They say that clothes make the man. But rarely do you hear an in-depth discussion of clothing colors, which can make all the difference in the world. Learn to always wear the specific colors that make you look your best, and it will be one of the most useful wardrobe skills you have in your fashion repertoire.

Avoiding the Clash

Everyone has natural coloring. Your eyes, hair, and skin tone create a unique palette of hues. But you don’t want to wear colors that clash with those. When you do, instead of complementing your appearance and making you appear healthy and energetic, they can weaken it. The wrong colors can make you look tired, lackluster, faded, and drained of your natural vibrancy.

Wearing Your Special Colors

The ones that do resonate well with your particular color palette can, however, ensure that you look absolutely fabulous. They’ll generate compliments and your outfits will appear more coordinated and “put together.” But don’t confuse your favorite colors with your best wardrobe colors. You may love blue, drive a blue vehicle, and use blues in your living room color scheme. But your ideal wardrobe color may be autumn green, based on your body’s natural palette.

A Warm Palette

The way to find your perfect colors is to identify your personal palette. If your hair is dark brown or dark blonde and you have an olive or brown complexion and brown eyes, your tonal palette is probably warm. Are the veins in your arms greenish? Are you a redhead? Those are other clues that your category is warm. You’ll probably look great in colors typically associated with fall, like brown, orange, gold, red, and green.

A Cool Palette

But you may have either a very fair complexion or a very richly dark one, with black, gray, or ashy brown hair. You may also have veins that appear bluer─ and blue, light green, or grey eyes. If any of those descriptions sound like you, it’s likely that you are a person with a cool palette. Black, gray, deep purple, and navy blue probably look fantastic on you if you have a cool palette.

A Neutral Palette

Then again, your coloration may not fit so neatly into a warm or cool category. That may mean your natural palette is neutral. Neutrals can wear a wide variety of colors, but should lean toward muted versions, not bright ones. There’s one exception to this general rule, however. You can pull off fire engine red, and should find ways to wear a pop of red to highlight that fact.

The Mirror Test

Take different colored fabrics, hold them next to your face in good natural lighting, and see which ones look best. You can also wear colors that bring out the color of your eyes. That’s especially true when choosing wardrobe items like a tie or scarf.

To learn more, do an online search for “wardrobe color charts” or “wardrobe colors and complexion.” With an informed awareness of how important they are, and how getting the palette right can compliment your natural colors, play around with them. Working with a complimentary color scheme and avoiding the other categories of colors can take your fashion look to a whole new level.