← Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
224 | My Best Color Matching Tips to Maximize Your Color Palette and What's In Your Wardrobe
00:21:43
Ever struggle with mixing and matching the hues in your wardrobe? Then you are going to love today’s episode of HER Style Podcast, because I’m sharing my best color matching tips to help you maximize your color palette and make the most of...
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Heather Riggs
Ever struggle with mixing and matching the hues in your wardrobe? Then you're going to love today's episode of Her Style Podcast because I'm sharing my best color matching tips to help you maximize your color palette and make the most of what's already in your closet. Whether you're trying to put new combinations together or adding a pop of interest to your go to looks, this episode will give you seven easy, practical strategies to make color work for you. Get ready to feel so much more empowered about your colors today, my friend. I have got you covered. Welcome to Her Style Podcast where we're all about empowering you to show up and get dressed every day with confidence. I'm your host, Heather Riggs, a 15 year and counting certified image consultant and color specialist ready to build a wardrobe and a personal style you love. Let's get started friend. I am very excited. Free five day shop your closet challenge is just three weeks away. It's happening online from April 7th through the 11th. I'm going to be bringing you a live 15 to 20 minute training every day that week, along with some Q and A time to answer your questions and support you with shopping your closet for the entire week that we are together. The goal is to get you wearing what you own, dusting off the hidden gems in your closet, getting creative and coming up with new combinations for your pieces, and empowering you to get dressed with even greater confidence. Zero shopping required. It's time to maximize what you own and I cannot wait to show you how. Head to herstylellc.comchallenge to register for your free seat. And guess what? We don't have to wait three more weeks to get this ball rolling. Today I am giving you some of my best color matching advice right here on the podcast because one of the challenges I hear about often is not knowing or feeling comfortable with which colors to pair together. Maybe you always reach for black because you know it's a safe neut, or maybe you typically wear your burnt orange blouse with the same dark chocolate trousers every time because you're not sure what else you can pair it with. And I don't want you to limit the possibilities of what you can do with what you already own. So today let's dive into my favorite topic just a bit more so you can break out of whatever color rut you might be in today and start mixing and matching your items in a whole new way. All right, we're going to start with a quick color review. I already shared an extremely comprehensive Color Theory episode back in number 111 where we talked about seven go to color combinations to try in your outfits. We talked about the color wheel and effective color schemes like monochromatic or one color combinations which just as an example would be like a powder blue and a navy together, which both are derived from blue. Or maybe you're going to pair up an all red outfit in that episode. We also talked about complementary combinations which are made from colors opposite one another on the color wheel and a handful of other ideas to get you started. So that episode is a fantastic companion to today's conversation. If you want to head back to number 111 next, look for seven go to combinations color combinations to try in your outfits. Of course, I will also link that episode up in the show notes if you want to dive into that. But today we're going to take a different approach and we're going to talk in some more practical terms. And I want to give you a few simple principles or tricks that you could try without having to break out the old color wheel from your college art class. I think most of us really defer to neutrals, and I say most of us because I see it all the time and I do it too. Neutrals are easy. They go with everything. They include black, white, navy, gray, brown, camel, beige, ivory, arguably some other variations on those colors. And it's funny because if you ask people which color goes with everything, nine times out of ten you're going to hear the answer black, perhaps, followed by white. But at the same time, there is still a lot of negative stigma around wearing black and navy together or black and brown together. So you could argue that even the neutrals might be tricky to pair up from time to time. Now I'm going to argue right back that I think these color pairings are found in nature and they can look beyond chic together. But at the risk of sounding like a broken record on the podcast, you need to feel confident in whatever you wear. So if you could maybe get on board with the idea, but would find yourself second guessing yourself all day long if you tried to wear black pants and a navy blouse, then don't do it. Simple as that. You don't have to do something just because you can. The goal here is to feel good when you get dressed and to find joy in your wardrobe again and to be able to move through your entire day with confidence. And yes, we also want to better utilize what you have and give you some more freedom and flexibility when you're putting your outfits together. So with that said, pick and choose the tips today that resonate with you and with your personal taste. All right, as always. Now, before we move into the tips, I do want to share just a