How To Wear Neutral Colors

I love a neutral. I’m learning more and more especially as bright and bold colors are trending currently, and I’m just a fan of the neutrals. Give me all the creams, beige, black, browns and whites. And yes those are all neutrals. Grey, navy, blush, it’s all considered neutral.

Wearing neutrals can make getting dressed easier. It can also help you create a more minimal closet if you stick to a neutral color palette. As someone like myself who doesn’t really love a ton of color, this is definitely true for me.

How To Wear Neutral Colors

What Are Neutral Colors For Clothes?

But first, let’s chat WHAT are neutral colors for clothes. These are typically colors that include white, cream, beige, gray, brown, navy and black. However, one could also argue that a very toned down or muted color can also work as a neutral. Think blush pinks, or super faded greens like sage green or soft blues.

If you’re afraid of color, or prefer to stick to neutrals, you may feel more comfortable trying a muted color that’s toned down instead of it’s bright pigmented counterpart. Now let’s get into some tips on how to wear neutral colors!

Mix Different Textures And Fabrics

Creating interest is key so mixing up the textures of your neutrals through different fabrics are an easy way to do this. Pair white denim with a chunky open knit topped with a cream silky scarf. Mixing and matching fabrics create interest instantly.

Think about a head-to-toe cream sweatsuit outfit. A little boring, feels like you’re just lounging at home. But adding in neutral pieces like a jacket and bag in different fabrics and textures will make your sweatsuit look so much more interesting.

Play With Patterns

You can totally mix and match different patterns to create more interest while wearing neutrals. Think mixing a chunky knit with plaid. Or something geometric with stripes or polka dots. When mixing patterns, try to pair a larger print with a smaller scale to have a visually balanced look.

Use Statement Accessories

Tying it all together is always key. And a good statement accessory can do just that. Take just a cream top and trousers. Kind of blah, it’s fine. But add a really cool and interesting statement belt and you’ve got a really cool outfit.

The same goes for a statement shoe, or an interesting bag. These little details are just small touches but they can really make your head-to-toe neutral look feel so much more intentional and stylish.

Mix Neutral Tones

Now is not the time to stress about matching your neutral colors perfectly. In fact, throw that out the window and embrace different shades to make this all come together. There is absolutely no need to make sure your cream top is the same as your cream bottoms.

The only thing I’d stick to is a color palette from head to toe in your neutrals. Creams and beiges? Go for it. Creams and cognac? Make it head to toe and it all feels so much more cohesive. Having some repetition and consistency in your shades and tones will help to make it feel more intentional and elevated.

Use Denim As A Base

If you’re nervous to wear all neutral from head to toe, especially creams and tans, try grounding it all in denim. Any shades of blue denim would work and it can help you try out all the mixing and matching. The same rules still apply as you can mix and match tones and textures to create interest throughout your look.

Neutral Color Outfits

Neutral Cream Summer Outfit Ideas

This combination is perfect for summer. It’s light and breezy and looks great against a sun-kissed skin. Each piece in this look is totally separate in terms of fabric, texture and print.

These cream and beige gingham shorts are a really pretty linen fabric and add something to this all-neutral look. I styled them with a crochet knitted cream crop top and topped it with a creamy white denim jacket. Not only are we mixing knits with prints and texture, but different shades of cream and beige too.

All Neutral Winter Outfit

Wearing white jeans is a great base to start any neutral look with. Add your favorite cream or tan sweater, white sneakers and add a camel coat. Done. So easy and effortless.

And yes, you can totally wear white denim in the winter time. You just need to pair it with winter pieces. To wear this for spring and summer just add a white eyelet top and nude sandals or espadrille for a perfect neutral summer outfit.

Neutrals With Denim

Using a base with denim is a great way to make wearing neutrals also feel more interesting. Head-to-toe neutrals can be tricky so relying on your old faithful denim in varying shades of blue, is a good way to try this trend out.

Pair it with all your favorite neutrals. I am mixing tones and shades here from the beige wool trench coat, to the cognac suede pumps, and cream sweater. This creates interest and dimension in your look and in my opinion, looks more luxurious.

Wearing All Black For A Night Out

A neutral outfit isn’t just whites and creams, this also means all black or all navy in my eyes. And the same rules apply here. Mixing different fabrics and textures is the best way to make it look more interesting and stylish.

When you just wear black, it can look flat and kind of boring. Like you didn’t put a ton of effort into it. I know a lot of people like to just throw on all black because it’s slimming and easy.

But hear me out, you can totally wear black from head to toe, but just make it interesting!

Add different textures and layers and fabrics, and of course, gold jewelry. This outfit combines a jacquard blazer, velvet tank, and a little lace. It all makes it feel less flat and boring, and instead fashion-forward and interesting.

This looks like you’ve put effort into a look instead of just throwing on a black blazer and black pants with a black top.

Wearing All Black For Spring And Summer

Yes, you can totally wear all black in the summer and it is definitely a good neutral! When I think about how to wear black denim in the summer, I like to go with a washed black jean as my base. It lightens the whole thing up and makes it feel instantly more appropriate.

Then I like to mix in different shades of black and textures. You can see the varying textures and shades of black in this outfit really shows off how to embrace neutrals and create interest.

A textured woven bag, solid black combined with washed black, denim with cotton, it’s all mixing and matching textures and shades for a more interesting neutral outfit idea.

Navy Neutrals

Navy is 100% a neutral and this is one of my favorites. I love pairing these high waisted navy pants with a cream tee and neutral accessories.

The brown leather bag helps to add a bit of interest and add another dimension to the look. Yet it’s still a neutral. To pull the look together, I added a navy and cream striped sweater over my shoulders to make it feel cohesive.

Monochromatic In Cream

Clearly, I love a monochromatic cream ensemble for summer. A set is a great way to embrace a monochromatic neutral look. You can do this with a white set too. A really fun outfit idea would be a white linen short set paired with shades of browns or creams.

Neutral Cream Outfit With Black Accessories

I think we tend to get caught up in our neutrals matching perfectly. Usually, if you’re wearing off-white, you can pair it with many shades of cream or beige and it will work. One way to avoid it looking like it doesn’t go together, or doesn’t work, is to add in texture.

This textured sweater vest paired with the off white denim makes this look so elegant and elevated. Added black accessories since this was a fall look to transition from summer to fall.

If I wore this in the spring or summer, I’d swap for maybe a brown or tan sandal instead. Or something with woven detailing.