?
What colors are you reaching for this winter? Any colors you are stuck on styling?

Thank you for reading <3

xoxo viv