The Color Wheel

I often find myself looking at good and bad dressed columns...

I see various combinations that according to the critic are good combinations and I'm thinking to my self: OMG, really? That's a good combination?

On the other hand, there are combinations considered bad, but in my head, are perfect...
I'm confused. What are the rules? Not every person has the sixth sense for being fashionable.

Researching....

1. I understood that when it comes to outfits the first rule is to produce harmony, instead of boringness (wearing a monochromatic ensemble with all the same texture) or chaos (wearing four conflicting patterns).
2. I found out that there are rules when it comes to color mixing. The rules are summarized by something called the color wheel.

According to Wikipedia the color wheel:

is an abstract illustrative organization of color hues around a circle that shows relationships between primary colors, secondary colors, complementary colors, etc.

You can make the following combos using the color wheel as your guide:

• Colors directly next to each other (analogues colors) - are colors, which sit next to each other on the color wheel.  They harmonize since they each contain some of the same color. (i.e. yellow and yellow-orange; yellow and yellow-green; violet and blue-violet, etc.);

• Colors that form right (90 degree) angles with each other - to find them pick your main color, and skip 2 items of the wheel to left or right to find the matching one. (i.e. yellow and red-orange; blue and violet-red; green and orange, etc.);

• Colors directly across from each other (complementary colors) - intensify each other and make the colors seem brighter. This combination creates bold and adventurous look, but has to be made carefully. Some mixes have a cultural “stigma” – for example red and green are Christmas colors. (i.e. yellow and violet; blue and orange; red and green, etc.);

• Colors that form a T or a triangle - they can create a colorful and bold mix, but can also threaten to compete with each other for attention (i.e. blue, orange, and violet-red; yellow, violet, and red-orange; yellow, blue-green, and red-orange, etc.);

• Colors that form an X - a mix with that many colors has to be made with attention as it can easily turn into a chaotic combo (i.e. blue, orange, red-violet and yellow-green, etc.).

3. And finally, I found out that there are neutrals: white, black, brown, gray and hues of blue found in the denim. These go with just about anything.

Hopefully you found these information helpful, keep in mind that in future posts I will write to you about combining all these types of colors in order to make an outfit.