Magic of Monochromatic
By Aparna Ashtankar, from No Filters Attached
When you have nothing to wear, when you are too lazy to put the effort in getting ready (with your clothing), or just when all your colourful, stylish clothes are in the laundry, and you are left with all blacks or all whites, what do you do? Yes, you wear whatever you have. Blacks over whites, whites over blacks, or whites over white and blacks over black– that is monochromatic outfits.
It is so high up in trend right now. But that is not a monochromatic look, there’s more to it. For those who don’t know what a monochromatic look is: mono means one and chromatic means colour, it is basically a clothing style where single-coloured separates are worn together. We can pair different shades of the same colour or go for the same colour, same shade all over. This is how we define monochromatic looks in fashion terms. After a lot of Instagram scrolling and using my brain for research, I found a few ways in which we can pull the monochromes off without looking dull or boring. So, I thought why not share this newfound fashion knowledge, and here we go–
1. The structural coordination - Putting the outfits together according to their structures; if the top is fitted or body hugging, the bottoms can be flowy in the case of skirts (like an A-line, or a flared skirt), or loose fitted pants (like joggers or flared pants) in the case of trousers. And likewise, if a top is loose, the bottom paired with it should be more defined and fitted. This will make your body look more structured and the whole outfit will look complete.
2. Add prints - To make the outfit look interesting, prints can be added, that is, when the top and bottom of the outfit is same in colour, just go for the prints in the same colour scheme to add that extra pop. A printed top paired with plain bottom or vice a versa can make a perfect outfit.
3. The textures - The texture of an outfit has to be kept in mind while pairing it up, to get a fine, proper look of the outfit as a whole. So, pairing a knitted cardigan, or a fur top for that matter with plain pants (those can be straight pants, or denim, etc.) looks more thoughtful and elegant.
4. The shade variation - At times, while pairing bright colours together it gets little bit flashy and unpleasant especially when everything you are wearing is of the same colour throughout. For such instances, to get a toned look, go for a colour scheme which means from top to bottom wear different shades of a same colour, that is, we can go dark to light or light to dark. Whatever floats your boat.
5. Add an external fun element - The complete look cannot just be defined by the clothes you wear but by your accessories too. And in the case of monochromatic outfits, adding flashy (bright colored, or in contrast to the outfit) shoes, purse, or jewelry, or something as basic as your nails or glasses can make you look stunning like a diva. For example, if you are going for a whole white look, then adding all gold jewelry rather than silver can add that shine to the whole look.
These are some of the ways in which monochromes can be worn in a more polished and fun way. Hope this helps. I am also learning as much as I can about fashion, styling, and this industry as I am aspiring to be in this field. And whatever I am learning, I am trying to put in words. I think that all of this is trial and error, we need to try on different things and see what works for us the best.
http://nofiltersattached.com/2021/02/magic-of-monochromatic/
