Complementary Colors in Clothing and Fashion
Complementary colors are those that are exactly opposite on the color wheel. This is best explained in detail by use of the color wheel itself.
Two classic complementary colors: blue and orange. Note how they are opposite each other on the color wheel.
When putting together two fully saturated complementary hues side by side you get a combination that has maximum color contrast. This means that the hues are as different from each other as they can possibly be.
Adding white, black, gray to any of the two colors does not change their complementing nature. It only changes their shade, tint, or tone. By darkening one hue and lightening the other you enhance their contrast of lightness.
For example, by darkening the hue blue-green (cyan) and brightening its complementary hue red-orange and combining them together in a color scheme for an outfit, you get the following result:
Dark cyan and bright red-orange make for a strong complementing color contrast.
The blue-green in this outfit is clearly the canvas color. By using its complementary color as an accent color you achieve maximum “pop”. This is because the color contrast is is as high as it gets.
Also, the luminance of both colors is different (not much, but still). This means that there is also some contrast in lightness to make the accents stick out even more.
How to Wear Complementing Colors
It’s not easy to wear strong complementary colors and not look weird. This is truly quite a feat to pull off, but if you know how, you’re definitely going to be noticed.
Alright, as we already stated in other articles, it’s sometimes a good idea to wear canvas colors that are not too explosive. What we mean is, it’s often best to use darker colors in your outfits color scheme. For example, dark blue, olive, burgundy, brown, and so on.
It’s then best to add a tad of any bright color to accent the canvas. This is where the complementary color can come in.
If you pick dark blue (navy blue) as your canvas, it would be interesting to choose bright orange as the accent, don’t you think?
Did you notice the orange highlights of the socks? Of course you did! How could you?
That’s exactly what happens when you wear bright complementing accents in your outfit – they catch people’s eye! It’s a guarantee for comments from your friends as soon as they notice those pair of socks. And, since the colors are well-matched, the comments are going to be good ones!
However, you always have to be careful not to overdo the high contrast. Stick to small complementing elements in your outfit and maybe even try to mix it up a bit with analogous colors. Don’t know what analogous colors are? Read our article.
