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What are your colors?

Do you find yourself turning to the same colors over and over in your wardrobe (like I do)? Do you think the colors you choose say something about you… your style or your personality?

I’m a very color-oriented person. I tend to go for very specific colors. You might remember my hemming and hawing about finding a palette for the Fall patterns. Well, I realized that some of those colors weren’t really me, so I was having a hard time putting them together. I’ve returned to the colors I love and feel much happier.

The swatch of silk above is my starting point, but we’ll be adding in some black and grey, and tweedy texture. Coincidentally, I realized that I was wearing this very same palette today!

(By the way, that’s a Cinnamon dress, and it is so so comfy and flattering. Yes, even with the giant plaid I chose for some reason.)

Finding the right palette can be tricky. Unlike a clothing designer, I don’t have the constraints of actually having to manufacture the clothing, which is nice. The samples we make are really just for illustrative purposes. We use them for photos, and sometimes trunk shows that we send to fabric stores.

At the same time, they need to give you all a sense of what the pattern can look like, and the variety of fabrics that might work. Ideally, they should inspire you with new ideas, but also allow you to imagine the patterns in fabrics you have available.

Of course, we also want the photos to look great, and to say Colette Patterns. Color is a huge part of that. I’m just very into certain colors, and that’s what drives our whole look and feel, really: crisp, bright, graphic, and pretty.

You can see in this photo of my computer screen the swatches that represent the Official Colette Patterns Colors. It makes me happy to look at them. They feel like “my” colors.

Do you have “your” colors? Or is there something else (other than color) that makes the things you design / make / wear feel like you?

Some related posts you might be interested in:

Sarai Mitnick

Founder

Sarai started Colette back in 2009. She believes the primary role of a business should be to help people. She loves good books, sewing with wool, her charming cats, working in her garden, and eating salsa.

Comments

Jane

June 24, 2011 #

Oh yes, I think it’s hard to stray from one’s natural palette!
I’m very much chocolate brown as a base colour, or denim, with white, and soft blues and pinks. That would make up 90% of my wardrobe. It’s funny that in home decorating though I have gone for a lot of green and red, which I hardly wear. I suppose the clothing colours must be more closely related to what actually suits me rather than pure clothing-as-aesthetic-pieces-in-themselves. It’s not conscious though… purely what I’m drawn to. Thanks for making me think about it!

Sarai

June 24, 2011 #

So true about home decorating! My house is decked out in tons of soft blues, but I don’t really wear all that much blue these days (unless it goes into aqua territory). I also have a ton of blue fabric, which is odd.

Hana – Marmota

June 24, 2011 #

I definitely do… The thrifted blouse I’ve just posted about is one part of my colours: http://marmota-b.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-new-favourite-blouse.html – soft greyish blue and beige. A lot of beige/camel/whatever, actually. Then blue and white, and other colours that look good with the first two.
It just somehow developped.

Sarai

June 24, 2011 #

I love camel. It’s one of those colors I always want to work into my wardrobe more, but can’t quite figure out with my wardrobe.

Dr Duckie

June 24, 2011 #

Gorgeous silk! Where is that from? (Not that they’ll ship to the UK, but a girl can dream…)

Sarai

June 24, 2011 #

I actually designed it and had it printed at Spoonflower! It’s heavily inspired by a 1940s dress I saw. I haven’t ordered more than a swatch of it though, since it’s quite pricey.

Ashley at The Feisty Redhead

June 24, 2011 #

Everything in my closet is blue, green, and purple. I love the gray/black/aqua combo! I always feel crappiest in orange and yellow. I think they make me look like a corpse!

Sarai

June 24, 2011 #

I used to dislike orange and yellow, but now I like them (depending on the shade). Buttery yellows, tomatoey red-orange, and peachy oranges are some of my favorite colors these days, but then I just think they look nice with dark hair / features.

Courtney Ostaff

June 24, 2011 #

Perhaps I’m old fashioned, but I try to always stick with coordinating colors. If you buy an odd piece, you’ll be limited in when you can wear it. I tend to buy a lot of neutrals or primary colors for that reason: black, royal blue, teal blue, kelly green, amethyst, red, gray, white, some creams, denims.

Sarai

June 24, 2011 #

I think that’s a great way to do it. I guess it depends on the types of things you wear. In the summer especially, my “outfits” usually consist of a dress and a pair of shoes, so I don’t worry too much about coordinating. Totally different story in the Fall, though.

Kate

June 24, 2011 #

Of course! or rather: I have two seasonal palettes.

During the warmer month it’s pretty much navy with white/cream, warm, fresh pinks (peach etc.) and some pieces in a fair green or turquoise. Most of my shoes then are light to medium brown, always warm tones.

My winter-wardrobe is based on the brown-beige-ivory range, a bit of red, some teal and green, a hint of violet and salmon-pink. Shoes in medium or dark brown.

I do own some black pieces, but wintertime-special-occasion only, and I never wear plain black. Couldn’t do that.

I guess my preferences pretty much hit what would be best for my teint anyway. And I feel comfi and confident in ‘my’ palette!

