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Colour palette and 2020 goals and musings

smittie

Veteran

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas!
I hope you all are enjoying a little break right now.

Ladies - I've decided to approach my wardrobe a little differently in 2020. There are three main things I want to do differently:

1. Colour palette: Unlike other years, I want to start with a colour palette and build out a wardrobe from there. Previously, I just stuck to blues, blacks for the most part. I never had a plan about which colours I preferred with which other ones. Now, I have put together a few palettes. I'm still not sure about them. Could you help? I have pink skin (but tan easily), grey-blue eyes, dark brown hair. I look good in cool colours.

2. Athleisure: I want to embrace athleisure to a greater extent in 2020. This means more leggings and hoodies (Please don't cry!), and fewer jeans and woolen knitwear. I find athleisure looks better in the winter, when coupled with a puffer and snow boots. I don't plan to do athleisure for summer. My winter look will be a lot more casual, but I hope to elevate it by making sure all items are in pristine condition.

3. Pristine polish. Previously, I had never really focused on polish, because I am somewhat polished to start with. However, I reaaaallly admire those women are super-polished. I want to be that woman! As my first step, I want to make sure all clothing is: pill-free, lint-free, and looking new. This means opting for smooth leggings and cotton sweaters. For footwear, it means buying new winter boots more often (yearly).

With respect to my first point about colour palette, I have come up with a few of them. Do you have opinions on what would suit me best? I think I like the palette with the orange and red, as it seems a bit more dynamic.

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32 replies

Latest reply was from smittie

rachylou

Veteran

I do think you look very well in bright colour!

Helena

Veteran

Hmm, I'm somewhat partial to the third palette, I think - BUT if the rust-orange is calling your name, then I think you should go for it!

I agree, athleisure is so sensible for the depths of winter - I say embrace it rather than fight it. I think your goal of polish will ensure that you stay stylish even in the most casual of clothing.

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

I don't think any of these color palettes would be terrible, so go for the one you're most drawn to right now.

You've always struck me as quite polished, so I'm interested to see where this resolution leads you! I think hair and nails are a big part of that polished look. Also either flawless skin or neat makeup.

kellygirl

Veteran

I like 1 the best. I would choose fuschia and a bright saturated purple for you if I was to choose a pop of color--especially because you said you look good in cool colors. I don't think you can go wrong with any of these though.

nemosmom

Veteran

I like #1, but that may be my personal bias talking... You would look really great in any of these, and I echo TG and say go where your heart is leading you! Those cool tones in #2 with pops of orange and red could be really stunning with your coloring.

The Cat

Veteran

Cool tones would indeed be a wise choice, as (according to your description of your colouring) you definitely sound cool. Therefore, I would advise you to stay away from orange and warm beiges and browns. Palette #1 looks fine for you. (The darkest colours there might be even better in versions that are a bit lighter.) How about adding at least one COOL RED (e.g. raspberry) and/or one COOL PINK (i.e. hot pink, deep pink, or fuchsia)? They would look dynamic in a harmonious way, as they complement your other cool colours as well as your beautiful colouring.

kkards

Veteran

I know this is my own personal bias, but I don’t think of the colors in 2 and pristine together. I know I know but brights say happy to me and to me happy and pristine don’t go together. I have no basis for this belief so please feel free to completely ignore me.

Anonymous

I like one the most too, with a cool red or pink for accent color. I'm with you on athlesiure this winter!
@kkards what about Angie? She's bright and pristine

notsaf

Veteran

I love #3 (saving to phone) and am with you on polish! Such a challenge, but one I'm ready to tackle this year as well!

nemosmom

Veteran

As an aside - do you mind sharing how you created the palettes?

Anonymous

I enjoyed reading your post. Exceptionally well thought out.

I like the first and second color palettes the best.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Your color palette idea is interesting. I am drawn to certain colors but don't actually have a particular palette. More like don'ts as there are some warm colors that really look pretty awful on me - mustard, warm olive, etc.
I guess I have more questions than suggestions: Is everything supposed to mix and match? Are there going to be the main colors and then accent colors? What color are most of your essential items now? Is there a color you are drawn to all the time? How strict will you be? And so on!

smittie

Veteran

Thank you so much ladies!

I need to think about deep saturated purple (thanks @kelly) and a cool red or pink (thanks @TheCat).
@notsaf: The colour palette in 3 is a set of menswear neutrals. Just FYI.

