Monochromatic dressing is one of the best and easiest ways to look instantly chic and to exude confidence. Whenever I don’t know what to wear to a social event, or am feeling insecure about my body, or have an important presentation at work, I will don the same color from head to toe. It makes me feel put-together, slim and powerful. And anyone can do it! Read on for my tips on how to dress in monochromatic style.
Keep it dark and neutral
Darker colors make you look slim. Neutral colors make you look sophisticated. Dark and neutral colors are therefore the perfect combination for your venture into monochromatic dressing. You will look sharp, trim and self-aware. It’s genius, really. And almost every woman has dark neutrals in her closet, so you won’t need to go shopping to rock this look. Think head-to-toe deep brown, dark gray, navy or black. And in winter, especially at the holidays, perhaps even a very dark green or a deep burgundy can be worn to spice it up a bit.
Here’s an outfit I wore to work recently in deep burgundy as an alternative to a dress or a suit. I think the color and the breezy trapeze top helped it transition well from my meeting with my boss (scary!) and onto our office holiday party (fun!).
You can wear head to-to-toe lighter colors, but don’t do it until you’ve got some monochromatic success and experience under your belt. Reason being – lighter colors add width. If you wear them from head-to-toe, you risk looking larger than you are and calling attention to parts you don’t want people to notice. If the shape of the pieces is complementary to your body and seasonally appropriate – like a well-cut tan pants suit in the spring – then I support it. But again, see how it feels to wear deep hues from top-to-bottom this winter first.
Here’s another all-black look I wore holiday shopping, then to a dinner party with friends and then out to a local bar. All-black is my favorite outfit to wear when I won’t have time to change between activities – you can’t go wrong! It always looks chic.
Explore within the scale of that color.
Dressing monochromatically can also mean wearing several different shades of a color in one look – as long as the undertone (the coolness or warmth of the color) is the same in each of your pieces. For example, you can pair a lighter gray tunic with darker gray skinny pants. These two grays have a blue-ish or cool undertone, so I was comfortable matching them. A little spark of black – like the tuxedo stripe on these pants that matches the black pockets on the tunic – adds some flair, breaks up the monotony and ties the whole look together.
When I first purchased this outfit, I’d tried the sweater with gray pants that had a yellowish undertone. It didn’t work. In fact, even though both pieces were gray, they actually clashed with each other. Challenge yourself to see the undertone in a color – it’ll change how you see your clothes!
get creative
You don’t just have to use pants to be monochromatic – though it is the easiest way! Another thing I like to do is pair dark, neutral tights to match my dark, neutral dresses. It keeps the deep color going beyond the hem of your dress, which makes you look taller and slimmer! Here’s an example of navy tights with a short navy dress. I did choose to add a deep red shoe and matching lipstick for a little excitement. Sometimes a monochromatic outfit can be kind of boring to the eye. A little pop of a different color can actually bring the pieces into one cohesive look.
Note this is the only time you’ll see me rocking colored tights. They are my absolute style NO-NO, UNLESS they are a dark neutral (e.g. gray, dark brown or navy) and are worn to match a skirt or dress of the same color. Otherwise, DON’T do it. Bright, colorful tights make your legs look bigger and draw attention away from other assets. If your legs are your asset, then go bare before you go colorful.
BEGINNER’S SUGGESTION: One easy way to start small with monochromatic dressing is to keep it casual and wear denim on denim – grab those dark skinny jeans and your favorite chambray button down and give it a whirl. Then move on to all black, followed by some other neutrals. Who knows? You might get just as hooked as I am or – at the very least – have a new answer to the question, “WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR!?!?”
Belle
