Do all of 'your' colors go together? - YouLookFab Forum

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Do all of 'your' colors go together?

Astrid

Veteran

The green sweater made me think about the colors in my wardrobe and what goes with what. And I definitely have some stuff that really doesn't go together at all and clashes. Ideally I'd have a wardrobe where all colors go together - I still think it's the only way to a truly minimal wardrobe. But is that even possible? I think I'm somehow lacking the discipline to be strict about it, or maybe I just don't have a clear picture of what colors really look good on me. Should I just relax about the whole color thing? Or do I need another tactic?

Any input would be appreciated. And sorry for my rambling!

Dressing

32 replies

Latest reply was from Astrid

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

I would say about 75% of my wardrobe works together in terms of colours, but I definitely have a piece here or there which may only go with one item. I keep thinking I would like to get to a place where all of my pieces can be mixed and there are no "outliers" but I'm not sure if that's realistic given my tendency to buy things based on my emotions.

I just say just relax and enjoy what you have

Anonymous

They absolutely do!

rae

(website)

Veteran

Hm... yes, I'd say my colors do all go together, amazingly. Well.... there are some combos I don't love, but not because they necessarily clash. And I don't have a small wardrobe. I think it may be because there are not that many shades that look good on me. I have my base of neutrals - denim, charcoal, black, cool heather gray, cream, white - and then I have tropical brights - orange, lemon, lime, kiwi, orchid.

It's interesting that you say not all of your colors go, because your Pinterests seemed pretty harmonious.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Now they do. Once I made a conscious choice to even choose 'my' colors lol. I may have a piece here or there that isn't a perfect match but most everything jibes with the other pieces.

Preppy Pear

Veteran

Yes, but only because I am stuck in neutral! Mostly navy, charcoal, bit of black, bit of brown...I find experimenting with pattern less daunting then experimenting with color.

TraceyLiz65

(website)

Veteran

I don't purchase things unless I can quickly think of 3-5 ways I can style it with current wardrobe items....It has just become an automatic habit....

Anonymous

More or less, some items have only one or two things that go with them, but generally it all can mix and match. This was a conscious change for me and makes it easy to dress, layer, etc.

Astrid

Veteran

Thanks Shannon. I guess for me it's not really emotional buying, it's more that I don't find the perfect pieces in the perfect colors! That's why I think I should be more strict about it, but I find it difficult to do so. And many of my new purchases still aren't 100% right.

Thanks Ruth. How did you choose them?

Thanks Rae! I guess having a base of neutrals and then adding specific colors is a good way to go about it. I agree that my Pinterest looks harmonious, but I wouldn't say that about my clothes! Of course denim, black and grey always go, but it's the other colors that make it difficult. Most soft colors don't look too bad on me, as long as they aren't too bright or too pastell like. Many of these other colors clash to my eye, I have some fairly cool ones and then those with a warm undertone. These look horrible together IMO, although both groups work with the neutrals like denim, black or navy.

Thanks Mo. How did you choose? And how difficult was it to stick to it? What do you do if you see a great piece in a slightly wrong color for example?

Thanks Preppy Pear! I like neutrals, but I also love color and I definitely want to incorporate it into my wardrobe in a way that works for me.

Thanks Tracey! I do that too, but with this criterion I could buy two things that would clash with each other - know what I mean? Of course both items would work with enough combinations in my wardrobe, it's all fine as long as I have enough neutral pieces to work with. But what happens if I try to pare it down as much as possible?

Thanks A! That's what I want, I just have a difficult time getting there. There aren't that many things in my wardrobe that are pre-YLF.

Anonymous

@Astrid: I started out by figuring out which neutrals go best with my hair color and skintone. I then figured out which shade of red is my best, based it on what looks best with my inner lip color and with the color of my fingertips; and which colors enhance my eyes. Once I had that, I was able to buy other colors to coordinate with those "base" colors. Ironically, my self-chosen colors happen to be the same as the color palette recommended for Soft Summers. I bought various color swatches (Soft Summer, Soft Autumn, Cool Summer, Cool Winter and Deep Winter) just for curiosity, and that's what I discovered. Hope this helps.

