At the Met last year I was very attracted to some particular colour combinations that I saw in the exhibits. This post is about a colour combination that was quite dominant in the Byzantine jewellery exhibits:

*Dark green, dark red, gold and white*

Sometimes the combination also included dark blue in addition to the green (pic 4).

I don’t usually combine dark red and dark green, even though I wear both colours. It’s a bit “Christmassy” and I generally prefer neutral or tonal combinations. But I was intrigued by this combination and, particularly, by the effect of adding gold and white. It makes the look quite luxe to my eye.

I’ve been experimenting with the combination since last year. Some versions I’ve liked better than others, but mostly the exercise has been fun for a challenge and a change. Getting 4 colours into a single outfit is hard for me! I thought some of the results might be interesting for those people who, like me, struggle to colour mix. It made me wonder whether the addition of white + gold could pull together virtually any colour mix. I am sure Angie, our Queen of White and Gold, will have a view on this

Outfit 1: This is not a combination I would have tried a year ago but I quite liked it!

Outfit 2: The skirt is a faded black (a vintage look) and is a cheat because it already includes some green, red and white. Because there is red in the skirt it was a no brainer to wear the red top. I then added a green necklace and white bag. The surprise here was how much I liked the green and gold necklace with the red top. A year ago it would not have occurred to me to wear them together.

Outfit 3: Cheating again because the tee already includes dark green, white and a brownish-red. Normally I would pull out the black in the tee by wearing black boots. But this time I wore burgundy boots, a dark green bag and green and gold jewellery. It made for a softer look.

Outfit 4: Substituting dark blue for dark green (my theme, my rules!). I know that dark blue and burgundy are considered a classic combination but I’ve always found the combination a bit drab on me. I liked it better with white in the mix. I piled on dark blue, dark green and gold beads. Does anyone here wear beads? I feel ready to wear them again after something of a hiatus.

The last 2 outfits are from last year, when I first started experimenting -
Outfit 5: No white here. I should have tried pearls. Many here could wear this combination with white jeans.
Outfit 6: Not much gold here but I liked this. Gold is hard to incorporate except through accessories. I think when the weather gets cool again I will try using my cognac boots as a gold substitute.