There is nothing wrong with bold and beautiful colors, but let me tell you a secret: they work best when paired with neutrals! It’s true. Wearing a bold red with a nude or black is classy, gorgeous, and unforgettable. A bright yellow blazer over a black ra cer tank is just as sophisticated.

With fashion constantly changing, you need to have some go-to threads in your closet for both work and play that won’t go out of style. Bolds and prints go in and out of style quickly, but neutrals are always there, cal mly waiting in the background for you to add your personal flair to current fashion trends and strut the office or park with confidence.

First, let’s go over what’s considered a neutral color. Any of the following qualify, though you’ll need to be carefu l with the warm and cool undertones depending on your skin type.

Ivory

Cream

Beige

Tan

Taupe

Camel

Cognac

Olive

Mushroom Gray

Pewter Gray

Heather Gray

Charcoal

Black

Navy

It’s impossible to miss that the first seven on the list are descending shades of b rown. This is when you need to pay careful attention to the exact undertone of your skin. Let’s look at which neutrals work best for your skin tone. If you don’t know your skin tone, there’s an easy test. Take a sheet of white paper and compare it to your face. If you notice your skin is more yellow, green, or light brown, you are considered warm-toned. If you see more pink or blue, you’re cool-toned. If gray is predominant, you’re a neutral. Let’s begin!

For Warm Tones:

Warm tone skin works best with ol ive, cream, taupe, and warm gray (like mushroom). In fact, mixing and matching these colors can take your wardrobe to the next level. An olive blazer and pants with a cream blouse and mushroom grey shoes are always a win. You want to avoid navy in general, especially if it leans more toward a jewel tone sapphire.

For Cool Tones:

Cool tone skin looks best when clothed in navy, white, and cool grey (like pewter). Again, mixing and matching these neutrals is the way to go. A navy and white pinstripe dress with pewter flats will look phenomenal. Steer clear of yellow-toned neutrals, t hough. They’ll wash you out.

For Neutral Tones:

Having a neutral skin tone doesn’t correlate to using all shades of neutral clothing. You want to choose deep brown, mid-tone gray, beige, camel, off-white, and black. A classy solid-colored coffee pantsui t with a mid-tone gray blouse and black shoes is a perfect choice. An extra tip: pretty much the entire muted color wheel is open to you, but a true bright red will be your best bet if you want to turn heads.