A week of adjacent colors

I had this crazy idea to experiment with a week of outfits which have adjacent tertiary color pairings (they have such drama!). These are the first ideas I had; two of them need tweaking to keep with the tertiary theme but I'm not sure I have the items to do so:

  1. red/red orange
  2. gold/moss green
  3. yellow green/blue green (skips over adjacent to next tone)
  4. blue green/blue
  5. dark blue/purple (skips over adjacent to next tone)

Too crazy? Thoughts?

:)

1
2
3
4
5
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38 Comments

  • missvee replied 12 years ago

    Interesting idea - 3,4, and 5 are my favourites.

  • sarah replied 12 years ago

    Yum. I love adjacent colors!

  • MNsara replied 12 years ago

    Oh, but I love these! I bet if you anchor each outfit with some basic neutral (i.e. denim, black, brown, cream) you can put together some dramatic and exciting looks :-)

    (I am all about combo #2 - I might be able to dress for an entire week in pieces in those colors. . . )

  • replied 12 years ago

    This is lovely! Yes, do it. There is a page somewhere on this website with clothing colors lined up like that *wracking brain* but I can't tell you where. :/

  • Transcona Shannon replied 12 years ago

    Aida - where do you come up with your creative challenges? I'd be so intimidated by something like this. I'm looking forward to seeing this play out...

  • Jem replied 12 years ago

    I love all of those combinations! I hope you will post pictures.

  • rae replied 12 years ago

    Love. It.

    These types of combos have long been my favorite - eager to see what you come up with!

  • AJ replied 12 years ago

    Ooohhh, looking forward to 2, 3, & 5 !

    Is the spring bug hitting you early, Aida? : )

  • Sara L. replied 12 years ago

    I look forward to seeing your outfits. I like the color combos in all except #1, but that's because I'm just not an orange person. I prefer the cooler colors in your other combos.

  • Aida replied 12 years ago

    Yay for the positive response! I shall keep working these outfits out then, and will wear next week. Hope you can all wait until next Friday for the results ;)

    MNsara, I definitely plan to anchor these with plenty of neutrals! :D

    Shannon, inspiration can come from anywhere really, but a lot of my color inspirations come from nature. This idea was a mix of a comment I got about wearing neutrals and looking at photos of my yard from fall when the leaves were changing colors. And the spring bug (see my response to AJ ^^)

    AJ, maybe 0:) I was hoping for lots of snow this winter, so far none *sniff*

  • Amy replied 12 years ago

    Ooh, fun! Can't wait to see the results.

  • RandomThoughts (Andrea) replied 12 years ago

    Yay! LOVE 2 and 3.

  • Ornella replied 12 years ago

    YES Aida, totally my cup of tea, 101%
    I can't wait to see what you'll engineer with these!

    Long time ago I have considered red+fuchsia or blue+green to be a bit crazy and definitely dramatic in the same sense as the combinations showcased here, but I have now recognized and embraced my love for the unexpected combos (not quite obvious from my outfits, but give me some time ;-) ). I'm eagerly waiting the round-up post with all the outfits.

  • Classically Casual replied 12 years ago

    I love this idea.

    I'm a gardener, & last year I attended a talk by my favorite local garden designer duo. Before the presentation, after the plants were all assembled, they silently moved through the plants carrying a flat box lid. They very selectively plucked a flower here and a petal there. It turned out to be an exercise in plant combinations, either in a container or a bed, & the colors they chose were combinations of three next to each other on the color wheel. The effect was lovely and interesting.

    So fun to apply this to clothing.

  • Angie replied 12 years ago

    VERY fab :)

    Just looking at all those colours puts me in a good mood.

  • MsMary replied 12 years ago

    LOVE IT!!!

  • rae replied 12 years ago

    Ooh! I hope this doesn't count as hijacking the idea, but this would be a really fun challenge week. Would you mind at all if I made an attempt to join in?

  • catgirl replied 12 years ago

    Love them all, especially #2! I can't wait to see these. I love the way your mind works... This combined with lyn's Five Hooks is a great little mini-challenge.

  • Aida replied 12 years ago

    Thanks for the great positive responses ladies! I'm getting even more excited to work these out for next week :D And anyone who wants to join, please do!

    Ornella, yes these more unexpected color combinations are so much fun!

    Classically Casual, that sounds like a great gardening exercise. I must try that in the spring!

    Angie, me too! It made me smile to see all the clothing laid out in a rainbow when I was taking these photos (and you know my wardrobe is mostly neutrals, hehe!)

