Monochromatic dressing is something that I have been playing around with lately. Why? It’s one of the easiest ways to look chic and put together.
Monochrome looks give off a rich, elegant vibe that I am more than ok with. A favourite look that I wore recently was a beautiful wine-coloured satin dress with a wine wool coat for a New Year’s Eve party. The compliments flooded in! And trust me, I love myself a compliment (pile them on!).
OUTFIT DETAILS
Coat – Zara (similar) | Sweater – Aritzia (similar) | Jeans – Denim Forum, Aritzia (similar) | Boots – Zara (no longer available) | Bag – Looks Like Summer (Bottega Veneta version here)
A full-on one-colour look can be daunting! You’re probably sitting there thinking: “Oh sure! I’m going to go out and buy green shoes, pants, top, coat, belt, hat…whole nine yards – great, Dom.” No need to do that. Just peep your closet and work with what you have.
This is precisely what I did for a recent trip to New York City. I was inspired to try this out by my stylist friend, Lorella. She suggested I try out monochrome dressing as it’s versatile and really of the moment.
She grabbed a striped beige wool coat that I nabbed at Zara, along with an alpaca sweater from Aritzia. These suede, slouchy boots had been languising in my closet for months, and were put to good use. To top everything off, the vanilla Looks Like Summer bag was the perfect accessory for this rich look.
What works so well here is the multitude of similar toned textures! The soft fullness of the sweater looks great with the beige suede boots. That chalkstripe wool coat with it’s great movement, tortoiseshell buttons and white stripes just added an “easiness” to the look that I felt was so on point.
What I loved also was that it was comfortable. We purposely chose clothing that was soft and comfy, not tight or too revealing and perfect for a fall day in New York.
The jeans are a looser fit too which compliment the overall look. As I look at these pics, I feel I look taller too – something that a monochromatic outfit shows off well. The singular colourway extends the body, slimming any parts you may want to hide (for whatever reason) giving you a tall look any supermodel would be proud of.
If you are larger on the bottom, you can try a darker bottom to draw attention up towards your face and away from anything you want to distract from.
No matter what colour you choose, it will be realll good and very striking. Some of my favourite monochromatic looks are jewel tones, all-white and of course, all black, all the livelong day.
*Photography courtesy of @skovro_visuals
Dominique is a Canadian-based fashion and beauty influencer with a strong voice in Ottawa’s black community. Since launching her blog Style Domination in 2015, she has amassed a global fanbase. Dominique shares her life through beautiful imagery and compelling story-telling that speaks to her fans on a personal level. She’s been featured in The Guardian, Flare, The Kit and Cityline. She also hosts events for Dress for Success, the Gem Conference, and has been named a United Way Person 2 Know for the past three years.