As a member of the royal family, Princess Diana was forced to play by countless rules in her tragically short life, but she wasn’t above breaking them when it came to fashion.
On a visit to Dubai in 1989, Diana made headlines by wearing a clashing pink and red dress from her preferred designer, Catherine Walker, forcing strict grandmothers with plastic on their sofas and etiquette books on their shelves to reach for strings of faux pearls. To drive home the message that this was a deliberate choice, Diana added a wide-brim red hat with a pink ribbon by milliner Philip Somerville.
Coming weeks after a fiery clash with the then Camilla Parker Bowles, covered in Tom Bower’s book Rebel King: The Making of a Monarch, the attention-grabbing outfit was a precursor to Diana’s infamous black revenge dress.
Colour clashing is not for the faint-hearted, as demonstrated by Diana, but like navy and green never being seen without a colour in between, it has become redundant as a fashion rule, along with having to match your handbag with your shoes and avoiding double denim.
Following Diana’s fashion breakthrough, red and pink returned to the fashion forefront on the runway at Jacquemus, Brandon Maxwell and Blumarine in 2021 as the world embraced dopamine dressing after the COVID-19 lockdowns. Now designers are pushing unusual combinations, such as bold cerulean blues and acidic yellows, even further, with Tory Burch bringing them to the runway in a way that does not resemble an IKEA sign.
Miuccia Prada has been combining unusual colours for decades at Prada and Miu Miu, an approach described by some onlookers as ugly. “When I do ugly things it’s completely intentional,” Prada told AnOther Magazine. “In the end, if you always do only what you like, it becomes boring, you don’t grow, you don’t learn anything new.”
It might seem like there are no rules but here are some guidelines to ease you into clashing and contrasting with the confidence to make the ugly truly beautiful.
Beginner: Start with accessories and a colour buffer
Timid types can try wearing a colour item, such as red blouse, knit or skirt, with a clashing accessory, such as pink shoes or a bag. The addition of black pants or a blazer dials the shock volume down.
While buffers offer relief, do not dial down the contrast between colours, especially with pink and red – if the colours are too close, you lose the dramatic effect. With blues and yellows, you similarly want the colours to pop against wintry skies rather than gently meld like summer pastels. Once you’ve become comfortable with clashing colours, slowly ease the buffers out of the picture.
Intermediate: Stick with block colours
Work your way up to subdued prints and rely on unobstructed block-colour pieces to drive the contrast home. A distinct line between blouses and pants, or jackets and skirts, enhances the effect. If you’re still tentative, a black belt or buttons can offer relief.
Expert: Look for details
To show you’ve moved on from the 2021 approach to colour contrasting, turn to details such as lace trims, gentle ruching or textured knits to add extra visual interest. Advanced players can introduce a third colour, but be cautious – three can be as crowded in an outfit as a marriage.
Fashion director: Penny McCarthy. Hair: Pete Lennon. Make-up: Aimie Fiebig using Charlotte Tilbury. Fashion assistant: Liz Hoffmann. Model: Lily at Priscillas. Shot on location at White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney. Tiger sculpture A… O! by Tian Longyu.
