Clothing color combinations

[Scarlet Belle]

Im interested to get ideas from you all on most common colours for clothing. Say jackets, jumpers, coats and skirts.

I know most of the stuff I find is very utalitarian in its colouring and we do tend to think in more muted colours because the majority of photos and footage is in black and white. But on this note, I know the trend for home decorating tended toward brighter, more garish greens, pinks etc.

....so, what colours and prints are you gals wearing?

 

[Lauren]

Reds, browns, black, gray, cream, white, off white, tan, and navy blue seemed to be the staples in colors. But looking at vintage patterns and fashion illustrations can be great for research too. Especially patterns like Simplicity, because they were the lower end "name" brand, so more women could afford them, and they weren't as "fashion forward" because most women could afford to make and wear them. But for the higher end stuff check out Vogue and McCalls for colors, styles, and patterns.

 

[ShrinkingViolet]

I have so little imagination when it comes to putting colours together - although I really like the bold colour clashes of the 30s-50s I always inadvertently go for some really conventional colour combinations. So I was wondering which colours you ladies like to pair?

Also, I found this small "Lexicon of fashion colours" from a 1962 beaty/fashion advice book that I have. I just love the poetic descriptions of the colours back then! I only wrote down the less obvious ones. Please do post some more colour names if you know some good ones!

Absinthe, yellow-green, as the liqueur.
Amande, almond green, as the underside of the leaves of the almond tree.
Am?©thyste, blue-violet, as the gem.
Azur, blue as the sky on a clear summer day.
Bahia, dark nut brown.
Bleu canard, blue as the male duck's feathers.
Bleu electric, cool greenish blue.
Bois de rose, red-brown, as rosewood.
Calypso, bold bright red-orange-yellow, almost phosphoric, derives like the music of the same name from the Westindies.
Chamois, yellowish beige, as goatskin.
Chartreuse, light yellow-green, as the liqueur.
Chinablue, strong blue, like Chinese china.
Coquille d'oeuf, eggshell.
Drap, light grey brown.
Ecaille, tortoise brown.
Eucalyptus, delicate yellow-green veiled with grey, as the leaves of the eucalyptus tree.
Fum?©, smoke grey.
Gri?®ge, greyish beige, as unbleached linen.
Isabelle, dirty white (named after Spanish queen Isabella who rarely changed her clothes)
Kasha, light beige.
Madonna blue, purple blue as in the paintings of Raphael
Maxim, red as the colour of the plush-covered seats in restaurant Maxim in Paris
Oyster, greyish white with a touch of blue, like oysters
Paille, straw yellow.
Pain brul?©, golden, as toated bread.
Persian blue, clear medium blue
Shocking red, strong bluish red, introduced by Elsa Schiaparelli
Silversand, greyish white like sand in the sunshine
T?™te de n?®gre, dark brown veiled with grey, like the warm complexion of the negro [seriously, this is what is says, and in 1962 ]
Ultramarin, strong deep blue
Wedgewood blue, clear medium blue, like the famous English Wedgewood china

 

[Paisley]

I have so little imagination when it comes to putting colours together - although I really like the bold colour clashes of the 30s-50s I always inadvertently go for some really conventional colour combinations. So I was wondering which colours you ladies like to pair?

Navy and light pink
Brown and rose pink (really!)
Navy and cream (navy and yellow and navy and white work, too)
Red and tan
Red and gray
Pink and gray
Lavendar and gray
Pink and black

 

[Kim_B]

Navy and light pink
Brown and rose pink (really!)
Navy and cream (navy and yellow and navy and white work, too)
Red and tan
Red and gray
Pink and gray
Lavendar and gray
Pink and black

I second Paisley's list...in fact, I'm wearing chocolate brown and rose pink today. Lots of colors go great with browns, but I think people often over look it because it's not that "fun" of a color. I love brown with spring-like colors (not too pastel, but YMMV)...corals, greens, ocean blues, pinks (the color azalea (like the flower) comes to mind), some yellows look good with brown. I love to wear my gray cardigan with a pink shirt underneath and I'll pair it with a black skirt.

