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Why is it that an all black outfit always looks so stylish? Black has been the colour du jour of fashion for a long long time and this might be for a number of reasons- it's simple, slimming, goes with everything and is readily available. A particular trend in fashion now sees people wearing all black outfits with different textured pieces. This turns the colour into the secondary focus and the texture and composition into the main focus.
Ellery is probably one of my favourite Australian designers. I was eyeing off one of her tags that is stuck to my wall and I thought it was a really great example of metallic ink use. A lot of people overdo the special inks and finished I think, but this tag just uses a really subtle, dull bronze foil on the logotype to make it look sophisticated but eye catching. The bronze colour also tied in with the colour palette of that season's collection of Ellery pieces.
I thought this collection from Dries Van Noten was quite interesting. It's amazing how much I've noticed the simple use of primary colours lately. Primary colours are something you would think of as so mundane (or conversely overly bright!), but given the right proportion and addition of other colours (usually neutrals or blacks, whites and creams) they can actually look quite stylish. Here are a few examples... The top one uses cream to balance out the brightness of the primary colours. The bottom one uses a light blue base colour in the dress to soften the overall look and create a calm feeling (blue has a calming effect on the brain!)
Summer?
or Winter?
ABOVE: Here you can see the use of red as an integral colour in the collection. When mixed and morphed with black, it takes on quite a violent and intense feeling. I think this is a really effective example only two colours being used together. It explores vivid patches of bright red as well as large dark shades of red and the grounding element of black.
ABOVE: This is an extension of the red outfit above, as now it is adding in white. The small flecks of white that are glimpsed in the skirt give it a slightly lighter, more tribal feeling. This to me again is another good example of using only two or three colours together. They work in the right proportions together to create Rodarte's apocalypse concept.
ABOVE: A completely earthy feeling is given off by this outfit. No loud patches of colour, just a simple progression from light brown tints to dark brown patterns and black. The patterned parts do well to break up the blocks of colour.
ABOVE: This is an interesting outfit. It is underpinned by the same natural look of the above outfit, but has an unexpected flash of fluro yellow/green in it. The lurid quality of the colour cuts through the earthiness and puts it into a level where it is almost space age (but still inextricably linked to nature somehow?!)
ABOVE: Mixing the lightest of blue tints with white. The geometric diamond cut pattern in the white pulls the outfit away from being overly girly and old.
ABOVE: Nude is introduced with white. It almost blends into the skin and brings the plain white away from being too bride-like.
ABOVE TWO: Really light primary pastel tints used here. You can predominantly see a pastel blue, and the pastel reds (pinks) and yellows mix together so you can also see a touch of green. This is certainly colourful but makes the clothing feel delicate, soft and feminine.
ABOVE: Here the collection starts to use monochromatic muted primary colours for entire outfits. The tints and shades mix together subtly and softly (the outfit is mainly balanced by a light pink tint of a dusty red). The outfit is all pink but it isn't strenuous on the eye.
ABOVE TWO: Above is an example of muted sea blue tints and shades being used to create monochromatic outfits. The balance of tints and shades is just right. The outfit looks calming, soft and sophishicated.
ABOVE: This is an interesting mix of blue and pink. The colours are usually asociated with male and female babies and here they are mixed together into an underwear-esque outfit! The pink is a bit muted and dusty, so it doesn't scream in your face 'babies', though the combination of the two does look incredibly girly, especially in a material like satin!
ABOVE: This cool blue-ish tone of grey looks very clean and futuristic. If it weren't for the neck ruffles the outfit would look almost sporty. I like though that the ruffles have been added. It turns the colour unexpectedly into something a bit softer.
