My Love+Love Relationship with COLORBLOCK!
Two words. Color. Block.
(a shirt I designed and made which included three different materials)
I love colorblock. Beautiful and dope are just two words that graze the surface of how much I LOVE COLORBLOCK! If you’ve ever wanted to incorporate a variety of colors into one outfit without looking like a walking pile of confetti, then THIS is the WAY to do IT.
(One of my first full colorblock outfits!)
I wasn’t always a colorblock type of person. I would always wear my basic graphic tees and plain skirts. In the process of finding myself and growing in my confidence after I graduated high school, my fashion style CHANGED. More like TRANSFORMED. And when I say drastically, that is a mild understatement. Walking around in the stores, racing to touch every piece of clothes that grabbed my attention, would always give me that certain adrenaline rush. The first colorblock clothing that I brought home was my black and white bomber jacket. The bomber jacket that I mentioned in my first blog that gave me these crazy superpowers. Every time I put it on, I just felt so dope, so confident and so unstoppable. Although it was only two colors at the time, I had no idea how much it would spark a new love into my fashion preference. Every time I would see something colorblock, I would get extremely excited. What was it about colorblock that made me happy? Why did I and why do I still love it?
(a shirt I designed and made for the
opening of a fashion show)
A simple word, abstract. Being colorblock means drawing outside the lines. It means patchwork and geometric shapes. It means not having one name or one purpose. It means standing out and not being like everything or everyone else. It means hopping back into the 80’s and 90’s. It means hearing the rhythm of your clothes by solely looking and not actually hearing. Colorblock is something to be mastered just like any other fashion trend. You can’t just throw on a bunch of colorblock clothes and think it’s supposed to look that crazy. I mean you could, but… eh, you get my point.
(a simple example of incorporating colorblock for an outfit.
P.S. I made this entire outfit too!)
I tend to have two styles when it comes to colorblock. The first style is my Earthy, Neutral Tones Style. This is when I start pairing a few neutral earth tones together to create a bomb outfit. It’s a nice play on colors and looks super sophisticated. Sometimes it doesn't even have to be that obvious! You'd be surprised how many blouses and jackets have colorblock sleeves and patterns! I love mixing different materials as well. The picture on the right is an outfit I made but did you know that the orange rust material is stretchy corduroy?? And the white material
is a soft cotton lace? It paired ever so perfectly!
The second style is my 90’s Child Look. This is when I start playing with bold and loud colors. Now when I say loud, I don’t mean too loud to where I’m getting dress coded for not looking modest enough. I mean in the sense that a color stands out enough to grab attention and to act as an accent piece in my outfit. Sort of like when we dress in all black and then we put on a different colored belt to make it “pop”. Color block is the actual definition of “popping”. I don’t normally wear light colored greens, yellows, reds, and such. When it comes to colorblock though… it makes it possible. Everything just seems to fit together like a puzzle piece. You mean to tell me that I can wear light green with a basic pink and dark purple? Yes! Wait… I can wear a leopard print on one sleeve and floral on the other? Yes! Double Yes! That’s the beauty of colorblock. It’s like you’d never think these abstract colors could harmonize together and then all of a sudden, BOOM! You’ve got a new staple outfit in your closet, all due to your amazing skills of colorblocking.
(This was an outfit I made for a 90's party! Everything I made for this outfit was inspired by the 90's and most of all colorblock. Also inspired by Denise Huxtable and Whitley from a Different World)
Colorblocking for newcomers. If you’ve never been one to colorblock that much, then keep reading. I promise, it’s not that hard.
Start with simple colors. Maybe do a little black and white then try adding a pop of color for an accent. Once you’ve got your accents down, then you’ll be able to pair multiple accents together.
Get in unknown territory. I used to always dress how I thought I dressed. It wasn’t until I stopped caring and put on whatever to actually see, wow, this goes! Try putting on multiple tops and bottoms at home, mix matching to see what goes and what doesn’t. This is pretty much how most of my top colorblock outfits were made. Get groovy, blast some music while wearing different outfits and learn more of what you like, what you love and what you don’t ever want to wear again.
Buy a color that you don’t normally wear. I love my neutral colors and I also love my dope streetwear colors like whites, blues, olive greens, rusted orange and so on. Sometimes when I go into the store I’ll think to myself, “well this isn’t what I normally would pick, but I like it and I could find something to make it work.” Sometimes you just gotta let it simmer. Put that jacket, skirt, shirt or whatever it is in the closet with your other clothes for a while and I promise you one day it is going to be JUST what you needed to make your outfit complete. Be an artist! Experiment with different colors. You ARE the CANVAS. You’re a masterpiece!
(Another outfit I made with black, white and yellow as the color theme. Fun Fact: The white part in the outfit were cutouts from a pair of pants I bought!)
4. Don’t be scared to be a trendsetter! I can’t count how many times I felt nervous about wearing a different style simply because I had never seen it done before. That’s perfectly okay!!! Be a trendsetter and start inspiring others in their wardrobe choices! I mean, I’ve received plenty of compliments from people outside of church and non-modest wearing individuals who LOVE my clothes. Constantly asking me where I get my clothes and such. Be different. Be You. Just because it wasn’t done before doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be the one to do it first.
5. Have fun! Remember that clothes are supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be expressive! Don’t get too serious and focused on it that you’re frustrated and unhappy. Colorblock is supposed to be enjoyable. Walking into your closet shouldn’t feel like an unpleasant experience. It should feel like optimism. “Okay, what are we wearing today?”. “What am I going to create today?”. “Who am I going to be today?”
(Colorblocking also comes in the form of when I turn pants into skirts. Most of the time, I choose a different color for the triangle patch in the back because of my love for colorblock and the style.)
Are you ready? If you’ve never worn colorblock before, I urge you to at least try it. You might end up liking it. If you’ve tried colorblock before and it didn’t work out quite how you wanted it to, then try it again, (now having read this), and see if anything different happens. Colorblock isn’t boring or basic. It’s something that adds a little bazzaz and oo la la into an outfit. Start small. You can try to colorblock a scarf style or purchase your first pair of colorblock heels! Get creative with it. When you have colorblock you don’t need accessories or other things to bring light to the outfit. Whenever it comes to colorblock, IT IS the center of attention. It’s your work of art! Remember that!
And while we’re remembering things, keep in mind what B E I G E is:
Bold.
Empowered.
Illuminating.
Gorgeous.
Expressive.