I’m preparing for my fall trips. I have three work trips and one beach trip between now and December 15th. For work travel, I have an unspoken uniform of black, grey and ivory. I’ve been working from home since the pandemic, so the only time I really get dressed for work is when I travel to execute a conference.
I learned pretty early that sticking to three colors creates a world of combinations. It’s the whole premise behind a capsule wardrobe, although I didn’t intentionally set out to create one. It happened because I needed to pack quickly and often with very little forethought. That approach has trickled into my vacation wardrobe as well: black, white, navy and denim, with whatever little additional color added coming from my swimsuit and accessories.
For years, I’ve thought about adding more color. Then I start thinking about coordinating everything and give up. Recently, I saw a social media post where a fashion influencer talked about using the Wada Sanzo Colors App, based on the book, A Dictionary of Color Combinations, to combine colors in unexpected ways in her wardrobe. So influenced, I downloaded the app and bought the color seasons right away. I learned from it that I already have a good sense of color coordination, but I still didn’t know what to buy to incorporate the colors into my existing wardrobe.
Then I stumbled upon the Substack of Tibi creator Amy Smilovic and her article about “color math” and the Tibi Color Wheel.
What is the Tibi Color Wheel?
The basic idea is that colors fall into four rings depending on the mood they bring to an outfit.
Ring 1: Black. Strong and harsh.
Ring 2: Classic neutrals. Brown, grey, tan and navy. Predictable, sharp and describable.
Ring 3: The no-name colors that function as neutrals. Caramel, pecan, sage. The colors where we can all look at the same thing and come up with a different name.
Ring 4: Saturated colors, both brights and pastels. Baby yellow, lavender, magenta, cobalt.
Then you combine the rings to create a mood.
1 + 2 is dependable.
1 + 4 is bold, sometimes to the point of harsh.
2 + 4 is classic with the volume turned up.
So how do I move from a lifetime of 1 + 2 to something closer to 2 + 4?
Digging into more of Amy Smilovic’s content, I found another way she talks about color that made even more sense to me. Instead of four rings, think about three categories.
Neutrals are your foundation. For me, that’s black, white, denim and a little beige tossed in with a raffia bag or hat.
Without Fail Colors are the colors you know look good on you and make you feel like yourself every time you wear them. Mine is wine. The color, not the drink, although…A Ralph Lauren salesman once stood me in front of a mirror and showed me how good I look in orange. I now own half a dozen orange sweaters, but orange still doesn’t feel like me.
In-and-Out Colors are the colors you love for a season. For me, that’s red in the winter, and blue in all shades all summer long.
So how does that translate into my beach wardrobe?
Applying Color Math to the Packing List
Tibi’s packing advice to pack “ingredients,” not predetermined outfits appealed to me because it showed me how to incorporate color into my existing capsule. I don’t have to build an entirely new, perfectly color-coordinated wardrobe, which I had dreaded. I can keep the neutral foundation I already own and add color, going forward, one ingredient at a time.
So for my upcoming Aruba trip, I don’t have to buy a new beach wardrobe. I can’t afford to, and honestly, I wouldn’t want to. What I have checks the comfortable, confident and happy boxes. But if I had to change one thing, it would be this BCBG dress I bought to wear with those Alaia dupe sandals to my niece’s birthday dinner.
I could buy something like this Simon Miller dress instead.
Here’s a nice red one. I like this dress because I could wear it again throughout the holiday season at home.
This one is already in my cart. I couldn’t resist the price, and it’s probably the best example of what I’m trying to achieve. But, I’m not sure it’s the most flattering cut for my body type, so it may stay in the cart.
Doesn’t this dress look like what that Project Runway contestant was trying to do when he put Liris Crosse in that dress that made her cry? Maybe this was the vision.
This shirt, this skirt. I will be tracking these for a sale. I like the skirt in black and white too.
Or, hear me out, I could keep the BCBG dress, add a pair of red kitten heels and call it a day. The W.S. Color App scanner suggested accenting it with red, so maybe changing my shoes is all I need to do. I already have a pair in mind that’s been sitting in my Amazon cart for ages.
Shortly after I wrote this post, I got a text from my niece: “Birthday dinner guests wear white or champagne!” So, that’s going to be a hunt for another day.
After exploring color wheels, color apps and ring theories all week, I have a better idea of how to add color to my wardrobe. The Wada Sanzo app showed me combinations beyond the basics, and Tibi showed me how to bring those colors into the wardrobe I already own, one “ingredient” at a time. Now I feel a little more confident about how to add more color to my travel wardrobe, and I can’t wait to go shopping for future trips.
Speaking of future trips…
If my post last week about learning Spanish inspired you, boy, do I have a treat for you. I stumbled upon this Substack newsletter, Beach Bi-Weekly. I clicked on it because of the name thinking it was about the beach, but it’s just a play on the author’s last name. But once inside, I saw a post titled “Learning Spanish.” That got my attention. There is no shortage of resources for learning Spanish, but this one makes me want to book a one-way ticket to Argentina.
Your turn: Which combinations of Color Math or color categories do you use most often? Let’s discuss in the comments!