Autumn/Fall 2017 Preview Part 1

Part One: The Colors

It's around this time that I get a bit bored with summer fashions, having been on holiday in June and endured the sales. So I have been looking eagerly at new arrivals online in my favourite stores, and studying the colors which the Pantone Institute has decreed will be the colors for Autumn/Fall. Find the colors here.

I recently had my colors assessed by the lovely Pamela Graham, style and color consultant, and I am a tonal Bright who is able to wear both Cool and Warm colors (result!), which means the two colors for Autumn in the Pantone list that will work best for me are Flame Scarlet and Royal Lilac.

Pamela shows the Cool palette below and the Pantone autumn colors for London are the circles around the Duchess of Cambridge's head (yes, they have different shades for London and New York!).

I love lilac so I'm hoping to see some good options. But Pamela's sensible advice is that although we might initially think the fashionable colors for autumn are not for us, we should think again.

She says: "Although many people think that new colors coming into the shops each season will limit their choice, in actual fact both sides of the spectrum are invariably covered.  If you can identify your natural coloring as Warm or Cool, it becomes much easier to find your way around the fashion department at any time.

"The new Autumn/Fall season for 2017 is no exception.  Out of 10 ‘new colors’ there are versions of Navy and Camel that sit quite comfortably in both the Warm and Cool color palettes."

She adds: "Of the brighter and lighter accent colors, six are Warm and four are Cool so you’ll always find something to co-ordinate with your current wardrobe."

Below are the Warm colors, with the Pantone Autumn selections superimposed.

It remains to be seen how influential the Pantone Institute is in convincing designers and clothing manufacturers to adopt its colors, as these are decisions taken more than a year in advance. In the film "The Devil Wears Prada" Miranda Priestley (Meryl Streep) gave a memorable treatise on why the cheap, unstylish jumper worn by her intern was the shade cerulean blue. It had first appeared on the catwalk in a designer's collection, and was eventually commonplace.

I've had a quick look round to see which colors are already in the shops. Flame Scarlet is everywhere so you'll have no problem finding it if you love red. Royal lilac: not yet, although there is quite a lot of lilac around from summer if you look for it. Primrose Pink is also much in evidence.

If you want to show your color credentials before the clothes (or even Autumn!) arrive, find yourself a bag or scarf in one of the new colors. A handbag in Lemon Curry, or Golden Olive, would look very fashion forward. Accessories are a great way to wear a fashionable color that wouldn't look too great next to your face, for example.

Bag in lemon curry by Lacoste

Kettlewell is also a good destination to shop by color, although a quick check showed they don't use the same nomenclature as Pantone, with the one exception being Bluebell. They do have very close approximations of the Pantone colors.

Don't miss Part 2 of my Autumn/Fall Preview where I'll be looking at some of the new trends for Autumn, as well as some of the summer hits that will still be around, but in different fabrics. Coming on Wednesday, 2 August.

Sharing this post with Claire Justine and Patti at Not Dead Yet Style.

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