When the brights are not so you
Many women in their forties shy away from wearing colors at the office and prefer neutrals for a professional look. Today, more than ever, it is important to not only look professional, but also young and hip. Thus, when styling neutrals for the office it is really important to stay out of boredom land. The secrets to cool looks in neutrals, and to look young and hip and on top of things is to pick one neutral color in different shades and add one other neutral plus making sure that the items have different texture. This concept is similar to how to create interesting and agless, monochromatic outfits or the concept of adding a pop of color to a monochromatic outfit.
The second possibility is to find a piece in an interesting cut. Of course, in this case high quality is a Must. The thrid option is to go for a nice modern or abstract print in neutrals. Last but not least, combinations of the three options also look interesting.
In all cases, it’s important to stay clear away from the “traditional” old people color combinations, especially, when you wear your neutrals as solids. Just think about what your grandmothers, mom, mother-in-law, aunts, etc. wore when they were in their 60s and 70s. I am sure, you know what I mean.
Use structure and shine to create interest with neutral colors
Here I paired my leather top – read “little shine” – with linen pants – read “rough texture” – with a chambray shirt – read “smooth texture and second neutral” – with snake print slingbacks – read “interesting”. For another work outfit with this leather top see the post at the link.
Style neutral color outerwear with statement pieces
For the commute to work I added a classic trench coat – read “professional”, a statement bag – read “I have something to bring to the table”, and purple mirrored sunglasses – read “the outfit is up-to-date”. You can find another styling idea for purple sunglasses in the post at the link.
Denim is a great neutral for Casual Friday
An often overlooked neutral is denim. A pair of dark blue jeans always looks great with a blazer and a white shirt for Casual Friday. In America, a classic combination is blue, white and gray. In the western part of the US, a brown suede balzer is a great alternative to a gray wool blazer. When your work dress code allows leather try a denim and leather to look outstanding in neutrals.
Olive and kakhi are great neutrals for summer and fall
Think safari. Kahki is perfect for an urban (safari) look. When you go militray-inspired the pockets, belt and buttons are the interest. Pair the look with wooden beads necklace for sight seeing or with a gold or pearl necklace for the office. Olive also looks great for militray-inspired dresses, jackets and pants. It looks well with blush, white, cream kakhi, burgundy, light blue and denim. For more outfit ideas in olive check the post at the link.
Black and white are an eternal classic
Black and white pop up as a perennial trend every couple of years, but are always in style. Thus, you can’t go wrong with this color combination. I devoted and entire post to how to wear black and white, for which I don’t repeat it here.
Blue and white is a summer classic
You can’t go wrong with a blue print on white dress or vice versa in summer. The former pairing looks very posh in a sheath or tailored cut. Just recall the white with blue print dresses the Duchesse of Cambridge often wears. A blue with white floral print dress is a shirt-dress cut or romantic style gives a great summer in the Provence vibe. The former works great for work in summer, while the later is perfect for shopping the farmers market or a picnic.
Pastels look great in spring
Most pastels are neutrals. Be aware they may wash you out when you are a deep color type. In this case, wear them away from your face.
You can try to wear two pastel shades in one outfit: My placid blue leather pants, and my beloved pink cashmere sweater. Since now the parking lot is snow free, I was able to wear my floral pumps, the first flowers of spring so to speak. 😉
Pastels scream spring is in the air. #springtrends Click To Tweet
Style tip take-home message
Outfits in neutral colors need interesting cuts or different structure to look young and hip. #agelessstyle Click To TweetDo you wear all neutral outfits? What is your challenge to not look boring? Let me know so I can help you.
Photos: G. Kramm
© 2013-2019 Nicole Mölders | All rights reserved
