One of the wardrobe techniques we explored at the last “5 Techniques to Unleash Your Inner Stylista and Exude More Success” workshop is to become fearless with color.

There are a few different ways you can create inspired color combinations and new outfits with your clothes you already own.

The first and easiest way to form a color scheme is to select 2 neutral colors and 1 or more accent colors. I’m sure you probably know what neutrals colors are, but I’ll go ahead and define it. Neutral colors are those that go with almost any other color. Of course we have white and beige, but other neutrals include black, navy, tan, taupe, ivory, cream, gray, etc.

What I find is that a lot of women I work with want to appear professional, and neutral colors are considered very professional, but they’re just not sure how to go beyond combining their neutrals with other neutrals.

Pairing neutrals with neutrals is virtually fool proof, but especially with all of the color we’re seeing in the stores right now, these combinations seem a bit safe, and from what I hear friends and client all the time…a bit boring.

On the other hand, combining neutral colors with lighter or brighter accent colors can yield you some really interesting clothing combinations! Almost everyone has black and white in their wardrobes, so wearing black and white and adding in a bright color is a great way to get started with your color scheme. I’m absolutely crazy for purple, so I love the ease of black, white and purple as a color scheme in my closet.

The advantages of building color schemes are:

• It makes it easy to create new outfits when you’ve got a plan in mind. Originating outfits is easier when you know what colors you’re going to work with.
• You can feel start to feel confident buying interesting accessories in your accent colors like the purple shoes, handbag, earrings, ring and bracelets, etc…(although I don’t recommend wearing them all at the same time.)
• You’ll naturally begin to see more outfits in your closet and know what kinds of things to add to create even more looks.

The photo below shows what I call my “lime in the coconut” color scheme. The mocha brown shade, ivory and lime green make up another of my favorite combinations. The effect is natural and a bit whimsical. And it’s so much more fun that brown and ivory alone. Yet it’s still perfectly professional and you can see in the picture that there are some fun, weekend looks in the color scheme too.

Next is a completely different color combination. Below, you can see that I’ve used nature as my inspiration for this grouping. Here, I’ve used the blue from the sky and the white from the daisies. Then if you look closely at the underside of some of the daisies, you’ll see the sort of creamy, yellowish beige tone that’s in the printed blouse and shoes.

 

This is already a great capsule of clothes. Can you see how many combinations we’ve got just from the 6 pieces of clothes? Can you picture how many more outfits we could make if we add in one more color? The middle of the daisies appears to be black, so we could also add black to our color scheme. Can you imagine how many more outfits we could create simply by adding one black top and some black shoes?

Hopefully by now you’re starting to see how creating these color schemes that include 2 neutrals and an accent color not only expands your professional wardrobe, but because you’ve got the color continuity, you can combine dressier items with casual items, and you’ve got some really great looks.

I guarantee that when you really start to dive into different color combinations, you won’t be bored with your wardrobe anymore, and you’ll love how you look when you leave the house every day…your confidence builds and you exude success.

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