If you’ve ever wondered how to add colour to outfits for you or your child without it feeling overwhelming, you are not alone.
How to Style Colourful outfits for Kids.
People will tell you about the colour wheel and might even suggest that certain colours should never be worn together.
Honestly? Nonsense.
If it makes you, or your little one feel good and confident… go for it!
Think about when a toddler is in those first throes of independence and is INSISTING that they will dress themselves.
Will they put together a carefully curated, colour co-ordinated outfit that blends into the background? No.
Will they throw on ALL the colours, a tutu and a pair of wellies? Absolutely.
And will they strut around full of confidence? Also Yes.
Be. The. Toddler.
If it does feel a little overwhelming but you do want to introduce colourful children’s clothing, here’s a simple, no pressure guide to help you get started.
If we look at the colour wheel above you will see the wheel is split into your primary colours (Red, Yellow, Blue), Secondary colours (Orange, Green, Purple) and then your tertiary colours. That gives us 12 main colours on a standard colour wheel.
Complementary colours – these are opposites on the colour wheel and will quite often create a bold look. Think Yellow and Purple, Red and Green, Blue and orange.
If you are wanting to include colour but don’t quite want the bold striking visuals of the complementary colours then opt for either monochromatic or Analogous.
I know what you are thinking – monochromatic, but that’s black and white surely? Well no. It might be the first thing that pops into your head because monochrome is typically black and white but it actually just means of one colour. “mono” – think monotone, monobrow etc!
Monochromatic – Are different shades, tints and tones of one colour. If we took green for example – You could pair a forest green with a lighter apple green and maybe add in a little pear green too.
Analogous – These are colours which sit next to each other within one section. So for example – take a colour, then the two colours sitting directly either side of that colour are going to be a great palette to work with.
Split Complementary – Here we go, take your first colour you want to work with. For example yellow and find the complementary colour – purple. The colours you are going to use with the yellow is not the purple itself but the two colours either side of the purple.
Triadic – This involves 3 colours that form a triangle across the circle. Each point should be equally spaced apart. For example a colour wheel with 12 colours on it will have 3 colours in between each chosen colour.
When venturing into bold prints and colour it can be good to ease yourself in. Starting with monochromatic prints and working up through analogous colour combos is a great entry point into playing with colour without feeling too “clashy”.
Another good thing to keep in mind when first experimenting with colour is it can be easier to co-ordinate colours that are in the same style. Think Pastels with Pastels, Jewel tones with Jewel tones, Earth tones with Earth tones - you get the idea!
Using a splash of colour alongside your clothing you already feel comfortable styling is also a great starting point. Tops with colour can be paired with favourite jeans or leggings and you can ease in with a design who's base colour is more aligned with what you normally wear. Layering can also be your friend to break up large sections of colour if it is feeling a bit too much for you.
Once you feel more comfortable, you may find you want to increase the boldness or busyness of a design. This can either be in the design elements themselves or it can be in the colours that you are including in your outfit, opting for complimentary colours or colours that clash but are pleasing to the eye.
There are lots of “rules” around colour and what works and what doesn’t work but the most important question is simple:
Does it make you (or your little one) happy?
If the answer is yes, that’s all that matters.
No-one has ever looked at a young child wearing an outfit consisting of a yellow princess dress, red fireman’s helmet and rainbow wellies and thought anything other than “They are living their best life”.
When it comes to dressing kids in bright colours, or ourselves for that matter, confidence matters far more than rules. If you’d like to read more about how to incorporate bold patterns as well as colours, do take a look at my blog post on “How to style bold prints for kids” that will be available soon.
Dress boldly. Dress for Joy.
Be the toddler.