Thought you’d never be able to wear your favourite tonal leggings with your favourite tonal dress or tunic?
Oh, and your grey cardigan? It’s time to forget the fashion faux pas drilled into you as a child; wearing one tonal colour from head to toe officially has style credit. This is especially exciting for those of us who are drawn to a favourite colour and tend to pick out multiple clothing pieces in the same shade.
Simple, but anything but boring, tonal dressing is a powerful trend that demands attention. The trick is to pick the right colour and balance wearing both light and dark tones in order to appear effortlessly stylish.
Having tonal pieces in your wardrobe is a great look for winter. If you don’t know what tonal pieces are, it’s basically multiple garments in similar shades of the same colour being worn at the same time. This may not seem like an entirely new concept considering a lot of people wear black on black on black! But branching out into other colours and styles are what makes this look exciting.
The key to successfully wearing the trend is all about clashing textures. The juxtaposition of shades and textures provides the essential contrast to make the look far from cliché, modern yet interesting. Think light sheer shirts, chunky knits, heavy furs and flowing feathers next to delicate lace and structured pieces paired with silks.
If you’re going to be wearing tonal pieces from head to toe, you’re going to need to carefully consider what to put together. When people see you on the street, you want them to know you’ve done this on purpose!
Mix up shades
Each garment you wear should be a slightly different shade. This provides contrast between the items. Using multiple layers of textures and tones makes you look interesting and appeals visually. Matching the right shoes or boots to your outfit can really help to emphasise your look. The same goes for accessories, whether it be a belt, scarf or jewellery. Another option is to choose boots or accessories that clash with our outfit to provide a nice point of difference.
Add accents
When it comes to accessorizing the tonal look, stick to within your chosen colour palette, but make the most of accessories by using them as accents. Brighter shades will help to lift a look, or darker accessories are great for contrast against lighter tones of clothes. Accessories are also a great way to add more texture and shape to an overall look, you can’t beat a cinched in waist or a beautiful hat or pair of shoes to really complete your look from top to bottom.
Get organised
Reorganizing your closet is a great way to start becoming familiar with tonal ensembles and colours that you are drawn to. By organizing your wardrobe into different coloured sections, you’ll be amazed at the outfits that magically appear. It’s all about trying something a little bit different, instead of opting for full colour contrasts, work within a colour scheme and find different tones of the same shade that compliment each other nicely.
Winter is the perfect time to begin playing with tonal outfits, for there’s no other time of year when layering is so necessary. Think tights, dresses, jackets, coats, turtlenecks, scarves, beanies and warm winter accessories. When you start pulling tonal outfits together, you’ll probably instantly get a feel for whether something works or is an absolute clashing disaster. Try not think about being all too matchy-matchy, because this is when you start to risk looking like you’ve tried to match something up that hasn’t exactly worked.
When it comes to the tonal dressing trend, breaking the fashion rules never felt so right. Opt to shop in your own closet for a start, and as you become more confident with the trend, it’ll be lots of fun picking out new pieces to accentuate your already exciting tonal ensembles. Are you giving the tonal trend a go this winter?
Shop the Capture Marl Cardigan, Capture Marl Jumper, Capture Longline Cardi, Capture Tunic, Sherpa Cardi
