Fashion trends change quickly. Colors come and go before you realize it, even before you can even manage to answer the question “Do I look good in this color?” or “With what should I wear it?”. Sounds familiar? I bet it does. Well, the best solution to cope with such struggles is to know in advance what fits and what doesn’t and master your color mixing skills.

In planning an outfit you can easily go from clown to fashion statement. Because like in any other art, creating a good color mix for your outfit takes some practice and a few basic rules to follow.

These rules will be your saving vest when you want to wear something spectacular, without looking ridiculous. So let’s go over them and make sure next time you think about which colors should go in your outfit you are prepared.

Think contrast

Remember how you use to learn there are three primary colors: red, blue and yellow? Well you probably are also familiar with their combinations and how together they create the color wheel, your best friend when it comes to color mixing.

Based on this color wheel you can create contrasting outfits with combinations that just won’t fail you. There are two major rules when creating these color schemes to boost a bit of contrast.

First and most used combination is that of complementary colors, these can be found in the color wheel opposite from one another. It is said that these colors give most contrast and it’s often a good idea to use them in accessorizing your outfit.

Second we have the analog colors which lie on both sides of any given color. So basically you take the wheel choose your color, skip one in left or right and the following one should be perfect for your analog combination. These color mixes usually give a feeling of harmony because are often found in the surrounding nature.

In addition to these two you can also use combinations of three colors using the split complementary combination or triad colors. Well, here thing get a bit more complicated but if you have a wheel in front of you it’s easier to understand.

On split complementary color you use two analog color and the complement color of the one between these colors.

The triad color combination is pure math. Depending on how big your wheel is, you divide it in equal parts and take colors at the same distance. In the example below you go from 4 to 4.

Split and conquer

In this section thing go a bit more simple. And there are two methods I like to use: using shades or a beautiful print.

When using shades take a color from the wheel and create your outfit using only shades of the same color. Go from dark to light but try to keep it in 2-3 combinations. Even if you use this method you can fail if you use too many colors because chances are that you’ll take a shade from a similar color.

Also a really simple method would be to create an outfit starting with a pattern. Take an accessory or  an clothing item with a really cool outfit and start splitting the colors used to create it and use them to complete your outfit. It can be bold or classy, but it will do magic.

Seek balance

Whenever you want to keep thing calm and go for a more balanced appearance you should definitely use neutral colors. And don’t think black and white, greys and browns are also great. Mix them with any pale color for a soft look and dreamy outfit.

Or if you want to stand up a bit and make a more bold outfit, accessorize it with a strong color or use an clothing item with a courageous pattern. When in mood for some glamour, silver and gold are your best friends. Neutral colors just love shiny accessories.

Mix, match and find you own style.