Updated Take on the Monochromatic Dressing
Monochromatic dressing — it has been greatly linked to just a simple black or white. But it has now moved far away to any colours as long as it is a one colour from head to toe. We can see in the market with everything showing up as monochrome sets from suits to relaxing at home with sweats. The word monochromatic itself breaks down into two; ‘mono’ as in single and ‘chromatic’ means colour. It may seem boring though having to dress only one colour, but it is not like we would wear only solid black head to toe, the joy here is to wear different shades and tints of the same colour.
Monochrome has been seen as a power outfit for both men and women. There is something about a completely matching outfit, it oozes sophistication, grace and power at the same time. The monochromatic dressing trend has been there since years back with the iconic Chanel’s suit. The brand portrays a well dressed lady in an outfit that matched from head to toe. We could say that the suit was a natural progression, bringing forward the Little Black Dress (LBD) that was highly known as the first look of essential monochrome outfit in any woman’s wardrobe.
2021 we have seen monochromatic dressing anywhere, from the Inauguration Day to street style wear during the fashion months, but in fact it is not anything new. Back then style icons like Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy had already seen wearing monochromatic looks. Eventually there is no doubt that it is having a big comeback in our era. One of the highlight was during the President Joe Biden’s Inauguration when the internet was in love with his grandchildren Finnegan’s look. She wore camel monochrome look respectively way down to the masks and while the First Lady Dr. Jill Biden wore monochromatic ocean blue look all the way down to her face mask and gloves. During that day, the Former First Lady Michelle Obama was also seen nailing the monochromatic look with plum coloured and a splash of black on the accessories. With this, it is safe to say that monochrome is not dying yet it has it’s big moment today.
Hailey Bieber was also seen in New York City last May emerged looking so summery in warm orange, coral, and yellow hues. Although her ensemble was not really that matchy, she offered an updated fresh take on monochromatic dressing with complementary colours. Well, she was not wearing one colour head to toe but she nailed wearing pieces that were siblings in colours. From the long boxy orange blazer, to coral halter dress, a yellow clutch, to a red tinted sunglasses an matchy heels. Apparent when all the sibling hues were put together, it packed an exciting and even elevated look. The rule here is no longer just about one colour, but this summer aim for a similar colour palette and simply mix and match it.
The key is to play with the dimension in your dressing. Whether you mix textures or mix patterns, you want to add dimension as an added visual interest to the overall tonal look. Also by adding dimension to an outfit, it allows us to highlight or downplay certain parts of the body. No matter the shape or style, monochromatic can always look sharp and apparently having a head to toe look with one uninterrupted line would elongate the body silhouette that results in us appear slimmer and taller than we actually are.
