Monochrome Outfits
RAFAEL MENEZES l PHOTO: RALMEZ COLLAB
Sometimes we take things in life as experiences. When I was younger, I once heard that it was not cool to wear garments with the same shade. I would have the image of being a stinky, lazy boy. So I considered that a deadly sin. The stronger the contrast between one piece and another, the better dressed would I be? [what nonsense]. Nowadays I can see how the fashion world breaks old paradigms. Contemporary men are keen to follow new trends and accept relevant tips on how to dress better. Many of them just want to combine such tips with their lifestyle, without worrying too much about other people’s opinions. From my point of view, I always started from the idea that “less is more”, interesting how this idea can also be applied to fashion.
How to wear monochrome colours well? Monochromy and monotony are rhyming words, but they don’t necessarily have similar meanings. Dressing well in only one colour is not that hard, but it still requires patience and wisdom. White is always a classic and allows a vast combination of different parts, materials and cuts. You can blend a more opaque texture blazer and a shirt with a brighter fabric, for example. The result is often surprising (1). Not every monochrome outfit is in All Bold type, so to speak. A good hint is to vary the tonalities to create an interesting and unusual combined effect, especially when there is a large amount of overlapping of parts (2). Since we can merge shades of the same colour, why not leave a shade in evidence and only create a little contrast with another colour? To use monochrome it is not obligatory that all the pieces you see are impeccably of the same shade. In this case, the first inner part is white and yet it does not break the intent of the others. This is one of the great permissions that the monochrome gives, of course, using a colour that comes into harmony with the whole composition (3).
Here some inspiration:
Monochrome outfits are not synonymous with sloppiness or laziness, but style. If well explored, they can compose visuals for any occasion of the day or night with charm and elegance. Productions of this type might require more elaborate colour and piece planning if you are a perfectionist person like me, but it is all about practicality when composing the visual once you get used to doing it.
