I went through everything I owned, and I came up with nine basic colors that are staples in my wardrobe, and I love them. I've presented them below organized in columns of neutrals, primary colors, and accents.
Once I organized all of my clothes into these categories, I had a shamefully large pile of rejects to go through. I went through this pile with a firm eye for love...sometimes a piece is just too fantastic to get rid of, or it is the "make" piece of an outfit which is mostly compiled of my other clothes. I came up with the following assortment of colors, most of which exist as singles in my wardrobe. You'll note that most of these are just color variations of the original 9, or the missing neutrals (navy and khaki) which do have a place in every wardrobe, but just in limited quantities for mine. The exception to this is green, which I love love love but which rarely suits my complexion. I managed to put most of my olive in the 'to donate' pile, compromising instead with some olive-hued jewelry that blends nice with the regular colors.
I mostly prefer deep, rich colors- pastels tend to wash me out (and make me look wider!) and brights are usually too severe for my taste and complexion. Of course there are a few exceptions, such as my love of hot pink, but mostly I stay away from what I will now call "The Microsoft Look".
This isn't a perfect wardrobe color process, since obviously I can't just mix and match all of my colors together (teal and pink? Hmmm!) but it is a fair cry better than my previous efforts. I have a pile of clothing to take to local charities now, and hopefully this can help curb my impulse shopping and help me in future shopping efforts. It also inspired a bunch of card ideas, so maybe I'll have new products up soon!
