Fall is rushing in and is bringing with it the annual surge of neutrals; but color-blocking obsessives are still holding down the fort. The London Fashion week was like one never-ending runway of brightly spiced clothes. From Thomas Tait to Peter Pilotto — and those covetable blanket ponchos at Burberry — it was everywhere you looked. Color-blocking has had more than its fair share of time in the spotlight over the last few years; but, don’t expect it to slow down any time soon.
This season’s big trend of color blocking takes bold opposites on the color wheel (complementary colors) and puts them together for the widest contrast possible. The only other extreme color-block combination is black/white. So, primary colors on the color wheel are red, blue and yellow; secondary colors are purple (a mixture of blue/red), green (yellow/blue), and orange (red/yellow). The optimal color block scheme would be to take a red, mix it with a green, and add a third color.
As fashionable as this has been in seasons past, and it continues this fall through Spring 2015, color blocking isn’t for the faint of heart. It also isn’t necessarily for the short in stature.
Not sure it’s for you? It’s important to keep proportion in mind. Block your colors in 5/8 proportions. Don’t cut yourself in half at the waist if you’re short or across the fullest part of your hip – if your fullest part is fuller than you’d like it to be. If you’re petite, limit your color mix to two colors. Taller? Go for broke and incorporate three or more colors. Use the color wheel as a reference if you’re unsure as to how to mix colors other than black and white.
As evidenced by the designer’s Spring 2015 collections that just marched down the runways in London Fashion Week, this time around, it’s less about mixing your bold-colored solids together and more about singular pieces that come pre-loaded with stripes, grids, and patchwork hues jumbled together. It’s more Jim Lambie than Piet Mondrian, for example. The shows were a dizzying parade of shades zipping down a runway of hypnotic Dan Flavin-style light boxes. It was electric and felt like just the thing to energize our blasé fall-dressing doldrums. Sorry, camel and gray, but we’re not quitting color just yet.
