At its very core, colour mixing doesn’t greatly differ from colour-blocking. It’s all about finding the right hues and shades, mixing and matching them so you end up with an outfit that is both flattering, follows a certain theme, so to say, and looks cohesive, like a perfect and though-after entity. However, colour- blocking has its limitations as its rules are mostly put to use by statement dressers with a penchant for bold, vibrant and saturated hues.
Unlike it, colour mixing is far broader and thus, perfect for everyone who simply wishes to put their best look forward. And yes, in a way, this feat truly is a form of fashion art, but unlike painting of sculpting, it’s far easier to master, and hopefully, today, we’ll cover all the ground you need to be the master of colour mixing.
Baby Steps
If your style has been fairly minimalistic in terms of your chosen colour palette and you’re afraid to dive head first into the sea of colours, start with baby steps and take the monochromatic route. For instance, you can wear a gorgeous millennial pink slip or any other type of dress that flatters your body type. Now, you want to add a little pizzazz to the look by going with a breezy summer blazer. Choose from the same family, but perhaps go for a muted or dusty rose blazer. Pale pink pumps or even sneakers can be the perfect companion to this outfit. Top it all off with a cute cross body bag in a pink-beige hue and you are already no longer a neophyte. Soon enough, you’ll be ready for multiple colours and even prints.
Primary colours are your friend
When trying to create an outfit made out of several pieces – all different shades and hues, your safest bet is to rely on prime colours. There is no risk of making a mistake here, but there is a risk of you stopping traffic with your killer look. For instance, a pair of red culottes would go amazingly well with a saturated, almost royal blue top. Since it’s sizzling outside, perhaps all you need is a neck scarf – it can include these two shades. A subtle pair of single strap sandals, whether flats or heels in bright yellow will make the outfit pop even more. Since all your pieces are single-colour, you can play around with the final detail – the bag. Feel free to pull off a multi-coloured one, whether it’s stripy, with floral embroidery or even polka dots.
Print door number one
Mixing single colours is a breeze compared to mixing different prints. Now, there are two ways to go about this, and we’ll cover both of them. Behind door number one is the mixture of several prints. For instance, you want to rock a trendy leopard print skirt, and a striped blouse? No problem. We know that the leopard print is comprised mostly of an amber-ish hue and black ‘dots’. You want to make sure that your stripes contain one of these hues. For instance, you can go for a black and white striped blouse, or amber and brown one. As a matter of fact, they don’t even have to be stripes – you can match a gorgeous murk floral print that features these hues.
Now, as we should not underestimate the power of accessories – they are the glue that holds it all together, make sure you snag a deep beige bag and a pair of amber coloured sunglasses online. Coloured lenses are very hot this season, and they perfectly serve the purpose of colour mixing, so it’s a double style-win.
Print door number two
Door number two is way easier. If you want to go loud with, let’s say a pair of bright yellow plaid chinos, all you really need is a cute white tee, all-black sunglasses, a sand colour bag and the loafers or sandals to match and you’re done. When it comes to mixing one print with other single-colour pieces, you just have to find the common thread. In this case, the black lines on the yellow chinos call for black sunglasses, and where there is one non-colour, there can be another – hence the white tee. It’s that simple, you just have to find one colour in common, and the rest will just fall into place.
The colour-blocking aspect
If you are in fact a statement dresser, this part of the colour-mixing mastery is for you, and it’s incredibly simple. The first rule is – never wear more than 4 different coloured items. Rule number two, if you’re wearing only a dress, it can also contain up to four colours and be, in one way or another, Mondrian-inspired – tiny florals don’t count, but stripes, blocks and other geometric shapes do. Finally, there is the colour wheel. When mastering colour-blocking, you can use the wheel as your cheat-sheet. Shades that are next to each other here are called analogous colours. Hues that are opposite each other are called contrasting colours. In general, analogous colours tend to create the best outfits, although when you become more dexterous, you’ll be able to play with contrasting ones as well. The trick is to pick just the right hues as not all pinks go with all blues, but you’ll figure that out as you go.
We believe you are all set. You have your safe approaches, those a bit bolder, trendy prints and even the statement colour-blocking. As promised, all the ground has been covered, so now go to your wardrobe, curate and bring some life and colour into it, and your style as well.
