How to Use Colors That Will Make You Get in the Fall Spirit
From the beginning of autumn when it’s still sunny and warm ’til the end of the season when it may even snow, the feeling of fall is in the colors of the earth and the trees. So in the spirit of autumn leaves falling, if we surround ourselves in the changing colors that we see around us we feel in sync with nature. Age doesn’t matter. These colors are a gift to us from our Mother Earth.
Even if the weather is still hot, you can wear your lightweight, cool summer clothes in fall hues, such as: orange, red, rust, mustard yellow, navy, teal, purple, gray and burgundy. The neutral fall colors are the earth tones, such as: chocolate brown, olive green, sage green and camel. These are the colors — from brights to neutrals — to wear all season long.
Navy can take the place of black in your fall outfits. Pantone Color Institute’s executive director Leatrice Eiseman said, “When you move into the classic colors, we know that classics don’t change all that much. Yet we will see or expect a preponderance of certain colors. Sargasso Sea is that staple fall color. Navy is like the new black so to speak. It doesn’t replace black, of course. As navy blues have gained in recent seasons, this is an acknowledgement that this is the mooring of our entire palette.” (For more about Pantone’s A/W 2018 color palettes, read my post “How to Update Your Look with Color in the Fall.”)
What follows is: 1) The meanings of colors; 2) Autumn color combinations; and 3) Outfit ideas using fall colors.
Meanings of Colors:
If you dress for mood, here are the meanings of the colors:
- Reds: Power, confidence, demands attention
- Wine/Burgundy: Opulent, sophisticated, tasteful
- Pinks: Nice, Sweet, loving, gentle, tender, romantic, embracing
- Browns/Tans: Earthy, grounding, and if a warm color: warmhearted
- Blues: Cool, tranquil, peaceful
- Navy: Solid, stable, dependable
- Gray: Practical, calm, quiet, conservative
- Spruce Green: Cool, sheltering, protective
- Olive Green: Peace, sturdiness
- Sage Green: Wisdom, peace and growth
- Mustard/Curry: Exotic, spicy
- Orange: Encouragement, motivation, excitement, enthusiasm, creativity
- Rust: Power of nature, earthy, enduring
- Teal: Emotional healing, calming, objective and analytical
- Purple: Spirituality, reflection, self-awareness
Color Combos
Brown:
- Wear combinations of charcoal, brown and camel.
Burgundy/Wine:
- Burgundy/wine + cobalt blue
- Burgundy/wine + dark purple or plum
- Burgundy/wine + teal
- Burgundy/wine + olive
- Burgundy/wine + charcoal
- Burgundy/wine + black
Camel:
- Mix navy, gray, black, and/or camel
- Camel + orange and/or red
Forest, Spruce or Sage Green:
- Forest green + dark taupe, teal or violet
- Spruce + soft white, silver or deep rose
- Sage + taupe
Gray:
- Gray + soft pink, burgundy or red
- Gray + navy, cobalt or baby blue
- Cream + gray + tobacco
- Gray + black, white, ivory or taupe
- Gray + coral
- Gray + lavender
- Charcoal + black, red, pink or teal
Mustard:
- Mustard + dark green (you may also like to add raspberry)
- Mustard goes well with autumnal tones such as burgundy, bronze or chocolate
- Mustard + a different shade of yellow
- Mustard + blue or navy
- Mustard + violet or eggplant
- Mustard + berry tones
- Mustard + leopard print
- Mustard + neutral tones (gray, black, brown, rust, etc.)
Navy:
- Navy + black or cream
- Navy + orchid
- Navy + orange
- Navy + turquoise
- Navy + seafoam green,
Olive Green:
- Olive + jade or seafoam green
- Olive + dusty blue, deep blue or light blue
- Olive + purple
- Olive + pink or rose (you may also like to add gray and/or taupe)
- Olive + burgundy (you might also like to add navy)
- Olive + red
- Olive + rust
- Olive + orange
- Olive + yellow
- Olive + blush
- Olive + taupe
- Olive + tan
- Olive + brown
- Olive + navy
- Olive + gray
- Olive + charcoal
- Olive + black (You might like to add poppy red as an accent)
- Olive + white
- Olive + indigo
Orange:
- Orange + neutrals such as tan
- Orange + purple
Red:
- Red + neutrals
- Red + animal print
- Red + camel
- Red + brown
Rust:
- Rust + vintage purple. May add greens and reds.
- Rust + teal + gray or charcoal
- Rust + cream + pale gold
- Rust + aqua
Teal:
- Teal + black
- Teal + brown + orange. Add earthy brown or sand accessories.
- Teal + light gray. Add pink & gold accents.
- Teal + red. You may like to add gold.
