The Art of Wearing Colours: Red, Blue and Yellow

As discussed last week there are three primary colours – red, yellow and blue. These colours can be used to style outfits. There are also many different shades of these colours. For example, most people would not choose to wear yellow clothes that are very bright and very light. It just is not a colour choice that is seemingly popular nor one most people are drawn too. Whereas, mustard yellow is quite popular and is one of my personal favourites.

The important point to take away from this is that within colours there are shades of that colour. With time you’ll realise which shades are your favourites and which suit you. There are multiple reasons why a shade of colour may suit you. For example, I have very pale skin hence I am suited to darker toned colours – mustard yellow being a perfect example of this.

If I were to wear a lighter yellow colour it would simply disappear into my skin and it would be very hard to determine I was wearing clothes from a distance. A similar thing happens if I try to wear light pinks. Whereas deeper tones of colours stand out against my skin and work to compliment my hair – which is dark brown. Thus, when I am clothes shopping, I am instantly drawn to darker tones because I know they have a better chance of suiting me.

This is the same when I wear red and blue. I tend to wear dark blues for very similar reasons to wearing darker tones of yellow. Additionally, as someone who doesn’t wear much black, dark blue can be a very formal colour and can look incredibly smart when paired with brown. When I wear red, I like wearing bright, vibrant reds. Almost a cherry red.

At face value, you may be reading this wondering how does she wear these colours and make it look any shred of presentable. What I would like to do this post is to show you how to with a couple of pieces of clothes that I have, which are these colours and show how I can mix and match them into various outfits.

Wearing different colours is all about experimentation. It is honestly a process of trial and error. Sometimes I try on a combination of pieces which in my head look fantastic but do not go well together. This is okay. This is part of the experience. No one ever did anything perfectly the first time around and this is no different.

Wearing colours is trial and error. It is part of the experience. Something you can never experiment with if you stick to blacks and whites. It is also something that with time you’ll realise the colours which suit you and which do not. I was talking about this with a friend recently and we both agreed there are colours which suit us and colours which do not.

To begin with I would like to discuss the photo to the right. This photo features a blue princess highway dress. This dress is a deeper blue and has a white pattern. The shape of the pattern is not definite. It could be a butterfly, a bird or simply two triangles joined at there points. The dress also has a peter pan collar and buttons up the front. This combination combines to give the dress quite a cute and whimsical feeling.

This dress is paired with deep blue tights. These tights are the same colour as the dress and thus match the dress very well. The dress is also worn with brown lace-up boots. These boots have a very distinctive pattern – an oxford shoe pattern. I love shoes which have this pattern. I think it brings personality and texture to shoes which turns them from a simple lace-up boot to one which is more distinctive.

Over the dress is worn a yellow cardigan. Once again, this cardigan whilst a lighter yellow has a darker undertone. This darker undertone makes it more of an effective colour choice for me. Additionally, though I love this cardigan because of the pattern. The cardigan is from Princess Highway and features ducks. I have a personal love of birds. In particular, ducks, as I have had pet ducks since I was a little girl.

This is one of those pieces I have discussed earlier. A piece which expresses something important about you as an individual. Something which you can wear and lead to a conversation on one of your interests or loves. The pattern features the ducks standing upright spaced between blue hearts. Above the band of the cardigan is a series of white pyramids which are placed below the ducks in the same colour.

Over this (considering it is winter here and permanently cold), I would wear a yellow coat. This coat is wool and reaches mid-thigh. It has a high collar as well and contributes to the same whimsical and cute style as the dress.

When this outfit is worn together it looks cohesive and the colours work well together. This is divergent from what you may think from the onset. But as I said above this is trial and error. The colour combinations of the clothes I wear is something I have taken time to develop and as I said above can only really be done through practice and thus can be easily attainable.

Another example of an outfit which I have constructed from primary colours is seen in the above photo. In this photo, you can see a red Princess Highway pinafore. This pinafore is the perfect winter piece as it can easily be worn with many outfits and is highly versatile. Under this pinafore, I have worn a white turtleneck.

Over the top of this, I would wear a blue Princess Highway cardigan. This cardigan has on the front top left and right corners a carousel horse. For those who do not know what a carousel is - you are missing out. But for the sake of clarity, a carousel is a traditional fairground ride where you sit on a horse which has the distinctive pole which holds the horse up. The horse then spins around with the ride and moves up and down.

This is done at a very leisurely pace and is at its heart a children’s ride. My Dad loves carousels and consequently when I was a kid (admittedly probably even now), whenever my family came across one, we would go on it. Thus, I associate memories with carousels and they always make me think of my Dad. Therefore, I was drawn to this cardigan in the shop. The dark blue tone of the cardigan is also a colour which I like. Additionally, the scalloping patterning at the end of the sleeves and the base of the cardigan add an extra design component which I like. Over this (once again because of the winter conditions), I would wear a blue coat.

Additionally, I would wear red tights to match the pinafore. I have a particular pair of red tights which are woollen and thus are very warm. Furthermore, they have a pattern on them which adds texture and a further layer of interest to the outfit. I would finish the outfit with gold lace-up shoes which add a touch of sparkle to the outfit.

Overall, what I am aiming to show through this post is the viability of matching primary colours together to form fashionable outfits. As explained earlier there is significant trial and error involved in finding a colour scheme which suits you. But with practice and experimentation, it can be achieved. Hopefully, this post and my upcoming posts provide you with some inspiration on doing this successfully and some insight into colour combinations which might be a good place to start. As with everything you cannot expect perfection on your first, or realistically your second try.

It is also important to remember that clothes, just like everything else in life is subjective. So, if you have put together some clothes in a colour palette you like and your bold and brave enough to wear it then go for your life. The most important thing at the end of the day is your comfort – if you achieve that, then you are taking the right approach.