Make Your Mornings Easier: A Color Palette Closet

I used to buy so many tops and dresses that I thought were so pretty…and then I never wore them. When I would clean out my closet, my mom would always ask me, “why are you giving this away? It still fits and it’s super cute” and my answer was always: I’ve never worn it.

When I look back on all the clothing items I’ve bought and never worn, I can’t help but feel so wasteful, but also confused. I think about the times I’ve looked at my over-stuffed closet and still said “I don’t have anything to wear” – why is that?

Why do we all have plenty of clothes but don’t have anything to wear?

I’ll tell you why: we’re surrounded by colors and styles that we think are pretty but can’t match with anything. We have the cute singular items, but we don’t have the outfits.

I was recently introduced to the “color palette closet” and it has changed the way I shop. I no longer look for things that I think are cute, but things I can wear. I no longer shop for occasions, but for items I can make fit any dress-code. Here’s how to get started:

First things first, you want your closet to compliment you. Clothes were never meant to be the star of the show, they’re meant to compliment the body they’re on. So first you need to determine your undertones.

Undertones range from cool to neutral to warm. To determine your undertones, look at the color of your veins, how your skin reacts to sunlight, and the jewelry that compliments you best.

If your skin tends to look more yellow/orange, you tan easily, gold jewelry compliments you best, and your veins on the inside of your wrist look greenish —you’ve got warm undertones.

If your skin tends to look more “cold” (less golden), you tend to get sunburns, silver jewelry compliments you best, and your veins on the inside of your wrist tend to look blue – you’ve got cool undertones.

Lastly, if you burn and tan, gold and silver both compliment you, and the veins on the inside of your wrist can look blue and green – you’ve got a neutral undertone.

You’re thinking, okay what does this have to do with anything? The first stage of building your color palette closet is knowing what colors you need to be choosing.

The first colors we’re choosing are our two wildcard colors. Your wildcard colors are your “pop of color”. While you can just skip this step and choose your favorite, you could also base your wildcards on what compliments your undertone.

For warm undertones, colors like yellow, orange, amber, red, gold, coral, olive, and peach, compliment your skin beautifully.

For cool undertones, colors that are sharp and icy like blue, red, purple, and grey compliment you well.

For neutral undertones, you really can pick anything - but try not to overwhelm your tone. Aim for softened versions of colors. Colors like black, jade, taupe, brown, off-whites, are perfect.

Next you need to choose your neutrals – whites, blacks and tans. I highly suggest everyone has a supply of white and black items in their closet, but the shade is up to you – the same thing goes for your tans as well. If stark white is too bright on you, go for a cream or ivory. If black is too stark or too dark for you, try out a charcoal grey. With tans, you can go either way. You can lean towards a nude shade or a deeper brown, whatever suits you best.

Make these neutrals your most collected items. These will be the ones that you wear the most and that go with the most.

When it comes to bottoms, you want to stick with this same color palette (besides denim). This will allow you to grab any two items from your closet and they will 9/10 times be a match!

For me, my wildcards are deeper greens and a burnt orange/red. My neutrals are plain black and white, and a range of coffee-toned tans. I tend to pick out lighter wash jeans and my dresses tend to stick to my neutrals.

The one area of my closet where I completely ignore my color palette is my lounge wear. When it comes to PJ’s or sweats, I care more about the comfort than I do the color. I advise that you have one area of your closet that is pure chaos. I mean, I have a pair of blue tie dye lounge pants, and I love them! They don’t go with anything, but they’re for me to wear when working or sleeping, so who cares!

Also, don’t be afraid to change your colors every now and then! As we grow and change, the way we dress does too. If one day you realize you’re being drawn to a different wildcard, SWITCH YOUR WILDCARD! A color palette closet is not to restrict you, but to help you! Don’t let it tie you down!

Throw on your favorite Netflix binge-show, start going through your closet, be sure to pass on in some way the clothes you no longer need, and start making it easier to get dressed!

TTYL,

Carrie