Colour!

This week I’ve had some fun playing around with the colours already in my wardrobe and new combinations. I’ve been trying to decide on just a few colours as every post I’ve read so far on minimalism and cloths advises it. Wear just a few colours that all mix and match and you will find it easier to decide on outfits and need fewer cloths. Most suggest 2 neutrals (one dark for winter and a lighter one for summer) and 2-3 brights (which all go together). Ie Black, white, purple and blue.

I’ve already settled on Navy as one of my Neutrals. As a second I am considering white or grey but haven’t really decided which yet and am tempted to keep them both.

It is the colours though that were the most difficult to narrow down. I love so many! I had a look at the colours I already wear; all shades of blues, my hot pink pants, some purples, corals, mint and even some dark green. Then I had a look at the cloths I choose to make my capsules at the start of the week and which colours showed up there. While doing this I noticed one of the necklaces I had used on my Capsule pictures.

This necklace is perfect, I love the way the colours work together! It has coral, turquoise, hot pink and purple, all my favourites!

I wondered if 4 colours were not too much though. Most minimalists preferred far fewer (I have seen a fabulous capsule with only white, black and bright green). In order to get a feel for the combo I made this colourful collage. I worked only with these bright colours here to get a better feel for them, of course if this is too bright everything can be dampened down by adding some neutrals to the mix(Navy, grey and white work well with all these colours). Also remember that these colours are all already in my seasonal palette anyway, I am a clear winter (dark hair, bright blue eyes and pale skin) and might not suit everyone.

I was happy with the way it looked and thought I’d try a collage with some actual outfit ideas on there, firstly using only 2 of the 4 colours and working onto 3. I wore a variation of this to work this morning as a test. I had on my skinny purple pants, my coral shirt, a turquoise belt, some long purple earrings and my purple/orange and white sporty flats. I thought it looked good before I left the house and a colleague at work said as much, saying that they would never have considered the colour combination I used but that it really worked.

So success, I think I have a colour palette I can work with! Since there are so many colours I will have to be careful not to be tempted to go out and buy a set of items in every colour (ie 4 work blouses, 4 handbags, 4 necklaces, 4 scarves, 4 belts etc). Some restraint is needed. So while I already own a pair of long pants in hot pink and purple, I will not be buying others in coral and turquoise as soon as I can (although I might consider a pencil skirt in turquoise). I like that I am honing my style and colour palette. This no buying thing has really forced me to focus on a few items and given me time to properly asses each choice before plunging blindly into the next trend. Also making collages is fun.