Colour Fashion Trends for Summer 2011
Bold
Colours & Colour Blocking in Apparel
Here is an appraisal of the colours which most fashionable for the
spring summer season of 2011. This review describes in
detail the colours used in dresses, footwear, and women's fashion
accessories. The hot trend for the summer of 2011 is
colour blocking.
In the Summer of 2011 the dominant colourways are those of the sky and sea - all the
blues, cerulean, cornflower, electric blue, Gitanes blue,
turquoise and very blue denim. Check out the Prada royal blue
clutch purse and the richest draped ruched Sea Green bag at Miu
Miu.
Above Left - Violet Body Con Dress - POP by PPQ
SS11 at Very.co.uk.
Above Centre - Paris White Blazer, Electric Blue Mischa Top
£29.99. Violet Hareem Trousers £29.99, Mustard Court Shoes
£64.99 - All River Island SS11 Womenswear.
Above Centre - Pink Sequin Jacket With Waterfall Front
£26.99/€34.99 , Pink Cropped T_Shirt £4.99/€6.99, Turquoise
Harem Trousers £21.99/€29.99, Grey Turban £4.99/€6.99, Round Toe
Courts £29.99/€39.99 - New Look Stockist Number: www.newlook.com
or 0500 454 094
Above Right - Plus Size Beachwear from Fifty
Plus.
Turquoise Sleeveless Tunic - From £18 Fifty Plus Spring Summer
2011 Womenswear Stockist Number: 0871 231 2000.
Colour blocking and Ombre fading of colours, create memorable
pieces with a slight 80s feel. These garments are from the
high street and illustrate typical approaches to the colour-slab dress and the Ombre
washed out dress in the summer of 2011.
Above Left - NEXT - Neutral Tone Colour Blocked Summer
Shift Dress.
Centre Left - Jersey & Silk Colour Block Dress £90 Pied a Terre
at House of Fraser Women's Clothing - HOF Stockist Tel: 020 7003
4000.
Centre Right - South Colour Block 60s Dress €54 - Spring/Summer
2011 at Littlewoods Ireland Womenswear Fashion.
Right - Fever Brasilia Blue Ombre Dye Dress £79.99 - Fever
Designs SS 2011 Fashion Stockist Tel: 0207 6366 326.
Purple has been very popular for five years, and is just as
popular in summer as winter. It looks wonderful as a solid block
of colour, which you can see in this jumpsuit or in the pants and Peasant style
blouse. Take a second look and see how vivid and strong
this tone of purple is; it
screams out that its bright purple!
The all-in-one has been making a slow comeback. More styles
including cat suits, playsuits and dungarees show that the
jumpsuit is a real fashion trend stylish women are buying.
Right - Warehouse Purple Jumpsuit SS11.
Left - Viola blouse, Violet Harem Pants £29.99, Flower
Corsage. SS11 Women's Fashion at River Island.
TOP TREND TIP - SILHOUETTE - Peplums, or short
over-skirts, were originally popular in the 1940s, they made a reappearance
in the noughties and in 2011 present perfect construction
areas for contrast primary colours. Look out for injections of
colour such as purple faced with yellow or hot pink on godet
peplums.
Above Left - Jane Normand Jumpsuit -
www.janenorman.co.uk.
Centre - Marks & Spencer - Limited Collection Blue Colour Block
Jumpsuit £79.
Right - French Connection Ladies Spring-Summer'11 - Fast Apollo
Sea Green Seventies Crepe Jumpsuit £167 - French Connection
Women's Clothing - Stockist Number: 020 7036 7200.
Matchy Matchy Shoes
If you want to take this colour mixing trend
further pick up on the colours in these blue and turquoise teal
heeled sandals.
Left - Tamaris Blue Multi Strappy Sandal £49.99 - Sizes
36-42 - Tamaris Spring Summer 2011.
Centre - Blue t-bar Sandal £49 - Marks & Spencer.
Right - Schuh Saffron Knot Sandal £68/€85(Late April) - And in
Yellow and Tan Schuh Spring Summer 2011 - Stockist
www.schuh.co.uk.
Neon brights will dazzle boldly when used with block colours and Ombre
effects. These colour schemes give 2011 shocks of fashion colour.
This new shock of colour
blasting is counterbalanced by more conservative styling and
lengths.
The catwalk colour combination in the below-knee outfit near-left is the clear inspiration for the River Island SS 2011
summer kit far left.
