https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Fri, 24 Apr 2026 17:40:14 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear/page/2#post-192565 Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:39:48 +0000 Sara 192565@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I prefer brown to black. Actually, I prefer almost anything to black; if I have 4 black pieces in my wardrobe I would be surprised. It is just not flattering on me! Once I recognized that and stopped buying it I really started to put my look together in a new way. </p> <p>I believe Angie is correct; we are conditioned to be drawn to black. Unfortunately I think many people who wear it haven't given much thought to what it is or is not doing for them! </p> <p>I also feel it stifles creativity, as it is very easy to just pair whatever you have with black, or rely on all-black to carry you.<br /> I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I do not feel it is actually neutral; most colors go much better with gray or brown than with black (pink, for example) IMO. </p> <p>Just my .02 =) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear/page/2#post-192561 Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:30:10 +0000 Angie 192561@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>High five, Ele! </p> <p>Brown hair is naturally textured and often coloured for added texture. It makes all the difference</p> <p>I think it's important to recognize the difference between warm and cool colours. Most people look best in one or the other and some people wear both equally well. </p> <p>A final word on brown. It's not a colour I am drawn to - like you're not drawn to red, but I do actually wear certain bright browns well even though I do not prefer to. And you can absolutely be hip, trendy and cool wearing lots of brown. Look at Jean. Enough said :0) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear/page/2#post-192498 Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:59:00 +0000 Ele 192498@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Angie, I totally agree with you about the colour analysis thing. It's never made much sense to me at all, especially since I sit right smack in the middle of several "seasons" and can't really be places. </p> <p>Your point about black being hipper and more fashionable than brown, and us being conditioned to prefer it, was really what I was wondering about. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that plays a part. </p> <p>I think Julie's point about hair is an interesting one, though. I was wondering about that too. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear/page/2#post-192462 Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:21:44 +0000 Frances 192462@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Well, I have nothing insightful to add here--just another vote in favor of brown. I absolutely adore it and used to have more brown than black in my wardrobe until I literally wore out most of the brown items. Because it's less available than black, it's difficult to replace those items. I have to agree though that it can be as tricky to wear as black, and so it helps to break it up with texture, color variation, pattern, etc. But I do not think I could live in a world without brown! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear/page/2#post-192397 Sat, 31 Jul 2010 02:40:47 +0000 shell 192397@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I like wearing brown at times, but, like Angie stated, it needs the right supporting players b/c it can be tricky to get right. </p> <p>So, I'll often pair a brown top with a bright cardigan, scarf, necklace...whatever!</p> <p>I also like to wear brown in "earthier" outfits. So, I'll wear more golds or wooden jewelry, casual sandals, jeans, etc. I'm more of a mood dresser, meaning I like to change up my style persona every once in awhile. I can be sleek and sophisticated in the office and casual bohemian chic in the evening! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear/page/2#post-192371 Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:49:16 +0000 Maya 192371@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Winter is about high contrast coloring isn't it? Dark hair absent of warmth. I am a winter too but I don't have a cool skin tone. </p> <p>I agree with you, Shana, about blonde hair. I like blonde hair on the right person...but there are far fewer people who actually should be blonde than that currently are. Angie, Ana, and Laura all make sensational blondes (though I must admit I loved brunette Ana as well). But there are just too many women who go blonde just because of the stereotype. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear/page/2#post-192356 Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:05:35 +0000 shana 192356@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Well, I might be the rare "winter" on the board who actually likes brown. I like the earthy nature of browns and of course the food associations help too (my favorite of course is dark chocolate brown!!!). Of course, I combine brown with other colors that are probably more flattering on me. One of my favorite color combos is brown with cream/white, orange and teal/turquoise. </p> <p>If you don't mix your brown and black, one of the difficulties of incorporating brown is having to have two wardrobes (coordinating shoes for example) - one based on brown and one based on black. </p> <p>I think brown hair is so striking and there are far too many people going blonde!!! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear/page/2#post-192317 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:27:16 +0000 Angie 192317@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ele, black is a lot more hip to wear than brown. Do you ever see designers punting brown inthe same way they do black? Why is NYC, HK and London full of people wearing black? It's the "cool - factor" and not about whether its flattering. We have been conditioned to prefer black to brown too. </p> <p>I have clients who look much better in browns, navies and greys than black. And there are several people on this forum who are the same way. You have to be just as careful with black as you do brown in my opinion. And at the end of the day - it's all about the details like fabric texture and what you wear with the items that make the difference. Those factors change things up a lot. I would never wear a flat brown polo neck. But I'd wear a textured chestnut brown leather or pleather jacket in a heartbeat. </p> <p>As many of you already know, I am not a huge supporter of colour analysis. I can appreciate the rudimentary guidelines, but as for the rest it's trial and error and lots of mixing in of added variables. I find it hard to operate within the confines of colour analysis. I want to think bigger than that. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear/page/2#post-192312 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:00:58 +0000 taylor 192312@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I am not quite sure that is Julie.