One benefit of having a favourite colour scheme (pink/cream) is that it’s easy to create outfits since all of my accessories already match. However, it does become challenging when I buy something different – like this vibrant green blouse. I fell in love with the Festival Tank from cabi because of the ruffle sleeves and pretty floral print – but I don’t own anything else in this shade – so I turned to Colour Theory to plan my outfit.
Outfit c/o cabi: Festival Tank / Trouser Jeans
Colour Theory uses a colour wheel (like the one pictured below) to explain how colours interact with each other. I’ve read a lot about Colour Theory over the years, because it has a lot of everyday applications – from art and fashion to haircare (For example, did you know why purple shampoo fixes brassy highlights? It’s because purple is on the opposite side of the colour wheel from yellow, so it neutralizes yellow tones!) There is a lot to learn – but for the purpose of this post, I’m going to keep my descriptions very basic.
When picking out what colours to wear together – you have several options:
- Monochromatic – wearing shades or tints of the SAME colour
- Opposite/Complementary colours – wearing colours on the OPPOSITE side of the colour wheel
- Side-by-side/Analogous colours – wearing colours NEXT to each other on the colour wheel
Here’s a real-life application of using Colour Theory to plan my outfit:
- Monochromatic – I could have picked out various shades of green to wear together (which I did to an extent with the earrings and handbag)
- Complementary colours – the colour opposite to green in the colour wheel is red, so I could have added contrasting pops of red for a vibrant look
- Analogous colours – green is surrounded by blue on one side and yellow on the other. In this case, I opted for the blue side and paired my green top with some dark blue denim.
For my accessories – I went for a neutral shade and picked out this straw hat. I also chose neutral/tan heels. In an ideal world I would have preferred navy heels – but since I mainly wear pink and cream, I don’t own many deeper coloured accessories.
The interesting thing about Colour Theory is that a lot of us use it already without even realizing it – we pair items together because it “feels right” – but if we analyze our choices, they often follow the rules of colour theory!
Do you use Colour Theory to plan your outfits?
This is a sponsored post in collaboration with cabi
