Nature- the New Black

My friend Brance called me a while back and wanted some advice on what color to wear with an outfit he'd put together. My advice was "Blue or green- after all, they're basically each a neutral." He was amused by my logic which I will share with you all now.

Blue is the color of the sky and the ocean. Green is the color of grass and leaves. They are colors that act as the backdrop for all other colors found in nature. Everything looks good next to them- and isn't that essentially the definition of a neutral? Need proof? Here you go- we'll go right through the colors of the rainbow (ROY-G-BIV):

RED:

These wild roses look pretty great next to both the afternoon sky and the green leaves around them.

ORANGE:

These once-green leaves have mostly turned orange and look at how lovely they are next to the still green leaves in the middle? Gorgeous!

Peek through these orange leaves to the bright blue sky and you'll find it's just as lovely a combination as orange and green.

YELLOW:

Just like the roses, these sunflowers look lovely next to both their green leaves and the bright blue summer sky. At this time of year, there's not much that's more cheerful than a sunflower.

GREEN and BLUE:

The thing about neutrals going with everything is that it includes each other. Just like you're allowed to put black and brown together, the same goes for blue and green.

INDIGO:

It's not just flowers and trees- birds and other animals are proof that colors from nature always look nice together.

VIOLET:

Another gorgeous flower with blue and green as its backdrop. Stunning, no?

Maybe you think I'm crazy for saying that sky blue and grass green are neutrals, but I challenge you to use them with other colors and with each other in your outfits some more. I guarantee you'll be a brighter, prettier version of yourself. Start small- instead of wearing your stock gold or silver earrings, throw on a pair that's a vibrant green. Who cares what color your outfit is- just try it! From there, try a bright blue shoe with your LBD or even your LPD (Little Pink Dress) and see how it feels.

It's important to let one color dominate, of course, but a pop of another color- as opposed to beige or black or a metallic-can be a far more unique and interesting statement. Remember Kenley Collins from Project Runway a few seasons ago? She was a master of putting interesting colors together.

Would you look at that? Red with blue and green. Hmm..... what a brilliant idea!