Guest Post: All About Brights & Colour Blocking

Color Blocking at Its Finest: Gucci SS 2011 via style.com

Get Ready for Summer with Rainbow Bright Colour - Spring/Summer dressing has burst into life this year with an eye-popping array of bright hues in bold blocks of colour. Colour blocking is a key trend for Spring/Summer 2011, seen on everything from women’s dresses to accessories.


Alex Perry SS 2011 via style.com



Models exploded onto the catwalks in a riot of paintbox colour, with zesty citrus tones simultaneously complementing and clashing with bright pops of red, aqua, pink and purple – all in their loudest, most in-your-face forms. 



Don't Want to Go Full Throttle? Try a Color
Block Accessory {Scarf from Tory Burch}




Or Try A Brightly Trimmed Bag
{Marc by Marc Jacobs via Net-a-Porter.com}





After the muted tones and sombre palettes of winter, tackling these new, bold hues can seem as daunting as ditching the opaques and baring your legs – but the beauty of colour blocking is that it can be as full-on or low-key as you like.

Try a One-Colour Bright Outfit
{Blouse, Skirt - Christopher Kane SS 2011,
Clutch - Jimmy Choo via Net-a-Porter.com}

For maximum, impossible-to-ignore impact, try building a head-to-toe outfit in a single colour – turquoise shorts and a lace tee in a matching shade, for example, or a vibrant purple maxi dress. Then build in accessories that either match or contrast with the main colour: try acid yellow against blue, or tomato red on purple.

Great Contrast {Marc by Marc Jacobs
Silk Dress via The Outnet}

No less noticeable a way of embracing the colour blocking trend is to build up pieces in different colours, whether contrasting (a pink top, tangerine skirt and red wedges, for example) or ones that create more of a sense of harmony, such as citrussy shades of orange, lemon and lime.

Colour Blocking is Beautiful with Muted, Classic Hues,
Too {Colour Block Dress Available at LauraAshley.com}

If all of this seems too dazzling – and let’s face it, after a long winter, summer dressing can take more than a bit of a mental adjustment – and you find yourself clinging to a more neutral palette, you can still introduce bold colours in ways that are impactful and fresh without feeling like a walking Lego creation. Pep up an otherwise plain ensemble with just one or two acid-bright accessories: an oversized slouch bag, for instance, or a colourful scarf and zingy espadrilles. You could even just opt for brightly painted fingers and toenails, leaving the rest of your outfit relatively neutral, or provide a subtle hit of colour with a chunky bangle in a vibrant hue.

The Right Trim Adds Interest {Sweater by
Miu Miu via Net-a-Porter.com}

Broad stripes, or hoops, are an easy and unforgettable way to do colour blocking but if an all-over look is a stripe too far for your tastes, look out for designs that incorporate block colours by way of a contrasting band at the hem, for instance, or with edging in a solid colour on pockets or along fastenings. Picking up these colours with a matching accessory, such as a shoe or bag, will lend a greater sense of relevance to the outfit, making the use of colour look meaningful and confident, rather than incidental.

Colour Blocked Silk Top by BCBG

Yes, it’s time to cast off the safety of winter’s charcoals and blacks and embrace a rainbow of colour. After all, haven’t you been longing for lighter days and warmer temperatures? Try for some sartorial positive thinking: go bright and here’s hoping the weather will follow suit. Even if not, the bold exuberance of this trend will imbue even the most dismal day with an irresistibly mood-enhancing burst of colour. Now doesn’t that sound as tempting as an icy-cold, neon-bright Popsicle on a hot summer’s day?


Guest Post Supplied by Laura Ashley