Your ratio of colours:neutrals?

Runcarla

I have most of my clothes and accessories in Finds, so it was easy to figure out the ratio of neutrals to colour in my closet. 2:3 My colours are lilac, red, golden beige/taupe, and my neutrals are black, dark blue, and white.

How does you closet break down vis a vis the ratio of colours to neutrals?

Note: neutrals can vary. Some might consider beige/taupe a neutral (I’m not there yet) and blue a colour - and it’s all okay!

3 years ago

General

50 replies

Latest reply was from Stagiaire Fash

nemosmom

Veteran

No one said math would be involved!

Neutrals lead in my wardrobe at almost 70%.

My neutrals are olive, chocolate, toffee, cognac, white/ivory, charcoal.

My colors are petrol blue/teal, mustard, burgundy, kelly/forest green.

I didn't include blue denim in my numbers, and I constantly waiver on whether I should count them as neutral or color... Sometimes they read as color; others they read as neutral. Maybe it depends on my mood

An interesting metric for me is contrast - the majority of my wardrobe (91%) is dark (also excluding blue denim)... I suspect there are some outliers (e.g., lighter shades of olive), but that number seems really high...

3 years ago

Anonymous

I'm quite sure I have more colors than neutrals (excepting my all black sleepwear), but I want to be the opposite. Black is by far the most represented neutral, but it's problematic with my purples, teals, and dark greens. Too much coolness for my coloring, especially in winter when I'm covered up.
So- I decided I'm not adding more of those colors, unless I have a strong dark brown capsule.

My neutrals are black, browns, and beige, but I wear cinnamon/burnt orange, olive and burgundy as neutrals too. I'm considering readding charcoal, t give dimension to black outfits.

Blue is definitely a color in my world. I know people say jeans go with everything- but I only like them with neutrals on me.

3 years ago

Irina

Veteran

My neutrals are black, navy/denim, whites, cream, beige, grey: about 90% of my wardrobe.
My colors are camel/caramel, olive/green and some random colors, one per item like lilac, baby blue, yellow, rust, burgundy, teal (3 items), butterscotch, chartreuse, red (3 items): about 10%.

3 years ago

Murph11

Veteran

I'm impressed with your razor focus, Runcarla. I'm all-over-the-map.

3 years ago

The Cat

Veteran

I estimate that around 40% of my wardrobe items are colours and 60% neutrals. So this is 2:3 in my case too, Carla.

My colours: lemon yellow, bluish pinks, bluereds, purples, blues (except deep blue), turquoise, teal, and emerald greens.

My neutrals: white, greys, silver, beige pink, cool browns, deep blue, and black.

3 years ago

nuancedream

Veteran

I am about 1/3 neutral and 2/3 color in my wardrobe. Brown/camel/beige and ivory/cream/ecru are my primary neutrals. Black, grey and dark blue have small supporting roles as bottoms or footwear. Red, orange, yellow/gold/mustard, lime, olive are my colors.

3 years ago

Minaminu

Veteran

Majority of my wardrobe is neutral, with cream, black, navy and 2 burgundy pieces! I am slowly adding some blush/pink as an accent colour!

3 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Eh, I’d put it at 1:10. I wear cream, black, dark grey or dark navy often - but it’s the same sweater, shoes and coat over and over.

3 years ago

cat2

Veteran

1/3 neutral, 2/3 colors.

3 years ago

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I'll have to think about this more and come back...

3 years ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Difficult to tell. Neutrals are black, white, cream, charcoal, pewter. Black and white print is well represented and I suppose counts??
So I *think* from my lists it’s between 1/4 and 1/3 with the rest colours as accents. Neutrals are a base.
Also, olive is a colour for me not a neutral. Definitely more colours in my summer wardrobe than my winter, I just feel more cheerful then!

3 years ago

April

Veteran

RC, I am probably 80% neutrals, all of them cool-toned. I am now realizing that what I need is not necessarily additional colors, but more print to break up the blocks of solid/solid/solid that can make things feel boring.

Since letting my hair revert to its natural silver, I'm also finding myself adding more pieces in cooler colors like steel blue.

3 years ago

notsaf

Veteran

Well, basically all my colors are neutrals Camel, olive, blue, black, a touch of grey, white and done.

I have just a few pieces in dusty pink, peacock green, oxblood, and saturated dark blue: https://youlookfab.com/finds/c.....ction=8156.

I don't count, but it must be 95% neutrals. Even my other colors are pretty quiet. I am what Angie calls "color mixing averse" -- and it was such a lightbulb for me when I realized that and started thinking in color capsules to suit!

3 years ago

Ginger

Veteran

I don't have lists, but I know that colors outweigh neutrals, and probably by a significant percentage. Guessing 60-70% colors. Most neutrals are outerwear, bottoms, and footwear.

My collection of dresses is the biggest influence, since it is probably 95% colors. A dress is an outfit in itself, so it's going to be a color except on rare occasions. I have several black dresses for choral performance.

3 years ago

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

My ratio is just the opposite of yours, Carla. 3:2, neutrals:colors. I counted blue jeans as a neutral, but olive as a color.

3 years ago

Bonnie

Veteran

After a quick look at my Finds, I would say 75% neutral and 25% color. All my pants and dresses are neutral, most of my shoes and layering tops are neutral. I wear color in tops, toppers, and coats but not exclusively.

