With bright colours leading the trends forecast for spring/summer 2022, this year has exploded in a burst of fuchsia, cobalt blue and tangerine orange as the style has become bolder than ever. Now, with the weather getting warmer and the vibrant colours from fashion month trickling down into high-street stores, there is no better time to experiment with colour than this summer. For those who prefer a more neutral palette, wearing colour may seem quite daunting, especially if you are unsure of where to start.
Grasping the concept of adding colour to your wardrobe is understanding colour itself. The colour wheel, made up of primary, secondary and tertiary colours, provides a simple all-in-one visual to understand colour theory and colour harmony.
These concepts are the guidelines designers use to understand the colour schemes which influence their decision-making when designing a collection, but they can also be useful when styling colourful items together.
Complimentary pairings are those colours opposite each other in the colour wheel. High in contrast, they clash with one another, providing a vibrant palette perfect for someone wanting to make a statement with their style.
Split-complementary pairings are similar but feature three hues instead of just two, allowing for the main colour to stand out in contrast to the two supporting colours.
Analogous colour harmony involves three hues next to one another on the colour wheel. Within a similar colour scheme, the subtle contrast provides a more cohesive palette to style within.
Triadic harmony involves three evenly spaced colours on the wheel, whilst tetradic and square harmony involves four. These three combinations provide high contrast and vibrant outfits, just don’t overload your outfit with too many colours, opt for one key and two or three supporting colours to not overdo it.
Lastly, monochromatic colour harmony involves one colour in various shades and tones, providing a more sophisticated outfit that blends seamlessly together.
With an understanding of these harmonies providing guidance for which colour combinations work best, you can then move on to implementing colour into your wardrobe with a selection of tips to develop your style to suit the vibrant trends this coming season.
Accessorise
Ease yourself in the process by adding bright accessories such as jewellery, bags and even makeup to whatever outfit you feel most comfortable in. This provides a subtle addition to your already established style without having to dive head first into a full colourful outfit.
Pastels
Although pastels had their moment in previous years and 2022 is all about the bolder tones, opting for a lighter colour palette can help to ease the stress of looking too garish, giving a softer addition of colour perfect for spring.
Bright top and jeans
Adding colour to your style does not have to mean buying a whole new wardrobe, in fact, buying all new clothes can be risky if you are unsure how comfortable you will feel in colour. If you are ready for bolder tones, test out which colours you like best by styling bright tops with your favourite bottoms within your own style.
The HERO item
If you want the colour to feature throughout your style but not dominate it, try investing in a selection of hero pieces. Styling them with a neutral base will make the items stand out, elevating your look to a different level.
Go all out
Once you feel more confident with colour, try your hand at styling multiple colours together using colour harmony as explained previously, and start building your wardrobe up with more vibrant items to expand your style.
For inspiration, watch how Kindred.'s design and social media editor styles colour for spring/summer.
Let us know your tips for adding colour to your wardrobe for summer in the comments below.
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