couple of other colors that you can confidently pair with anything. Because we talked a little bit about the neutrals. Some other options that I think are pretty safe to pair up with. Any other colors in your closet are going to be denim blue. That's probably obvious. You would wear blue jeans with any color top. And you could also do olive green with everything as well. If you think like a fatigue or army green pant or jacket, that's going to generally be very easy to match up with other colors in your wardrobe as well. So I just want to make that quick side note in addition to the classic neutrals that you might be thinking of. And I have seven pieces of color matching advice to share with you today in addition to all of that. So let's finally dive in. The first tip that I'm going to give you when it comes to color matching is just to try a new neutral. We're going to take baby steps here. If you are someone who always defaults to black, then this week maybe you want to try navy as the base for your outfit instead. Or charcoal gray. Whatever you love and whatever looks best on you. You. The goal is to just start moving you out of default mode. When you slip on that beautiful violet sweater tomorrow morning, I want you to reach for the camel color skirt instead of the black one. Just try something new. Even if it's just another neutral, you don't have to get crazy with your color combinations. That could feel really adventuresome for you and it could get you using some of the underutilized pieces in your closet. So start there and try a new neutral. Tip number two is to repeat your accent color. Have you heard of the three color rule? I think it's a good one. Although I also love a good monochromatic outfit as we talked about. And I don't like to limit myself to only wearing three colors at a time either. But the three color rule says to choose one dominant color for your outfit. Let's say you're going to go with a denim blue maxi dress. And then you pick a secondary color which could be maybe a light tan, for example, and that's going to make up a third of your outfit. So maybe you decide to pair your dress with an oversized tan shoulder bag and then you're going to add a third accent color. And so in this case you might add a dark camel belt and some matching camel colored sandals. And then you've got the three color rule in effect. So one dominant color, another color that makes up maybe a third of your outfit, and then a third accent color. Whether you want to try this exact philosophy or not, I think when you're adding an accent color, if it's the third color or if it's the sixth color, I think it can feel more intentionally done when you choose to repeat it somewhere else in your outfit. So notice in the example that I just gave you, we brought in the dark camel accent color in a belt and we repeated that color in the shoes. I know this was like a safe example because I used all neutral colors anyway. But no matter what the combination, if you want to experiment with bolder pops in your outfit, you could try adding a lemon yellow clutch and also wearing some lemon yellow in your earrings. Or you might want to match the baby pink purse to your lipstick color. I know this might sound matchy matchy, so you don't want to go overboard with repetition, but I think you'll feel a lot more confident in your outfits when your accent color feels thoughtfully added. And this is such a great way to do that if you bring it in in more than one element to your outfit. So I love matching a belt and shoes, although not always. You could do a handbag and a hair accessory or a jewelry, a piece of jewelry with your bottoms, maybe the pant or skirt color that you're choosing. There are so many different ways to do this. You could head over to Pinterest right now and get tons of inspiration. Just search outfits with an accent color and get ready to be inspired. So that's the second tip that I have for you, is to rep your accent color in another place in your outfit. The third tip today is to mix in a personal color. We have had so many conversations on the podcast about the power of bringing your personal colors into your outfits. We've talked about the fact that wearing your eye color makes you look credible and trustworthy and your hair color is a perfect neutral for you and it can make your outfits look down to earth and grounded. A member of her style collective and I were just talking in a recent group coaching call about how much we love when a person person's hair color is infused into their outfit. And that is a great color for options like belts, shoes, handbags, coats, all of those things, all of those really kind of staple like rounding pieces to your outfit. So think about maybe cinnamon colored hair with a cognac colored pump or black hair with black pants. Again, the possibilities are truly endless. But your Outfit is going to look so next level when you bring your personal features into it. So I do think it's smart to start with your hair and your eye colors. Those are the simplest by far to see and color match. But you could also experiment with your skin tone and your blush color. It's going to be a lot easier for you if you have a personal color palette to support you with this as well. But this is a great way to start adding a little something extra to your outfit while still feeling totally at home in the colors that you combine together. All right, the fourth tip that I have for you today is to echo your personal color contrast. I don't like to give you a ton of rules to follow because again, I think the goal is to help you feel more confident, playful and creative when you go to pair up your pieces. But