How to Combine Colors Correctly - Here's How to Succeed!

Some things you have to consciously learn, while for others you have a natural instinct. Everyone probably knows that some things work on the first try, while others take thirty attempts and still don’t get better. But practice makes perfect.

It’s the same with Combining colors correctlySome people have a knack for combining colors correctly; others have to learn it first. By the way, I count myself among the latter.

Combining colors correctly - purely a matter of practice

Especially in fashion, I have learned through writing this blog that there is a steep learning curve. You can’t know, do, or master everything. You have to acquire things step by step:

• Understand,
• learn
• and implement it – then it works.

The topic of colors in one’s own outfit plays an important role here.

In the past, I found it dreadful to combine colors correctly and to wear something other than jeans and printed T-shirts. Even today, I still prefer “tone-on-tone” looks because they are so wonderfully simple. But by now, it’s no problem to enhance my own outfits with a bit of color and to move stylishly along color paths that once felt unfamiliar to me.

If, like I used to, you prefer tone-on-tone looks, you can find a good starting point, for example, with pants and skirts in muted tones – earth tones and muted colors can almost always be combined without much thought.

But where do you start? The best way is to begin by considering: Which colors suit my type?

The color wheel maps the relationships between the colors of the rainbow. The primary colors (red, blue, yellow) divide the wheel evenly into thirds.

Halfway between each primary pair is the respective "secondary" color (green, violet, orange). This pattern repeats throughout the entire color wheel.

Colors that lie opposite each other on the color wheel are complementary. The blue/orange color combination is especially common in everyday life. Not only in clothing but also in movie posters, commercials, etc. Just sharpen your eye for it a bit.

Three things play an important role in understanding color relationships and combining colors correctly:

• Hue - the color itself
• Saturation - the intensity of the color
• Brightness - the amount of white or black mixed with the color

Even small changes in one of the three points noticeably affect the color play. However, it can be noted that colors with the same level of saturation and brightness harmonize well together. In other words, all hues with the same brightness and saturation look good in combination. Except for black, white, and gray. Obviously.

Incorporating a single color into an outfit is therefore not a big problem. You just have to make sure that it harmonizes with the saturation and brightness of the other colors in the look. If these are on the same level, the combination of colors works smoothly.

Step 3 - Mastering Color Combinations with a Color Palette

Let's dive a little deeper into the successful combination of different colors in your own outfit. After the basic understanding of your own color type and the relationship of colors to each other through the color wheel is clarified, it is important to understand how a color palette can help us master the combination of colors.

It is not necessarily required that colors share the same brightness and saturation and/or are complementary to each other for them to visually match. Some colors work and appear intuitive together without you having to

• Rules,
• Formulas
• and can explain guidelines.

At least not short and crisp. These color arrangements that match each other are also called color palettes.

The color palette offers a very big advantage. Because with it, starting from already existing clothing items, you can define your own color arrangement. This makes the combination much easier.

Simply determine a color tone as close as possible to the clothing item on a suitable website, such as paletton.com, to get your own color palette displayed.

The Blog As Rakestraw analyzed several outfits with this very website last year to see which colors harmonize well and can be combined. I have included some of the photos for you.

Combining colors - not rocket science

As you can see, with three simple steps you have come significantly closer to the goal of combining colors correctly for your outfit. There is no big secret behind it. Rather, it is about gaining a general understanding and applying it accordingly to draw conclusions. The result can definitely be impressive.