Bright, sunny spring days call for fashion to match—which is why spring is always a perfect time for pastels, those softer, more delicate shades of all your favorite colors. Pastels add a lot of fun and personality to your attire, but it’s easy to overdo it. Combining too many pastels or combining a pastel shade with the wrong dark color, could end up ruining the overall effect. Your safest bet to combining pastels? Look for pastel shades of complementary colors. Warm tones like red, yellow, and orange complement cool tones like blue, green, and purple. When you combine a pastel shade of a warm color with the pastel shade of a cool color, they’re more likely to bring out the best in each other. Some combinations you might want to try include:
Blush + Mint
A delicate shade of pink will look cheery next to this refreshing shade of green. This combination might even call to mind the color palette of a rosy garden. Instead of blush, you could also try peach, another shade of pink with hints of orange to it.
Lavender + Butter
A calming, elegant shade of purple pairs well with a warm, creamy shade of yellow, giving your outfit a balance of sophistication and fun. You can also try lilac, which has cooler undertones than lavender, paired with a brighter shade of yellow, such as lemon.
Coral + Powder Blue
These muted shades of orange (with pink undertones) and blue (with a hint of gray) pair well together because they are like a combination of energy and tranquility, perfect for days outside in the fresh air.
Seafoam + Salmon
Based on their name alone, you might expect these colors to look well for a day out by the water. Soft green with a touch of blue will complement the subdued pinkish orange for a vibrant, eye-catching look.
You can also create depth by pairing pastels with a well-coordinated neutral, such as beige, gray, or white. Avoid anything overly vibrant or neon because these could end up clashing with the pastel shades, as could dark colors like black, charcoal, or navy. Although metallic accessories can work well with the brightness of the pastels, adding a touch of sophistication to the outfit, keep these pieces small and understated. Large accessories with a metallic sheen to them will be overwhelming and make your outfit look too cluttered.
Above all, don’t forget that style is subjective—so if you feel compelled to wear pastels in a way that goes against the rules, do it with confidence. You might be setting the trend of the spring season.
