Colour in Your Closet

Cotton candy pink with blood-orange! Whoop! Rochas leather gloves, silk camisole and black skirt. American Vogue, ph: Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. So you’d like to spice up your sober wardrobe with a few bright colours, but you don’t know where to start? Here are fifteen pages (torn from magazines mostly of the last two years*) full of ideas. There are subtle combinations for the shyer types, and eye-popping brights for the adventurous. (Don’t forget to click the images for larger versions.)

Bearing in mind that mixing and matching is a challenge for some (including one of my sisters who mournfully admitted to feeling flummoxed), I have tried to include outfits mostly in separates. Don’t forget you can always glean more ideas from not only your stylish friends, but from the street, and also in stores. Referencing printed fabrics is a great way to learn which colours go well together.

Update some of these shades with this season’s colours – whichever hemisphere you live in – and go shopping!

* Apologies, I don’t know exactly which issues – it is a pity only a few magazines print the issue date in their folios (alongside the page number).

These are great colours for autumn months: claret would also look great with sky blue, or camel, while forest green would work with pink or lighter shades of purple such as lilac or mauve. British Vogue.How beautiful are these shades of cobalt and indigo? They would look fabulous with acid yellow too! Grey goes with practically anything – go to town. British Vogue.This Vera Wang outfit is such a lovely, subtle combination of tones: true violet and an ususual shade of mushroom/taupe are worn with black. The fabrics and textures really set these shades to best advantage. Awesome! I love this unusual match of indigo, teal, and berry with brown and gold-accented shoes. So sophisticated.What stupid person said pink and red don’t go together? This coat is FABULOUS and utterly covetable. It looks like a Rothko painting! British Vogue.This shade of pink didn’t make it into Genevieve Antoine Dariaux’s list, but it looks great with black. British Vogue.
Heading into contrast territory here: two slightly different shades of red worn with mint or pistachio green, and I love that the gloves are actually blue – it’s a lot of fun mixing colours of the same tonal value that are slightly ‘off’, in this case the mint and blue. The blush chiffon panels of the skirt marry nicely with the currant red sweater. American Vogue.
Another great colour combo: kelly green with cinnamon and cream, and a plaid sash that lifts the outfit out of the ordinary. Kate Spade.See you can wear more than two colours: pastel green is saved from sugariness with scarlet and acid yellow, and the necklace adds in cobalt and green too. British Vogue.Beautiful shade of blue, but this Chanel bag is insanely expensive. Australian Vogue.A heavenly combination of purple with berry tones and sky blue. American Vogue.This page shows some great examples of contrasting colours – that warm lettuce green with tangerine (sounds like salad) really stands out. British Elle.These heels are a very nice example of harmonising colours: raspberry, peach and cinnamon with black (another great dessert too). American Vogue.Read about Serbian-born, London-based designer Roksanda Ilincic’s experiments with colour. Australian Vogue.