During my initial consultation with a client, I ask them, “Are there any colors that you hate?” Inevitably, this will spur a conversation about the colors that my client thinks are bad for their skin tone. The two colors most often mentioned are yellow and green. I have already talked a lot about green in my posts Time For A Green Dress and Most Versatile Jacket Color, so today I would like to discuss yellow.
Click here to jump to my favorite items in the most versatile shade of yellow that will flatter most people.
Can I Wear Yellow?
If a client hasn’t already mentioned yellow during the consultation, often the question, “Can I wear yellow?” will come up during our shopping sessions. Yellow has a bad rap because each skin tone can only wear a few shades of yellow, whereas everyone can wear handfuls of different blues. If you don’t know which shade of yellow you should be wearing, it’s easy to make a mistake, especially when stores keep producing mustard-colored clothing — a shade of yellow that flatters few faces.
The trick is to find a yellow in contrast to the undertone of your skin. For instance, people with red or blue undertones look best in most yellows. People with yellow undertones look good in bright or darker yellows. But that’s all too confusing, right? I have read some very scientific articles on how to find out which yellow you can wear, and it’s like trying to divide 12,341 by 326. Let’s make this easier.
Most Versatile Shade of Yellow
To answer the age-old question, “Can I wear yellow?” a few years ago I invited some of my friends over who had questionable skin tones with regards to yellow. I tried a series of yellows on them from a light lemony yellow to a hard mustard yellow. It quickly became apparent that the most flattering and versatile shade of yellow is a “true” yellow, aka a sunny yellow, featured in rows 3 and 4. Viola! So, yes I can wear yellow and so can you. You just need to skip the orangy yellows, earthy yellows, or green yellows. Find yourself what I call the “magic” yellow — the happiest color in the rainbow. Still confused? That’s okay. Just scroll to the bottom of the text for my favorite yellow items right now and pick out your favorite yellow goodies — they are all in the “right” shade of yellow.
Can Blondes Wear Yellow?
Okay, we now know all skin tones can wear yellow, but can blondes wear yellow? Or will the yellowness of the blonde clash or even become one with the yellow of your top? Depends. Yellow looks phenomenal on blondes in general because blonde women have the perfect skin tone for yellow, which is actually kind of obvious. Blonde is a similar color to yellow, so of course it looks good on them. The good news: few blondes have hair yellow enough to blend in with a yellow garment. The issue really begins when you have too much orange in your hair or your skin, then yellow starts to look “not right.” Notice in row 4 how the more orange blonde looks better in the lighter yellow versus the darker yellows? The contrast between the lemon yellows and the orange shade of her blonde hair is flattering. As for lighter blondes, do the opposite. Skip the lemon yellows and sport the mustard yellow if you have more of a white blonde. Are you seeing the trend? It’s all about contrast.
What Colors Go Well With Yellow?
One of my favorite colors to pair with yellow is burgundy. It’s one of my favorite ways to bring joy to a winter look and an edge to a summer look. You can combine the two colors by wearing a yellow blouse or sweater with jeans and burgundy shoes — and vice versa. The exciting part? It really doesn’t matter what shade of yellow or burgundy you use. Usually, I am so strict with finding the right hue of a color, but all hues work in this instance. Just stay away from neon yellow — that’s not a great look anyhow.
Other colors I love pairing with yellow include: most greens, most blues, crisp lipstick red, tan, white, bright pink, and purple.
How To Wear Yellow
I personally love to wear yellow year-round. In the winter, it’s perfect for dopamine dressing. I mean, who doesn’t love a sunny yellow coat or sweater to brighten up a dreary day? And in the spring and summer, I love yellow dresses or pairing a yellow tee with jean shorts as you can see from the photos. The other advice I always give is that if you’re hesitant to try out a color near your face you can always integrate it into your outfit below your waist, via your shoes, a belt, pants, or a skirt. But truly, you can’t go wrong with that flattering sunny shade of yellow I mentioned above. Below, I’ve featured all my favorite items in that “magic” color…
Vince Panelled Sleeveless Dress
This dress is available at Amazon and Mytheresa.
Alex Evenings Women’s Slimming Short Ruched Dress with Ruffle
La Femme One-Shoulder Jersey Gown
This gown is available at Verishop.
Photography in Yellow Ramy Brook Dress by Dayley Photography
Can Blondes Wear Yellow From Years Past
I originally wrote this post on can blondes wear yellow years ago and update it regularly due to its popularity. I’ve left these photos below for nostalgic purposes. Whenever I update older posts, I love to hold on to a collection of images as a bit of a time capsule so we can watch how our style evolves.
Another Tomorrow Sleeveless Tie Blouse
This blouse is available at Saks Fifth Avenue.
Boden Louise Linen Midi Shirt Dress
Available at Boden.
Sizing: Available in 2-22
Material: 80% linen 20% Recycled Linen
Susana Monaco Summer Flare Dress
Joie Stow Long Sleeve Cotton Top
Anthropologie The Alani Cashmere Mock-Neck Sweater
Apparis Stella Coat
Endless Rose Ribbed Crop Cardigan
This cardigan is available at Verishop and Belk.
Albatros V Neck Sweater
This sweater is available at Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Nordstrom.
Apparis Milly Coat
This coat is available at Apparis and Revolve.
Aviator Nation Rainbow Embroidery Boyfriend Tee
This tee is available at Revolve and St. Bernard.
Equipment Leona Silk Button-Up Shirt
This shirt is available at Nordstrom and Equipment.
Loft Tiered Mixed Media Midi Tank Dress
Everlane The Pima Micro-Rib Scoop-Neck Tee
Susana Monaco Square Sweetheart Top
Cara Cara Darby Flutter Sleeve Cotton Crop Top and Floral Maxi Skirt
This set is available at Nordstrom (skirt here), Saks Fifth Avenue (skirt here), and Bergdorf Goodman (skirt here).
Free People Scoop Neck Tee
This tee is available at Nordstrom and Dillard’s.
4 Responses
What is the shade of lipstick on the woman on the left? I’m hoping to shoot some maternity photos in a similar yellow (to the bottom one), and I have similar coloring to her. She looks great in that shade!
Hi Marissa! My apologies for the delay! I was waiting to hear back from the gal you are asking about. She says she is wearing this: https://bit.ly/3fBDfkw
Hope this helps! xo
So this is a wonderful and informative article on yellow. I will be reading future blogs for sure. So I just bought a bright yellow dress yesterday well because it looked good to me. I was surprised to find it on the clearance rack. I am a hostess at a hotel serving bfast on the weekends. Now don’t you know I got the most compliments on this dress than any other I’ve worn to work. I paid the least amount of money by far for this dress than any other I own so yes you can wear yellow and yes people like it. Thank you for your article.
Fun! Yup, you can! xo