- Teal + rose brown/mahogany
- Teal + blues, especially gray-blue
- Teal + green, including lime green
- Teal + brown + white
- Teal + gray or charcoal
- Teal + off white
- Teal + gold
- Teal + pink
- Teal + navy
Outfit Combinations
Any of the above colors may be either solid or contained within a print. Pair any top in a fall color with blue jeans.
Brown:
- Brown items with metallic fabrics
- A white top + blue jeans + brown pinstripe blazer. Add a multi-chain necklace or a silky scarf + hoop earrings.
- Brown cashmere sweater + brown skirt. You might like to add sandals.
- Brown sweater + brown pants + teal cardigan. Add teal earrings + teal bag.
- Pink top + brown bottoms
- Brown top + rust bottoms
Burgundy/Wine:
- Burgundy/wine jacket over a fitted black dress
- Burgundy jacket over any t-shirt + jeans
Gray:
- A gray topper over a rust-color dress
- Gray drawstring pants + a pink top + a black blazer.
- A gray t-shirt + tan or brown twill pants or jeans + a jean jacket. Add a long silver necklace, chain bracelet, earrings, tan or brown sandals/shoes.
- A long purple or black camisole over dark denim + a charcoal or gray kimono. Add hoop earrings.
- A gray t-shirt or charcoal sweater + blue jeans + olive green pashmina
- A gray duster over a black dress. Add a shawl with gray in it + black tights or leggings + black boots.
- A long-sleeve charcoal tee + brown pants. Add pumps.
- A long-sleeve charcoal tee + black pants or skirt. Add kitten heels.
- A black top + gray bottoms + black shoes
- A gray t-shirt + gray pants + rust kimono. You might also like to add a scarf.
- A black top + gray maxi-skirt. Add black boots.
- A long black top + skinny black jeans + gray kimono
Mustard:
- A mustard sweater with an olive, sage or khaki skirt
- A mustard kimono, cardigan or jacket + a white tee + blue jeans. Add a pendant.
- A mustard tunic + olive skinnies
- For day: a rust cable-knit cardigan + navy velvet dress. Add ballet flats.
- Navy pinstripe blazer + a navy shell + black leather skirt
- Navy drape-front cardigan + gray or navy tank top + gray drawstring pants
- Navy floral dress + a brown jacket or cardigan
- Navy floral dress + a gray jacket or cardi
- Navy floral dress + navy cardigan. You might also like to add ankle boots.
- Navy blazer + any t-shirt + blue jeans. Add a belt + flats.
- Navy blazer + white shirt + blue jeans
- Navy top + rust bottoms
Olive:
- An olive shirt + dark brown pants. Add a black belt & ankle boots.
- Charcoal ruffled tunic + black jeans + olive utility jacket. Add a taupe bag + delicate gold necklaces, bracelets and rings.
- Olive green utility jacket + gray hoodie + blue jeans.
- Olive utility jacket over black top + black bottoms. Add silver necklaces, maybe a belt.
- White tee + olive pants + jean jacket. Add an olive green pashmina.
- White tee + olive green or khaki pants + olive green shawl.
- Black or white top + olive green pants.
Purple:
- A rust-color top + a purple skirt. Add gold jewelry.
- Purple cardigan + yellow camisole + blue jeans.
- Purple ruffled t-shirt + gray pants. You may like to add a black cardigan, blazer or leather jacket.
- Add purple accessories to a black tank top + any bottoms.
Red:
- A red tunic over brown leggings
- Add a red belt or purse to a basic black or neutral outfit
- Red top + gray bottoms
- For instance: red cable-knit sweater + gray pencil skirt. Add gray stockings + toned heels.
- Red top + black bottoms
Rust:
- An olive utility jacket + a white tee and rust jeans. Add white, cream and beige accessories.
- A silky animal-print top + rust skirt. You might like to add a black leather coverup.
- Rust sweater + rust skirt. Add heels, maybe sandals.
- Add gold jewelry to a rust sweater dress.
- Charcoal t-shirt + rust skirt. Add black stockings & pumps.
- Rust top + navy bottoms
- Rust top, such as a sweater or jacket + brown bottoms
- Rust top + dark denim
Sage:
A sage top + white or dark denim bottoms. Add tawny brown accessories.
Teal:
- Teal cardigan + navy floral maxi-dress. Add tights + chunky boots.
- Teal tank top + teal boyfriend cardi + gray pants. Add multiple delicate metallic pendants + a silver bracelet + rings.
- Teal top + brown cardigan + brown pants. Add flat brown boots + a brown & teal printed scarf + one or more teal bracelets.
- Add teal accessories to a red dress.
- A t-shirt + jeans + teal kimono.
Is this information helpful to you? Are you going to try any of the color combinations to create outfits this fall? Let us know in the comments below.
Did you like this post? You might also like to read:
- “How to Update Your Look with Color in the Fall“
- “What Does Your Favorite Color Say About You?“
- “How to Have More to Wear for Free“
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