Accessories for your capsule wardrobe: adding colour

My basic capsule wardrobe is already well under way with fourteen items of clothing, ten of which are in neutral colours. I already have some accessories that will go with my wardrobe, many of which are in neutral colours as shown below. The first pair of shoes and the bag are warm neutrals so will go perfectly with my capsule, however the last two pairs of shoes are black and navy, so they are far from ideal. Although my new neutral colours are brown and camel, I still have a pair of navy jeans, for example, so I'm not quite ready to discard these shoes. It's more important to choose warm colours for tops and scarves, which are worn close to my face, before I think of replacing all my trousers, skirts and shoes. Of course when I do need to replace any bottoms or shoes I now know to look for warm colours.

I would recommend spending more money on accessories in your neutral colours, as they are unlikely to date, so long as you choose classic styles. However once you have your basic neutral accessories covered, the fun can begin! I have to admit that a few years ago I didn't give much consideration to my accessories but nowadays I appreciate how much they can add to an outfit.

I will be writing about choosing accessories to suit both your personality and your lifestyle at a future date, but for the moment I'm going to concentrate on using accents of colour to make your capsule wardrobe even more versatile.

Hopefully you have worked out your best colours, whether through an in-person colour analysis, an on-line consultation, trial and error or using your own judgement. The important thing is to know whether you look better in warm or cool shades. Once you've established your neutral colours, you need accent colours that flatter you and blend well with your neutrals. Consider using accents that bring out the colour of your eyes, contrast with your hair colour or match the colour of your lips.

My signature colours

The picture above shows some of my signature colours, which blend with my hair, eyes, cheeks and lips. As you can see there are blues, greens and reds there, however I have to make sure that I wear warm shades of blue, green and red and not cool versions.

Look through your existing accessories to see if there are any colours that you love, especially if people compliment you when you wear them. If they look good with your neutrals, they can be the start of your accessory beauty bundles as defined by blogger and author Brenda Kinsel.  Beauty bundles are a collection of accessories of similar colours that go well together, which you can use to brighten up your wardrobe. Please note though that it is not advisable to wear every item in your bundle at the same time!

As an example, if your neutrals are warm, you might like to create one of the following beauty bundles in warm accent colours.

If your neutrals are in cool shades, then your accessories should be in cool accent colours that go well with your neutrals. Maybe one of the bundles below would look good on you?

I don't like to dictate what everyone should wear, even though I advise you to discover what colours flatter you the most and base your wardrobe around them. What if you love red but red doesn't really love you? It might not be the best colour to choose for a scarf or top, but you might get away with a red bag or red shoes. Sometimes you have to follow your heart.

Remember what I said about needing to consider your personality and your lifestyle when choosing your accessories? You also need to think about your body shape, face shape, colour and value contrast. Looking at the sets of accessories above, you may have noticed that the shoes are flat and the bags are fairly casual. I chose items that appealed to me, so even though some of the colours wouldn't suit me, the styles certainly would. More of that in my next post!