When it comes to building your wardrobe, you want to add a splash of color. You might buy items that you fall in love with because of their colors and then wonder what to pair it with. This article will help you make sense of it all as well as introduce you to how to pair colors.
Basic color theory
Color pairing rules can be split into 3 categories, monochromatic, complementary and analogous. The pairing rules revolve around the color wheel. When creating a color palette with your outfits, you want to keep this color wheel in mind. If your chosen colors fall into the three pairing categories, chances are they will look great together. Once you grasp basic color theory, mix and matching your clothes becomes easy.
Monochromatic colors
Monochromatic colors are in the same shades of a single hue. For example, in the red orange category, well paired colors would be the different variations of the same hues.
Complementary colors
Complementary colors are colors across from each other on the color wheel. For example, blue violet would look good together with orange and blue with red.
Analogous colors
Analogous colors are next to each other on the color wheel. Good combinations would be blue-green and blue, blue violet and violet.
Understanding these three categories is all you need to know in order to start mix and matching your clothes. One of the main ideas to keep in mind is that you want to be versatile when you pair colors from your wardrobe. You have to choose a color palette that works together.
With enough experience, you will get a hang of the color wheel and how color pairing works. You do not need to purchase brand new clothing, instead, you should work with what you have. Choose your best items and find ways to pair them with new colors according to the color wheel. If your favourite colors are neutrals, work from there! For instance, if you’re a big fan of white, play around with white and brighter colors. If you like black, practice color blocking and so on.
To help you even further here is a handy guide on how to pair almost any color. Chances are, your favourite colors will be on the list so you can always refer to this post when puzzled as to how to pair your colors.
We’ve covered the colors for this year according to Pantone. You can read the full article on Colors for Spring 2016.