    Rae, not hijacking at all! It would be way fun to do as a group :D I plan to do these next week, would that work for you?

  • cobaltblue replied 12 years ago

    I love these, especially 2 and 5! I can't wait to see your outfits.

  • rae replied 12 years ago

    Next week is fine for me (just did laundry, so all my colors are available). :)

  • Aida replied 12 years ago

    Thanks, cobaltblue!

    Rae I can't WAIT to see what you come up with :D

  • rachylou replied 12 years ago

    I love #3 :)

  • Jjsloane replied 12 years ago

    Just bouncing back from Rae's posting and am eagerly awaiting your masterpieces as well. I'm going to try this week. What a fabulous idea and great color selections.

  • Mander replied 12 years ago

    I don't like #1 as much for some reason, but I do like the other ones.

    Have you seen the color wheel thing from Academichic? That might be what you are thinking of, Claire:

    http://www.academichic.com/200.....ne-colors/

  • morethanbeige replied 12 years ago

    Oooh, cool idea. Awaiting pics!

  • Joy replied 12 years ago

    All the combinations look wonderfully exciting. I can't wait to see your outfits. You will be a burst of sunshine in dark and dismal late January.

  • jayne replied 12 years ago

    Are there any rules for a challenge or just try to post pictures of the 'inspiration' as played out day by day? This sounds like a fun! although I may have to dig out the summer clothes to find some of these

  • Lisa replied 12 years ago

    Neat idea. My blue loving self really likes 4 and 5 best. :)

  • Sveta replied 12 years ago

    #1-3 are my faves here! Such a fun challenge - can't wait to see it in action!

  • Aida replied 12 years ago

    I'm glad more of you are going to try this challenge! How fun :D I will admit to playing in the snow all of last week, so I'm doing the challenge THIS week instead (started today!).

    Joy, I think one of the biggest challenges is going to be keeping these looking seasonally appropriate (and warm enough hehe).

    Jayne, rules depend on the challenge. This is just something I thought would be fun to try, and really I just wanted to do adjacent colors and make it all the way around the wheel. I plan to post the full week in one group, but you're more than welcome to post them day by day. And of course, no requirement to do a full week nor all the color combinations, it's all in good fun!

  • Aida replied 12 years ago

    And for those who want to do different colors (I selected my combos based on items in my closet), here's a fun wheel you can look at for inspiration:

  • rae replied 12 years ago

    Fun wheel! I'll have to try red with maroon or rust sometime soon - I have those!

  • Jjsloane replied 12 years ago

    I did my first one today, but I'm going to wait until the end of the week to post all together. I really had fun picking outfits and have no shortage of these colors, just have to find non-clownlike options. Orange and red is looking scary so far, I might have to tone it down a bit. I really stood out today in a sea of black at my office and me in my gold and olive green.
    Thanks for the inspiration.

  • Vicki replied 12 years ago

    Funny how we're all coming in with different #s, Aida. I really like 1, 2, 3 and 5, with 4 still a question in my mind. The others are instant winners IMO and I actually think I saw you in 2 when you were here for our L.A.-O.C. meet-up when you had that great ON military vest on. They are not too crazy. They are too cool and I'm up for the challenge.

  • Mander replied 12 years ago

    I wonder what it says about my psychology that I'm happy to wear adjacent colors on the left side (green, yellow, purple, and blue) but not on the right (red and orange). I don't think I'd be able to bring myself to wear rust and maroon together, for example.

    I'm sure it all has some deep significance.... ;-)

  • Aida replied 12 years ago

    Rae, I can't remember where I found that wheel but it's a great color inspiration in a pinch. Rust with red-orange would look fabulous on you!

    Jjsloane, I'm positive you can find non-clowny combinations :) Out of all the combos I like the red/red-orange the most, hehe! I am really looking forward to seeing your outfits at the end of the week.

    Vicki, I thought it was interesting to see all the different combo preferences too! #4 is essentially turquoisey-green with blue, and is my second favorite combo of the group. I think you'll like what I have planned for that day :) Good memory on the LA outfit, I wore a yellow-green with green pairing which definitely follows the idea for this challenge. Really looking forward to seeing your outfits too, Vicki!

    Mander, I would guess it's more to do with your coloring than anything :) The right side is much cooler than the left, at least with the clothing pieces I picked for myself for this challenge. I think we also see many more instances of people pairing adjacent colors of those right side shades than the left side.

  • Meredith1953 replied 12 years ago

    I like them all but LOVE #2 and #5....particularly #2!

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