I do think you're going to feel best in outfits that relate to your personal color contrast, which is the difference in lightness and darkness of your personal features. If, for example, you have fair skin, light hair and pale eyes, you're going to look best in low contrast outfits or outfits that don't have a drastic difference in light and dark values. You could wear an all black outfit, for example, or an all white outfit, but you'd probably feel really overpowered by a black and white outfit because that's going to be a very high contrast color combination. So try to create a similar mix of light and dark colors in your outfit. For example, if you love monochromatic looks and you have low contrast coloring again meaning all light colors. Or maybe you have all medium value colors or all dark colors in your hair, your skin tone and your eye color. Then you're going to want to choose low contrast monochromatics. So maybe you're going to pick a rich plum blouse and pair it with a dark wine colored trouser. You're going to combine colors that are a similar value or lightness and darkness. So a dark plum blouse with a dark wine colored trouser would be a great monochromatic example for you. If you have a medium color contrast, then you might pair that rich plum blouse with a medium value orchid colored pant instead. Or if you have high contrast, then you might want to pair that rich plum blouse with a soft lavender dress. Slack all monochromatics, right? They're all coming from the purple color family, but the contrast levels are going to be very different in each one. And this is an aspect of getting dress that's very easy to ignore. But when you ask me A question like, can I wear black and brown together? I might be more inclined to say yes if you have a low personal contrast, because then you can do those dark colors in one outfit together. If you have a medium contrast, you might feel better in black and a softer teddy bear brown. Or if you have a high contrast, you might feel your best in black and beige combinations. I want you to just always think of your own features and do what you can to echo your inherent design into your outfits. This is going to take your style to a whole other level. Just trust me. All right, our fifth tip for today is to seek out color inspiration. If you're open to trying new color combinations but you're unsure of where to start, you can find so much inspiration all around you. First, look at any prints that you have in your closet. What colors do they include? If you have a silk scarf with burnt orange, peach, butter, yellow, and black in its design, could you try pulling those colors together in an outfit with or without wearing this scarf? Although I might recommend wearing the scarf to boost your confidence at first. But you could try wearing a black pant, a peach blouse, and a burnt orange blazer, and then maybe add a few little yellow accessories here and there. I often get inspired by my clients jewelry collection. So you might have some great earrings or a necklace that has multiple colors in it. Look around at your jewelry collection and ask yourself which pairings you really love. Could you put those colors together in a whole outfit? Look around your home, at the artwork and the throw or right outside your window and look at what colors you see together in nature, in the flowers, or in the sky. I've been inspired by my son's toys, his artwork that he brings home from school, how he colors. When we get coloring books out. I mean, I think kids are such a great source of creativity. So you could even ask your kids their input. You don't have to take it, but I bet that they can see a whole lot more potential to combine colors together in your wardrobe than you might. All right, tip number six is to consider what the colors you wear are communicating. And I often hear questions again about which colors go together. And I just don't think that it's as cut and dry as giving you a simple cheat sheet. I hope you weren't expecting that from this episode. That would really be such a disservice to you because I think color is meant to be explored and reimagined, and I do think most colors can work well together. But I do think you've got to learn to trust your instincts when it comes to color. And if you look at a combination, ask yourself, what does it say to you? What do you think it might say about you if you were wearing it? You might want to be more creative with your style, but for you, that might mean simply trying tip number one this week and just branching out with a new neutral. A dynamic outfit of seafoam green, periwinkle, and butter pecan might look amazing together, but feel too loud for you. If your personality and preferences are quieter and more reserved, you could choose an analogous combination of red, red, violet, and purple for a really passionate outfit that communicates strength and confidence and boldness. Or you could choose an analogous combination of a soft blue, blue, green, and green that feels really peaceful and serene. You've got to consider both the general color psychology of the pairings that you pick, and maybe even more importantly, you want to consider what they communicate about you. Because remember, your personal style tells a story about who you are through the way in which you show up. Color plays one of the most important roles in that we've shared the statistic that up to 90% of someone's initial reaction to a person, product, or an environment is based on color alone. So whatever combinations you're putting together, definitely ask yourself, what are they communicating both as colors and also about you, the wearer of those