Avoid looking old in pastels. Pastels are associated with spring, babys, and Romantic Style. They can make you look heavier than you are, and wash you out when they don’t belong to your color palette. Read how to wear pastels to look your best.
- What Are Pastels?
- Why You May Rarely Wear Pastels
- Which Pastels Are Best for You
- How to Avoid Looking Old in Pastels
- Pastels That Look Plain Old
- Fool-Proof Ways How to Wear Pastels When They Are Not So You
- What to Do when You Have to Wear a Non-Flattering Pastel?
- How to Wear Pastels in Fall
Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post.
What Are Pastels?
Pastels are colors that were lightened up by adding white. They look great on young and/or light blond women. These colors are also perennials. Therefore, when you know when to splurge or bargain, stock up on great quality pieces in your fav pastels whenever they have a moment.
Why You May Rarely Wear Pastels
There may be reasons why you rarely wear pastels. In some countries, the cultural background associates them with old people. Therefore, you skip them to avoid looking old.
Another reason may be that pastels just wash you out because they fail to look flattering on you. In my case, for instance, I look best in bold, deep colors.
Which Pastels Are Best for You?
Pastels with warm undertones are perfect colors for red heads with cooper undertones, strawberry bloneds or brunettes with red highlights. These pastels even look romantic when the item is lace. Think of Nicole Kidman in her pastel apricot-pink lace dress on the red carpet years ago. <3
Pastel coats in clear light blue, or clear light pink look great on light blonde young women. Clear pastels (not muted) are also so stunning on our light blonde sisters. Think of Karlie Kloss and Rosie Hunnington-Whiteley both in their stunning pastel-brown camel coats. <3
Pastels that Look Plain Old
Muted pastels look dirty, which looks old on everyone, but kids. These colors have the fashion names like
- greige,
- surf crest,
- sand,
- lavender,
- mauves,
- violet,
- viola,
- beige,
- Dutch white,
- egg shell,
- sandy beach,
- blossom,
- spun pearl,
- Spanish white,
- cherub,
- Mexican red,
- vista blue,
just to mention a few.
Fool-Proof Ways How to Wear Pastels when They Are Not So You
Wear them away from your face. This trick works the easiest with pastel prints. Just pick one of them and go for a shade that flatters you for the top. See the examples below with the black T-shirt and bold pink which are flattering colors on me.
Fool-Proof Methods How to Avoid Looking Old in Pastels
- Fake wearing pastels by pairing the lightest colors of your palette in an outfit (example with pink and peril pants).
- Wear them in small doses in prints where the majority of the colors is from your flattering palette.
- Try pastels in a monochromatic outfit as a bag, sandals or scarf.
- Go for a pastel that is nude with respect to your skin color like in the next photo.
How to Avoid Looking Old in Pastels
Some pastel separates require to be paired with white or other light colors. If pastels wash you out it’s best to avoid buying the following.
- Gingham blouses/shirts in pastels
- Seersucker pants
- Seersucker blazers
However, when you live in hot/warm summer climate regions, or just love the style, pair them with accessories in the fashion colors of your palette. See for example the outfit inspiration with seersucker pants, and the yellow bag and night-blue belt below.
What to Do when You Have to Wear a Non-Flattering Pastel?
Some events like being in a wedding party or a ballroom dance performance require to wear pastels. To pull the light color off start a week prior to the event applying a self-tanning lotion to achieve a darker skin color that works better with the pastel. If you hate the mess, book a tan spraying for the day before.
A heavy or more makeup might also do the trick. However, in this case, make sure that no one takes a portrait photo of you.
How to Wear Pastels in Fall
On first thought, pastels seem out of the window for fall. However, on second thought when one thinks about being in a cottage up in the mountains viewing a sunrise over a foggy valley, it is not so far taken. Basically, just have that view from the cottage over the fog in mind when you choose the additional colors. The examples below base on the idea.
Black spruce trees or trees against the sun light as blush, winter white, black.
Greenish hills at sunrise thru the fog with some last flowers of summer. Olive and pastels in yellow, pink, light blue, and pink, fuchsia.
Same idea as above, but without flowers and tree stems (brown) instead.
Photos of me: G. Kramm
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