Common Colors Archives

Common Capsule Wardrobe Colors: Cobalt

August 7, 2014

How maddening.... This is a great shirt. At a great price. And the way Uniqlo shows it on their website (with a superimposed color swatch) makes it look like there's something defective with the left sleeve. Really, do you NEED a swatch, in blue, overlapping a blue shirt. Did we think the shirt was really, surreptitiously, pink?Ahem...

I love this color. I wore it in the '80's, as did many of us. Maybe you can't shake those memories, but I'd encourage you to consider a little bit of bright blue...

Earrings – Dorus Mhor, shirt – Uniqlo, bracelet – George J. Love

I loved this color with brown and beige WAAAY back when...

This is how I wore ... View the Post

Common Capsule Wardrobe Colors: Puce

August 6, 2014 Okay, even the internet can't agree on what, exactly, puce looks like! But one of my favorite color references, Encycolorpedia, calls it puce, and that's good enough for me. This is certainly a color that you could tweak a bit - moving to something warmer, or lighter, as suited your wardrobe, your preferences, and your personal coloring. Never buy a color just because it's the "big" color for the year - that's just an industry device to get you to spend money you don't need to spend on things you don't need to own!

This color has been added here because I've recently read a couple of things that suggest that it's a universally flattering color. I believe that a color that matches your personal blush or lipstick is indeed ... View the Post

Common Capsule Wardrobe Colors: Teal

July 26, 2014

Sometime very soon I'm going to HAVE to do a capsule wardrobe based on mallards or some other duck that shows this color in a natural palette. I'm beginning to believe that I can't go wrong looking at nature for ideas. In the meantime, this is a great color to transition into the end of summer/hot days of early autumn. As much as we'd all like to start wearing fall clothing the first day of September, it's sort of insane to really consider it (at least in Chicago) until the last week of the month. A color like this at least lets you FEEL a little bit autumn-ish!These earrings are silk, and the bracelet is leather - what WILL they think of next?

By now you of ... View the Post

Common Capsule Wardrobe Colors: Coral

July 25, 2014

Coral comes in a range of tints - there are more "pinkish", less "orangish" versions out there too if those would be more flattering. But any of them will look completely appropriate and attractive with all of our neutral color usual suspects. And as we move into August, and what is for many of us the end of summer (my great-nephew goes back to school IN 10 DAYS!!!), this might be a good wardrobe refresher, as well as a low-commitment way to test drive a new accent color for your wardrobe. Please note - this tunic-length top is going to be "iffy" with some cardigans; I personally can wear a top hanging out below my cardigan without worry, but you might want to bear this conundrum in mind when ... View the Post

Common Capsule Wardrobe Colors: Turquoise

July 24, 2014

As I spend hours each day getting the big color combination document ready, I notice that there are a handful of colors that turn up in almost every color palette. They are colors that you might not like, or that might not look good on you, but they are colors that you might want to consider for a late-season capsule wardrobe refresh, or for an experiment in accent colors.Here, I'm showing a tee shirt and two pieces of jewelry; you could certainly go with only one piece of jewelry, or include a pair of sandals or casual shoes instead. But here, by adding just two or three pieces, you can see how each of the Starting From Scratch wardrobes can be updated.

I like the shirring on the sides of this tee ... View the Post