Colorful Neutrals - YouLookFab Forum

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Colorful Neutrals

K. Period.

Veteran

I know Angie has posted on the idea of colorful neutrals before. I remember her saying that, for her, tomato red is a neutral. And I can see it when I consider her outfits.

This winter, I realized that plum is a colorful neutral for me. I bought a pair of plum jeans at NAS and was startled to realize how many things in my closet they worked with. In fact, I've started thinking of it as brown for people who like cool tones.

Since we are in the midst of a seasonal shift, I'd love to hear what colors the rest of you consider colorful neutrals. Maybe there is a new colorful neutral for summer out there just waiting for me!

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27 replies

Latest reply was from K. Period.

Aziraphale

Veteran

I agree that tomato red works with just about everything, although I don't call it a neutral (even though Angie does) because it is so extremely colourful!

Does army green count? It could be considered a neutral.

How about cornflower blue?

AviaMariah

Veteran

I tend to pick my colors besides neutrals for their "pop of color" quality so I guess that would be the opposite of a colorful neutral. I'll have to think about this. Maybe I need colorful neutral too.

Anonymous

I have been using navy blue as a neutral. I also have a few charcoal gray pieces. I'm phasing out black and dark brown, except for dark brown shoes.

catgirl

Veteran

Citron!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Tomato red FOR SURE, Kathleen. I think of it as a neutral because it works with everything. And your version of it is plum - perfect!

Citron, apple green and bright turquoise are also my colours - but none are as versatile as tomato red.

Anonymous

Red, blush, and pale blue are colorful neutrals for me. I also think of brown and olive not as neutrals as many do, but as colors...maybe navy too.

Anonymous

From what I understand, navy is both a color and a neutral.

rabbit

Veteran

High five, Chocolate brown, deep burgundy, deep plum are all equivalent colors to me and i use them as a neutral too. Interestingly any warmer browns like cognac I consider accent colors, and difficult ones with my cool tones

K. Period.

Veteran

BC, I think that is true, that navy is a neutral and a color. Like greens.

Aziraphale, I absolutely consider green a neutral. However, it took me a long time to feel that was true. Then my eye adjusted to the concept. (You should have seen my high school self trying to adjust to the idea that khaki and navy went together and were neutral to boot. But that was the '80s. Color was king. At least until my dress in black phase. )

Joy, high five! I can see all of those as neutrals too. Hmm, thinking of summer now.

Una, I love that for you neutral is not dark, but bright.

Angie, yes, agreed. At least as long as the red isn't in the form for booties for me. Do you think there is a relationship between our color mixing tolerance and colorful neutrals?

AviaMariah, hmmm. See, I'm beginning to think colorful neutrals kind of lurk in our closets. It takes a bit to identify them. Are you sure you don't have a bright that goes with your other brights?

K. Period.

Veteran

Rabbit, I'm exactly the same. I love luggage and cognac, but they are decidedly higher contrast/accent with my prefered cool colors. Non-neutral neutrals!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

There might just be a correlation, K - and we both score high on that affinity.

plonkee

Plum, purple and blue-green are neutral for me. As well as several blues. I've tried red as a neutral a couple of times and it doesn't work for me - but I think it can be neutral on others. For shoes and bags, I also find small pattern in my favourite colours works well as a neutral.

Anonymous

Red.

Summer

Veteran

Purple for winter, and shades of blue in summer. Most of my colours work well with these shades.

Anonymous

I would use purple as a neutral if I could find enough of it.

Dee

Veteran

Cobalt and royal purple for me. I snap them up whenever I can because they work so well for me.

BrieN

Veteran

Would someone be kind enough to define "neutral" for me?

I have always thought of neutral as something that takes a back seat so another color can step out but not sure that's how you all are using it.

Anonymous

Brie, that definition would work for neutral. I often use it as a column of color on which to wear other colors or prints.
I forgot optic white, which feels very bright to me but works as a bright neutral with neons, brights and brightens up other neutrals and darks, such as a grey jacket with a crisp white shirt.

Anonymous

I'm thinking of adding light grey (silvery tone) as a summer neutral. I don't know how easy that will be to find, either. As for white, I just have this one pair of jeans that I'm wearing today. I do have a pair of light blue denim (chambray color) jeans, too.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

Most deep shades of blue are my neutrals - indigo, navy, deep cobalt, etc. I use olive green as a neutral and sometimes deep plum as well.

AviaMariah

Veteran

I actually thought about this after I posted. The brights that I primarily wear are a shade of turquoise and bright/dark pink. So I guess just because that's mostly what's in my wardrobe, they mix and match so they would be a neutral. I purposely have stuck to those colors (because they are happy colors for me) and because I wanted to be able to mix and match.

Helena

Veteran

Brie, in this context I think of neutral as being a color that can be mixed with virtually any other color. For me, colorful neutrals are plum/deep burgundy, pale pink/blush, and pale blue. Navy is more of a color for me, oddly!

Ginger

Veteran

Just about any green is a neutral for me. I've heard it called "God's neutral," which makes sense - it's everywhere in nature, and it works with anything! The other interesting thing about greens is that they very rarely fight each other. It's almost impossible to match different reds together, and the same for blues. They fight too much, and not in a good yay-I'm-clashing way. But greens work very well together.

RobinF

Veteran

Interesting topic. I'm another one who loves purple but I only wear it in limited amounts because it seems hard to use with other dark neutrals, which is pretty much my winter wardrobe. Maybe I need to try it with colors. I used to have some lime green Keens that went with a surprising amount of my outfits. I guess I used those as a neutral.

rabbit

Veteran

Okay Ginger has got me wanting to try green. I know some greens are good colors on me, but aside from olive green and sometimes forest green in winter I rarely see it at retail.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Fuchsia.

Well, duh!!

No, in all seriousness, in my closet, this is the case. I wear a ton of blues (of almost all varieties), white/ ivory/ cream/ taupe, grey, a bit of black and very little of any other colour.

K. Period.

Veteran

I totally vote or fuchsia too, Suz!

You all have been busy while I've been away. Lots of answers. I've been having a great time reading them. I'm seeing a common thread that lots of us who tend toward cool colors will wear purple as a neutral. I guess it is an easy leap from brown and taupe to purple! Hooray!

BC, I wear light grey all the time as a neutral. My neutrals that I consider very very neutral to me (because I primarily have cool colors in my closet) are: grey (both charcoal and silver), black, white, navy, green (but specifically not too warm--cool greens), taupe, some tan (but taupe is better, because it is cooler), and wildcard colorful neutrals cobalt and purple.

I might focus on pale blue as a summer neutral since it works so well for several of you!