Color Blocking Fashion| How to Wear the Trend in 2022

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Color Blocking Fashion Trends in 2022

Color blocking has made a comeback and in a really fun and unique way.

As someone who lived through color blocking as a trend in 2011………

Color blocking is actually a trend that hails way back to at least 1946.

I am not a fashion historian, but I will say that color blocking was seen in the 40’s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s…….and as a theme of fashion I would count on it being a fashion trend in many variations forever.

That being said, some say that there are some baseline rules for color blocking your clothing.

I kind of think color blocking doesn’t always have to have rules.

Personally, I love the color block fashion trend for many reasons.

The first, is that you don’t have to match which gives you more creative freedom in how you dress.

Another reason, is that it reminds me of learning how to dress and putting outfits together as a child…..when there were no fashion rules because you didn’t know any.

Color blocking can be organized chaos, or it can be a mess and you can decide which spectrum of the color block theme you want to engage with.

With that, I found some really great examples of color blocking outfits that you can pin to your Pinterest boards for fashion inspiration.

The Pop of Color in Two Main Shades

What I love about this outfit is that she’s wearing different clothing structures, along with her color blocking.

Her blazer offers a pop of color in a lighter pink and an amazing silhouette, while her bottom half is in light and structured vintage style jeans.

The jacket is narrower and longer in shape while the jeans add a touch of volume to her lower half… plus they are shorter and cut off at her ankles adding more proportioned visuals to her petite frame.

Her t-shirt choice also emphasizes her waist, which helps to reign in the structure of the pants.

Notice how her first color blocking moment is done by wearing two clashing pinks on her top half….by her doing this it adds space and a transition to the overall look.

The lower half of her shirt flows into the blue of the jeans, so your eyes naturally pick up on the fact that she’s transitioning to a different color.

Her shoes finish the look by ending in another shade of pink (clear but it looks pinkish), which also are in a narrow structure (heels).

In short, she’s starting with a color theme and a clash within the same color family on top, transitions into her next color block moment and finishes it with a clear color on the bottom.

This outfit plays with structure and shapes, while staying committed to the pink and blue theme, while also adding in pops of muted color within her accessory choices.

Ultimately keeping the look cool and classic.

It’s a fun and chic color block approach and I really love what she did with her style moment here.

Color Blocking Fashion for the Pastels in Your Closet

I love a color block fashion moment that embraces pastels.

What is genius about this look is that she pairs the pastel shade with a classic shade of cream and browns (in the top half) and pairs the finished look with pastel lilac pants.

The accessories are great as well.

The shades match the hints of brown the top has…. and her shoes have a darker shade of purple, while incorporating blue, which is closely related to a lilac in the color wheel (so it matches and mixes perfectly).

To finish off, she adds the silver bag (which almost seems invisible next to her outfit), but blends in and adds shape, as she’s embracing a loose structural theme all around….

The bag, the shirts brown accent, the sandles and the sunglasses add lines to make it a cleaner look.

One Uniform Shade with Accent Colors

Color Block Fashion- Green Blue & Pink

In this image, I am focusing on the women on the left, who is wearing one uniform shade, head to toe of the same color and adding in a shade of black and a pop of color, with gold hardware.

The look is a lot more than just one uniform color, and it has to do with shape again.

To make the outfit tailored to her body, she is focusing on bringing attention to her waist with the gold hardware chain, while her shoulders are being exaggerated with the puff sleeves and closed off with fitted cuffs.

To continue her shape scape story, she adds a black bag with fringe and closes off her look with structured and pointed neon pink heeled mules.

She also sneaks in purple and pearl accented earrings, which lets you and I both know that she is color blocking and silhouette scaping and all within the clean lines of the dress and shoes.

She gets a little crazier with fun accessories, that are in complimentary colors and shades to her overall outfit.

Color Block-Yellow

The woman on the right is playing with two main color wheel siblings of different shades and muting the transition between the two main colors with white shoes.

Neutral shades (whites and blacks) are used a lot when color blocking.

Neon Color Blocking

This particular outfit is very simple, yet kind of complicated.

Notice how she is sticking to only two colors and of very opposite color blocking wheel stories.

The trick she is using is that she is playing with two neon colors…..

One neon color makes the other look mustard, while amplifying the other neon shade of pink so the two look a little crazier together than it actually is, but they still match each other somehow.

She’s also sticking to a loose structure on top and bottom with structured shaped accessories (shoes and handbags).

The gold chain on the handbag, her gold bracelet and rolled over light pink cuffs also offer a break from the color blocking.

This breaks up the look up a bit.

Genius.

Two Colors Within the Same Color Family with One Accent Adjacent Color

The final color blocking look is also genius.

The shapes flow into one another, and the colors flow into one another because they are cousins on the color wheel and from a similar color family.

Her bag that she incorporated is a wild card that absolutely works.

Plus, she color blocked without using any neutrals.

Pro status.

Shopping for Color Blocking Fashion Pieces

I hope these Pinterest color blocking examples inspire you to head into your closet and mix and match to your hearts content.

Here are some pieces I think can help achieve the color block look.

This yellow pantsuit from Banana Republic is legit summer goals.

As is this shorts version in cream. Pop some neon in and you’re set.

A loudish blouse button up from H&M.

A skirt that takes on the silver theme.

A fun Zara suit is always kind of a win. I love this color too.

A fun pop of color in a handbag.

And a very fun pair of neon strappy and studded heels.

Also, obsessed with this Amazon set (viewing from the reviews, I would size up for the oversized look). Also, loving the all-over purple set as well…..

I am calling it now.

I think short sets like this will be a big trend this summer.

If you were loving the silver handbag in the pastel look, I found a similar shaped bag on Etsy.

As always, leave a comment if you found this post helpful.

Talk to you soon.

-Nikita