Brown is the new red
& other thoughts on personal colors
I’m going through a brown phase.
This is ironic because red is my favorite color to wear and by all accounts (source: two of my friends), this should be my season. Pops of red are everywhere. The cool girlies of the internet are all wearing red scarves, red socks, red bows, red tights. Red! Everything!
Maybe it’s the blonde hair, but I find myself drawn to deep chocolate browns this season instead. I love this and I recently purchased this in hot fudge. My entire life, I felt that brown (& navy for that matter) was not my color because it didn’t add any dimension with my previously black hair.
But look at me! In shades of browns. Thriving.
All of this got me thinking about the colors that we tell ourselves “you cannot pull this off” (you probably can).
Confidence looks good on you.
Korean color analysis has been trending on social media and a lot of clients come to me to help them find their “optimal” colors. I always start with a suggested color palette as a base for exploration. There is truth in certain colors bringing out the best of your complexion, but you should not limit yourself to the colors in your seasonal prescription. Wear the colors that spark joy and what you feel comfortable in - this is fundamentally how you can start to express yourself in your wardrobe.
Don’t let TikTok dictate your colors.
Color as a seasonal fashion trend is another layer to this. Think back to summer’s Barbiecore pink and the lavender haze we were all in this past spring. Living in an especially fashion conscious city like New York, I feel that social media amplifies trends to a point where everyone ends up wearing the same thing and color trends are not exempt.
When you’re surrounded by red socks with ballet flats, it all feels inauthentic and unoriginal to mirror. Are you really going to wear those red tights next year? The over-saturation sucks the fun out of participating even when it’s super cute. It’s all trend, but no style.
Making the conscious decision to style a trend your own way or sit out of it entirely is the marker of a strong sense of personal style. I love you, red, but I cannot stand looking like everyone else. This is a cornerstone of my own style identity. At the crux of it, being anti-trend is probably what pushed me to finally give brown a fair shake.
So here’s the deal: Put the red tights down and wear whatever colors that make you happy. All year round.
Maybe I’ll tackle navy next.