The Blue and Gold Tavern is an excellent dive bar on East 7th Street where you can get ridiculously cheap drinks. When I hung out there, I was teaching expository writing at NYU, and my most constant accessory was a royal blue backpack from Manhattan Portage. The backpack contained all of a master’s student’s essentials: laptop, student papers, course texts, wallet, keys, cigarettes (I smoked then), lighter, and lip balm.

I still have the blue backpack, but my relationship with the bar has fallen by the wayside. Luckily for me, blue and gold is a color combination that has continued to thrive. On the flight home to San Francisco on Wednesday, I used my time productively by getting up to speed on The Real Housewives of New York City. One episode featured a scene where Sonja Morgan and LuAnn de Lesseps have dinner with their handsome boyfriends at Orsay, a French bistro on the Upper East Side. While I was in New York, my friend Rebecca and I also went to Orsay, although we were having a ladies’ lunch rather than a double date. Still, we managed to find male sartorial splendor in the form of Patrick Fortemps, the captain, who was decked out in spring brights:

Followers of fashion blogs may recall a post by The Sartorialist called “London Color Story, London,” that appeared in February, while University of Michigan alums may be reminded of their bright college years.

Inspired, I decided to put together my own blue and gold color story. And here it is:

Jacket, J. Crew (2009 or 2010). Dress, Michael Stars, via Nordstrom Rack. Necklace, Pretty Little Things. Rack. Tights, Hue, via Nordstrom Rack. Boots, Theory, via Wrentham Village Premium Outlets (2006).

Blue and gold: There’s something in it for everyone.