This color combination book has been used for generations.
It was derived from the original 6-volume book from the 1930s,
and offers 348 different beautiful (often unexpected) color combinations.
Back when Japanese culture was absorbing and getting influenced by western culture, Sanzo Wada was quick to recognize the importance of color and laid the foundation down for color research, creating his 6-volume series, “Haishoku Soukan”. There is an index of CYMK Color Codes, lists of where each color was featured, and also has cutout color chips, making it an ideal book for designers who enjoy being inspired by new color combinations.
I bought this book after seeing it featured on Instagram. I spent time leafing through it and became immediately captivated by it. I decided to use it to create outfits using items from my wardrobe that I've found difficult to style. I recently dyed a cashmere sweater vest, a linen jacket and a silk blouse and hadn't figured out what to do with them. Perfect timing!
I started with the sweater vest. I matched the color as closely as I could, then looked through the suggested combinations that included lemon yellow. I found the first one interesting and something I wouldn't have thought of on my own. So I paired it with a long sleeve black tee shirt over light teal pants. Hmmm I think I like it.
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Next up was a linen jacket (originally tan) overdyed a brick red. The color combination I chose included the brick red, lilac, light green and beige. Odd, right? A pair of my ivory linen pants turned the lightest shade of green when a slight residue of olive green dye remained in the washer. Lucky me! I added a lilac-ish linen top made as a part of a set a few years ago, and a silk scarf. Voila! Even though I wouldn't have put the outfit together, I don't hate it.
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Remember the green blouse I dyed? The olive green combination included coral, light blue and sulphur yellow. I have a pair of orangish quilted cargo carpenter pants and a chambray linen shirt that looked pretty good with the linen scarf I've never worn. See what happens when you think outside of the box?
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Back to that yellow-green sweater. Another unexpected combination included Antwerp blue, burnt sienna, and the palest pink. Once again, those colors looked good together. Who knew?
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One last experiment with the brick red shirt jacket. Last year I made a pair of pants from an olive green Japanese kimono given to me by a friend. I have never worn them. I really wanted to add them to the mix. So I found a combination that included the brick red, olive green, charcoal grey and bluish black. This particular ensemble is still very iffy and I need to try it on to see if it actually works. What do you think?
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Note: This could be challenging if you don't have a lot of color in your closet. Maybe start with accessories- scarves, socks, etc. and work up to adding a few colors that you're drawn to. After all...............
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