Look twice at colour combos when shopping, for it might be a simple spring weight tweed, but the colour will
be brilliant. Or it might be a very slim belt, but the colour will
be fluorescent and hot producing a very unexpected colour mix.
Even finer detail is that of a mere smidgen of colour finely piped
on the
edge of a handbag, but the contrast will not be safe, but bold and vivid.
Above Left - River Island Summer 2011 - Gia Boob Tube, Violet
Hareem Pants £29.99, Metallic Gold Belt, Warrior Cuff.
Centre - Catwalk Fashion SS2011.
Far Right - Elégance Mondrian Colour Block A-Line Shift Dress
£159 - Available Sizes 10-22 - Elégance Spring/Summer 2011 This
sleeveless dress has plenty of fashion chic for an occasion such
as the races, Ascot, or a wedding. Elégance Stockist Number:
0844 557 5507.
A typical colour scheme might also include pink,
magenta, citrus lime and black, these in combination soon make clashing paint
box colours.
The opaque magenta top and lemon cropped pants are also by River Island.
Fortunately choice is huge and Spring 2011 colour also offers
soft ice cream colours and ladylike retro. For even more subdued
colour than sorbet soft tones, the neutrals are at hand for those who
cannot cope with colour clashes.
Another feature of colour in 2011 is how clean white, tan or black
tones down any shades too daringly bright on its own. And of course hot bright colours always look
far more acceptable on bright sunny days whether it be
Californian, Far Eastern, African, Mediterranean or Australian
light.
Palette cleansing white is refreshing against so much
strident shocking colour, and these items below show how the use
of white for summer can be as sharp and business like as you
desire, alternatively white can be soft, feminine or casual.
Left - Electric Blue Mischa top £29.99, Gina Short Shorts
£26.99. River Island SS11 - Stockist Number: 0208 991 4904.
Right - Lucy Sheer Blouse, Sunflower Peg Leg Trousers £34.99,
Nairobi Sandals £39.99 - River Island SS11 - Stockist Number:
0208 991 4904.
Recognise that in 2011, lace is not only available in more
traditional black, white or ivory
cream, but also comes in a variety of colours, especially deep coffee cream,
bright green, blood
orange or red lace. Flesh pink against black works
particularly well.
Above First Left - Beyond Retro Vintage Red Lace Party Dress, £22.
Centre -
Marks & Spencer Autograph - Red Lace Prom Dress £89.
Right - Primark Holly Lace Dress £15 March Spring 2011 - Primark
Stockist Number: 0118 9606 300.
Far right - Lace Prom Dress £20 - George at ASDA Clothing -
Stockist Number: 0800 952 0101.Trousers
Vibrant top-to-toe colour blocking works really well when
pinks and reds are mixed. One of the hottest trends this season
is that of pink or red trousers. In particular pink jeans, pink
cropped summer trousers and red flares. Team these with a pink
toned top. Ease into brights via coral and honeysuckle pink in
2011.
RASPBERRY RED - CORAL RED - HONEYSUCKLE PINK.
These reds offer some of the hottest colours that move into
vibrant oranges. Zingy vivid bright colours. Electric shock
colours. Wear head-to-toe brights. In the main, colour blocking
is not a fashion look for shrinking violets. Colour popping can lift your
dreary look into new heights.
VIBRANT TOP TO TOE COLOUR AND COLOUR BLOCKING - COLOUR
WHEEL BRIGHTS. But choose carefully you can
capture the mood without the discord. Colour clashing, neon
nightmares, extreme wide bands of colour or vibrant harmonic
colour mixes can all be pulled off this season. Enjoy choosing the
colourful combo
that suits you best.
Left - New Look Pink Lace Top £21.99/€29.99, Bright
Pink Capri Pants £17.99,€24.99.
Left
Centre - New Look Salmon Top/ Sequin Embellishment
£26.99/€34.99, Coral Silk Harems - Tie Waist £21.99/€29.99.
Right - Penneys (Ireland) Spring 2011 Womenswear - Print
Vest €4, 70's Styled High Waisted Flares €17.
Bi or Tri Colours
For these bold colour schemes to work,
think in terms of head to toe tonal colour schemes, or dramatic colour
clash colour blocking. The secret is to restrict your colour combinations to two
or three different tints, otherwise you will look like a circus
clown.
