One of the greatest challenges men face when putting an outfit together is the ability to combine colours. Its still an unsolved mystery but I tend to believe many of us just don’t take deep interest into understanding or appreciating the amount of logistics required to dressing and building an expansive and versatile wardrobe.
Most of us simply focus on individual pieces as opposed to focusing on the bigger picture. I’ve been a victim of this too and still developing, but the good news is Ill be providing a few tips to certainly move you past a few growth steps on your wardrobe development journey.
The first thing to understand are the various clothing colours combination categories – Fundamental colours, accents colours and the complementary colours. Your fundamentals are the blues, greys, browns. Accent colours are those focused on lifting and adding punch to your wardrobe. Whilst, complimentary colours (which we’ll be focusing on today) are of opposite ends on the colour wheel which instantly provide an outfit depth and richness.
Aubergine Pinstripe Double-Breasted Suit Jacket – Marquess London, Mustard Yellow Roll Neck – COS, White Trousers – Marquess London, Gold Socks – COS, Double Strap Monk Shoes – Scarosso | Photographed by: Raphael
So I decided to go for something along the lines of Violet and Yellow.
I commissioned a two piece Aubergine double breasted Marquess London pinstripe suit for my 25th and was keen to wearing each piece individually, apart from its intended two piece pairing.
So without further ado – My starting point was the pinstripe Aubergine lightweight double breasted suit jacket. As is usually the case, I intended on sporting a look out of the ordinary with the possibilities of embracing the season. And most especially, not having to tone down the Aubergine or wear it in a more fall suited way by pairing it with deep colours. This was followed by my inner garment choice of mustard yellow as I wanted the contrasting to be achieved in the upper frame so to tone down the contrasting feel, due to the inner piece being subdued underneath the suit jacket. A good tactic when attempting such mixes for the first time.
This was then followed my my choice of trousers,(with my footwear and socks at the back of my mind) – I opted for a white pair of Trousers.
White is prime neutral example which absorbs the bold colours and helps tones down the richness to the naked eyes, allowing the combination to work seamlessly which the gives the footwork more opportunity to hold a similar rich combination. Its also like a blank canvas which avoids it from colour competing or adding any extra chef to the meal.
On the feet were my blue double strap monks paired with Gold socks. The White trousers splitting the repetitive complementary matching makes it less distinct.
Remember, contrasting colour gives character and depth to the outfit. And a good take the Spring/Summer season. Use a maximum of three base colours, whilst ensuring at least one is of a soft tone to keep the look balanced and not forced or pretentious.
I hope you enjoyed your read.
Your Favourite Stylist,
Yinka Jermaine
