How To Mix Colors In An Outfit - Colour Blocking

This topic has come up several times during discussions with my clients and even friends. How do you mix colors in an outfit? And how many colors are you supposed to wear in an outfit? Color mixing is not the sort of thing that anyone is born knowing how to do. Color mixing or pairing as some people would call it, is not a talent. It's a skill that those who know their personal style can find very easy, while others struggle a bit with this. And like any other skill, it can be learned. After all I learnt this too during my training to become an Image consultant and a stylist. Its easy to say, mix pastels with pastels, earth tones with earth tones, jewel tones with jewel tones, etc but it's much more than that for some people.

Combining colors in clothes sounds easy, but we will often find it's a task that can drive us around the bend. By combining our clothes we must take into account many factors such as the colors of our hair, the tone of our skin or if we want to emphasise the colors of our eyes. On the other hand, it also depends on individual style (colour-blocking and neon Colors operate differently) and taste often comes to consideration. When creating your daily looks it's also useful to have a small guide to what tones combine with each color, this way you won't have as many doubts when it comes to combining the clothes in your closet.

  Let's take black as an example. It is a common knowledge that you can combine a black Color with anything, because a black outfit can be worn on its own or with a touch of any colour including neutral colors. If you read my other post here: https://ivyekong.com/all-black-everything-colour/ I always say avoid other dark colors such as dark blue or brown if we don't want to get an excessively dark look.   Same as black, White colors goes perfectly with all colours and when combined with black, we can get one of the best possible combinations to sport a sophisticated, elegant and sensual look. Combine your white clothes with the colors you like best, but avoid wearing tones that are too light, for example with a light tone of yellow, or light pink as it won't stand out as much, you'll look pale and it won't suit you. When you're talking about colors, "complimentary" actually means "opposite." Black and white, for instance, are complimentary colors. That's why they look so great together. Because "opposites attracts."Every color has a complimentary color. It's just whatever is on the opposite side of the color wheel. True complimentary colors are the same distance from the center of the wheel, but it can be very striking to combine a color from the center, like a pale yellow green, with its complimentary color from the outside edge, like a deep mauve.  Find a print in your own wardrobe and break it down into its different colors; then make an outfit. You can check some African fashion blogs like mine in London for some inspiration. If you want to take it to the next level, rank the colors in the print from most used to least used and wear larger items like dresses, coats, or sweaters in the most-used colors and smaller items and accessories in the least-used colors just as I have done now in my outfit. It's so much easier that way especially for those who are still trying to discover their personal style.

Neutrals in general (navy, khaki, gray, denim, gold, silver, etc.) are great for color mixing, but black and white, especially together are the best matching Colors in the wheel and you cannot go wrong with that. Regarding how many Colors you can wear in an outfit, I would say leave it to two colours only. Anything more than that can sometime make you look like an art work or a carton from a Disney character. My whole outfit is from Asos Heels are from kurtgeiger London (Bond) Bags is from Italy : Bolle in Pelle Hope you enjoyed reading this? If you did, feel free to share, follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Love Ivy