Wardrobe 101: Dressing with the three colour rule

You may have picked up by now that I tend to dress based on a handful of simple styling guidelines. Day-to-day, I want to look effortless, chic, and pulled together in an effortless way. But like everyone else, I don’t have time to spend hours picking out my outfits. Monochrome is often an easy fallback, but when I want to jazz up my look with some colour or print, I stick to the three colour rule.

Wearing Boden v-neck sweater, Boden pleated skirt, The Curated camel coat, Everlane day heels, Everlane day tote mini (review here), Mejuri earrings & zodiac necklace, Missoma knot necklace

The underlying premise of the three colour rule is to not combine more than three colours in your outfit at any one time. The exception being black and white, which are technically not ‘colours’ but tones, and can be intermixed as a fourth colour in your outfit. An easy example is the outfit I’m wearing above. The colour palette combines cream, rust and camel, accented with black accessories. One of the tricks to making this work is also ensuring that the undertones are in the same family; cool or warm.

Of course there are always going to be exceptions to the rule, but I’ve found following these simple guidelines have been a huge timesaver when getting ready in the morning. If you’d like to try out dressing with the three colour rule for yourself, I’ve dropped some tips below!

The Three Colour Rule

Pair no more than three colours per outfit, unless you’re including black or white as an additional accent. I love the flexibility here as sometimes you need that fourth tonal shade to tie things together nicely.

Try not to mix metals as it can look a little unintentional. Stick to one metal, whether that be gold, silver or rose gold. I find that this helps to keep the outfit feeling consistent.

Work with the same undertone and go for a cool or warm-toned outfit. Some shades lean more neutral and can work with either kind of look.

Red lips count so wear them wisely. I personally like to throw on one of my favourite reds – MAC Lady Danger or Tom Ford Wild Ginger – when I want to make a statement. It’s also a fun way to mix up your look.

Don’t be afraid to wear pattern. Despite what the rule suggests, these totally work. I’ll count the primary base colour (or colours depending on the style) within my ‘limit’, and add in pieces from there. It helps to keep these kinds of outfits simple and let the printed piece do all the talking.

I tend to match my accessories quite often, as I think it’s cohesive and a simple way of pulling together a look. This is a great way to add in colour. If you don’t like the matchy-matchy look so much, perhaps try tying in the colour of one of your accessories with one of the colours from your outfit.

You don’t have to wear three colours if you don’t want to! Go monochrome or opt for two hues – it’ll look just as chic.