I get sidetracked by colours, which is why I like to come on this forum for guidance.

@nemosmom: I used MS paint with the crayon tool.

Helena

Veteran

Smittie, colour-obsession high-five! I really love Shevia's suggestion to think about the 'roles' the colours might play. For example, maybe your essential colours need to mix and match but you also have a wild card is just a happiness factor and doesn't really have to match with much. This sort of just repeats her comment I guess, but I think it's great idea

It just might give you more freedom within the structure?

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

You have some wonderful ideas and goals, and I can’t wait to see how they translate to your WIWs!

I have two suggestions... the first is David Zyla’s book, “Color Your Style” rocked my world, and over the three years, I have created my own beautiful custom palette for myself, based on my own coloring - skin tones, eyes, natural (undyed hair colors) and the color of the veins in my wrists (my coloring is warm, and the veins are green, vs. someone with cool tones being blue/lavender)

I always feel a little thrill when I open my closet door, because everything in there is a beautiful and flattering color for me to wear. I can’t recommend this book enough!

My second suggestion... for winter athleisure inspiration, you might try searching “Apres-Ski” looks on Pinterest.

smittie

Veteran

@shevia and @TorontoG:
There IS a point to all of this!
I had two broad thoughts when developing these palettes:

1. These sets of colours are the result of finding my most preferred colour combinations.They're not intended to mix and match (although I guess they do, but it's not intentional).

For example, I love dark teal, a touch of orange, and light grey together. However, I don’t like teal and black together that much.

2. I’m hoping to make shopping easier by limiting the colour palette.
It’s been hard to restrict the colours, as you can see by the multitude of palettes.

As you say Helena, another option is to find say, a few “mains”, a few sides. That's what I did in the diagram below:

- I picked my most favorite colours to wear as a column of colour (dark green, dark blue, dark purple)

- Next, I picked a few colours to coordinate with them (with dark green I chose olive, for dark blue I chose medium blue, for dark purple I chose charcoal, and for all of them I chose light grey).

- Next I added some fun, with red and teal. Red is a happy colour and teal is available and looks good on me.

- Finally, I noticed that everything looked better with a clementine watch

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smittie

Veteran

La Belle : I will look up

David Zyla’s book, “Color Your Style” rocked my world, and search 'Apres ski'! That is exactly the look I'm going for!

Jenn : I am really hoping I don't have to do too much with hair and nails to look polished! I have very weak nails (not good for manicures) and my hair is too wild to try to tame.

I will come back later to address others' comments.

smittie

Veteran

All: Many of you suggested pink. I will think about it.
Rachy : Thanks! I like to wear brights (though not too too bright)
Kellygirl: I love the idea of fuchsia, but I'm not feeling it this year for some reason. But you got me thinking about purple...
Nemosmom: The burnt orange gets me. I just love. I know quite a bit of menswear includes this colour. Not so much womenswear though!
The Cat: I took your advise to heart and tried putting together some palettes with fuchsia and raspberry. I'm just not loving these colours right now, even though raspberry is one of my best.
KKards: When I said I'd like my look to be 'pristine', I was using the word in its literal sense. That is, a perfectly tidy and neat appeance. I hadn't thought there could be 'pristine' colours. Maybe pink? (Molly Ringwald association?)
Suntiger: Thanks! I think of Angie as pristine too!
Notsaf: I knew you would like the neutrals in palette 3! I LOVE that camel/toffee colour.
Sterling: Thanks! I did spend quite a bit of time thinking about my colours, my winter style, and how polished I want to be.

Sal

Veteran

I like all palettes - def include orange if you are feeling it. I had a few years with orange winter items and found them versatile and cosy - gorgeous with denim, teal, grey and chocolate.

I think of your style as polished.

And count me in on the athleisure for winter weekends. So practical for sports watching followed by a walk etc.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I think your style is already polished. But I understand how the salt does a serious number on winter footwear in Ottawa. Horrid. (Shudders...) I can see why athleisure appeals, especially on weekends and when running around town. You did really well with your sneakers this past summer. Maybe it's a similar impulse now. Fits the lifestyle.

It makes sense to consciously limit your palette -- within reason.

Within reason because you can't be meticulously particular about getting the exact tone or you will drive yourself nuts...it won't be available and/ or won't mix as well as you imagined, etc.

