
Colors are always a great way to add some fun to an outfit, but they can sometimes be a bit intimidating. The right colors really help an outfit shine, but the wrong colors can just look messy and thrown together. But once you read these simple techniques on color combining, you’ll be a color mixing master. Your most crucial tool in this will be your color wheel.

You can see that the colors on the wheel are ordered as they would be on a rainbow. These color relationships can be then easily used in putting together any color schemes, clothing included. Don’t feel like you’re limited to the shades pictured on the wheel. Any darker or lighter shades of each color wedge shown can be used interchangeably. For example instead of red you could use a pink.
1. Analogous Colors – Colors right next to each other on a color wheel (i.e. cobalt, teal, and green or fuchsia, red, and coral). Pick any two or three of these colors to incorporate into the perfect outfit. Here I used teal and cobalt blue:

2. Complementary Colors – Colors that are directly across each other on the color wheel (i.e. purple and yellow, blue and orange, red and green). These two colors work to intensify each other, so on an outfit that’s predominantly one color, add a pop of its complementary color. Here I used a touch of purple to intensify the the yellow:

3. Triadic Colors – Colors equidistant from each other on the color wheel (i.e. red, blue and yellow, or fuchsia, mustard, and lime green). Pick two colors from a triad and combine them together for a mix of color that is bright and fun. In this outfit I used a bright orange and a darker green :

While not officially part of the combine colors series, these two posts are honorary members of it:
4. Pop of Color – If you’re still not feeling ready to jump into color mixing, incorporating a pop of color into a neutral outfit is a good way to dip your toes in. Here my bright teal t-shirt brought some color into an otherwise neutral outfit :

5. Denim as a Neutral – Your standard neutrals are your black, browns, grays, and navy, but one that’s sometimes forgotten is the timeless denim. You’d pair any color with your jeans right? Well the same applies to any other denim piece you may have in your wardrobe. Here I used my denim button-up as a neutral to balance out my bright yellow skirt:

I hope that these five ways to combine colors help you incorporate more color into your outfits. The world could always do with more color! What are your favorite color combining tricks?
Tags: analogous colors, color mixing, complementary colors, how to, how to combine colors, how to mix colors, trend, triadic colors