You’ve probably seen or used a color wheel at some point in your lives… maybe when decorating your home, scrapbooking, or doing some other creative project where you had to choose color schemes. But, have you ever used a color wheel in your wardrobe? Using a color wheel is one of our secrets to adding versatility to outfits, and bringing fun pops of color into your look. So, today we’re talking about how to use the color wheel to BAM up your wardrobe!
There are tons of ways to use your color wheel in your wardrobe, but let’s just chat about three of them: Split Complementary, Triad, and Complementary color combinations. If you’re a color-wheel-newbie, here’s what that means. Grab a color wheel and look in the center. There you’ll see two triangles, one that says “split complementary” and one that says “triad.” To use in your wardrobe, just spin your color wheel so the peak of the triangles points to the main color you’re wearing. Then build on your main piece by accessorizing it in the other colors of either the split complementary or triad combinations. Also pay attention to the colors directly across from each other on your color wheel. They are called complementary and are super fun when paired together.
Case in point: my blue-green shirt. The Split complementary colors for blue-green are orange and red. Before I embraced the color wheel in my wardrobe, I would have just worn that shirt with my jean shorts and some metallic jewelry to accessorize (like maybe some big silver earrings and a fun cuff bracelet), and it would have been perfectly fine. In fact, I still do that sometimes and it’s super cute. But by adding that orange scarf, BAM!! The outfit became so much more fun!!
Just so you know, my red accessories and red heels just weren’t right for this particular outfit, so instead Bethany and I brought some red into the background of our shoot to illustrate the split complementary color combination (doesn’t that look cool?!). Except, life is not a photo shoot, and we can’t walk around carrying a super-cool urban background with us. Bummer! So, just work with what you have in your wardrobe. Color combos often work best in threes, but don’t toss out a great opportunity to use color accents if you can’t work in all three. My outfit still totally worked without any red and just the orange scarf as a fun pop of different color.
Create more versatility with the same clothing piece by wearing it a different day and using the Triad colors instead of the split complementary colors. Keep in mind, your pairings can be as simple as adding a necklace or scarf, earrings, and cuff bracelet, or as bold as creating your color combos through layering your clothing pieces. You can always keep your shoes and accessories neutral.
One last tip … color blocking is super hot right now, especially in bright shades of color! Color blocking is pairing your top and bottom pieces in two Complementary colors resulting in a bold and colorful statement. These combos are for the days you really want to stand out. Does the "Sassy You" want to give it a shot? Just grab your color wheel and get inspired by the perfect color combo.
So get yourself a color wheel ladies and keep it handy when getting dressed! Take it with you when you shop. Be creative, work in some new color combinations, and have some fun BAM-ing your wardrobe with the color wheel!
Yours in style,
Adrianne
