How to match clothes colors when we are not referring just to fashion trends - that as we have already seen in the on-trend colors for the S/S 2018 have revolutionized every rule - but to timeless combinations?
Here is our practical guide offering basic rules and useful tips to learn what colors go together in clothing.
Have you ever heard about the Itten color wheel?
Johannes Itten - painter, designer, writer, and teacher at the Bauhaus Art Institute in Germany - had been studying colors for his whole life till the point he realized this tool to classify them, and give some basic directories on color matching.
Looking at the graphic we can notice a triangle with three colors at the heart of the circle. They are the primary colors - yellow, red, and blue - from which the secondary ones originate: green (originating from yellow and blue), orange (originating from red and yellow), violet (originating from red and blue).
Around it, there’s another circle with twelve colors which include primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. According to Itten, given that black and white are not colors since they go good with everything, the perfect combinations happen by matching complementary colors, namely those colors that occupy positions diametrically opposed, and never matching colors sharing the same family.
For instance: yellow and violet, fuchsia and pistachio green, red and green and so forth.
What colors go together in clothing?
However, there are also other parameters and criteria to match garments and accessories, and managing in this field may not be this easy, though.
Some juxtapositions are unblessed just like blue and brown or black, but actually, it depends on their shades: blue royal goes good with black, and beige looks very cool with camel (especially when it comes to casual clothing for men).
The first step is to understand what colors go well with our skin tone, hair, and eyes as to go through basic colors to find the one which suits you. Color harmony sparks much interest, that’s why we are going to explain you quickly the difference among skin tone, undertone, and overtone.
The tone refers to dark and pale skin, which includes also olive-colored ones.
The undertone refers to the temperature of the skin dividing it into two categories: warm and cold.
The overtone refers to the superficial layer of the skin that may have yellow or pink hues. These features are unconnected and combinable, but what we need to take into account now is the undertone.
How to recognize it?
The first thing to do is to check if the blood vessels on your wrists are greenish or bluish. In the first case, your undertone is warm, in the second is cold. If they look both bluish and greenish, your undertone is neutral.
You may also check other clues such as the color of your lips, that are peach-colored if your undertone is warm, and violet if your undertone is cold; when it comes to the reaction of your skin to the sun’ rays, you if your tan gets immediately golden you have a warm undertone, if you are likely to sunburn and get a reddish tan, well your undertone is cold.
Finally, those who have a warm undertone never have a very pale skin, whereas cold-undertoned people may tend to greyish and greenish tone.
Now you are ready to choose the right colors for your wardrobe.
It is advisable for those with a warm undertone to choose natural and earth colors.
Neutral colors like pink powder, cream, camel, coral, turquoise, yellow, burgundy, teal, and aubergine will enhance your look. Not to fluo colors and greys which, on the contrary, look fabulous with cold undertones along with other cold and deep colors just like white, violet, light blues, and pink.
What cold undertone people should never wear are natural colors such as brown and almost all its shades.
Said that, let’s see some colors that look good together on women’s clothing.
1. Light color + light color = to get a minimal look, classy and bon ton (especially if in pastel shades).
2. Light color + dark color = to get an optical look.
3. Light color + bright color = to get a sophisticated and eye-catching look.
4. Dark color + dark color = to get a go-to outfit perfect for any occasion (as Victoria Beckham shows!).
5. Dark color + bright color = to get a glamorous look perfect for the night.
6. Light color + dark color + bright color = to get a look that never goes unnoticed.
7. Light color + light color + bright color / dark color + dark color + bright color = to revitalize a monochromatic look with a pair of shoes, a bag, or some accessories in contrast.
