← Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
255 | What Are Your Neutrals? Identifying Your Best Base Colors for a More Versatile Wardrobe
00:13:44
What if the most powerful colors in your wardrobe... are the ones you barely even notice? Today, we're talking about NEUTRALS—but not just the blacks, whites, and beiges you're used to. I want to help you expand your definition of what a...
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Heather Riggs
What if the most powerful colors in your wardrobe are the ones you barely even notice? Today we're talking about neutrals, but not just the blacks, whites, and beiges you're used to. I want to help you expand your definition of what a neutral can be and show you how to identify the right base colors for your wardrobe so you can more easily mix and match your pieces without getting bored or ending up looking like everyone else. Let's dive in and redefine our neutrals together. 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. I have definitely talked about my beige era a couple of times on the podcast before. After becoming a mom in 2018, I went through my own wardrobe rut. I started reaching for what I saw all the cool mom influencers wearing at the time, and it totally worked for me in that season. My closet felt easy and effortless, and it was super simple to put on a neutral outfit and just run out the door. And that was what I really needed in that season of my life. And while I will say that I still love me a good neutral and I think there something so chic about an all beige wardrobe on me, especially now, looking back at photos from that time, it fell really flat. And I'm still working now to rebuild my wardrobe around my best colors because it is a process. It doesn't happen overnight. But one thing that I learned from that phase of my fashion journey is that the key to pulling off neutrals is choosing the right ones for you. Traditionally, we are told that neutrals are black, white, gray, beige, and camel. And yes, those are definitely classic go to options. They're all really elegant, beautiful, and timeless. But today we're going to expand on that definition and I want to help you start to see a whole range of muted tones that can function just as flexibly, if not more so, into your everyday style. I think that neutrals are the glue that holds your wardrobe together. And. And by definition, neutrals are colors that really lack a strong chromatic presence. They don't compete with other colors, and they bring a sense of calm and simplicity to your outfit. They kind of ground everything, and they're often the colors that you wear the most without even thinking about them. They're just the ones that you reach for to complete an outfit because they're easy and because they tend to go with everything, they really can help you mix and match your outfits with so much greater ease. They can help you get dressed faster in the morning because, of course, it involves a little bit less guesswork. They help you to be able able to invest in pieces that are going to withstand trends and last for the long haul and help you feel more polished and put together with less effort. So instead of thinking of neutrals as boring basics, you can start thinking of them as the building blocks of your personal brand and style. And I think it's possible and perfectly acceptable to have an all neutral wardrobe. You know how much I love color, but I am completely okay with you having an all neutral wardrobe if that works for you. And I also think it's possible and perfectly acceptable to have a wardrobe without any neutrals. If you're shopping within your personal color palette, then in theory, all of your best hues will be in color harmony and will mix and match with ease. So you don't have to have a whole collection of neutrals or a whole collection of colors. If you have a vibrant personality and you love dramatic outfits, then you might do really well just to have some bold, unexpected color pairings. And you will have no trouble combining any colors with ease. Likewise, if you have a more timeless or reserved style, you might thrive with an entirely neutral wardrobe. I don't think that there's a one size fits all answer here, but in my experience, I think most of us want a pretty well balanced wardrobe. We want the right neutrals and the right colors that work together so we can make cohesive outfits and make sure that we bring out our best. So let's just assume that that is your goal for today. That's what I want to help you accomplish. And if this is the case, you might want to think about incorporating neutrals into pieces like jackets, pants, some basic tops, shoes, things like that, so that you can have those staple pieces in colors or neutrals in this case that are really easy to mix and match. And my whole intention with this episode is to help you see that neutrals don't have to be thought of as boring basics. So it's time to go beyond the standard lineup. I want you to start thinking about what might work for you in addition to or in place of the classic capsule neutrals that everyone tells you you should choose between. Right? You will see that often it's like, start with your black or navy, choose your dark neutral. It's got to be one of the two. Then pick your light neutral. It's going to be white or maybe cream. And then from there you choose one other neutral. Instead of doing that, I really want to help you expand your possibilities. Don't limit yourself in that way. Neutrals can be so many different options. It could be navy or denim blue. Even if it's not a denim fabric, but kind of that basic medium blue tone. It might be olive or forest green. I am loving the chocolate brown and mocha mousse trends that are happening right now. Those are such gorgeous neutrals, especially if you have a warm complexion or if you have brown eyes. Those are going to look gorgeous on you. It could be warm taupe or maybe a mushroom gray. Something a little bit different than what you're seeing everywhere. I also love neutrals like Burgundy wine and dark eggplant. Or maybe it is a soft ey ivory or cream instead of a pure bright white. You could also think about some trend forward neutrals like terracotta. Even butter yellow can read as a neutral with the right pieces. Dusty rose is another beautiful option, or maybe even an ice blue. There can be some pastels that will work as neutrals in your wardrobe because they're all low in saturation. They're all easy to pair with bolder colors, and they're not overly attention grabbing. Those are sort of the characteristics that you want to keep in mind when you're choosing your best neutrals. So again, low in saturation, easy to pair with bolder colors, and not overly