Shade your inhibition

Manpriya Singh

Monochrome and colour blocking have conventionally entailed making a choice. An either/or situation since monochrome for some can get too ‘matchy matchy’ while colour blocking gets too much.

But then someone from the sartorial world, driven by the need to put together at least two of the 20 shades of pink, came up with a shade-on- shade formula. The formula that’s easy to apply and even easier on the eye.

“The play of different shades of the same colour is actually a bold style statement to make but at the same time a safe fashion choice to attempt,” Anjana Shah from the label D for Ditto feels what’s catapulted the style into a more mainstream trend is the fact that it can actually be extended to ethnic wear. “There is a subtle play of colour so it is both creative and not jarring to the eye. Since same colour and different shades are much better and a co-ordinated look than simple colour blocking where different colours itself have to be put together.”

The trend broke into the popular culture when last year Kareena Kapoor was spotted mixing two very similar shades of yellow in an all yellow outfit by Alix. Recently, during the promotions of Chhapaak, Deepika Padukone was spotted in a baby pink cable knit sweater paired with dusty pink trousers. Adds Anjana, “It’s important to pay attention to textures, since two different fabrics will anyway yield two different colours. Also, one can pair the warm undertones with the cool undertones. For instance the cool toned baby pink with the warm toned hot pink.”

The dos and don’ts

For starters, pretty much similar rules of colour blocking apply. All one needs is to translate the colours to shades. Which is, if in colour-blocking it is advised to never use more than two or three colours, in monochrome colour-blocking, never use more than two to three shades of the same colour. Chandigarh-based fashion designer Priyanka Khosla, from the fusion festive brand Malmal Tadka, gives a rather universal piece of dos and don’ts for acing the shade blocking trend.

“One actually needs a super confident body language to carry any extraordinary style. If you think any cut or style is flattering your body and boosting your confidence, go for it.” As for the monochrome colour blocking, she opines, “It is actually a bold, bright and a fun style statement. It is actually one of the best styles for the experimental fashion lovers. But it is important to never overdo. There should be one accent style statement in the entire outfit.” And not to forget, “Follow your instincts and mirror never lies.”