Grey and Yellow for Winters
Grey is such an effortless neutral for Winters, yet is often overlooked in favour of both Black and Navy. Grey can, however, play an important role in your wardrobe, with the grown up feel of Black with the slightly easier to wear look of Navy.
Your versions of Grey are almost exclusively a stark mix of Black and White – no other colours are added to your Greys as an undertone. This gives them the clarity and relative brightness you need. The exception is Mole, which has a slight brownish undertone, and tends to work better on less cool-toned Winters. The key for you is to avoid greys which have too much blue-softness (a blue undertone is not necessarily a bad thing, but often carries a ‘smokey’ feel, which softens your bright high contrast look) or yellowness, which will make you look sallow. Pantone’s Ultimate Grey sits very neatly in your palette, being that perfect true mix of black and white, while Illuminating needs to be shifted to an even more sharp and acidic tone in order to work for you – try Acid Yellow and Neon Yellow for Yellows which contain no warmth and work for your cool toned palette.
Your greys can form the bulk of your outfit, or more of an anchor to create contrast and depth with your brightest and boldest colours. I’ve shown two outfits below, demonstrating the versatility of grey in your wardrobe.
Style notes: As a Winter, you can keep your outfit entirely monochrome and still look wow! The addition of the pop of colour in the shape of the Classic Metallic Belt keeps this look current and stylish, without sacrificing the monochrome feel.
Style notes: The Acid Yellow Silky Scoop picks out the same colour from this vibrant Periwinkle & Azure dress, while lightest Silver Marl stops the whole look feeling over the top without adding heaviness.
And what about hair colour?
If you want to embrace grey when it comes to hair colour, very often letting your hair do what it does naturally is the easiest solution – Winter hair will generally remain very cool toned as it goes grey. Modern blue toned shampoos are a world away from old fashioned ‘blue’ grey hair, and add coolness back in if you feel your hair colour leans a little too warm as it goes grey. If you choose to colour your hair, don’t be tempted to add too many shades – a tonal highlighted look will be much less impactful than going for a bolder block of colour.
To see Greys for the other seasons, use the links below:
