Color Coordinating Clothes:

Three Things to Consider
While Looking Great Saving Time,
Stress and Money

Color coordinating clothes is one of The Three C’s of Smart Choices for womens business clothes. Selecting business attire that compliments your complexion, properly communicates your image and coordinates within an outfit and with other pieces in your wardrobe is an essential key to a versatile professional wardrobe.

And something to think about, color coordinating clothes decreases your need to have an excessive number of pieces in your workplace wardrobe which allows you to keep the funds you would have spent on clothing in your bank account instead…

after all, who needs an overcrowded closet anyway? Hmm…

Color Coordinating your Clothes with your Complexion

It has been suggested that learning which clothing colors work best with your complexion requires a color analysis. Perhaps, but it may not be that complicated. Are there colors that you wear and when you do, you are often complimented on how great the color looks on you? When you’re putting together an outfit, do the colors of any of the pieces make you looked washed out?

Well, the latter color(s) are the ones are the colors you want to avoid or at the least, keep away from your face. The former may be the color(s) you’ll want to be sure to work into your wardrobe.

It can also be a great idea to invite a friend, whose judgment you can trust and who has a good sense of style, to join you for a little “shopping” trip. Go into one of your favorite clothing stores and select blouses and scarves in a variety of different colors…don’t hold back…we’re shopping for colors here, not clothes per se.

Once you have on a blouse, stepping out of the dressing room light might help give you and your color consultant/friend a better since of how the color of the garment compliments your complexion or not. Take notes (e.g., colors to avoid, colors that look great, acceptable colors).

When you get home, see if your existing wardrobe has pieces that include any of the colors that looked best on you. Try them on, go out into the daylight and evaluate the appearance of the color again. If you get another two thumbs up, it’s probably a good color for you.

Color Coordinating Clothes to Communicate your Image

Be ware of the power of colors, especially when it comes to womens business clothes. Wearing orange in a professional setting can peg you as a clown. Don’t throw it out, but, although black is a “conservative/steady” color, it can also be harsh on a woman’s complexion…if you’re large in stature and wearing a suit with menswear overtones, it can also contribute to your being seen as overly authoritative.

Sometimes charcoal gray can be a softer option, while offering some of the same benefits as black. Red is a power color, using just the right amount of it, in just the right shade can work wonders for helping you to be heard and respected.

Color Coordinating your Clothes with your Clothes

Yes, clothes within an outfit should coordinate, but so should the clothes in your wardrobe. By starting out with a neutral suit, like charcoal grey, you can then add pieces to your wardrobe that can each be worn with the suit or parts of the suit.

Here’s an idea: identify two to three neutrals for your wardrobe, they should look good together and against your skin…then identify two to five complimentary colors in addition to your neutrals…ideally all of these colors can be worn together, or with at least 75-80 % of the other colors and again, they should compliment your complexion. If you add pieces to your wardrobe in these colors only, you should create a diverse wardrobe.

Let’s test drive this strategy:

Neutrals: white, black and charcoal grey

Colors: multi-color, crimson

All of these colors match and should make putting together an outfit a breeze.

Check out the photo gallery below to see how we’ve applied the idea of the first of The Three C’s of Smart Choices for womens business clothes, Color Coordinating Clothes.