While scanning my favorite fashion forecasting websites, I came across an article from WGSN that inspired me to discuss the importance of color in fashion. As we ready ourselves for a fabulous fashionable summer, it’s vital we pay attention to color. Whether that means knowing what’s trending, what shades compliment each other, or what hues make you stand out in the best way possible, color plays an enormous part in our wardrobe.
If you’ve ever seen a color wheel you’ll know that there is such a thing as complimentary colors. These are colors that are essentially opposites and when paired together, they help to compliment each other. A few examples of these pairings are; red and green, yellow and purple, and blue and orange. Many advertorials use complimentary colors to draw in attention, and create a visually pleasing picture that people are naturally more likely to stop and read.
In terms of fashion, this can help to create visually stimulating outfits, and style colorful pieces. Summer is the perfect time to play with color and bright patterns. Try pairing bright blue jean shorts with a neon orange sweater, or pick a patterned dress covered in yellow and purple.
In addition to paying attention to complimentary colors, there are color families or groups that you should be familiar with. The two I find the most helpful when it comes to fashion and styling myself, are cold and warm hues. Knowing how to differentiate these two color groups is extremely helpful and can even make or break an outfit. Colder hues include, blues, purples, some greens, greys, and black. Warmer hues are reds, yellows, browns, and white. Although black and white can be switched around, pairing like colors can easily turn a confused outfit into a fashionable one. For example, say you are wearing an orange dress and can’t decide between black or brown boots. Determine what color group the dress is in, then choose your shoes accordingly. (Hopefully you picked brown) This can also be compared to dressing for your natural coloring. Darker skin, eyes, and hair will usually look best in warmer colors such as bright pinks, reds, and greens; whereas a lighter toned person might look better in colder tones such as blues, greys, and purples.
Keeping these few tips in mind, have fun this summer dressing up in bold colors and enjoy standing out from the crowd. The rainbow was meant to be celebrated!
Check out WGSN’s tumblr page for tons more color and fashion inspiration: http://wgsncolourarchive.tumblr.com