How to Wear Brightly Colored Accessories
It’s finally spring season and everyone is all about bold and colorful. Along with fun geometrically-shaped necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings in reds, purples, blues, oranges and yellows. In many cases, colored stones were combined with black or gold settings. If this gets you running to your closet to plan your outfit for your next night out, that’s awesome. But remember: the trick with brightly colored accessories is to know how to wear them. Keep the following tips in mind:
Less is more
And by less, we mean fewer colors. Too many colors are distracting, so choose one color and carry it through with all of the accessories you’re wearing.
Forget tip #1
Well, not quite. Provided your outfit is relatively toned-down, you can combine accessories with different colors. The trick is to choose either analogous colors—colors that are next to each other on a color wheel, for example, yellow and lime or red and orange—or complementary colors—colors that are opposite each other on a color wheel, such as yellow and purple or turquoise and orange.
Use shades of one color
Using only one bright color will make the accessory pop, making your entire ensemble bold. For a softer look, combine a bright color with lighter or darker shades of the same color. For example, wear a chunky bracelet with bright pink stones and combine it with a soft pink scarf or a light pink stud earring.
Wear a neutral-colored outfit
Black, gray, white, cream, dark brown, dark blue and even dark green are all great backdrops for brightly colored accessories. Let’s say you love the color red. However, wearing a red pantsuit to the office might be a bit much. So why not wear your favorite gray slacks, a black silk shirt, and an ornate hairpin and matching earrings with red stones or enamel?
Wear bright colors immediately next to your skin
Bright colors often look great against natural skin tones, so wearing a necklace, bracelet, ring or anklet with a bright color can be very flattering. If you’re dark skinned, you’re lucky: you can pretty much wear any bright colors. If your skin is a more light brown or olive, then try green, turquoise or blue. If you have light skin with some freckles, most colors will look good on you. And if your skin is very pale, try blue, green, turquoise, red or orange, but stay away from pink and purple.
Choose ornate jewelry
Though a lot of the jewelry and accessories at this time of year are bold geometrical designs, why not unleash your inner Bohemian and select pieces with ornate, intricate designs and brightly colored stones? You can either pair them with an outfit with a simple, elegant cut or go in the opposite direction and combine them with a luscious, layered, retro look.
Of course, there’s one more thing to keep in mind: fashion is all about innovation and self-expression. So if you come up with an entirely new way of accessorizing with bright colors, we want to know about it!
