At Who What Wear, we know just how much you, our readers, love to hear about the latest and greatest trends, easy styling solutions and the best of the best on the high street. That’s why we’ve partnered with Gap, one of our forever go-to destinations for effortless style, to bring you The Fashion Forecast—a new series dedicated to solving your everyday sartorial needs and wants, as well as getting a grip on emerging trends with the help of some of the coolest influencers around. This week, we hear from Zeena Shah on how best to bring colour into your summer wardrobe.
I have always been drawn to colour in all areas of my life, and I get so excited when I can share my love for it. I’m a textile designer by training so, for me, colour has always played a huge part in my work and seeped into my everyday life. I would often start with a colour palette and work a design around it, and that’s similar to how I style clothing now. Wearing colour is so fun and can really boost your mood, so most days I’ll focus on a particular colour combination I’m feeling good about and build my outfit around it. Gap’s summer collection is always full of colour, which is why they’re one of my absolute high street go-tos.
I love to be playful with patterns and colour blocking, but don’t get me wrong, I know that wearing brights isn’t as easy for everyone. So if monochrome and neutrals are your best friend and colour makes you nervous, these are some of my top tips and favourite colourful styling tricks.
Firstly, I always suggest starting small with weaving a bright accessory or top into a neutral look. Try some bright sandals, a scrunchie or headband with classic jeans and a white T-shirt, for example, or a bold, colourful top with some white jeans. The key is to know what colours suit your skin tone, so it’s always best to experiment to begin with and then explore different shades of your favourites—some will work better than others. Once you’ve cracked that, you can create a uniform of colour combos and favourite outfits like my go-to Gap looks below, so they’re easy to throw on and it doesn’t seem so scary.
Fashion has become so much more colourful in the past few years, so now there’s no excuse. I’d often have to go vintage hunting to find a colourful piece, but now they’re all over the high street. And don’t be afraid of clashing when you start to mix and match—I’m a big fan of clashing, and the more experimental the better!