 

[Grace]

I tend to dress in darker colors, with my shoes and accessories being the splashes of color. My favorite combos are black and white, black and pink and black and red. I tend to stay away from big or busy prints, or any print with a light colored background.

 

[Elaina]

It all depends. Sample of stuff in my closet:

Teal and peach
cyan and steel grey
dusty violet and meduim grey
Orange and black, brown, dark cream
raspberry and maroon/dark brown
seafom and sage greens
hot pink, orange and gold
mint green and dark purple
Kelly green and black
silver and china blue, raspberry, or any other deep, strong color
burnt orange and yellow-cream
lime green and navy
maroon and grey
olive green and antique gold
red and white

Prints:
gold background with large hot pink and red roses and china blue barns (sounds ugly, but looks awesome)
Hot orange bg with red, yellow creme, black, brown oriental print
white bg with green, med purple and med teal circles
Med orange bg and black, red and teal stripes
dark yellow-green, brown, red and orange floral 60's print
lt blue, pink, white roses and dark olive stems floral
red, blue, green, teal and olive tafeta plaid
lime green bg, pink and rose pink flowers with white cartoon cats
kelly green and white (and red and white) dotted swiss

The prints are wild, and always, ALWAYS paired with a neutral color. I also tend to wear monochromatic colors.

Thing is, I can't wear "normal" colors. They do not look good on me.

 

[GoldLeaf]

I am color blind Not completely, really just color deficient. I wear alot of black/gray/white/brown because they are interchangable. That way I know I match. Pretty borring in my closet

 

[Lady Day]

Good rule of thumb (and a lot from color theory class ), you can wear just about any chromatic color, with any neutral.

Neurtals- any color mixed with white, or black (brown is a neurtal)

chromatic color- well, any color not mixed with white or black

Now for clothing tastes, the more mutted the neutral is, the easier it is on the eyes, and the safer it is for matching.

If you match two or more chromatic colors together at one time, try to keep their 'keys' together (the intensity of their colors)

Example: If you have a real light yellow, try and pair it with a very pale orange or green, then offset it with a darker color for balance.

Example: Pair a deep maroon (LOVE that color ) with a rich forrest green, and pair with a neutral, like a cream shirt.

With patterned fabrics, squint your eyes at it and get the overall tone of the fabric, then go from there.

Hope I didnt babble!

LD

 

[mysterygal]

Thanks to Jitterbugs comment in another thread about colors, I think I'm on the right track. Saturated colors.
I love wearing..
red, black, white, off white (cream), dark greens.
jewelry I love to have fun with but find that anything with yellow hues and gold, just don't look right on me. I think my pearl collection I've got going on is my favorite of things to wear.

 

[Elaina]

Also a good thing to do is get an artist's palette color thing and you can match colors that way. Colors become a weird science in and of themselves.

Now, even though my color choices seem outlandish, they work well together (cool tones and cool tones, warm tones and warm), and if you look on the color wheel, they're opposites or adjacent to each other.

 

[Paisley]

Contrast

Good rule of thumb (and a lot from color theory class ), you can wear just about any chromatic color, with any neutral.

I think this is good general advice. Also, it's easy to build a wardrobe of neutral staples and get chromatic accessories and blouses to coordinate.

Some colors just pop more with certain neutrals. Sure, you can combine light pink with tan, but light pink and gray just pops more because the colors are more different from each other.

Same with blue and gray--it's just blah to me. Navy and tan (or medium or light blue with chocolate brown) has more contrast.

I do have a 1930s chocolate brown jacket I wear with a rose pink sweater and medium brown pants that have red and black pinstripes. I pin a rose-pink flower with black stamens to the jacket and wear red crystal earrings and tan mary janes. It's one of my favorite outfits.

 

[Mojito]

What a great discussion on colour!

I've forbidden myself to buy anything more in black, unless it is a very exceptional outfit (I'll exempt some very colourful beading on a back blackground, too). I love black, but I've always tended to gravitate towards it as safe, and I'd like to go a bit more colourful. I wore a light green 20s organdy not long ago - almost an apple or Nile green - with a green and silver bandeau, and a lady approached me to enthuse about how much she loved the contrast between my very dark hair and the green dress. Green is my favourite colour, but I usually prefer richer, deeper shades, and those verging on teal. If I wear green, even just a green necklace, someone will usually note how intensely dark green it makes my eyes look.