attention grabbing. They're just kind of those quiet backdrops to your outfit. But thinking about different choices can really help to offer you a little bit more personality. So you're not just building a wardrobe that looks like everyone else's. It can add some warmth to your closet and some richness, depending on your style needs. So let's talk about how to figure out which neutrals are the best ones for you. There's three filters that I really want to help you keep in mind as you're making these choices for your color options. The first one, no surprise, is your personal coloring. You always want to choose colors and neutrals that mirror your natural coloring and enhance your complexion. So to start, think about whether you have warm neutral or cool coloring. We took a deep dive on this in episode number 110, where I walk you through the five skin tone types and how to figure that out. So that'll give you a really good jumping off point if you want to go and listen to that episode next. Again, it's number 110. I'll link it up in the show notes for you as well. But again, an example might be that instead of choosing a pure white or maybe a cool gray, if you have a warm skin tone, you might want to think about considering ivory or camel instead, something that has a warmer undertone. Navy might be more flattering than black for you if you have soft coloring and very delicate features. Or maybe you want to opt for an espresso brown or a charcoal gray. So just think about the different options and how they work best with your personal coloring. The second filter to keep in mind is your personality and your personal style. A classic dresser may gravitate toward the classic navy, camel and cream color options, but a more creative or expressive style might lean into olives and burgundy or muted eggplant, things that are a little bit more unexpected. If you have a soft romantic style, you might embrace blush as a great neutral for you or warm taupe or some understated pastels as your go to neutrals instead. So think about what represent your personality and your personal style and integrates best with the wardrobe that you already have. And then the third filter to remember is your lifestyle and your daily needs. Nothing drives me crazier than seeing those wardrobe essentials checklists where people tell you you have to have a white crisp button down shirt. Because if you are looking for neutrals that are gonna hide stains and work for the playground or busy days with your kiddos, you might need to switch that up and choose neutrals that have a little bit more saturation to them. Just just you can hide basic stains of everyday life. Or if you're dressing for work or date nights, you might want to keep that in mind as well and think about whether you're likely to rewear these colors often. You always want to bring colors into your wardrobe that light you up in some way that make you excited to get dressed. You don't have to stick to boring options or play it safe if that doesn't make you feel your best or you're most excited to get ready for the day. And so think about what's practical and stylish for the everyday activities that you have going on on your calendar. Now you probably know I do not subscribe to hard and fast capsule rules like limiting yourself to five or six core colors for your whole closet. My personal preference is to shop with my personal color palette in mind, and the palettes that I design for my clients are completely custom. They contain 35 options and I encourage women to expand on those as well. Those aren't the only 35 colors that I think that you can wear, they're just a really great starting point and foundation for everything. So you could just choose a few of those to focus on from season to season if you want to keep things a little bit simpler, more minimalist. Or you can wear all 35 and beyond with confidence. It's completely up to you. But if you are looking to focus in on just a few neutrals, maybe even some of the new possibilities that we've talked about today, then consider adding just two to four neutrals to start. And I do think it's smart if you choose one dark neutral. But again, it doesn't have to be navy or black. Maybe you're going to choose espresso or charcoal or a dark burgundy wine or a deep teal color. Then you can think about adding in one light neutral, such as white, ivory, beige, taupe, maybe your skin tone beige, whether that is kind of a mocha mousse or a really soft pale apricot color. And then think about adding one or two colored neutrals that reflect your style. And you can get a bit playful here. You could think about adding in an olive or a denim blue, caramel butter yellow, forest green, any of those other fun options that we talked about throughout this episode. And these neutrals can help to form the base of your wardrobe, what your everyday pieces are made of, and then everything else your accent, colors, prints and accessories can layer on top of those. So take inventory of the neutrals that you currently have in your closet. I want you to ask yourself which ones you love, which ones do you reach for the most? Where are there gaps or opportunities to add some other neutrals into the mix? And then ask yourself, do those new colors complement my skin tone? Do they represent my personal style and do they work with my everyday life? If not, it might be time to rethink your base palette a little bit. I would love to help you with that. If you're ready to get clarity on your most flattering colors, including the perfect neutrals for you, then I would love to invite you to join us inside Her Style Collective. This is my 90 day group coaching program and as a bonus, you are going to receive a completely free, fully custom personal color palette that has been hand curated just for you. So you're going to walk away with the exact colors that light you up, that elevate your outfits, simplify your shopping, because again, everything's going to mix and match with ease. You can head to herstylellc.com collective to learn more about how to get your free color palette and join us inside. We can pinpoint your best neutrals together and then incorporate them into a complete wardrobe that you love for this upcoming fall and winter. And remember friend, your neutrals might be subtle, but when they're done right, they will become an essential foundation on which your whole wardrobe and outfits are built. So this week I want you to go explore, experiment, have some fun, and find the base colors that make you feel more excited than ever to get dressed. I'll meet you back here for another episode soon. 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 eatherigstyle 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.