Saturday Style by Anita – colour blocking

Hello and a happy February to you all!

I did an Insta Live earlier last week about colour blocking. I paired up with a fabulous personal stylist @theshoelovingstylist; click here to watch the full video on Instagram. Here’s a summary of what we looked at.

When did colour blocking first appear on the fashion radar?

It was Yves St Laurent who, in the 1960s, debuted this trend on the catwalk. His inspiration came from the paintings of Piet Mondrian, with their blue, red and yellow squares separated by bold black lines.

Why is it popular?

It’s a fun, vibrant way to express your style personality and creates a bold and eye-catching look. It can be very flattering for your skin tone, as a vivid colour can uplift and enhance the skin’s warm or cool tone.

It can flatter your body shape; use darker colours to balance the areas you wish not to accentuate. But it’s not for the faint hearted! Clients are, however, more likely to give colour blocking a go once they know which colours best suit them.

How to do colour blocking

There are three ways to use colour blocking with your outfits.

1. Go monochrome

To use the monochromatic technique, pick one colour and layer different shades and tones of it: cobalt blue with icy blue; peach pink with orange; fuchsia pink with powder pink, etc.

2. Combine colours from within the same family

Think of the rainbow and choose one side. All purple, blue and green shades belong to the same family; yellow, orange, red and pink work as a family, too.

Some of my favourite colour-blocking combinations are: blue with green; pink with red; yellow with orange.

3. Contrast tones

Taking colours that are opposites on the colour wheel and pairing them together to make interesting and complementary colour combinations is the most directional way to do colour blocking.

If you want to be super adventurous, combine colours from opposite ends of the rainbow: blue with orange; yellow with purple; violet with green.

Does it work for petites?

Definitely. However, I would recommend using a ratio of two-thirds of one colour (for torso and middle part of the body) to one-third of another (for the lower part of the body). Of course you can switch this around: one-third (for upper body) to two-thirds (for mid- and lower body).

What is the best colour to wear near your face?

Wear your most flattering of the block colours nearest your face. If you don’t know what that is, why not book an on-line zoom colour consultation or in person at my studio? Click here for details.

It’s up to you to decide how much contrast you want between your colours; this will depend on the impact you want to make. I’ve just bought a couple of fabulous colour-blocking jumpers from Marks and Spencer. I’ve listed below all the fabulous colours that might work for you and do size up!

Wishing you a colourful February; the signs of spring are here!