For myself, settling on a key light neutral and key dark neutral per season is/was absolutely crucial. (For me, that means navy and grey in winter and navy and white in summer -- although I also wear white in winter and grey in summer. And I wear black, too -- but more as an accent.) I wear all kinds of other blues mixed in with the navy and ink and grey and white, kind of indiscriminately. I know many people don't like blue with denim but as long as the undertones work together (depends on the denim wash) I am personally okay with that.

Once I had those neutrals locked in and had a bunch of my essentials in those neutrals, I found I could play with other colours more or less at will and whim, season by season. As you know, my main "extras" are red (lots of versions from fire engine to cranberry to some burgundy) and fuchsia. But last fall I added some taupe, this spring I added a little lilac and this fall I added bits of mustard. That might play a similar role to the burnt orange in your palette. In my case, I can't really wear any amount of mustard near my face or I look ill, but it works great as an accessory or as a bit in a pattern that includes more flattering tones. It could also work as a bottom, but I haven't found any mustard bottoms that I like enough to keep.

I like all the palettes you've chosen and can see them making vibrant and interesting outfits.

deb

Veteran

I vote for #3.

Liesbeth

Veteran

Your approach on combining colors sounds like a great start! In order to wear those type of outfits, would you need to buy many new pieces? Because I personally have had mixed experiences with buying to fill those theoretical gaps. When detecting a need for a cognac complement or a love of blush as accent color, it has worked out very well to purchase items (provided I had a longer time frame and could still be picky). Otoh, at one time I acquired so many navy and grey pieces (core neutrals) I got sick of them, and it turned out wearing several pieces in any of those hues together didn't work as well as I'd thought. But that will probably not be an issue for you as I suspect your neutrals are covered.

rachylou

Veteran

I really like the hit of clementine. You have that one dress/duster that I think you wore with white pants? I found that very flattering.

smittie

Veteran

Hi Sal! Yes, I will definitely add some orange. I saw an orange Fjallraven fanny pack that I liked quite a lot. Hmmm...
Rachy - See above comment to Sal about the fanny pack.
Hi Suz! I think you're right about choosing a few neutrals. I'm finding the hunt for particular shades of certain colours to be a real challenge. So it's possible I don't really need to limit my colour palette, since it's naturally limited by my own pickiness.

Using your strategy, my main neutrals would be:
dark neutral: charcoal, navy
light neutral: white, light grey

^ I definitely like those neutrals.
With charcoal I could add forest green, dark purple, fuchsia.
With navy I would love medium blue, orange, and true red
With white and grey, I like my other neutrals and a pop of any cool colour.

Liesbeth: I am always at risk of buying too many navy/grey/white things! I definitely need to make colours a priority, but as I said to Suz, I have a hard time finding colours I like. I'm not sure what to do. Maybe shop online?

The Cat

Veteran

Anyway, establishing a colour palette is very useful. There are various ways to it. You will find great tips and advice in this blog post: https://youlookfab.com/2015/12.....-wardrobe/

nuancedream

Veteran

Since you noted you have a pink undertone to your skin as well as grey-blue eyes, I would select palette#1 with the smokey blue, grey, forest green, and deep purple tones. If the warmer orange and red tones really appeal to you, how about choosing accessories with those colors and seeking out patterns the combine warm and cool? I like shades of pink and fuchsia, but never wear them around my face. A handbag or shoes in pink or fuchsia...yes, please!!

Bijou

Veteran

Smittie - I have always thought you looked polished from your WIWs. I like your colour palettes and think #2 will work beautifully for you. To me orange is a luxury colour, because it is the signature colour of Hermes and really beautiful in leather goods.

Your approach sounds well thought out and I like the move to Athleisure combined with pristine polish. I often admire Euro women who pull off this look so well - it is intentional and fashionably sporty - not someone who has not changed out of their gym gear.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Palette #3 gets my vote.

Liesbeth

Veteran

Another thought in response to you having a hard time finding colors you like: I find, when you have your neutrals sorted to a tight but versatile palette and mix of clothing items, it's easier to add a 'lonely' color and still be able to create good outfits. So when you come across something in a color you really like, you can feel secure about adding it even if chances are you won't find another thing to 'make it a capsule' soon. It's happened to me with seafoam green and mauve. I mean, retail has to be on your side too.
Maybe try some different type stores/brands than usual? Boutiques sometimes carry different colors than prevail in the larger chains.

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