Brown is the biggest fashion colour of the season, and there is an abundance of it at retail. Some people think you shouldn’t wear brown with greying or grey hair, but I disagree. All sorts of complexions can wear brown with panache. Many of my grey-haired clients and friends rock browns, and are happily adding fashionable browns to their wardrobe.
Hubs Greg is a “Cool Summer” to use traditional colour analysis terminology. He has a gorgeous head of silver hair with bright blue eyes, and wears dark cool-toned browns and greyed brown clothes beautifully. He wears warm-toned cognac shoes and belt with verve too. In fact, I think Greg looks nicer in dark brown than he does in many greys. Grey can look spectacular, but it can also look dull. This morning I saw a silver haired man wear a cool-toned chocolate brown suit with a navy tee and cognac complement of belt, body bag, and shoes. He wore tortoise shell sunnies and looked KILLER.
If you have silver hair and want to incorporate brown into your outfits, here are some guidelines:
1. The Right Browns
There is a brown for everyone. Choose the right tones and shades for your complexion and wardrobe. It might be cool-toned, warm-toned, lighter, darker, brighter, or greyed. As a silver haired person, cool-toned browns can work well in items of clothing. Sometimes a saturated dark brown or very greyed chocolate brown works best.
2. Specific Items and Small Quantities
If brown tops and toppers are too much of a commitment, wear dark brown bottoms and dark brown accents like bags, belts, and shoes. Don’t make dark brown the dominant dark neutral of your wardrobe unless it really tickles your fancy. Create a small capsule or complement so that the neutral is easy to integrate into pulled together outfits. That way you prevent abandoned brown because you have items to wear with it.
3. As Patterns
If solid browns are problematic, wear dark brown in patterns. Maybe brown textured false plains are a better option than solid brown. Again, keep the brown component of your wardrobe small unless you’re entering a fabulous brown phase in your style journey.
4. With Other Neutrals
Dark brown is versatile. Wear it with the other dark and light neutrals like black, dark blues, all sorts of greys, all sorts of whites, taupe, tans, and olives. It works well with blue denim too. If you have blue eyes and grey hair, wearing navy and blue denim with brown is especially effective.
5. With Your Best Colours
Wear dark brown with your favourite and best colours. Maybe it’s jewel tones, other earth tones, pastels and mid-tones, or sour brights, blues and whites, berry colours, greyed tones, or clear brights. Incorporating colours in an outfit that make you look and feel your best creates outfit happiness. Maximize that feeling with the addition of brown.
Of course, if wearing any kind of brown makes you feel sad – PASS. Say no thank you, and leave it at that.
Although my hair is dark blonde, I relate to feeling unhappy when wearing dark brown, which lasted for decades. However, out of the blue a couple of years ago I began liking it. I started adding dark brown items in small quantities to my wardrobe with VERY specific stipulations. No solid dark brown, but patterns, colour-blocked detailing, and false plains are good. As for wearing solid brown, I stick to brighter orange-y browns like whiskey, cognac, and gingerbread.
Over to you. Do you have greying and silver hair, and do you wear brown? If so, what types of browns do you like to wear, and how do you style brown in your outfits?