<br /> I guess my theory is that dark brown /black hair has skin tones that go from very dark/black skin to the creamiest of white plus everything in between. Most people in the world are dark haired but the skin tone varies so much. </p> <p>So what works wardrobe wise more specific to skin tone rather than hair color.</p> <p>someone correct me if I am wrong:)</p> <p>edit to say... My hair is very close to a level 2 black color, but my skin is very fair with sallow undertones.....must stay away from anything muted ,yellow , brown or dingey/and dusty...brings out my sallow dinginess </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear/page/2#post-192301 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:40:44 +0000 Maya 192301@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>When I think of brown items that I can tolerate, it usually involves silk or some other kind of sheen and texture. I think that is the same reason brown hair works. It isn't flat. It has dimension and tone. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear/page/2#post-192269 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:27:17 +0000 Louise 192269@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Do you know Julie I'd never thought of that. I love my brown hair (plum shade of since yesterday) but find it a tricky colour to wear how bizarre is that!!!! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear/page/2#post-192266 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:25:19 +0000 RoseandJoan 192266@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Taylor, I'm very curious about this topic from a hair perspective. It seems many people can rock a brunette hair colour but find the clothing hard, do you have any theories? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear/page/2#post-192260 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:19:52 +0000 taylor 192260@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I am a cool winter, but aside from ever even knowing that I never felt good in browns...they really look bad on me as do most colors that fall into the muted Fall color spectrum.</p> <p>Black may be hard for alot of people to wear, but those who look good with high contrast pull it off quite well. Not everyone looks good in black ...agreed, but brown to me is extremely difficult to wear against the face. It doesn't add high contrast as does black. </p> <p>I will add that I do wear makeup and therefore I think black against my face looks way better than it would without makeup!! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192240 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:43:50 +0000 Mac 192240@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I have a few theories as to why I think black is so much more popular than brown. #1. Many women are taught that black is slimming. #2. Black has a more official roles than brown: eg. "The little black dress," "Mourning black," etc. #3. There are a lot fewer variations of black than brown, so it's less confusing to the average shopper. For a woman who wants to buy boots to match her black sweater at home, it's not so hard. But in trying to "match" browns, it gets trickier. Now, I've learned that it's important for my clothing colours to "work together" rather than MATCH, but when I was younger and less confident in my choices, I definitely tried to match my shoes to my purse to my belt... and I have to say it was a lot easier with black than with brown. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192209 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:08:13 +0000 Ele 192209@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh no, Angie- I always pay the utmost attention to everything you say! :)</p> <p>I think I get what you were saying- that both brown and black are difficult shades to pull off if you don't have the colouring for it- and I said a similar thing in my next comment. (Steph, Sveta and a couple others mentioned it, too.) I guess I was just pondering why, given that both shades are far from universally flattering, black is so popular while brown remains an acquired taste. Just curious whether it was a perceived "fashion factor" or due to availability, or maybe people just think brown is ugly. Basically, just thinking out loud here. </p> <p>Well, I must be some kind of colour freak of nature. I have the most neutral, muted, monochromatic colouring you can imagine, not clearly cool or warm, but I can wear both black and brown easily. I get the impression that it's usually one or the other, and only if you lean to an extreme (winter/autumn)? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192205 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:00:27 +0000 RoseandJoan 192205@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I love brown but personally find it hard to wear. I'm very drawn to bitter chocolate brown which I sport through my accessories, it also helps that I really adore steel blue and love the combination of the two colours together. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192202 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:56:26 +0000 Traci 192202@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Here you go.</p> <p>One pic of me in brown:<br /> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/50657623@N07/4843876025/" rel="nofollow">http://www.flickr.com/photos/5.....843876025/</a></p> <p>The next pic of me, same make up, same lighting, same background wall, in a berry hue.<br /> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/50657623@N07/4844495798/in/photostream/" rel="nofollow">http://www.flickr.com/photos/5.....otostream/</a><br /> sorry for the poor, iphone self pictures, but you get the idea. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192198 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:33:14 +0000 Angie 192198@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ele, you might like to re-read my comment. I think you read it too fast. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192192 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:43:41 +0000 Kate 192192@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I hated brown when I was young, and it wasn't until I was well into high school that my mom (who is a winter, and never wears brown) convinced me it really was a great color for me. Now I've mostly purged cool neutrals (black, gray, and pure white) from my wardrobe, though I do have some pants and shoes I haven't parted with yet since they're so far away from my face. But yes, I love brown and wear it often, so long as it's a warm brown.</p> <p>I'm still stocking up on browns, and have found that a lot of the browns in stores right now are actually cool browns. There are a lot of almost black browns out there, which are too dark and cool for me to wear well by my face, or to mix with my other warm neutrals. There are a lot of grayed or heathered browns on the market too, which are too cool and powdery for me to wear. I'm assuming that the really dark browns would work better for people with "winter" coloring and the "summers" could pull off the gray-ish browns. I'm curious if anyone can confirm or deny this. