Certainly, Pantone's reasoning behind choosing these two shades as their colors are much more scientific than a bunch of Pantone executives blindly throwing darts at a wall of random colors or deviously choosing to torture us by picking pastels that give most of us the willies, which you can read here.
Needless to say, from what I have read, the reception of Rose Quarts and Serenity weren't all that positive and, while I'm not much of a fan of either, I think it is really difficult to look at large swatches of these colors and really see how to incorporate them into our wardrobes. At first glance, many think, "No way am I wearing an all Rose Quartz or Serenity colored outfit!" It may seem hard to believe that there are ways to wear these soft, passive colors in ways that look good and without looking like a piece of furniture from the Golden Girls living room set. So if you are interested, I decided to write two posts, one on how to wear Rose Quartz and one on how to wear Serenity. Today's post I will be focusing on Rose Quartz and you can tune in tomorrow for tips on how to wear the other color. Check it out below.
How to Wear Rose Quartz
Outfit #1 For work, Rose Quartz can come across a little passive and not that powerful. Conversely, however, small doses of soft pink can feminize and add softness to conservative and corporate looks. Here, for example, I added a
Rose Quartz tank from J. Crew under a deep navy suit (
link to jacket and link to pants) from Reiss. To accessorize, I worked tonally with Rose Quartz and added burgundy to anchor the lightness of the pink, and to create a more interesting look, with pumps from Nine West, handbag from Coach and earrings from Stella & Dot. The addition of the printed scarf from LOFT not only brings all the colors of the outfit together nicely but shows another great way you can add Rose Quartz into your wardrobe, through prints.
Outfit #2 While Rose Quartz as one of the colors of the year seemed to come out of left field, it really didn't. Basically, Rose Quartz is a blush tone, a color that has been a trend for several seasons now. Blush is usually best in small doses unless you have the skin tone for it, which is soft and light. However, as a shoe color, blush is gorgeous. With this ivory tunic sweater from Ann Taylor and grey skinny jeans from Boden, I added these Rose Quartz flats from Franco Sarto and beaded necklace from Modcloth with touches of pink. The outfit is finished with a silver metallic bag from Elliott Lucca.
Rose Quartz is basically blush and a lovely accent shade that you can add to simple neutral outfits in small doses without going overboard.
Outfit #3 Perhaps Rose Quartz isn't just a color you like but it's one that is one that looks good near your face. Go for it. If you like wearing lots of color, Rose Quartz also isn't a shade that looks good exclusively with neutrals. Here, I paired this Banana Republic top with a teal pencil skirt from J. Crew and used the burgundy bag and earrings I used earlier. For heels, I added a pair of nude pumps from Nine West.
Outfit #4 I don't wear pink. I'm just not a frilly, pink person. This seems like a contradiction considering my company's branding is shades of pink. But, as a person, pink just isn't my jam and I don't really want it on my body. If you are someone who wants some pink in your life but don't want to actually wear it, try it in a handbag. You might find that it works with more than you think. Personally, I do like olive or brown with pink for the contrast is creates of feminine with colors that are more masculine. In this outfit, I used this pink bag from Marc by Marc Jacobs to work with these skinny J. Crew chinos and brown sweater from Theory. For a casual finish, I used these metallic loafers from Cole Haan that I recently suggested to a client, a brown and burgundy bracelet from Alex and Ani and fern earrings from Julie Vos.
Outfit #5 Looking at Rose Quartz for what it is, it's hard to see it working with deep, rich colors. However, it can act as a lovely soft bright when paired with deeper hues. In this outfit, here again I am using it with olive using this trench coat to add some color near the face through this scarf from Nordstrom. With the burgundy dress from BOSS Hugo Boss the outfit becomes even more rich and, instead of being a strong player, the Rose Quartz is simply an accent. Finishing the look, I added a navy cardigan from Theory, a rich Brahmin bag that works beautifully with the scarf and the outfit is finished with Rose Quartz earrings and the same nude pumps from Nine West that I used earlier.
Seeing that Rose Quartz is a commonly used gemstone, the easiest way to add this color into your wardrobe is through your jewelry. This past weekend, I happened to do just that with a pair of earrings which you can see in the photo below with my favorite uncle. I may not wear a lot of pink clothes but I do like this as a gemstone shade.
If you embrace it a lot or a little, a lot or not at all, I hope you liked looking at tips on how to wear Rose Quartz. Stay tuned for my post tomorrow on how to Wear Serenity, Pantone's other color of the year.
Not only did Pantone surprise us when they chose two colors, Rose Quartz and Serenity, to share the spotlight as their co-colors of the year for 2016, but when they chose two pastel shades that reminded many of us, particularly those who remember the 80's, as a scary indicator of what's to come. I just don't know if I'm ready, willing or able to go back to Miami Vice inspired color palettes or the shades of that quirky store called 'Over Our Heads' in the tv show The Facts of Life after Edna's Edibles burned to the ground. Am I totally aging myself with these references?
