Dressing for the transitional season

MANILA, Philippines - Approaching the end of summer, our color choices for the past few months start seeming overdone and overplayed as evidenced in numerous Facebook tagged images and tallied wardrobe rotations. Back to school around the corner and rainclouds uninvitingly interrupting your perfectly planned way to beat the heat in the metro signal a well deserved change in hue choices, and reinstatement of more conventional fabric choices in contrast to the palm springs drapery trend of late. Still, it’s very hard to tuck away such festive and colorful garments away into a dark drawer and switch it up for Dorothea Lange tones of grayscale clothing. Mainly because the weather is still relatively pleasant, and penchants for preserving sunkissed moments photographically just seems to work better with Lana Del Rey music video coloration, and we all know that sometimes the glaring sun just won’t let up. I’d hate to imagine braving a balmy end of summer barbeque dressed in black or any color that absorbs light and heat all too well. Lighter colors do have intrinsic qualities that don’t just change moods, but help keep your cool. Transitional dressing will be key for the next few months to changing color choices fluidly and making sure you can mix in your wardrobe and pieces you love from an impulsive purge (by way of garage sale or otherwise) just to suit the coming season.

Pantone colors for this “fall,” I say this with quotation marks because I’ve never really considered these fashion seasons in the past as factors in choosing clothing (since, hey, don’t we have only two?) but I started paying attention when I realized that most clothing companies, designer labels, textile manufacturers, interior designers, to ready to wear giants adhere, or at the very least, utilize to some degree Pantone palette predictions for seasons. I may be mistaken or have a really vague idea about what I’ve written in the above text, but experience has proven to me that what Pantone predictions dictate, it’s what magically appears in stores hence being available choices for shoppers of the world unite. So if Bright Chartreuse is one of the colors for fall/winter 2012, expect scarves, shirts, jackets, jeans and skirts to be made in all it’s neon glory alongside it’s fellow predicted colors.

It’s simple enough to find the charts and guides for this coming season since they’re all available online, but I’m here to try and help you decide which goes with which and to guide you through the whole Pantone pantomime while keeping in mind the transitionary goal we originally hoped to achieve.

On to the colors. Rhubarb, which looks just like maroon to me, gives some moxie or confidence to the palette, which is best combined with Tangerine Tango and Honey Gold for a typical collegiate look. Guys could do well wearing slacks of the maroon sort, and if courageous enough combine it with a gold or tangerine shirt. Less flash? Tone it down a notch with grays or a dark blue favorite jacket of yours. Whitecap Gray, Sea Fog, and Titanium would make as a masculine, very subtle, yet sophisticated choice of color combination. Add these neutrals together with French Roast, and you have yourself a quintessential fall staple. 

If you don’t want to attract too much attention, remember to ground eye catching color choices such as Tangerine Orange, Honey Gold, or Bright Chartreuse with a neutral or “safe” color such as French Roast, Titanium, Sea Fog, or an unassumingly and classic plain gray which should be readily available in your closet at all times. Take it slow with new color concepts, start with just a sweater, tie, or even colored socks. If you’re the more casual type, T-shirts, lightweight cardigans, and short sleeve shirts would do well paired with jeans or cotton trousers with the palette in mind. 

The trick is to try and mix new additions into your current wardrobe of whites, grays, and browns. Not to mention the ever reliable blue jeans. Making these colors or choices accentuate your existing pieces -or if you feel you’re adept or daring enough, use them independently for complete tonal ensembles, will up your style quotient while at the same time utilizing your go to favorites that will make your look uniquely yours, but better.

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