You may have heard that for the first time since Pantone begun releasing their Colour of the Year (in 2000) that they have declared a pairing of two colours to be ‘Colour’ of The Year. And, they’re pastels…

So if you’re not a cool toned, pastel wearing kind of person (which frankly, most of us are not!) how can you wear these new Pantone Colours of the Year?

Well with the blue, Serenity, there’s not much room to move. It’s pale and it’s cool and in fact it’s kind of smoky. So you’ve ideally got to stick to cool colours when pairing. But you can deepen or intensify your combination colours and use the blue as a trim or accent colour.

For deepening think: deep steel blues, burgundies that sit towards the blue end of the spectrum, deep blue violets, charcoal, black, a bitter chocolate (grey brown) and mid to deep grey greens (like eucalyptus).

Intensifying will take more imagination and courage: lemon yellow, cherry (bluish) red, mid to deep pinks – just remember to keep them cool, not warm. Silver and platinum will look awesome with Serenity. The colour swatch below on the left (coincidently called Serene) includes a Serenity blue and offers suggestions of colours to pair with Serenity.

With Rose Quartz, the pink, you have more places to go. It’s very pale but it’s also slightly warm, having begun life as a warm reddish brown that’s had white heaped into it.

Rose Quartz can be worn with mid to deeper versions of blues, forest greens with a little warmth in them, deep rich browns, deep purples that have a little red in them, the warmer burgundies and a warm charcoal.

Intense combinations for Rose Quartz include its base colour, deep claret or a mid version of red brown – think about the Marsala of 2015. Warm spring greens will enliven it, as will warm dusky pinks and coral. A watermelon, a peach or a soft Edwardian yellow will really intensify it. Rose gold and copper are the perfect metallics for Rose Quartz. See the swatch on the right for some of the colour pairings I’m talking about here.

Why would you bother with these pale pastels if you’re not a pastel person? Well they’ll be everywhere. And if you’re buying printed garments, be sure you know what pre-existing colour combinations work. Just because there’s printed fabrics readymade for you in the shops doesn’t mean the colour combinations actually work.

If this colour stuff piques your interest and you’d like your very own colour swatch (I have 18 different ones and personalise them for all clients) come and see me for a colour analysis – you never know, perhaps these colours of the year are made for you!