Bright Dress and Soft Grey Accessories

Dress.  Jacket.  Shoes.  Earrings.  Bag.

Similar Sunglasses:  Here, Here, and Here

Similar Coral Dresses:  Here, Here, and Here

Miranda L. Sober Photography

I’m naturally drawn to bright colors… I just love wearing them because they make me feel happy and cheerful. When I’m in Florida, California, Arizona, Texas… Those colors seem to fit right in. There are so many bright colors in the lush greenery and overflowing blooms everywhere that I would actually feel odd if I were all in black or neutrals.

But back in Colorado plants are just lucky to survive the altitude and dry air, so the colors are more muted. When I wear bright colors I often feel like I’m dressing for vacation or something, set amongst the grey cityscape and dull colors of the plants and flowers here. Take a look at the background of these photos… Bricks and pine trees, people. There’s just not a lot of room to play with color so I’ve developed some tricks to get around this issue and I’m going to share them with you so you can wear your bright dresses no matter where you are.

And don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe in fashion rules. I think if you want to wear something and you feel great in it, you should wear it proudly. But if you’re a neutrals girl and you want to try adding a bit of color to your closet or if you live in a city and need to “tone down” your brights a bit, this post is for you.

Tips to Tone Down Brights: 

1. Pick One Bright Item. When I styled this look, I chose my dress as my one bright item. I love this dress… It’s flattering and easy to throw on and wear just about anywhere. There’s only one size left, so I searched and found similar ones here, here, and here. Focusing on only one bright item keeps the look from being too “tropical” or beachy.
2. Add in Neutrals. Once I have my bright item, I begin to add in neutral accessories. White and black are great for a high-contrast night look, but for daytime I prefer sticking to softer neutrals like grey, beige, and taupe. I absolutely love my soft grey faux leather jacket and have been wearing it with everything lately. It pairs nicely with my grey cross-body bag and the most comfortable grey block heels. I recently got a grey bandana like this one that would also be great with this outfit.
3. Keep Jewelry Neutral. Jewelry can add so much color to a look. Since I was accessorizing with grey tones, I stuck to silver jewelry with no bright colors. These earrings are very similar to the ones I’m wearing in the photos above… Just a hint of howlite stone looks so beautiful with grey clothing and accessories.
4. Layer Up. If you’ve kept your jewelry simple, added neutrals, and still feel you’re item feels too bright for wherever you are, add a layer that covers part of the bright color. Adding the grey jacket helped to break up this bright dress… A neutral slouchy off-shoulder sweater would have a similar effect.

Let me know if you try this trick and how it works for you!! Hope you’re having a wonderful week.