Your Winter Wardrobe
How to plan you're best winter wardrobe
COLOUR AND CULL FIRST
Now is a great time to be thinking about getting your winter wardrobe organized
Have you culled your summer and winter clothes yet?
Best to move all your summer things to another wardrobe and then check out what you have in the closet from last season, in winter clothes.
I hope you are sorting with your seasonal colours in mind.
You can never create a functional and stylish wardrobe unless you are working around the colours that suit you.
Remember if you do only work with your colours, there are literally thousands of colours to choose from, so variety and co-ordination should never be an issue.
If your wardrobe is looking mono colours then something is seriously wrong.
Get out your colour swatch and get creative with the many colours you can wear. Learn about how to choose your colours according to your colour swatch and seasonal colours. If you need help I can help you with that.
Once you have chosen the right colours then the simple style tips I share can help you to choose the right outfits you’ll love.
WHAT ARE YOUR STAPLE PIECES?
The best way to plan your wardrobe is to start with your staple pieces, in your seasonal colours of course
What are your staple pieces?
Well most women these days wear pants and tops and jackets as their go to outfit. If you’re a dress woman then a dress and jacket or skirt, top and jacket are your go to.
But I love to wear mostly pants, tops and jackets or cardis and jumpers and a lot of women love that as well, unless we are off to a formal event.
PLAN YOUR GARMENTS
Most of us buy way too many clothes, including me. If we were more discerning we could have more beautiful and expensive clothes if we had a clothes budget plan. By this I mean work out how much you can spend annually and then monthly on clothes and then shop accordingly. Now there’s a challenge, I’ve yet to conquer myself.
Decide how many items you need in each category. For example how many winter coats, winter pants, winter tops, jackets etc.
Then look at your shoes and accessory budget.
If you plan to but 2 pairs of new shoes each season and you have allocated so much for shoes, then you will probably not be tempted to but more than 2 pair and you will wait until you find the perfect pair. If you’re not organized this way, when you are in the shops you’ll be tempted to buy the first pretty thing you see.
The same goes with things like coats. Plan to buy 1 or 2 winter coats in your colours and style. The right colour will go with all your outfits. Then shop around until you get the one you love. Be a smarter shopper not a waster shopper.
ONLINE SHOPPING AS WELL
Now all these things apply to online shopping as well.
Like I said on my facebook post this week. Online shopping is easy when you know your colours and style.
Hope this helps and let me know how you go with your winter wardrobe.
If you need help planning your winter wardrobe contact Your Colours and style
Five ways to know if you're wearing your Colours.
Getting your Colours right is just so important to your Ultimate Image so read today's blog with 5 ways to tell if you do have them right or not.
How to wear your neutrals
How to wear your neutrals
What is a neutral colour?
I would describe a neutral colour as one that is quite benign. One that's not screaming for attention, and one that's a base for all of your other amazing colours.
Not everyone feels good in a pink and green outfit for example but they may enjoy wearing perhaps a green top with a neutral like grey.
It's good to start your wardrobe with your neutrals then add your colour in next.
But are all neutrals created equal? Definitely not. Many stylists are firm about having a base of dark cool neutrals like black, pure white, greys and navy’s with a splash of brown thrown in. But those neutrals are only found in the Winter Palette. Black doesn't go with everything, as we've been led to believe. And Winter neutrals don't go with Summer, Spring or Autumn neutrals.
As a colour consultant of 20 years, I have found these ideas to be quiet damaging as a whole to the fashion industry. Using black as a style staple is not useful to your Image picture.
Here's an example of working with a warm Autumn neutral and Black a cool dominant neutral to create a mismatched look.
YOU NEED TO FIND YOUR COLOURS AND THEN WORK WITH THE NEUTRALS IN YOUR PALETTE ONLY
For a stylish, complete, co-ordinated wardrobe that suits you down to the ground, you need to work with YOUR neutrals only.
The reason being, neutrals from another palette will not look good on you, and also will not go with the other shades or neutrals in your palette.
THE NEUTRAL COLOUR PALETTES.
Some stylists categorize people as neutrals. But I like to call only colours neutral not people.
Every colour is either a Cool Deep or dominant colour,(Winter) a cool muted colour,(Summer) a deep warm colour (Autumn) or a warm bright colour (Spring)
That's it. Every colour on the planet will slot into one of four palettes only. And you will be one of the four palettes as well. No sub colours or flow people in my opinion. Some colours "flow"but not people.
THE COLOUR SWATCH BOOKS FOR THE FOUR SEASONS
Get your colours right. There is Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter. What season are you and there is no need for any sub seasons.
You will have thousands of colours to choose from that will all look amazing on you.
So what are the four types of neutrals I’m speaking of?
Warm Deep or Autumn neutrals are lovely deep olive greens, rich creams, clays, golden browns, deep apricots, muddied burgundies and pumpkins to name a few as well as rich warm khakis and golds.
The bright Spring neutrals on the other hand are still warm but much lighter than their deep counterparts, so colours like light soft caramels, light creams, warm light browns, tans, peaches and apricots are part of the Spring neutrals.
Moving into the cooler palettes we have the boldness and clarity of the deep Winter colours, black, pure white, all greys, silvers, dark navys and deep deep browns.
Forget burgundy as some may include in the Winter palette. I reserve that for the muted cool neutrals of Summer. The denim which is a winter denim is dark navy blue.
Summer neutrals are cool and soft and muted. Ones like off whites, soft grey, cool taupes, cool beiges, light cool khakis, burgundy and maroons create a nice base and don’t forget your dusty navy’s. Please don’t forget light denim teams best with these colours.
With all this in mind you can see there is a plethora of colours, considered to be neutral.
So once you know your colours, you can stick to the neutrals within your season for best results. Ask your consultant how to incorporate these into your wardrobe.
It’s always best to get professional advice about your colours and be sure the colours actually “fit”with you.
If your not happy with your results after a colour analysis, my advice would be to get a 2nd and sometimes even a 3rd opinion until you get your colours right.
I have had so many clients over the years who have had their colours done incorrectly.
There is a mindfield of systems now so I hope you find a solution that’s right for you.
HOW TO TELL IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT COLOURS?
Here are a few checkpoints.
You'll look younger and more attractive in your colours
Your hair colour will compliment your colours
3. Your make up will blend into your skin and not sit on top
4. You will have 100’s and 100’s of colours to choose from
5. You will feel at peace in your colours
6. All the clothes in your wardrobe will coordinate
7. You will have heaps of outfits even if you have a small wardrobe (capsule)
8. You’ll always get compliments about what your wearing
9. You'll find it easier to accessorize and mix and match
You’ll look very stylish all the time.
For more information contact Your Colours and Style Sydney