Pink and red

Choosing colours

As someone whose natural tendency is to veer towards black, grey or more black, putting colours together can be daunting.

It's always a treat to spot someone - regardless of age - who can put colours together in such a way that it makes their hair colour stand out, their eyes look brighter and their whole ensemble appear effortlessly stylish?

While texture and pattern count, of course, there's something about a gorgeous mix of colour that really finishes an outfit beautifully.

Iris Apfel

For a masterclass in colour, look no further than the legendary Iris Apfel:

via zillahletty

There's a lovely mix of red and beige in the first photo - not that you notice her trousers with that feathery coat paired with the matching glasses and shoes. 

Iris puts together a blue coat, yellow trousers and what looks like fifty necklaces, as many bangles and a mad pair of patterned shoes in the second pic. Why does it work? She's using two primary colours - blue and yellow - as the main pieces of her outfit and then picking up tones from both colours in her necklaces, bangles and shoes.

There's something of the cartoon about Iris and this helps to stamp her seal on the top of the outfit - short white hair, huge round glasses and bright red lipstick.

via aloneonthediamondsea

Her outfits were part of an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2005 called Rara Avis: The Irreverent Iris Apfel. The orange dress, scarf and turquoise jewellery pictured above is one of my particular favourites. 

Pink and red

More often than not, you'll see pink and red paired with neutrals or black. While there can be something really hard-edged and 80s about a good dose of red and black, I thought it would be good to see these two colours together for a change.

Pink to red nails

Salmon pink Miu Miu shoes with red feathers

Pink and red vintage Laura Ashley 1970s dress

Pink scarf, 70s dress and gold earrings

Purple pink and red headscarf

All photos by 2kooky