I'm not really into jewel colours, but love wine colours for example. I'll go so far as to indulge in peacock shades. I went through a phase in the late 90s where I seemed to be substituting a sort of Raisin shade for black - I seemed to have a wardrobe full of that colour.

I see there are other Chocolate Brown fans in the thread - I love this colour (and it has taken to dominating my wardrobe a bit too much as well). I don't like pink much, but if I wear a brown velvet jacket with a rich pink sleeveless turtleneck I own but don't really like, I inevitably get comments.

Some of the colours of the first few decades of the 20th century intrigue me - orange, for example. Not a fortuitous colour for many of my ancestors, although it is said to be one of Anne Boleyn's favourite colours. I never really know what to do with it anyway, but there are some wonderful velvets in that shade, and then some exquisite beadwork which incorporate orange with reds and pinks on a darker background. I don't think it would go wonderfully well with my pale, sometimes slightly ruddy complexion, but there are some wonderful outfits out there that I can admire in these tones.

 

[Elaina]

RaasAlHayya was kind enough to give me quite a bit of bright orange faille, and I'm in the process of making 2 skirts, pants and a jacket out of it. I have some hot pink silk that I'll make a shirt to match, as well as some neutral shades. Then I can cross the pieces with black or creme, and have pretty much a ready built wardrobe.

Orange is one of those colors I wear alot of and looks good on me. I say, if you like a color and it looks good on you, wear it however you'd like.

 

[Mojito]

Sounds great, Elaina! I once would have been uncomfortable with the idea of pink and orange, but having seen so many gorgeous combinations of them in 1920s outfits, I think they go brilliant together if handled by someone like you who knows what they're doing. Wonderful for people who go well with warm shades too, I imagine.

 

[Elaina]

LOL, I always consider orange to be more cool then warm, since yellows make me look sick, and reds make me look drunk.

 

[HighSociety]

my wardrobe mostly consists of pastels,black,white and dark purple/dark blue.

Really bright colours are not for me!

 

[Miss Sis]

I rarely wear black - and never near my face, as it justs drains me completely. Also I think it is boring! Why wear black when you can wear a nice colour instead? However for people who suit it I think kelly green and black and black and red look good together. I tend to wear charcoal grey instead of black as a basic as it's not so harsh.

I am a brown eyed, pale skinned girl and suit warm colours, so brown features alot in my wardrobe too! I like brown and pink, brown and red, brown and orange/rust/peach. Maroon, another favourite, goes with almost any basic colour (black, navy, green, brown) and I have to not buy too much of it. It also looks great with orange shades. I also like greens of all shades and am fond of paler shades of say, apple green with navy and also pale green and peach. I have a sea green suit that I wore with a dusty pink blouse and a navy hat and I was really pleased with the colour mix.

One 40s dress I have I love the colour combination. It is hunter green with a small plaid of lilac and plum. It is great! I really love the 30s and 40s prints although I really only wear stripey prints in modern clothes. It's almost the madder the print the better. I have one which is light grey background with a print of kings and queens in cloaks on horseback (looks like Charles II) in black, red, white, green and a bit of yellow. I think it might even have a bit of lilac in there. Truely, it is eye popping. I wear a red suede belt and black and red wedges with it. Something satisfying about all those colours mixed together!

 

[Miss Sis]

I forgot to add, pale green and pale pink togther. Really fresh and pretty, in my opinion.

 

[ShrinkingViolet]

Such many great posts!

I have a wide dark bottle green suede belt from the 50's, but I can't figure out what to wear with that colour. All I can come up with is a light gray short sleeve sweater or ditto in cream. It's a really dark green so it has to be a lighter colour. Maybe sunny yellow would look good?

I'm also a bit at sea as to what colours would look striking with aubergine/eggplant. I have a eggplant a-line skirt that I don't know what to pair with apart from the standard grey and cream ...
I have brown hair, brown-green eyes and a warm/yellowish complexion, so beige, taupe-y and medium browns totally wash me out. Black isn't good either.