Sarai

June 24, 2011 #

Black and white are my base, I guess. I love wearing black, though I know I look a little vampiric in the Winter with the total lack of sun for months.

I definitely have palette variations for the seasons. I wear softer pastels in Spring, brighter colors in the Summer, a little darker in the Fall/Winter. They’re all variations on the same themes, though.

Alessa

June 24, 2011 #

I definitely have a color palette, although I find it’s nice to get out of one’s comfort zone now and then. I would have said that my palette includes any greens and blues from navy, forest green and aqua to teal, grass green and sky blue, as long as they aren’t pastelly. Also, red, white and black. I’ve also discovered that there are shades of yellow, violet/purple and coral that look rather nice on me, although again, nothing that’s too light or pastel. Grey, brown and orange look rather abysmal on me, though… :)

Sarai

June 24, 2011 #

I agree! I think that’s one thing that’s useful about keeping an eye on “trends” and seeing what the fashion world is doing. Not slavishly follow color trends, but to get some fresh ideas about color.

Samina

June 24, 2011 #

Definitely! I always gravitate to the same colors for my clothes, & for my fabric & yarn purchases. I prefer jewel tones & tend to stay away from pastels other thank pink. They really wash out my olive tone skin.

Sarai

June 24, 2011 #

High five. Pink rules… my favorite color, hands down.

Lena

June 24, 2011 #

Even though my favorite colors are yellow and orange, I wear navy blues, black, and grays. If it’s summer, I wear white as well. I love red accessories and accents, but it would be a lot for me to wear red as a main color.

Catherine

June 24, 2011 #

I end up wearing mostly black, blue and purple, with variations in forest green, red, and raspberry. Same colours over and over again. At first it bothered me, but now I’m realizing that there is a wonderful coordination in my wardrobe that just works. I do agree that seeing other palettes/trends helps open things up a bit. I varied it this summer by buying some pineapple yellow linen trousers that I just adore, that add the right flash of colour but still coordinates with most everything in my wardrobe.

Unfortunately it only makes purchasing fabric to sew with only marginally easier ;)

Tasha

June 24, 2011 #

I have a color palette in my head that I love but it hasn’t always made its way into my wardrobe. In part because of buying lots of vintage clothes, where if I find something in the right shape and size I tend to overlook the colors because it’s not like I get to shop around the store for the same thing in other colors. I’m hoping to narrow this a down as I get more into sewing so that the palette in my head is closer to my wardrobe. Primarily it includes robin’s egg blue, butterscotch yellow, bright red, white and navy. Sadly very little of any of that in my actual wardrobe thus far, dag nabbit!

Lara

June 24, 2011 #

I have a lot of different colors in my wardrobe. I can’t even remember the last time I wore something black or grey. My favorite color to wear is definitely yellow. I have a bright yellow rain coat and I feel like it really brings some happiness to the world in some way. Small kids seem to find it particularly interesting :)

The downside of my love for color is that nothing actually matches. Even though I love bright colors like red and spring green, I find that I’m more and more in need of clothes in a more neutral color to keep everything together a bit. I’ve recently been converted to neutral navy and white, which I didn’t wear all that much before (white practically never).

Missy

June 24, 2011 #

I tend towards browns, greens, and blues in my wardrobe, but I am a redhead! I just sewed a tunic dress and the main color was brown background with a bold print of geometric? type green and blue flowers with an accented ruffle and tie that was green with brown and blue in it. I had several people at church comment that only I could wear something that bold(it was not bold at all), but it is actually very common right now! Maybe I can get my friends to step out of their safety zones.

laura

June 25, 2011 #

yes, i definitely have my personal palette – it consists of bright orange, yellow, green and red; and i like to mix in different shades of brown for neutrality. however, i’ve just started studying fashion design and i noticed i’m using completely different colors for my designs, but i’m fine with that for now. (:
another thing i love: big, bold, graphic patterns! i’m not into tiny, cute patterns – maybe also because i’m tall.

all the best,
thanks for being inspiring all the time!
laura

Jessica

June 25, 2011 #

The colors I tend towards are also the ones that look good on me – nothing pastel or cool. I have a running list of “looks great on others, can’t wear myself!” colors.

Usually color is my starting point, but I always consider texture and pattern. I find that trio makes for visually interesting combinations. And I’m a big “details” person!

I also find I have clusters of colors that I like to combine … they create “themes” in my wardrobe. And I definitely have a “comfort” palette of blue/gray/white/black that I default to if I don’t want to have to think about what I’m wearing. It helps that some of my favorite garments are in those colors, too.

Melanie

June 25, 2011 #

Great post and great links. I’ve been following your blog for a little while and am eager to dive into some Colette patterns. Hopefully by fall there will be enough baby weight gone to justify my time and effort. This waiting do me give me lots of time to plan out a wardrobe, though and I really love this idea of sewing several projects around a central palette. In fact, I’m planning my baby girls first fall wardrobe with this in mind just now. My colors are first and foremost pink, which has always been my hands down favorite. It’s flattering and classic. I nearly always build out from things that coordinate with pink.