Astrid

Veteran

Thanks Ruth, that helps! I actually was analyzed as a Soft Summer myself once and I still have that color swatch somewhere around, but I've never really used it. I'm also not completely sure about the result, the analysis didn't seem to be that professional to my mind.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Astrid, I had colors that I gravitated towards already. Red, green, blue and purple to be exact, with black and white as my cornerstone neutrals. The big change was choosing between black and brown instead of having both. Once I chose predominantly black, things got way easier. I do still have a smattering of brown pieces, but I basically traded most my brown in and bought black over the last 2 years.
I have some 'accent' neutrals like blushy taupe and of course denim blue. But when I look closely I can see that my 'big 4' colors are SO well represented that I have, for example, jeans/pants in each color, cardigans in each color, and even boots in each color! That was not conscious but rather by narrowing down to these, I ended up with them. (pic 2 is a bit older and I've purged many of the patterned pieces - that also makes things easier, if a little less exciting)

EDIT: I wanted to add that, yes, I have gotten rid of things based on being the wrong color and now don't buy things if the color is not right. I had 3 dresses this year I purged that looked great (fit wise) on me, but were in yellows and oranges, and another wine tone that's not quite red and not quite purple. I ruthlessly tossed them because of the color.

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Raisin

Veteran

I think most of mine do...like 90% because I'm drawn to the same colors when I shop. I do have a piece here or there that's off, but really not too many I can think of. 75% of my wardrobe is probably neutral like black, grey, and cream or white. And the others are mostly blue, navy, jeans, and beige or tan. I have a few hints of green, and that one yellow mustard top! That's probably my lone wolf! But everything's so neutral it goes with it all.

rachylou

Veteran

I chose four colors... and then strayed and added two more.

The first were: Navy, lilac/purple, cognac, and grey

Then I added: Teal and red

There's also black (and white accents), which I don't count. And a few strays in the forms of fuchsia, forest green, and citron.

I do think they all play together, not all at once. Some combos are loud of course, but I'm ok with that.

Carole

Veteran

I really like the idea of having everything go together and limiting the palette in my wardrobe, but I'm not sure that's realistic. It seems after awhile everything sort of looks too similar and you would grow tired of the same colors.

missvee

Veteran

I'd say relax and enjoy experimenting with colour. As long as you have some basic neutral pieces in your closet ( like jeans), you can add something different or unusual and be confident that it will go with something. And printed scarves are a great inexpensive unifier for anyone's wardrobe. Most of my colours are in autumn tones, but I've started to incorporate more turquoise, which I love with brown, green, and caramel.
Certain colours won't appeal to you at all ( for me it's pink or burgundy) so you won't even be tempted to try them. But I don't see the point of limiting your palette just so that everything goes with everything. It's different if you're packing for a trip - then you want maximum versatility.

Aziraphale

Veteran

I think you answered your own question -- yep, you could just relax about the whole colour thing.

Who says every item in your closet has to go with every other item? I've got lots of items that don't go together on account of their shape, never mind their colour -- you know, long tops that are meant to go with skinny jeans, and shorter, tighter tops that are meant to be paired with skirts, that sort of thing. I don't expect every top to go with every bottom. I think, if I tried to do that, my head might explode, haha.

It is true that, colour-wise, my wardrobe is pretty cohesive, but that's because I rely heavily on dark neutrals with just a few brightly coloured things. Most people wouldn't want a wardrobe like mine. With your closet, if there are lots of options for things that go together, and minimalism is what you want, then you're doing great.

Lisa

Veteran

I have a closet where MOST of my colors go together but I do have the occasional stand alone color that doesn't pair with anything else. The bulk of my wardrobe is black, blue and grey, and the colors I have are all cool based.

But I do have the occasional brown or warm based item too. I don't mind the stand alone colors because they are a refreshing change from my "usual" colors. But I am not interested in a large closet so I stick to the bulk of my new purchases that go with my core colors.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

Yes apart from 3 patterned tops that I don't wear with my 2 patterned bottoms (they would work colour-wise but I don't like them together). I have navy, grey & white with a little black as my neutrals & blues & greens with small amounts of reds & gold for colour. I think if you do want a smallish wardrobe getting the colours to mostly work is vital. The only things I have outside of these colours are a brown coat & brown bag, belts & boots - I love dark brown leather with navy & black so they work for me.

