Red Black and Matte

I picked up the most gorgeous suit at the thrift store not too long ago. Wait, wait, I know this isn't a fashion blog! And it never will be, because I care less than jack what's "in" and what's not. I like my clothes to be pretty, I like them to be flattering to both my coloring and my figure, and I like my work clothes to convey a certain level of professionalism, albeit occasionally a quirky professionalism. My co-workers who like my nail art do occasionally tease me for choosing my clothes to wear on any particular day to match my manicure, instead of the other way around as normal women do it. :) But today's post is about one of those very rare times that I actually created a manicure to match my clothes! So of course, we have to start with the suit.

The suit is a simple black dress, with a bright, bold red jacket. The jacket has adorable black embroidery around both cuffs and the collar. Now, I only wear suits for meetings or presentations, but since I have at least one meeting a month and about a half-dozen presentations a year, it gives me enough opportunity to wear them that I enjoy having a few, and this one? This one was a $10 thrift store bargain and beautiful to boot!

I started, of course, with holding up swatch sticks of all my reds...not too many to choose from, actually, since I rarely wear red nail polish...against the jacket, to decide which would go best with it. I ended up with China Glaze Go Crazy Red. After two coats of that for my base color, I added a single coat of Avon Ruby Slippers. I used China Glaze Smoke and Ashes for the black french tips and dots, and then I pulled out my NYC Matte Me Crazy topcoat. The matted sparkle of Ruby Slippers was just the right match for the slight shine of the light on the red jacket, don't you think?