Why COLOUR is so important to your wardrobe
As a Personal Stylist, it’s really important to discuss with my client’s the importance of adding colour into their wardrobes, but why? Incorporating the right colours into your everyday style can be amazing at enhancing your mood, & creating incredible outfits that fill you with confidence! Colour is emotive; it sparks a reaction from you, for example do you will have a favourite colour? And maybe also a colour you dislike… could you tell me why you dislike it? I bet you can't unless you associate it with someone or something, for example my 'fear’ of purple stems from my childhood bedroom where I suffered from my life-threatening anorexia nervosa. It's different, & often very personal, for everyone which is why it’s so hard to generalise about wearing colours together, and for some reason we fear doing it wrong, thus not even giving it a go.
I feel it’s really important to learn to understand how to begin wearing the right colours & how to incorporate them into your wardrobe & enhance your personal style, but it is often really hard to figure out by yourself. Every BODY is unique, in terms of skin, body shape, style personality, our likes & dislikes, our characters & add onto that how we all have preconceived ideas of what suits us as well as what colours work with what. It’s no wonder it’s so complicated and mind-blowing. I thoroughly enjoy showing my clients how to add colour to their looks, embracing colour in everyday wear & not fearing, but enjoying wearing colour.
So:
How do you choose the colours you wear or know which colours suit you?
Is your wardrobe all one colour (black, neutrals, navy)
Do you understand which colours work together? And what colour can do to change your mood & how you feel?
If you want to add colour to your wardrobe, do you know where do you start? Or are you feel a bit fearful?
Do you have to completely change how you dress because of colour?
Can you reflect your personality with colour?
Source: Pinterest
Colour is an extension of you, as the way we dress is a way of letting the world know who we are, how we are feeling, and our intention without even having to open our mouth.
So, why is colour so important to wear?
Colour is a language we all speak. Not only does it release physiological, emotional, AND physical effects, for example, green is wonderful for a calming & grounding confidence boost, red releases adrenaline that triggers a response in your nervous system… So, its perfect at giving you a boost when you’re exhausted!
Source: Pinterest
Colour can reflect your personality, for example, an extroverted person will wear different combinations & strengths of tones compared to more Introverted individual, sounds obvious but think about yourself, your friends & colleagues, can you see this from the colours they wear? Are their clothing choices reflecting their best selves? Remember, style always starts within so we must learn more about who we are on the inside & learn to confidently present that person on the outside.
Source: Pinterest
So what exactly is colour?
Did you know that colour is light & light is energy, so colour affects all of our personal energies? By choosing to wear certain colours we can help to boost or harmonise our energy/moods depending on how we are feeling OR the situation we are in, magic right?
So, here is my guide to wearing, or introducing, different colour combinations
It’s majorly important here to reference the colour wheel, the reason for this is to incorporate fact & remove any emotional attachments to colour (like mine with purple). Logic can help us to focus when outfitbuilding. Remember this a guide, I’m not here to give you “rules” to follow, that’s not how I work:
Source: Pinterest
Block Colour
Block colour is simply put; dressing head-to-toe in your favourite colour. A simple, and easy way to start playing with colour is to wear a dress, or jumpsuit, in one colour. People are used to seeing it, it's a very ‘normal’ way of wearing colour & it's easy to style up quickly, it also won’t come as surprise to people, probably more of an outfit to receive a compliment from others.
Block colour dressing will also create proportion to your body shape & add inches of height. It’s a simple way to get dressed, saving you time trying to think about what to match with what.
Source: Pinterest
Monochromatic Colour
The Mono colour scheme is three of more of the same colour in different tones/shades – NOT to be confused with black & white dressing, which is what nearly everyone refers to unintentionally. For example, blue denim jeans, an Oxford blue shirt & navy boucle blazer. It's a great way for warming up to the idea of wearing a mix of different colours; a step-up from wearing simple block colour.
Source: Pinterest
Tonal Dressing (analogous colours)
Tonal dressing is wearing 3 different colours next to each other on the colour wheel. For example, a blue jean, a green top & a yellow bag. It doesn’t have to be the brightest truest colour to begin with it can be calmed down to a light denim jean, soft khaki blouse & an ochre suede bag.
It’s an effortless way to start wearing mixing colours without drawing too much attention to your outfit, a way to play with colour if you are less confident. The colours harmonise with each other because they are literally side by side on the colour wheel. Again, it's a graduation from mono-chromatic & block colour as you’ll be wearing different colours that are very close to each other. Tonal colours are straightforward & don’t make a huge statement when walking in to a room because they are so easy on the eye. In addition, they also add inches to your height, elongating you, because they draw attention up your body instead of stopping at your waist & clashing with another colour that doesn’t sit next to them on the colour wheel.
Source: Pinterest
Triadic colours
Triadic colours are 3 different colours that are evenly spaced apart on the colour wheel. For example the three primary colours & the three secondary colours. You’d have a navy trouser, a red top and a yellow jacket. Again, they can be soften colours compared to the bright primary colours. This isn’t for the faint-hearted, definitely one to build up to if you aren’t confident with colour, but fab when you nail it!
Another step up from tonal dressing here because the colours don’t sit closely with each other on the colour wheel. There is a contrast between the colours, but they are still balanced because they are a mix of warm & cool colours. EG blue is cool, yellow & red are warm
Source: Pinterest
Complementary colours
Complementary colours are colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel: this can seem confusing because in our heads they clash rather than complement! Be bold and try it, for example, a navy pair of trousers with a rust orange blouse (even simpler, a pair of denim jeans and a soft orange tee).
This is such a fab combo if you want to really push your style & will definitely get you noticed! If you have a dramatic or creative style personality - this combo is perfect for you. And don’t forget you can also include accessories to do this ( an easier way into it).
Source: Pinterest
Other simple options of wearing colours
If any of the above suggestions of wearing colours are too much, don’t panic you can always start slowly & build yourself up gradually. Here are some very simple ways of adding colour into your everyday outfits:
Printed clothing
Colourful accessories like scarves, belts, bags, statement necklaces
Metallics, a huge favourite of mine, are basically neutrals (contemporary) that will go with anything, just ensure you choose to wear the most flattering metallic for your complexion (gold are warm, silver are cool)
Source: Pinterest
When it comes to colour, my advice is to start small; with softer colours or prints & accessories to begin with, & keep pushing yourself; so when you get used to one colour, try a stronger version of the same colour & see how you feel. There are SO many ways of incorporating colour into your style, no wonder it can seem overwhelming, but choose your favourite option & play around with it until you feel super confident, and happy, with it, and then choose the next option up! Take a look at my other blog on “A Simple Colour Guide” explaining what each colour represents and how the power of colour can enhance your emotions, power and confidence.