We’re usually pulling together our outfits first thing in the morning, or laying them out the night before. In Winter time that means it’s dark outside and we’re relying on artificial light when we assess the outfit. The problem is that things might look very different in the light of day.

Since our daytime outfits will mostly be seen in natural light, ideally that’s what we should use when we assess the colour combination. I know I’ve been caught out thinking that a set of colours worked well on a dark morning at home, only to be annoyed later in the day when the colours didn’t work nearly as well in natural light. I find this to be especially true when combining tonal colours of similar intensity.

The same goes for purchasing items in stores. Make sure that you like the colours against your complexion in natural light. I’ve occasionally returned something because the colour that seemed so right in store lighting looked very different in the light of day.

The simple way to get around the problem is to plan ahead and assess outfits in natural light. Failing that, you can minimize the likelihood of a strange combination by sticking to known colour combinations, or choosing combinations that have higher contrast.