colors. So don't push yourself so far outside of your comfort zone that you're not showing up authentically or representing your personal style the way that you want to. So that's just a little caveat here for the color matching conversation that I don't think we can ignore. It's not as easy as, yes, this color goes with that color, but what does those colors say about you? And is that in line with how you want your style to be? And of course, the mood that you want to create through your outfit for that day. All right, our final tip number seven is to trust your personal color palette. I know there's a very good chance that you have already invested in a personal color palette, whether with me or with another color analyst and friend. If you have this resource, please utilize it fully when you're getting dressed. The beauty of having a palette is that not only should those colors bring out your best, but they should pair together effortlessly. Your personal color palette is in harmony with you and within itself. I know when I design a color palette for a client, I ensure that every color can be mixed and matched together so that she could essentially go through her closet and pick out any two pieces and know with confidence that they are going to work together. It doesn't have to be that difficult. And if you do have a palette, I urge you to start looking more creatively at how you can bring those hues together in your outfits again. You could start small. You don't have to wear dramatic combinations if your style is not dramatic. But the point is to have fun, to branch out and to keep your outfits feeling really fresh and new, to wearing things in different ways or maybe to wearing them at all. You know, we all have those pieces in our wardrobe that you just can never figure out what to pair them with. And color is a huge part of that. And wearing colors that are in your personal color palette can be such a game changer and making it way easier to get dressed and put new combinations together. If you don't have a personal color palette yet, then I highly encourage you to keep your eyes peeled later this week. International Color Day is coming up on Friday, March 21 and I have a very big surprise in store for you. I'm hoping to share more details on the podcast later this week, but I will definitely be sending everything you need to know straight to your inbox. So if you're not already part of my free VIP email community, go ahead and sign up for our upcoming five day Shop your Closet challenge and then you'll be in the loop on all things her style. You can join the challenge@herstylellc.com challenge just to put a neat shiny bow on this episode, I'm going to recap the seven tips that I shared with you again. Number one, Try a new neutral this week. Break away from black or whatever your default color is and try something different. Number two, repeat your accent color. That'll make your whole outfit and color combination feel way more intentional and will definitely boost your confidence as you're getting started with new color pairings. Tip number three Mix in a personal color. I recommend starting with your hair color or your eye color. This is a great accent color to choose from and to bring into your outfits and of course it will definitely make you look your best as well, which is just a little bonus when you're choosing your best colors. Tip number four is to echo your personal color contrast. We always want to repeat our inherent designs in our outfits as well, so make sure that you are opting to go low contrast, medium or high contrast depending on the levels of your hair, skin tone and eye colors. Number five, seek out color inspiration. You don't have to just look within the colors of your closet. Look elsewhere first and get some ideas of colors that you might want to try and then go to your closet and see what you can have to work with to bring those to life. Tip number six Consider what the colors you wear are communicating. Any color combination can work, but it's got to work for you. So I want you to feel good in what you wear and and think about the message that your outfit is communicating about you, about your personal style, and also through the general color psychology of that combination as well. And then tip number seven is to trust your personal color palette if you have one. This is such a valuable resource to not only make sure you're wearing your best colors, but to be able to confidently mix and match the colors in your closet with ease. So I highly recommend fully utilizing that resource and pairing up different combinations based on the hues in your own color palette. All right friend, I hope this served you in such a big way today. I will be back later this week with a very fun announcement for International Color Day, so I look forward to keeping in touch with you throughout the week. For now, go grab your seat for our free five day shop your closet challenge at herstylellc.com challenge and I will see you there in just a couple weeks. Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you want to stop copying everyone else's style and start dialing in your own swoon worthy signature look, head over to take my free 5 minute personal style quiz which you can find at the link in the show notes. If you've enjoyed our time together, please be sure to rate, review and subscribe to her style podcast so you never miss an episode. Finally, I invite you to make this a two way conversation and send me a DM over on Instagram Instagram at Heatherrig Style to let me know how I can best support you on your style journey. I'm always here for you in style and service. Until next time.