Today, I am going to explain how to choose a colour palette for your capsule wardrobe.
One of the great things about capsule wardrobes is that every item goes with everything else in your wardrobe. They make getting dressed easy and, whatever the weather, season or ocassion, you will always have an outfit to wear. (This is a subject that I’ve written about in-depth before and you can read that blog post here.)
One of the key reasons why that is so is that all of the items in a capsule wardrobe use the same colour palette. This ensures that your capsule wardrobe is cohesive. It allows you to mix and match items. It is why that they work so well. Today, I am going to explain how to choose a colour palette for your capsule wardrobe.
Before we get into though, it is time for Today's Question: which is your favourite colour and why? Comment below.
So how do you select a colour palette for your capsule wardrobe?
Well, first of all, you probably want to identify the purpose of your capsule wardrobe i.e. what is it for? Is it for a season, a holiday or particular events? The purpose is likely to determine the colour palette that you choose.
In summer time, you will probably want want to wear lighter colours; in winter time, darker colours (at least, if you live in the Northern hemisphere). If you are going on holiday somewhere tropical, you will probably pick some brighter colours; if you are going on a beach holiday in northern France, you may want to choose colours that reflect the location (e.g. nautical blues and whites, as well as neutral greys, pinks and beiges).
Yes but how do you narrow it down to only a few cohesive colours?
Once you’ve identified the purpose of your capsule wardrobe, next I would recommend that you narrow it down to only a few cohesive colours by picking:
3 neutral colours;
3 complimentary colours; and
1 or 2 accent colours.
What do I mean by “neutral colours”? Well, these are the basic colours in your wardrobe that pair with everything e.g. black, white, beige, grey, navy blue, brown etc. If you take a look in your wardrobe, you will probably see that most items are in one or more of these colours. And that’s probably the best way to pick your 3 neutral colours. Which 3 colours do you have the most of in your wardrobe? Select these three.
How about “complimentary colours”, what are they? These are the ones which add ‘temperature’ or depth to your wardrobe - the colours which may be either warm or cool tone. They include the creams, tans or camels, pale greens or blues, light or mid greys etc. If you were to take out all of from neutral colour pieces from your wardrobe, most of the remaining items are likely to be in these colours. Again, you want to select 3 complimentary colours.
And finally “accent colours”, what are they? Well, these are the pops of colour in your wardrobe. They include the bright splashes of pink, blue, burgundy, purple, red, orange, yellow, gold, silver and green etc. I would recommend choosing 1 or 2 accent colours.
Hopefully the chart below helps to explain this:
In short, all of the colours that you pick should be complimentary. Remember, you want everything to mix and match.
Ok what happens if you are not very good with colours. How can you find a tried and tested formula which works?
Well, there is a lot of inspiration out there. Pinterest is a wonderful resource and will provide you will endless colour palettes. I’ve also created these ones to inspire you:
As well as this, I create an Edit for each season. Each one uses a different colour palette. They are usually made up of 10-20 of my top clothing picks for the season ahead. You can see my latest Summer Edit here.
I really hope that helps you with selecting a colour palette for your next capsule wardrobe!
You may also like to read some of my previous blog posts like Capsule wardrobe basics: white or black or Top 5 investment pieces for your capsule wardrobe or How to style one dress x 5 ways.
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