Blocks of colour also work well on footwear. In the
summer of 2011 there are
multi-coloured and two tone shoes. You may also like shoes with contrast dark
or light piping that add freshness to old styles like the Mary
Jane shoe.
Left - Catwalk Fashion.
centre - Primark Summer 2011 - Orange, Yellow & Blue Colour
Block Dress.
Right - Sainsbury's Tu Clothing.
Expect to be wowed by dazzling brights and neon bold colours - colours of the
rainbow push black into the background. Paint box pops of colour
make the sludge colours from a Dutch oil painters palette look
dull. From sorbet soft shades to striking sunrise colours expect
to be able to find colours that update your wardrobe in a way
not seen in the last decade.
Stripes feature in combinations of red
with pink, pink/white and blue/white. Striped
trims also appear on fashion accessories such as sunglasses, shoes and scarf wrist bands.
If you can't afford Prada's candy stripes then try NEXT'S
striped garments in light pink tones/ taupe/black mixtures or the M&S Autograph range.
Colour blocking can be combined with stripes and is
especially popular in blue hues.
This is a look that makes real impact and gets you to stand
out in a crowd. A leader in this field is fashion icon Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, a woman who needs to be seen, and does
so brilliantly by using top to toe colour.
RASPBERRY RED AND CORAL RED - The red range is fruity, think
nectarine and pomegranate pinks. Coral pink, shrimp pink and honeysuckle pink reign
with citrus and summer fruits taking charge.
Think about tints flowing on from light red and coral. Now
move toward adjacent warm colours and think about the whole orange range from burnt orange, carrot red,
tangerine to golden apricot peach. Ombre effects are an
extension of colour blocking, but a softer way of positioning
the colour changes - think now of the bloom on a nectarine, a
sunrise or a sunset. To the rich mixed blush of a blood
orange to the rich golden tones of an apricot or the rich tan a
cowhide.
Orange, tangerine, yellow and lemon add a fresh buzz to
fashion prints and solid colour clothing.
Above Left - Monsoon - Era - S/S 2011 Orla Red Evening Dress
853100 £190 - Stockist Tel: 08448110068.
Right - Betty Jackson at Debenhams - Colour Block Dress £65/€98.
TANGERINE - ORANGE - CORAL TONES. Whole looks are
based on orange tones especially in leather. Note the Hermes orange
tan colours and clean camel leathers bags in rich tan that have
tooling, threaded whipped leather/studs. Some bags are relaxed
as drawstring duffle effects. This is a very natural leather
look based on natural orange toned dyes.
Right - ASOS Accessories - ASOS Leather Colour Block Satchel £75 - www.asos.com
Colourful shoes in the orange sunrise family feature thick
wedge soles and utilise suede which makes the colour look
velvety. Hot orange is a rising sun and soon will be viewed as
a normal joyous colour.
1970s platforms go head-to-head with more wearable wedges. Wooden clog sandals also add height with platforms.
Above Left - Raspberry Pink Wedge Shoes By
Primark SS 2011 Collection
Centre Left - Raffia and Suede Peep Toe Wedge Shoes - Office SS
2011 Collection.
Centre - Right - Schuh Ipanema Wedge Sandal £75 /€100 Schuh
Spring Summer 2011 Collection -
www.schuh.co.uk.
Far Right - Orange Suede Wedge - £29.99/€39.99 - New Look Footwear.
Shoes are striking - one look at Dior's purple feather shoes
with loop stitch trim and espadrille platform will make you sit
a up and take notice of fashions in footwear. Sugar sweet colours were used by Miu
Miu with a show of multi colour sorbet tone shoes with black trims. These sorbet tones are the inspiration for many footwear
colour designs you see everywhere.
Red shoes or cheeky print shoes are flirtatious and are made for dancing.
This year the usual red court shoes have been overtaken by
wedges and platforms. Red suede, coral and deepest orange suede
through to scarlet in both plain and patterned material give
shoes a quirky twist. Wear these bright wedges with the
new wider leg trouser shapes for a great 70s silhouette.
Above Left - Red Label Fashion Footwear
Stockists: www.redlabelfashion.com.
Centre - NEXT Stripe Wedges, £40/€51 Next Paint Box - Stockist
Number: 0116 284 9220.
Right - Office High Summer Ladies Footwear 2011 - Walk Away,
£60/€85. Office Stockist www.office.co.uk.
