Bought a nice shirt in a striking color? Very nice, but when you get home you know how often you stand in front of your wardrobe in despair: What goes well with this color? Here are some tips to get you started.
Color circle
When combining colors, it is best to look at the color that is opposite the basic color in the color circle 
The primary colors red, yellow, and blue are the basic colors, a mixture of these colors makes the secondary colors created. Then you have tertiary colors, which are the colors that are created by mixing primary and secondary colors. The opposite colors on the color wheel generally always go together. Colors located next to each other in the outer ring can also be combined well.
Combinations
- Blue goes well with orange, green and purple, albeit in muted colors.
- Red often looks good with green, purple, and orange
- Yellow can be combined with green and orange. Purple goes well with yellow in small quantities, for example as an accessory. Yellow also goes well with gold tones.
- Green: With a shade that occurs in nature, almost all colors can be combined well. Blue and yellow fine, red, or (soft) pink are also beautiful and provided a natural tint.
- Purple: Yellow goes well with this, again in small quantities, as an accessory or, for example, an edge of a blouse under a jacket.
- Orange (muted) with not too bright yellow or red is fine. Orange also combines with brown. Blue in small amounts also goes with orange.
Rather not:
Red, blue and yellow doesn’t go well together.
Purple, green, and orange are also not a successful combination.
Brown, black, white, and gray
The colors brown, black white, and gray are neutral colors.
All colors that also occur in nature with this color match brown. Remember that light brown is best combined with lighter shades and dark brown is better with brighter colors. Black and white always go with brown.
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Black, white, and gray can be combined with any color. This also applies to denim (jeans material).
Hints
- Nice to stand out? Go bang! For example, choose bright pink or bright yellow with black.
- You can also stand out in gray with bright green or bright red.
- A nice combination is dark blue with brown accents. For men: a dark blue suit with brown (preferably cognac-colored) shoes and a matching belt.
- It is also important to remember that basic colors with a warm undertone are best combined with warm colors and the cool basic colors should also be combined with cool colors for the best effect.
- A book that beautifully portrays color combinations: 2000 color combinations by Garth Lewis. This book shows you how colors work together and help you make a choice.
Personal taste
Of course, combining colors is a matter of personal taste. It may well be that you deliberately choose a combination that would clash with each other according to the above guidelines, because you want to stand out extra, or because that happens to be fashionable. For example, 2011 is the year of the color-blocking trend. The trick is to combine clashing colors with each other. It may be that one day you feel like dressing very exuberant and colorful and the next day you want to walk a little less striking. When choosing colors, trust your gut, then you’re usually right.
