Colour-Blocking 101
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
Image: Denim Magazine | Aug ’11
Tips on working on of my fav. Summer trends ever.
1. One trend at a time.
Either Colour-Block OR Animal Prints. Not both. The end is never good when two divas are placed in the same room. Opting for the color-block look is eye-catching enough; Having one trend compete with each other just screams trying too hard.
My two cents would be to choose colour for now and save your animal prints for Fall – it’s right around the corner.
2. Choose your colour battles.
Keep colour in the same family, (oranges with reds, pinks with purples, use the same colour in different shades) … or not, if your personality would allow you to get away with it. Pair fuschia, orange and light-but-bright blue as Malinda Williams does on the cover of Denim Magazine here, but remember to ground your look elsewhere.
“Either boldly coloured clothing OR accessories OR shoes.”
The “Nicki Minaj” fashion statement only works on Nicki Minaj.
If you choose to wear boldy coloured clothing, keep accessories to a tasteful minimum, and ground the look with nude shoes/ sandals. to pair black shoes with such a multi-coloured, get-up would be a tragic, amateur mistake.
If you choose boldly coloured shoes, let that be the focal point of the look and go with a more neutral or mono-toned clothing choice. The same goes if you choose to wear bold accessories.
P.S. – Neon nail colour also counts as accessories on Grown folk.
Taking heed to this either, [either], or, will be the difference between looking skillfully put together, and looking a saucy mess. It’s a razor thin line, but the results are worlds apart.
3. The Fit-&-Flatter Concept
Bold clothing will attract some level of otherwise unintended attention, so this concept right here is key. With so much going on, colour-blocked items usually work best when worn in a body-conscious silhouette, meaning that the clothing fits very close to the body. Be sure to wear the right underwear/ shapewear if necessary. the tag may say “One size fits all” but all what? All models? All size 2-8s? Definitely not all human beings on this planet. That is physically impossible. What is it made out of? Ballon plastic? Even that has a breaking point. There is a reason why even condoms come in different sizes.
The hotter the trend, the less room there is for mistakes. Know your size and the tensile strength of the fabric that you are wearing. And oh, Spanks don’t catch everything eh, especially if the brand is “fanks”.
4. Tone down the makeup
Another secret to pulling off this bold trend is to keep makeup to a minimum. There is never an excuse to wear red lipstick with this trend. Please and No. No neon-clothing-with-fuschia-lips-and-blue-eyeshadow combo. At least not for normal daytime activities for you will look like a 0.99c special. Clown days are over. Less is more.
5. Confidence
As with all other statement trends, the real clincher is here genuine confidence. The kind that emanates from the depths of your soul. The kind that is reflected in the pep in your step, and not store-bought, or BS kind – that’s not substantial enough. It’s very important for you to be comfortable in whatever you are wearing. Pick your peonie and ROCK. IT. HARD.
Carry on.
b FiercelyFabulous