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192181 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:44:04 +0000 Cookie 192181@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>This is an interesting conversation. I have not thought about this but now I realize I do not have much brown in my closet. I do have brown shoes and boots and some brown in prints but no solid brown clothing. Some of the designers showed a lot of brown in their collections this year. I wonder if this color will show up more on store racks? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192180 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:43:58 +0000 Kristen 192180@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I adore brown in so many different shades, but especially the warmer and richer the better for me. And yes, I do love my warm colors! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192173 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:34:18 +0000 Sveta 192173@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>But Ele, Angie also says that black is hard to wear too and I agree completely!<br /> Also brown has so many variations -warm/cool, light/dark, saturated/muted... Dark chocolate brown maybe not the best against my face ( still better than black though) but put me in caramel or chestnut brown color and it is a different story!<br /> Unfortunately there is no such flexibility with black - it is always..well, black.<br /> Yes so many people wear black - but do all of them look really good in it? It is considered "safe" and "slimming" in public opinion so many people just default to it automatically...:-( </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192171 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:16:30 +0000 Steph 192171@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ele, I just saw your post, and I wanted to say that as I have been doing all of this reading on personal color analysis, most experts feel that black is actually one of the most difficult to wear colors, and that winters are the only people who truly look great in it. I do think that black can be pretty harsh with a lot of different coloring, but many people can also pull it off. As a general rule, I think that people who are warmer in tone have more trouble with black than brown. I think black is just so ubiquitous that everyone wears it without applying the same level of critique they would pretty much any other color. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192170 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:13:51 +0000 Steph 192170@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think that wearing brown is far easier for people with warm coloring than with cool coloring. I actually don't think it is a color limited to people who are deep autumns, but really suits almost anyone who falls in the warm coloring spectrum (whether they be a "spring" or an "autumn" in the traditional seasonal color analysis world, or any variations on those seasons in the more sophisticated personal color analyses that currently exist). I'm pretty pale but have warm undertones and I think I pull of brown well. </p> <p>I have actually been doing a lot of reading on color analysis lately (I know Magda has as well), and if you look at this chart (which contains only a few of the ideal colors for each category), it shows that brown really does work on most warms, and some cools: <a href="http://www.thechicfashionista.com/seasonal-color-analysis.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.thechicfashionista......lysis.html</a> (You have to go about halfway down the page to see the chart.) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192167 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:08:56 +0000 Ele 192167@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>So it seems that us YLF-ers are pretty evenly split between those who wear brown and love it and those who look like "someone forgot to bury us" in it (love that, Dusty). But Angie insists it's hard to wear- does that mean some of us are walking around looking like corpses? I tend to think I'm a pretty good judge of what colours look good, both for myself and others, but this has me second-guessing myself. </p> <p>I can't imagine that brown is that much harder to wear than black, but like crazyone says, millions of people wear black every day! I'm still curious about whether this this due to preconceptions about brown's attractiveness, or simply that it isn't as widely available/fashionable.</p> <p>Obviously, none of this really matters at all- I think I'm just in an overthinking mood today! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192166 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:04:58 +0000 Louise 192166@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I struggle with brown. I have chocolate brown booties which I love and a tan leather jacket and handbag but that's it I don't think I own any brown clothing x </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192164 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:00:12 +0000 Mac 192164@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Well, I've clearly got a pro-brown bias but I think almost anyone can wear the right shade of brown. There are so many shades to choose amongst! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192123 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:37:56 +0000 Vix 192123@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I am another brown convert, and think darker browns can look very sophisticated paired with black, greys, and other deep tones as well as be a great "base" for colors. </p> <p>I think it can be hard to find the right brown (espresso, rose browns, and rose beige are pretty much it for pale, cool-toned me) but mine get as much if not more use than all the black in my closet. And that's sayin' something, ha. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192116 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:29:19 +0000 crazyone 192116@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I understand brown being hard to wear as clothing, esp near the face (though so is black, though that doesn't prevent people from wearing it); what I don't understand is the aversion to wearing it in shoes...often brown shoes can look a lot less harsh and stark than black shoes, and cognac/chestnut is an amazing, amazing shade. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/curious-is-brown-really-that-hard-to-wear#post-192112 Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:17:43 +0000 Angie 192112@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ele, I do think brown is hard to wear. People can look tired and pale in brown - just like some can look tired and pale in black. Unless you are a VERY strong Autumn like Jean (who looks killer in all sorts of brown), I am weary of it for myself and clients. You have to get the shade just so and match it up with the right support acts.</p> <p>Personally I will wear a bright brown (like a bright chestnut) - but not fast. </p>