Colors of Fall: Brown
I think brown gets a bad rap.
People love the various shades of brown: khaki, camel, rust and chestnut, cognac, mahogany…but as soon as you say BROWN you get EW.
But chocolate?? The warm lustre of old wood? A sleek seal brown horse? The perfect cup of dark coffee? Cascading brunette waves? A lovely brown-eyed boy?
None of those things are ew.
As always, it’s how you combine it with other colors. Remember, warm tones are happy with other warm tones. Cool tones play nicely with other cool colors. Not that you can’t combine warm and cool…but it’s a little harder to do well.
And repeat after me: Brown Goes with Black. Brown Goes with Black. Brown Goes with Black.
And blue. And green. And pink. And grey! I love brown for the fact that so many color combinations are a little unexpected.
Brown + Green
Any color combination found in nature is pretty much a sure win.
Brown + Pink
Maybe not as commonly found out in the world as brown and green, but still. A lot of browns have rosy undertones to them…look at Photos 1 and 4. And fuchsia is a nice contrast to the subdued vibes of brown.
Brown + Blue
This is another one of those silly “no-no’s” we’ve been living with for too many years. Brown looks great with denim…aqua/turquoise, clear sky blue…the list goes on.
Brown + Grey
I find brown and grey very chic.
Brown + Black
And of course, brown goes so well with the other autumn tones: golden yellow, orange, cream, red…but I wanted to share some of the more uncommon combinations.
Here are some ways I’ve worn brown…
I hope you’ll take another look at this undervalued color!
See you next time!
Daenel T.
Those color combinations are beautiful…
Your middle outfit – with the dress – is just perfect. I’m wondering if I have something to recreate the look?
bettyewp
I love brown so much.
Years ago, Avenue (or maybe it was Lane Bryant) had some giant pictures on the wall behind the register counter of a really stunning plus sized model…she had this beautiful chin length, layered and curled hairstyle, sort of 1940s ish..and a deep red lip…but it was her hair COLOR that just captivated me. It was a rich milk chocolate brown with no hint of redness…just BROWN brown. I so rarely see GOOD BROWN hair, it usually skews towards red or black or has highlights or something. This was just Perfect Brown.
I know this has nothing to do with what you said, ha ha. But I was just reminded of that beautiful brown hair.
Andrea Kenner
One of my favorite things about the movie Sleepless in Seattle is the decor of Sam’s houseboat. It uses subtle browns and grays to create a palette that is both restful and masculine.
bettyewp
Ooh! I had to Google “Sleepless in Seattle Sam’s houseboat decor” cuz I had no recollection…and it is delightful in its neutral neutrality. Masculine without being MASCULINE. Nice.