Welcome back to The Extravagant! Today, you're reading the ultimate guide to dressing monochrome. Monochrome means "one color". The term is used a lot in art. It's opposite is polychrome, or many colors. Dressing all in a single color can be hard, but when you master it, it really gives a powerful message to the world.
1. The starting point
The easiest place to start is all black. Black is such an essential color for every wardrobe. Black is a great blank canvas for great looks (sometimes even better than white) and you probably have a lot of it. You can just wear a black tee-shirt and jeans and you have an easy monochromatic outfit!
An alternative is white. Again, it's easy to mix and match and is abundant in most wardrobes. Wearing all white can be a little more high-maintenance than black, as you have to constantly worry about stains. But if you can manage that, you may want to try white.
2. Other colors
Sometimes, you really want to be bold. In that case, you can go monochrome in a bright color. I've been seeing all these candy-colored looks on the runway and they're super fun. I would stay away from pastels, just because they usually seem a little dated. However, if done correctly, those outfits could be to die for.
How to wear pastel colors correctly: https://espiritu.com/blogs/huaraches/how-to-wear-pastel-colors-correctly
3. Variety
There is one thing that stops people from wearing monochromatic outfits: "The shades don't match!" Well, actually it looks better if the colors don't match perfectly. Different shades of colors makes the outfit a lot more interesting (this is especially true for neutrals, as if it was all one color, it would be really boring).
Another way to make your monochrome outfit more interesting is variety of texture. A tee-shirt and leggings combo seems more dull than a ribbed turtleneck, leather pants, and a denim jacket, even if both outfits were completely black. Texture is very important to an outfit. Some different materials that can be incorporated are:
Denim
Leather
Fur
Sherpa
Crochet/knits
4. Accessorizing
As said earlier, monochrome outfits can be a little boring. So, you have to accessorize. Sunglasses, bags, and jewelry is a great way to this. I like seeing how an outfit looks with gold versus silver jewelry. Just play around and have fun with it!
Never thought that Monochrome can be this good looking. I always try to mix and match colors. After reading this post, I have some ideas to try out.