It’s been an incredible year for earth tones. After years of jewel tones being at the forefront of fashion, I’m happy about the switch. I’m not so sure Team Jewel Tones is so happy about it. That said, some of my clients who are die-hard members of Team Jewel Tones, thoroughly enjoy wearing earth tones.
Earth tones are colours like mustard, cinnamon, paprika, burnt orange, khakis, all shades of chocolate brown and tan, caramel, toffee, chestnut, saddle, cognac, taupe, gold, apricot, peach, salmon and stone. I also think of shades of olive, sage and brownish burgundies as earth tones.
Jewel tones are colours like shades of purple, cranberry, magenta, fuchsia, dark red, cobalt blue, teal, turquoise and emerald. There is also turquoise and aqua, some yellow, a bit of orange, and garnet black. But rich purples, ruby reds, fuchsia, cobalt, teal and emerald are what I think of as pukka jewel tones.
My non-neutral colour preference is for clear and crisp sour brights and some pastels, so neither earth tones nor jewel tones are signature to my style. I have no purple, cobalt, teal or emerald in my wardrobe at all. I like fuchsia and love turquoise and aqua, and have items in those colours. I would love to have more turquoise and aqua, but the colours are hard to find at retail.
This is the small jewel tone component of my wardrobe:
I have many more earth tones in my wardrobe. In fact, for someone who says that earth tones are not signature, I have a rather large earth tone component to my style. Most recently, I added a small mustard capsule.
This is the larger earth tone component of my wardrobe:
I bat for Team Earth Tones, whereas most of my clients and friends probably bat for Team Jewel Tones. In my experience, colours like purple and teal are extremely popular, yet I do not wear them. Over to you. Do you bat for Team Earth Tones or Team Jewel Tones? Tell us why and no batting for both teams. If you can’t pick a side, feel free to hang out on the bench with freshly made wild mushroom pasties, a crunchy green salad, and lemon fairy cakes for dessert.