The Golden Tones
Metallic gold shimmers with soft lustre in snakeskin python effects on
belts and purse. The gold is 24ct toned, although it has great
deal of competition from sunshine yellow. A little goes a long
way and bright golden yellow is an ideal for colour block mixing
in every facet of women's apparel.
Some footwear shows real definition with sculptured fascinating heel forms. These twisted heels and sculptured pieces are like works of art they are
so rococo in line.
Gold, mustard, yellow and lemon all add sunshine to shoe styles.
Above Left - Schuh Mouse Twist Heel Yellow Court Shoe -
£65/€85. Also available in red and black Schuh Spring Summer
2011 Collection Stockist Number: 0845 307 2484 or
www.schuh.co.uk.
Centre - SS11 Womens Chunky Heel Espadrille £18 Matalan
Ladies Footwear Stockist Tel: 0845 330 3330.
Right - Office High Summer Ladies Footwear 2011 - Hurley Burley,
£68/€100.
»
This 70's sling-back gold heel mid open toe sandal is
totally 1970s retro in design. The sturdy heel and one
centimetre platform help make it a high comfort option for
dancing the night away. Stockist www.office.co.uk or Tel. UK
08450 580777.
Blue trails through into green with sublime ease, covering
every tint from the sea until it reaches the depth of green
found in plants. Green is used on its own, or green looks great
worked with either black or a rich caramel tan. Look for watery
mint, lime and grass and asparagus as green is commanding attention and has truly come back into
fashion. Introduce green into your wardrobe with some
fresh green accessories.
This summer shoes come in every colour, but for
an inexpensive holiday option consider the basic espadrille. Penneys of Ireland have taken their cue from
some of the main fashion colours in
Pantone's SS2011 palette
also shown below.
Note the sorbet hues of the Penneys summer
espadrilles. You are sure to find tints and shades in garments
that tone, mix and match with all these base colours.
Below - Penneys (Ireland) - Summer Canvas Espadrilles €4 -
Penneys Spring 2011 Womenswear Shoes.
Contrasting combinations are desirable as you navigate
the colours of 2011. Colour is vivid, very vivid. Papal
purple and other energized hues such as green and bubbling
orange compete with inky blues and subtler neutrals.
These colours in the strip below are Pantone's selection of
fashion colours for summer 2011.
They are shown in full on the
Spring Summer
20011 Pantone colour page.
Colours can shock when they are brightly mixed up. Yellow,
lemon, butter and citron add acid sharpness to red and teal or
turquoise. Take it one step further into fluorescence and you
have to be a brave fashionista as the look will truly turn
heads. Choose you colours wisely when working with fluoro colours
- make sure the tone suits you to garner compliments rather
than cutting remarks.
The Top Colors for Women's Fashion for Spring 2011 are: PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle,
PANTONE 16-1349 Coral Rose,
PANTONE 14-0941 Beeswax,
PANTONE 18-4039 Regatta,
PANTONE 15-3817 Lavender, PANTONE 15-4825 Blue Curacao,
PANTONE 14-6324 Peapod,
PANTONE 12-1206 Silver Peony,
PANTONE 18-1235 Russet,
PANTONE 15-4502 Silver Cloud.
Copyright of images courtesy of Prshots.com, Swarovski,
Marks & Spencer, Hobbs, House of Fraser, Schuh, Dune, Primark, Penneys,
George at Asda, Oasis, Debenhams, Littlewoods,
River Island, Accessorize Monsoon, Matalan, Benetton, ASOS,
Warehouse, Pantone, Jaeger, New Look, Jane Norman,
Office, Bonprix.co.uk, Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabbana, Boohoo.com,
Lipsy, Love Miss Daisy Vintage, Sainsbury's Tu,
Next, Monsoon, Fever, Yogoego.co.uk,
very.co.uk, French Connection, Isme, Mint Velvet, Ann Harvey, Internacionale, Phase Eight,
Kaleidoscope, A|wear, Fifty Plus, Simply Be, Tamaris, Redlablefashion.com,
Faith.
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A typical colour scheme might also include pink,
magenta, citrus lime and black, these in combination soon make clashing paint
box colours.
The opaque magenta top and lemon cropped pants are also by River Island.
TANGERINE - ORANGE - CORAL TONES. Whole looks are
based on orange tones especially in leather. Note the Hermes orange
tan colours and clean camel leathers bags in rich tan that have
tooling, threaded whipped leather/studs. Some bags are relaxed
as drawstring duffle effects. This is a very natural leather
look based on natural orange toned dyes.
