Posted by
Dain,
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
7:26 AM (Eastern)
If there is any trend that's really burning bright right now, it's color, and lots of it. Now, I personally love color, but I am surely in the minority; monotone is the fashionista's mainstay, reliably flattering and ever stylish. So here are some tips on how to wear color, whether you're a beginner or advanced.
#1 Some colors are easier to wear than others...
As this ensemble from A.P.C.'s summer catalog demonstrates, shades of green and blue hardly register as color to our eyes, though of course they are not technically neutrals. The blues and greens of this cleverly tailored, easygoing tunic ($110) echo the shades of earth, while the white belt and bag polish up the outfit, but not in an obvious way, by picking up the white in the check. Pastels are also fairly easy to wear, and jewel tones are equally subdued once the weather cools.
#2 Confine color to an accessory (or two)...
Accessories are perennially useful when dabbling in trends, because they are a small but powerful dose. The fuschia rubies of these Mallary Marks Earrings ($762) and the teal-green python of this Devi Kroell Clutch ($1190), singly or together, will break up an all-black outfit without traumatizing even the most colorphobic. Or you could always use the French trick of adding a scarf.
#3 Use one brighter piece to add punch to a neutral outfit...
A single colorful piece, such as this Madame A Paris Ambre Trench ($575), added to an outfit of neutrals, is the easiest way (of four methods) to embrace color. I recommend beginning with a layer, a cardigan or blazer (or reversed, a colorful camisole or blouse under a neutral jacket) would be a less dramatic option than a coat, but I find this outfit particularly inspiring for a few reasons: the color is bold and expansive but in the very classic form of a trench, and it works just wonderfully with her hair, but all the other pieces are brown monotones and keep the look stabilized.
#4 With more than one color, stick to shades that are close to each other...
I have fallen in love with this jacket from Vanessa Bruno; candy pink intricacy is not the easiest to wear, but it works very well here because it is paired with satiny peach and simple cream-colored trousers, colors that are right next to each other on the color wheel. Keep pastels with pastels, brights with brights, and jewel-tones with jewel-tones: here, pink and peach are pastels of red and orange, and the purple trench shown in #3 would be particularly fantastic with the hem of a full-full-full bright red skirt peeking from underneath.
#5 Or, work with variations in a color family...
The third possibility is play with tones within the same color family, such as pairing that pink jacket in #4 with a floaty chiffon magenta slip, intensifying on the same shade. This is a particularly useful strategy is when working around a riotous print of many colors at once, such as this Byzantine Cardigan from J. Crew ($100), isolate a single color on which to elaborate. Here they've chosen crisp summery whites, which isn't strictly a color, but the stripes of the tank echo the bronze swirls in the busier print.
#6 If that's not enough color to satisfy you, employ contrasts...
Complementary colors are those that sit opposite each other on the color wheel; the contrast does not work against itself, but actually resonates all the more strongly. It may seem counterintuitive, but complementary colors are sometimes the best match of all, though I recommend keeping to simple shapes, like this outfit by Lyell. Contrasts are a little more difficult with prints, more intuition than any other rule: the cardigan in #5 I might pair with a silvery top and grass green corduroys.
#7 Full-on, unabashed techinicolor? Try a dress...
Forget the intricacies of mixing and matching, a little cocktail frock in some vibrant hue is the application of Occam's razor to fashion: I've chosen two elegant numbers from Lanvin, perhaps the best example of how the runways have fueled this trend. How adorable are these melon ruffles against the model's gleaming mahogany skin? Somewhat easier to wear is the cobalt-hued Grecian gown; I own a similar one, though it doesn't float so delightfully around me.
Colleen Shirazi
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April 10, 2008 11:20 PM,
Excellent work, as always.
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