MASTERING MONOCHROMATIC

I’m always in awe of tonal dressing. It’s easy, elegant and has a sophistication about it that allows you to feel like you’ve thrown something together which looks hard to do. Putting outfits together someday’ s can feel like a chore, so if in doubt, keep it simple as I say, and what easier way to go than all one tone of the spectrum.

It sounds super pretentious, but let’s look at the facts, Kim K made this look super cool in same-samey beige, whilst still managing to make it super cringe by being able to see her camel toe… so if that’s your bag, go for it.. nothing wrong with that, but I’m more into the multi-fabrics, multi-spectrum, multi-layered looks.

SO IF THIS IS SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE TO ATTEMPT, I’VE PUT TOGETHER SOME LOOKS TO HELP YOU LOOK LIKE YOU’RE NAILING THIS FROM DAY ONE. 

WHAT IS TONAL DRESSING?

Simply put, the art of tonal dressing is the sartorial art form of gently placing clothing in the same colour spectrum together in a clever simplistic way to make it seem effortless. Enabling you to look like a creative genius, and straight off the street style page, or catwalk, and directly strut your stuff into Pak ’n’ Save to grab a bottle of you fave bubbles' on your way to your girls.

 

 

TEXTURE

So your first lesson to nail this fail safe style is the more textures you use, the better you’ll pull this off. If you wore the same types of fabric, say.. satin, chiffon, silk, you’ll lose the impact of all the tones. I hear often “you can’t wear black with navy” and I say that’s simply not true, in the same principle skip the same-same fabrics. If you wore Leather pants with a Navy knit, that’s where you’ll find the sweet spot. So with this in mind, you want to add in layers of knitwear, cotton, pattern, as long as it’s in the same palette or spectrum.

 

 

MIX IT UP

Experiment and play with layering, and play with your lengths and strengths.. Start with a simply tee, pants, maybe a cardie, then layer over a blazer, or coat. By learning your silhouette and having an understanding of how you would normally dress, then take this into how you would wear tonal.

 

 

ADD METALS OR PATTERN

Add in heavy metals where you can to break the look up. . This is a simple effective way to take it up a notch from being tone deaf.  Go for tonal accessories with metal fixtures, metallic bags and clutches.  Gold or silver jewellery, shoes, coppers, bronze. The world is your tonal outfit stratosphere… (mostly… learn when too hold back too without it looking twee).

 

BLACK IS NOT A TONE

Look into your wardrobe, what’s the stand out colour you own? what are you drawn to. If you say black, its time to step it up, and place it to the side for a bit. Opt for a colour that you love, one that you know looks amazing on you. You will have an instinct for this, and no doubt is up there with it being a favourite colour of yours. If black is a major player, then play with the textures, and add in pattern for some interest.