Obviously, I love dressing to my colour season. It has genuinely simplified getting dressed for me because I know that most of the colours in my wardrobe are going to work together, which makes putting outfits together so much easier.
And you know it helps when those colours also make you look fab!
But sometimes I do feel a little draw towards a colour that isn’t in my season.
And I think this season’s cargo trouser trend is a good example of that.
I’ve been seeing cargo trousers everywhere and, yes, they do come in colours that work for my season, but I’ve also found myself wanting to try the more olive and khaki versions.
Shocking, I know.
I know they’re not going to be right next to my face, so the colour matters a little less for that reason. But I can also be thoughtful about which olive or khaki I choose and how I introduce it into my wardrobe.
My winter wardrobe is naturally full of cooler, deeper colours anyway. As we move towards winter, I tend to wear more burgundy, navy, white and darker neutrals, so actually I think I could introduce an olive-khaki pair of trousers and make them work with quite a few of the things I already own.
They wouldn't go with everything, but they don't need to.
And I think this is an important part of understanding your colour season:
The rules can be bent.
Just like with body shape, your colour season is a tool to make getting dressed easier. It isn't a list of things you're allowed and not allowed to wear.
There are a few little rules of thumb I like to use when I'm considering bringing a colour outside my season into my wardrobe:
1. If it's a standalone piece, it matters less.
Something doesn't necessarily need to mix and match with everything else in your wardrobe.
For example, if you're buying a dress to wear as a wedding guest, I'm much less bothered about whether it's perfectly within your season. You're probably going to wear it as one complete outfit, rather than trying to build ten different outfits around it.
Compare that with a coat. You're going to wear your coat over everything, so I'd be much more thoughtful about choosing a colour that works with the rest of your wardrobe.
2. Wear it further away from your face.
The closer a colour is to your face, the more impact it has on your colouring.
So if there's a colour you really love but it's not quite right for your season, trousers, skirts, shoes and bags can be an easier way to introduce it than a jumper or coat.
I see this particularly with Summers sometimes, who can find shoes in their softer, cooler colour palette a little trickier to come by.
You don't need to panic-buy a pair of pale blue shoes though! You can absolutely wear darker colours that push the boundaries of what works for your season. They might not be perfectly within your palette, but if they're further away from your face and work with the rest of your outfit, they can absolutely work.
3. Think about how far outside your palette you're going.
Being outside your season doesn't mean every version of that colour is equally far outside it.
Colours aren't simply in or out of your season. There can be quite a lot of variation within a colour, so if you're going to bend the rules, I'd generally look for the version that sits closest to your palette.
For me, if I'm going to try an olive-khaki, I'm probably not going to pick the most yellow, warm khaki I can find. I'd look for something a little deeper and more muted, because I know that will sit more easily alongside the colours I already wear.
You're still bending the rule, you're just bending it thoughtfully, with what already works for your season in mind.
4. Think about what you're going to wear it with.
If you're introducing a colour outside your season, I'd have a little think about the rest of the outfit before you buy it.
Can you already think of several things in your wardrobe that you could wear with it? And could you pair it with another colour that is in your season?
If I can already think of five or six things in my wardrobe that I could wear with those olive trousers, I'm much more likely to go for it.
And actually, once you start wearing that colour alongside your usual palette, it can become part of your wardrobe without needing to suddenly start buying loads of other things in that colour.
That's why I'm not too worried about my olive cargo trousers. I already know they would work with my navy, burgundy, cream and black.
They don't need to work with everything.
They just need to work enough.
And if you've been in JD a while, this is probably a good reminder that knowing your colours isn't about getting every single colour decision “right”. It's about knowing when the rules are useful — and when you can bend them.
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