Last fortnight’s discussion was on the 2015 A/W Pantone colour forecast. That is, the colours predicted and what we’ll predominately see in the stores over the next few months. In my writing I referred to three of the neutrals that would blend beautifully with ‘Biscay Bay’ – ‘Reflecting Pond’, ‘Stormy Weather’ and ‘Oak Buff’. I need to make a correction here – ‘Oak Buff’ is not a neutral but indeed a colour.
Neutrals are those colours not found in the rainbow or seen on the colour wheel. They are created when two complimentary colours are combined together, for example, orange and blue mixed together equals brown. Neutrals are therefore the absence of colour – these are: black, grey, navy, brown, olive, taupe, burgundy, rust, camel, cream, ivory, beige, tan, off white and white – also refereed to as achromatic.
As I’ve mentioned before neutrals are those colours we don’t notice in the same way as ‘true colours’ – red, yellow, blue, orange, green and violet. This is the great thing about neutrals, we can wear them day to day, over and over and not tire of them easily.
Note also, that like colours neutrals have either a warm or cool undertone – this is very important to get right with the natural undertone of your skin to avoid being drained of colour.
In the Pantone colour list for this A/W the neutrals are ‘Dried herb’, ‘Desert sage’, ‘Stormy weather’, ‘Reflecting pond’ and ‘Marsala’.
There are many great combo’s you could try here. Keep in mind they are the more muted colours, therefore, adding a light neutral such as cream or white will create some contrast. These A/W colours are also very harmonious as they share the same intensity/softness making them easy to put together.
Try ‘Cadmium orange’ and ‘Biscay bay’ for a dramatic complimentary colour scheme. ‘Dried herb’ and ‘Marsala’ make another complimentary colour scheme as does ‘Oak buff’ and ‘Amethyst orchid’. ‘Reflecting pond’ and ‘Marsala’ make a stunning analogous colour scheme (colours adjacent on the colour wheel) as does ‘Oak buff’ and ‘Cadmium orange’. Our monochromatic colour schemes (one colour or shades of the same colour worn at once) look fabulous in ‘Reflecting pond’, ‘Stormy weather’ and ‘Desert sage’. If you’re someone who love wearing lots of colour at once, create a triad colour scheme (three corners of the colour wheel) Take either of the blues ‘Reflecting pond’, or ‘Biscay bay’, and put with ‘Marsala’, and ‘Oak buff’.
Last of all, have fun mixing and trying the different hues and neutrals for this season – even if it’s just in a new scarf!
