It’s my favorite time of year – I’ve mentioned that a couple of times. October and November are right after all the Jewish Holidays and right before all the Gregorian Holidays, I’ve already shopped and cooked and shopped some more so I’m the perfect candidate to give current recommendations to all my customers, since I’ve just been and done it all!
One of the main parts of any holiday is the clothing and accessories, I like to buy a couple new outfits along with using a couple old outfits. Something I struggle with is – if i’m wearing various different outfits – do I need different makeup, jewelry and nails or can one set work with it all. Since joining LLR and Origami Owl I’ve learned a lot about color matching and color coordinating and I figured this nifty guide can help you while you shop for the Holidays. (BTW this can totally work for decor, table-scapes and party planning as well!)
Once I wrote this post I had to come back and add this paragraph/disclaimer. I intended this post as a simple guide to colors but as I wrote it i realized that I couldn’t keep my opinions about colors out of it. So here is my disclaimer – some of the pointers mentioned in this post are my personal opinions and not stuff you’ll find in a fashion magazine – but I firmly stand behind it all – LOL of course I do – I wrote it.
Your Guide To Color Matching And Coordinating
Colors and Color matching has always intrigued me – who decided what matches with what – that you can’t wear red and pink? or that black matches everything? A lot of what does and doesn’t go is decided by the fashion houses – if one year they decide to mix patterns then so be it. I’ve always loved color blocking and working with patterns to see what works best and I absolutely love styling and putting together items. So many times an outfit works in theory but when you actually hold them together it just doesn’t work (most times this will be due to the undertones not being a match)
First, lets talk about the popular colors of the season. The Pantone colors for Fall/Winter 2018/19 are a really phenomenal pallet. With a maroon, a deep red, a light and dark purple, some brown shades, a teal and bright blue and a great neural yellow there is lots to work with. My personal favorites are the dark purple and the teal. Working from the Pantone colors is always a good start since they always include some great matches and co-ordinations. If you look closely at the products from any direct sales company you will see these colors making an appearance.
Color Groups
Neutrals
Let’s start with your neutral colors. The list of what I consider neutral is a lot more vast then what you’d find if you did a google search on neutral colors. So let’s start with the basics – beiges, creams, whites, light greys are all extremely safe and can be worn in accessories to match any outfit (which is why the Origami Owl snowflake locket is such a classic item).
Colors and patterns a little outside the box that I also consider neutrals are a classic red, a silver or gold glitter, leopard. I believe that you can wear any of these in an accessory (purse, scarf, nails, jewelry) with any outfit. If you have multiple different style outfits or decor over the holiday season – these bold choices will match any and all.
Colors to Match
When it comes to colors like greens, blues, yellows, oranges, pinks, purples you want to make sure that they match well – whilst color blocking and mix and matching is really doable the most important thing to watch out for is undertones. You can TOTALLY mix red and pink as long as the red has a pink undertone and not a orange undertone. Glitter in any of these colors as well as florals and patterns have a vast list they can match if you are careful. Blue and yellow can go really well – but if you were wearing yellow nails I’d be careful about wearing a pink outfit. If you planned to wear a yellow outfit and a pink outfit I’d go with blue accessories.
Basic Pattern-Mixing
Anyone can wear simple pattern mixing. YES ANYONE. There are a few basic rules to follow and you can rock that outfit.
- The easiest way to start is to simply replace a solid color in your outfit with a monochromatic pattern of that color – you can see what I mean over here.
- Choose 2 different patterns with similar undertones or at least one uniform color in the patterns. Ex: Polka dot and floral, polka dot and stripe, floral and stripe.
- Make sure the patterns are 2 different sizes – if the floral is a small dainty floral you want the stripe or polka dot to be big and bold. If the Polka dot or Stripe is small make sure the floral is nice and big. Same for the polka dot and stripe version – make sure one is big and one is small.
- Leopard is a Neutral ALWAYS.
Color Faux-Pas
You know the whole don’t wear blue and black? red and pink? brown and black? Not true, not true at all. This is very old school. There is NOTHING wrong with wearing black tights with that blue dress. Red and pink if they have the same undertones is FINE. Most colors can be worn together as long as they blend. (Just don’t go wear 5 colors and say Shaindel said its ok :). Trust your eye and feeling – if in doubt come and ask in my LLR group – we can always help!
So, yeah – be smart but be bold, one thing that I always get complimented on is my clothing choices – that I dress colorfully – and by the way that debunks the myth that big people can’t wear color – I should probably write another blog post on that!
Need tips and tricks on color matching with accessories – come join my Origami Owl group – were spending the week talking all about colors!
Happy color matching!!
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