How can I make a "wrong" colour work?

by meibaola
(Rome, Italy)

Hi Jane!

I really like what you do and how you do it, so I thought maybe I could ask this to you.

I am a deep autumn: dark brown hair and eyes, light-to-medium warm complexion with freckles, and quite obvious olive undertones.

In short, when I'm buying something, I ask myself: does this go well with green? If it does, it'll look great on me. That's how much of a Grinch I am...

However, while I manage to stick to this approach when shopping for tops, I have to be more flexible with pants. I'm more than 6ft tall, with large hips and thighs, chubby knees and calves, and a well-defined waist: finding pants that fit is a hurdle for me. And at a reasonable price? -_-

So, when I found a pair of Max Mara trousers that fit me to perfection in a discount shop last week, I couldn't resist. I was in bad need of trousers that could transition me from Spring into Summer, and those were perfect, but for... the colouring.

It's a beautiful medium grey with blue undertones. I don't know what the tissue is: I think it's some kind of cotton, but it has a shiny finish, that gives it a silvery look.

In other words, these trousers have got nothing to do with my colour palette...

I want to wear them at work: I'm a government official and my uniform is blazer+pants+loafers/pumps. I choose to dress like this because I find it convenient, but there is no strict dress-code, and I feel free to express my personality with accessories. My style personality is dramatic bordering with classic on working days and natural in the weekend.

I've already reviewed my collection of loafers to see which ones could work with these grey trousers: black, tan and washed-out cherry red all look nice. I think navy blue accessories would also work great, but I don't own any.

So what would you suggest? How can I make these trousers work with my colouring? Is there hope? ;-)

Thank you for reading so far and keep up the good work!

Jane's answer... Maibaola, thank you so much for your kind comments and for your great question!

Your Colours

You don't say whether you were colour coded by a professional, or whether you have worked out your best colour range for yourself. Either way, it sounds as though you may not have a colour swatch to go shopping with?

Deep Autumn colours are also known as warm, muted and dark which describes the majority of colours in this range.

While warm and muted greens look great on people with Autumn colouring. There are versions of green (and every other colour family) that suit every person's colouring. It will depend on the temperature of the colour hue (how warm, neutral, or cool), the intensity of the colour (how clear or muted), and the colour's value (how light or dark). The fabric texture and surface (how shiny or matt) will also affect whether a colour looks good on a person.

Suggested colours for tops

At 6ft tall I can understand why you buy bottoms based on fit, rather than colour! There are a few examples of stores that stock tall women's clothing, in answer to a previous question, here.

I wish you had included a photo to show the colour of your trousers. However, I'll give some suggestions based on your excellent description.

As I think you realize, the most important place to wear your best colours is close to your face. However, with bottoms in a less than ideal colouring and fabric surface (shiny is not good for Autumns) it can be challenging finding colours that suit you and work with the wrong colour. Most likely not all your colours will work -- which I think is what you're experiencing?

The medium colour value, makes it easier. The shiny fabric makes it harder. I think you'll find that colours in your range that are clearer, brighter and/or cooler will most likely work best. Of course, for work you won't want to go too bright.

I do think that a version of navy will work well (make sure it's muted and not really dark), as long as it doesn't make your top half look smaller/narrower than your bottom half (it sounds as if your horizontal body shape may be triangle?), although you could correct that with a blazer.

You may also find colours will work better if the material is not too matt, or too textured.

I've shown some of the lighter brighter colours in the Deep Autumn range against a cool, medium grey in the picture. I hope this helps.

Related Pages

• Flow Seasonal Color Analysis -- Do you know your best colors?


• What's Your Body Shape?


• 6 Steps to Savvy Style