JR

Veteran

No, not quite. And I am fine with that. The core of my wardrobe is neutrals, and every other colour I have will go with the majority of the neutrals, and some of the other colours. And that is plenty good enough for me.

And even when colours match, styles also have to coincide, at least to a certain point. I think it would be far too restrictive to make everything capable of going with everything else, even in the context of a minimalist wardrobe.

Freckles

Veteran

Not at all. I'm somewhat old fashioned and don't like pink, red and burgundy worn together unless it is a print that combines all three colours and even then it has to be the right print.

Needless to say I have pinks, raspberry, burgundy, and reds in my wardrobe. The only time it annoys me is with one pair of shoes that are burgundy patent and would get a lot more wear if they were red.

Anonymous

I had my colours done and was a convert. I use my colour palette book all the time or else I end up with orphans. I google around to find polyvore sets in my colours. I also did not get rid of expensive things like winter coats or suits but add accessories or blouses in my colours...I agree, a mustard yellow or teal suit is not this century lol

DonnaF

Veteran

Good question. I have found that when a color is really right for me, the color at least will play well with a lot of my wardrobe (even if the fabric or style won't). Of course, this means being a bit daring with combos and putting orange with blue and the like. If the color is a bit *off* for me, like too pastel or too vivid to be truly flattering, it won't *go* with as much. BUT, I also had a red jacket that was as blue a red as I can go, and it went with almost nothing because more of my red spectrum skews orange -- and I found out that my orange jacket goes with almost everything!

An *eggplant* pepblum top that Zapotee linked to a week or so ago arrived today. The color was lovely online, but it is so dark it is almost brown, so it doesn't give any energy to my neutral bottoms since it seems to be a neutral color itself and does not look like it will play well with my colors but will pout alone. Will test it with a few more things before it goes back. So sad the teal was not available in my size.

cheryl

Veteran

No, all of my colors do not get along. I have a riot of color and pattern in my closet. I also have a large wardrobe and that works for me, I have no desire for a minimalist closet.

That being said, if you do strive for a minimal, cohesive wardrobe, you should defintely re look at your colors and start there. Pick your core neutrals and a couple of accent colors and go from there. http://www.thevivienne files and http://theproject333.com/ are a couple of good sites to read over to get you headed in the right direction.

It really amazes me the amount of combinations you can come up with, with a limited wardrobe. Good luck!

Marley

Veteran

Yes - my colors pretty much all go together. I have a good understanding of what colors look good on me and so I tend to buy only those colors - in different shades perhaps - but, still in the same color "family" - so it makes it easy to mix and match everything!

Jenava

(website)

Veteran

Yes, but not automatically. I've had to purge quite a lot and buy new things carefully. I'm keeping an eye on my collection of red ATM...it goes with most things but not easily...

Anne Boleyn

I have a "minimalist" wardrobe because of space constraints, so I chose a base color (brown) and have collected things that go with it. So not all of my clothes go together, but all of them go with brown... which makes up 1/3 of my wardrobe, and I wear some iteration of it every day. For example, all of my shoes except for my interview pumps are brown.

I do think it's totally okay to have things that don't go together, as long as they go with plenty of other things!!

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

I would say about 90% of my closet probably falls under the neutrals-peachy-pink-teal-and-navy umbrella, but it is pretty broad!

Astrid

Veteran

Thanks for your answer and the pictures, Mo! Very interesting.

Thanks RunnerRae! I think that's practical, being always drawn to the same colors. I have the problem that I love everything! I'm already relatively selective, but I don't have the fine-tuning right yet.

Thanks Rachylou! It's true that some combinations are louder than others in palette, but I think as long as the colors still go together that's not a problem. I like coloful outfits, on me and on others.

Thanks Carole! I can understand what you mean, but I don't think I would grow tired of them. I don't get tired of my clothes either if I love them, even if I wear them a lot. I guess you can always add a new accent color that goes with your other things if you feel bored.

