THE ELUSIVE PINK SWEATER VEST

I’ve mentioned several times how much I love colors.  Bright colors, pastel colors, rich colors, they are all wonderful and I love them.  Now that we’ve finally passed the Vernal Equinox, which announces the arrival of spring (although you’d hardly know it here in Minneapolis), I have been taking inventory of my spring clothing. 

One of the items that I especially love, from spring through fall, are cotton sweater vests, usually in bright or pastel shades.  In looking at what I have on hand there are few colors that I’m missing and will be looking to add.  The first of these was a pink sweater vest.

I spent the first few weeks of March trying to find this coveted pink vest but to no avail.  While I could find lots of long sleeved sweaters, even in pink, sweater vests were almost impossible to find.  Several retailers told me they were only a fall item.  When I was able to find them, they were mostly in darker hues – I’m assuming left over from fall.

I had no idea how difficult it would be to find a pink cotton sweater vest for spring.

A couple of retailers did carry a few sweater vests, and even had them in bright spring colors, but none of the retailers had them in pink.  Some checked to see if they could order them, and found that they couldn’t.  One could order the vest in eleven pastel shades but didn’t have it in pink.  I began to think that I had assumed, apparently incorrectly, that pink might be a spring color.

What saddened me about this was that I was putting together a particular outfit and it was the only piece I was missing. I had looked at several downtown stores and a couple of shopping malls – including the Mall Of America, but no pink sweater vests were to be had. 

I was about to lose heart as I entered one last shopping mall to continue my quest.  I checked at several stores and started feeling that it might be a fruitless venture, when I finally found it at Macy’s.  It was a muted pink sweater vest from Polo Ralph Lauren.  I had been in several Macy’s stores in the area and none of them carried this vest so I was surprised when I found it there.  Needless to say, I loved it and picked it up right away.

These items are the beginnings of a great outfit I have planned.

I will continue to search for a light pastel pink sweater vest, but in the meantime, I must admit that I really love the pink Polo sweater vest I finally did find.  The color was perfect, and it was well worth the wait!