3 years ago

LaPed

Veteran

I get stuck counting when I get to denim and olive. Olive is more versatile for me than blue denim at this point; it's easier to pair and feels more "backdrop" when I wear it. I still have a lot of denim and chambray, but am more judicious about how I combine them with other colours. And then... is sage a colour, or is it just a lighter shade of my (predominantly cool) olives? I also have a lot of browns that are probably neutrals in a technical sense, but act more like colours in my wardrobe because I don't have enough pieces in any one brown to make a complement or capsule, just a bunch of one-off pieces.

I think, like Helena pointed out in a thread a few months ago, I tend to think of everything except black and white as a colour, and I treat black as a base neutral and white as an accent neutral. But then, the rest of my wardrobe is so nearly-neutral (navy, olive, burgundy) that my outfits tend to read as neutral even if I feel colourful wearing them.

3 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

I don’t keep a list or spreadsheet like some do, so this is a wild guess. My neutrals are grey, navy/dark blue, white and olive. I think my proportion of neutral to color is around 70/30. Nearly all of my pants/crops/shorts/skorts are neutral. My tops are split between neutral and color. My winter clothes tend toward more neutral, but my summer clothes are more colorful. I think this is because in winter I’ll add a scarf to neutrals, but not in summer.

3 years ago

Sloper

Veteran

Intuitively responding (away from closets at the moment):

70% neutrals - blacks, whites, greys, cream/khaki, olive, denim
30% colors - for clothing: blues, greens, 2-3 florals. My scarves are in all colors, though mostly blues, greens, purples, pinks. One bright orange scarf I bought during March Madness for my school - Syracuse.

Over the past several years, the black portion of my wardrobe has decreased, lighter "neutral to me" colors have increased, and I've added florals quite recently (my regular pattern of choice is stripes).

3 years ago

kkards

Veteran

Well. This was actually very eye opening- I wasn’t surprised that my wardrobe is very neutral but I would have guessed it was more neutral than the numbers show. Right now I’m about 75% neutral. I did count denim, and my numbers included shoes & outerwear, but not accessories like scarfs. My non neutrals are red, pink, metallic and floral.

3 years ago

Sal

Veteran

I am roughly 75% neutral and 25% colour.

I included white, ecru, black, olive, navy, blush, greys and soft blue, denim and all browns as neutrals.

In reality I think it skews more like 66/33 as some of those pieces are not really neutral.

Black is still my dominant neutral and about 25% of my wardrobe - interesting as I thought I had reduced that. A couple of these pieces are gear, and quite a few shoe and three bags.

ETA - just looked a bit more deeply and I had categorised some bold prints with a background of black as black, they are not really neutral.

3 years ago

Joy

Veteran

My ratio is about 5 neutrals for each accent colored piece. I also often wear all neutral outfits. I wear almost all neutrals in colder weather. I am counting olive and browns as neutrals but not blush pink. That may be a mistake as I have very few browns and have thought of making them a color. They and olive are my main neutrals for fall so we will see how that goes.

3 years ago

Runcarla

Veteran

@ Sal - I get how the amount of black that creeps into the closet can be a surprise! I wouldn’t have thought of my closet as having a lot of black, but like you, it’s 25% of my wardrobe and all garment types are represented.

@ nemosmom - your mention of contrast made me look again, and counting ‘clothes only’ the ratio is 2:1:4 - light, medium, dark. If I hadn’t fallen for lilac, it would probably skew even darker.

Question for the colour averse, or those who are just lovers of a neutral palette - do you ‘filter’ for your neutrals whether shopping online, or in B&M? What draws your eye when you shop - shape? details?

3 years ago

Irina

Veteran

When I shop in B&M, my eyes are automatically picking out clothes in my neutrals, I just drawn to those colors. Next, I need to touch a garment, feel it. Most of the time I can determine if a garment made of natural fibers, it’s crucial for me since I avoid synthetics. Shapes and details come after that.

3 years ago

nemosmom

Veteran

Ooh interesting… I did include all shoes and accessories in my numbers, but no patterns. And, I did not think to break out by season, either…. I should take a closer look at just clothes… Homework!

Re: “filtering”: I’ve had to force myself to add neutrals over the past year or so. My default has been to just buy the green one of whatever piece I was looking at A newfound appreciation for black and having dark brown available at retail again have helped me alter course - and it’s easy to filter online. B&M shopping is harder. I still gravitate to the green thing!

3 years ago

Sloper

Veteran

Like Irina, when shopping, my eye is automatically drawn to my neutrals.

Sometimes an extra-special fabric, pattern or shape will speak to me despite the colors. And sometimes a color outside my comfort zone jumps out at me.

Hmmm - so that sounds like I pay attention to everything?

3 years ago

Anonymous

Most of my closet is neutral . I’d guess 80% of it , anyways . I consider olive , rust , saffron as neutral though because they still are the bases for outfits that aren’t black . I get colour in footwear and accessories .

3 years ago

notsaf

Veteran

Angie put me on a very strict diet of no orphans and, RC, you taught me about color paletting, so I am quite focused about color when I shop either online or in person. Brick and mortar is a good opportunity to experiment with silhouettes and to audition new colors, but they need to really wow me to follow me home.

3 years ago

Sal

Veteran

I have to be careful not to have ALL the colours, I like neutrals and earth colours and bright spring tones.....they are all appealing to me. Pastels, neon, and cool muddy colours don't draw me in at the moment but mustard and golden yellow, coral, blush, warm green, tomato red, shocking pink, and toffee brown are all right up my street along with ecru, warm white, warm olive, black, denim blue, navy, camel and caramel.... (and a few scattered others)

3 years ago

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