Thanks Missvee! You're right, I'm going to try to relax a bit about it. But I don't want to forget about it either. I really think my wardrobe would benefit from me being more selective with my colors. I'm able to buy so few things - it makes sense that they all work towards my wardrobe goals (more or less).

Thanks Elisabeth! You're right of course, it doesn't have to go with everything - and it's true that it's not even possible with different shapes and silhouettes. But ideally I'd like a sweater for example that's shorter to wear with skirts to go with all (or almost all) of my skirts. Of course it won't work with my pants, because it's too short, but I will have the option to wear it with different skirts and that means lots of different possible combinations!

Thanks Lisa! A few different colors are not a problem, I guess I just want my 'core' wardrobe to be cohesive like yours.

Thanks Caro! Sounds nice.

Thanks JR! You're right of course that styles have to go with each other too, but I don't think that's a problem for me. The only thing that keeps me from pairing some items in my wardrobe is the color, stylewise it would be fine. Maybe because I don't really have any pieces that are really 'out there'.

Thanks Freckles! I actually love the combination of reds with pinks. As long as they go together - berry shades with cool red for example - I think it's a great combination.

Thanks A! I tried to shop with my color palette right after I got my colors done (a few years ago), but that didn't work for me. I had a hard time finding matching colors, or deciding if a color fit into the palette between colors that were pictured. The horrible lighting in the stores didn't help.

Thanks Donna! That shows how important the right color is. I had a similar red jacket once that looked off with almost everything, but for me it was the fact that it was too orange!

Thanks Cheryl! I guess if you like to have a big wardrobe it really doesn't matter as much. Thanks for the links - I know The Vivienne Files, but not Project333. I'm going to have a look!

Thanks Marley! Seems like it is possible to get there, I'm hopeful I will be at that point some day too.

Thanks Jenava! I think maybe I have to do some sorting by color and then see where I end up with my final count. I could divide into cool, warm and neutral and then have a look at what I'm wearing how often and in what way.

Thanks Anne! I also have space constraints, in fact my closet is fairly stuffed at the moment and I don't have that many things! I always wanted to do some purging elsewhere so that I could move some things out of the closet (towels, lounge and sportswear), but I didn't have time yet.

Thanks Lyn!

Aida

Veteran

Astrid, this is a very dear-to-my-heart topic! And my answer is yes; I theorize that if you stock your closet with colors that are truly flattering to you, then they will play together nicely because they've got that in common with each other. And this is regardless of how MANY colors you have in there. You'd only be limited by your own color experimentation threshold. I wrote up a longer explanation of my theory on this a while back, if you don't mind the cut and paste:

Color complexity is sort of built into my wardrobe because of my approach to color. I am an Equal Opportunity Color Wearer (as Mary has brilliantly put it), so I have many colors in my wardrobe; I also use _several_ neutrals as my "base" instead of just one or two (which can be tricky to manage); and I also also wear both cool and warm colors/neutrals, though I tend to prefer warmer shades.

With all of that in mind, I operate under this thought: Any color in my wardrobe can potentially be paired with any other color in there, because they share the commonality of being flattering to ME and therefore, on some level, must work with EACH OTHER. Maybe it's not quite a true blanket statement, but so far it has worked very well for me.

This is a very freeing concept! But can be quite a challenge to maintain. Not only do I need to be very disciplined regarding allowing only flattering colors into my wardrobe (which I suppose we should all be doing anyway) and keep track of which pieces are in what colors, I also need to keep track of which neutrals are used in which pieces; using less "base" neutrals would make this whole thing a LOT easier, as would using less colors. But it is a challenge I very much enjoy because it ultimately allows me to come up with really fun color combinations. I do feel like this concept would work regardless of how many colors one has in their wardrobe, as long as they are disciplined about what goes in.

So for myself, I try to stick to very clear, bright, and clean incarnations of colors; no "muddiness" via brown or gray. I could then theoretically pair any red item with any turquoise item in my closet. Your colors are softer than mine, so with that example your turquoise and red would have some gray in them; to properly flatter you, it'd probably be a similar amount of gray added and therefore the color saturation level would match and the colors would go together just as well as my clear ones did. Having the right neutrals in place is very key, though. I think that's the hardest part!

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