Grey, brown, raspberry: what color is orange in combination with Fashion

Orange is the color of sunshine, energy and positivity, it seems to shine by itself and brighten up everything around. The first associations with orange are the delicious oranges from which it got its name. Due to the brightness and saturation of this color, it is rather difficult to find such a combination where it would “play” as profitably as possible. However, there are tools to help evaluate the success of combining orange with other colors, and one of those tools is the Itten Color Wheel.

Johannes Itten is an artist who lived and worked in Switzerland at the beginning of the 20th century. He has been involved in color theory for a long time, wrote a book on the subject, The Art of Color, and designed a color scheme that helps designers around the world match colors. The basis of this scheme are three colors, which Itten proposed to consider the main ones: yellow, blue and red. The second “line” is a mixture of pairs of these colors, i.e. green, purple and orange, which we need. The third “line” is created by mixing the colors of the second line with the “parent” colors from the background. Maybe it sounds complicated, but in reality everything is simple, the same orange is divided into yellow-orange, only orange and red-orange.

To understand what colors orange is combined with, let’s look at the diagram. The easiest way – if, of course, you like brightness in your wardrobe or interior – is to take the color opposite to the desired shade in this scheme. If you want to know what color goes with yellow-orange, draw a straight line from that color through the middle and you get blue-violet. What colors go with red-orange? We do the same thing and get teal. The colors obtained in this way are called complementary or complementary to the main one. A variation of this method of choosing which color goes with orange is to find the opposite color on the circle and take its neighbors on either side. For pure orange it’s blue-green and blue-violet, and for the red shade of the color you need, pure green and blue are suitable. So you can wear plain blue jeans with a brick shirt or t-shirt – and you’ll look great. A green neckerchief would also come in handy.

Of course this is not enough, imagine how boring it would be if everyone only wore these shades. Another way to choose a color on the Itten circle is the triad.

Take a color wheel and mentally build an equilateral triangle on it with the apex in the shade you need. For example, we need to find out the optimal combination for the yellow-orange color. The other vertices of the triangle will be red-purple and blue-green. Very stylish! The only thing to remember is that orange should be the main one, if all three of these bright colors are equivalent in clothes or interior, you (and those around you) may start to have ripples in your eyes. Let it be better, for example, a red dress with interesting accessories of other colors: a bag, a pendant, big earrings.

The second version of the triad for those who prefer classics and restraint. Here everything is even simpler, even knowledge of geometry is not required – just take three colors placed next to each other. For example, a slightly darker skirt (caramel) and a slightly lighter bag (ochre) will go well with a gold-copper blouse. Ideal for business meetings. If you want to find the best combination with orange, the palette is a very handy tool, just imagine colors darker and lighter by a tone or two – and add them to the basic orange. It will turn out great! These are the most advantageous options, if with bright colors there is a chance that you will not get the right shade, then in the colors of this triad your clothes will look stylish and expensive – as if you turned to a professional with a choice.

Two more color options around Itten – for those who are not afraid of lots of colors in their clothes. A tetrad is four colors placed next to each other with the letter “X”, i.e. two colors and their antipodes. It can be, for example, red with green and orange with blue – but beware, in such complex combinations it is easy to overdo the color. Usually, another color is used only to highlight and emphasize your “colleague”. A square is approximately the same as an equilateral triangle, only 4 vertices on the circle are selected, which will be equidistant from each other. Let’s say that if we determine which colors are combined with orange, then through the square we find the following: blue, red-violet, yellow-green. As with the tetrad, it is important to keep the balance. The combination of orange with others obtained in this way looks very dynamic and will undoubtedly highlight all your strengths, but you still want to shine, not your dress.

There are no black, white and gray colors on the Itten circle, but orange is also suitable for them – both as an additional color and as the main color. With black and white, light shades look bold and provocative, it is unlikely to be a good choice for a meeting or a meeting of parents and teachers, where you would rather sit in the corner and not answer any questions. But in clothes of these colors you will be the star of the party! And imagine how bright and beautiful it looks, say, in winter, a coral down jacket or ski overalls among the white snow. So if you’re wondering what color goes with orange, be sure to include white and black as well.

In orange and gray, you can safely go to the office, on a business trip and anywhere. Gray dims the glow of an energetic “colleague”. The same can be said about the “orange and beige” color combination, it adds seriousness to the outfit. Add brown and you get a triad. And you can remove all that and add, for example, pink: the resulting combination will be very gentle and cozy. Pink and peach look great on home wear or wedding decorations, but here orange doesn’t act as a base, but rather as an accent to draw attention.

Orange is, among other things, an autumn color, which is why we have become accustomed to associate it with all the other colors that we see during this period. Yellow and red leaves on green grass, the ground in all shades of gray and brown – and of course red. This color looks great with almost any green, not just those types of it we talked about earlier – emerald green, light green, olive and khaki, a huge field for experimentation. If we talk about brown, it can be noted for orange color combinations with chocolate, coffee, brown, umber, walnut. Yellow, blue, even purple look beautiful, they complement the main ones. Of course, not all colors are suitable for this – experiment, it is quite possible that you will like the combination of orange with other colors, those that we have not named.

Orange color looks best on girls with summer or autumn color types. For the subtle and not so contrasting “winter” and “spring” he is too energetic and shifts attention from the person to himself. But that doesn’t mean you have to give away or sell off all the orange stuff and give it up forever! First, you can choose complements of this color to other colors. A bag, bracelet, belt, shoes in such colors will suit you regardless of the color type. The second option is to use color on a larger scale, but still as a complement. For example, a carrot jacket or cardigan with a white T-shirt and blue or green trousers is great. Brick shorts and gray top – excellent. And, of course, you can act according to the principle of “Divide and Conquer”: that is, wear orange, but not close to the face. A green stole with a red coat, a blue long sleeve with orange culottes – and here you kill two birds with one stone in an amazing way, wearing your favorite (and this season’s fashionable!) color and at the same time it complements your beauty and does not interrupt it. There are many possible answers to the question of what the color orange is combined with, one of them will definitely suit you.

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