The Power of Colour: Choosing the Right Hues for Formal Attire

Choosing the right colour for formal wear for women can be tricky. You might wear the best labels, but if the colour is not right, all your efforts will go in vain. This is especially true for women’s formal wear in an office environment. When in a professional environment, you don’t want to be wearing anything too garish or out-there that takes the attention away from your work and makes you look unprofessional.

Studies have shown that colours can greatly impact the way people perceive us. Not just that, they can also uplift our mood, and positively impact our heart rate, blood pressure and respiration. No wonder the fashion world emphasises so much on choosing the right colours when you head to the office.

So, if you are having trouble deciding which colour will work the best for your office look, go no further. In this style guide, we will help you choose the right hues that will make you look professional and stylish at the same time.

Mind your skin tone

We, by no means, suggest that your skin tone will have a hampering impact on what you wear. Neither do we want to promote the fair skin obsession that the world is stuck on. However, wearing colours that compliment your skin tone is a win-win situation and you must be mindful of that. Generally, cold colours (green, purple and blue) compliment pale skin tones and warm colours like rust, brown, orange and shades of yellow work well for dusky skin tones. Neutral tones like black and white go well with every kind of skin tone.

Keeping your skin tone in mind will help you choose colours that make you look better. Formal wear for women is a tricky fashion choice to handle. You must be vigilant with your choices to maximise the attire. If metallic tones are on your mind, remember that gold looks great on lighter skin tones, silver is perfect for wheatish and copper goes well with darker skin tones.

Keep your body type in mind

Your build will also determine your choice of colours. Women’s formal wear provides a wide range of possibilities. But if you pick the wrong one, it can make you look clumsy, something you don’t want in a professional work environment. So, if you are on the plump or bulky side, choose darker shades. They will make you look slimmer, taller and leaner. Lighter shades, on the other hand, are perfect for people who are skinny as they give a visual appearance of looking fuller and curvier.

Choose according to your personality

The choice of colours you wear reflects your personality. It usually happens that people tend to choose colours as per their personality. However, unmindful selection can make things go wrong quite easily. If you are a flamboyant person, bright, bold and vivid colours will suit you perfectly. Anything in the shade of orange, pink, blue, green or yellow is fine. Remember women’s formal wear is all about how well you can carry it off. If you are on the reserved and introverted types, go for lighter hues like pastels, mind green, lavender, peach, saffron, etc or other neutral tones like ivory, beige and black.

Dress according to time and occasion

Seasons and occasions will also determine your choice of colours. For example, avoid wearing metallic colours during the summer. It is better to choose lighter shades that are soothing to the eyes. Similarly, lighter shades during the day and brighter ones during the night make perfect sense for formal wear for women. If you are going for that important office meeting, keeping it traditional and conservative is ideal. You can choose to wear brighter and bolder colours if it is an office outing.

Mix, match and contrast

You must refrain from wearing two primary colours (blue, green, red and yellow) at the same time. It is better to go tone-on-tone to make the most of these amazing colours. Keep in mind to match one strong or bright colour rather than wearing two of them together. The same is the case with prints. Never wear two prints together like stripes with stripes or checks with checks. Mix them with a solid colour for a stylish look.

Every colour carries a meaning. If we were to go by colour therapy, white means purity, purple is royalty, red is vibrant, auspicious and festive, black and gray are considered solemn and serious while green and blue are eternally calming and orange is for the fierce and energetic ones.

Just as colours come with meanings, which ones you choose will make you look that way. People often rely on visual clues to gauge your personality and what colours you choose for your formal wear will decide how they perceive you. Keep our colour style guide handy to make a lasting impression.