Shades of Yellow color in fashion: 7 colors that go well with it.

yellow color shades - mustard yellow, corn yellow, pineapple yellow, marigold yellow, royal yellow, lemon yellow

When you think of yellow, you think of happiness, energy and youthfulness. The color of all the smileys and suns that you have ever painted. It is a color that can instantly cheer you up. And this color is a full on attention grabber.

All these uplifting qualities are well utilized when it is used in fashion to design clothes. 

But with all these, you have to be careful with this color, lest it overwhelms you or creates a different perception than what you want to create. It is usually used for women’s clothing than for men’s clothing – why? Is it that yellow is not taken seriously by men?

There are many shades and tones of yellow. Some consider yellow to be too attention grabbing and unstable and even childish. Some shades of yellow can look a little dull (Shade is when you have a touch of darkness to it with the addition of black). Some may even look sickly. The right version matters.

A very important consideration when selecting yellow for your clothing is if your skin is warm toned or cool toned. Yellow is a typical warm toned color and suits those with a warm complexion.

When considering yellow color, you also have to look at the value (lightness and darkness) of the yellow colour to find its best match. Basically yellow is a warm color. But even in this, there may be a partiality to warmer tones and cooler tones.

yellow-colors - matches with warm colors

A yellow which is nearer to red (a yellow-orange) is more warm than a yellow which is nearer to green color (lime green) in the color wheel. So when you match colors, match yellow which is warmer, to warm colors like reds, oranges  and match yellow which is cooler to cool colors like green, blues – you will get a visually pleasing color combination.

Color combinations with Yellow


Yellow and Black

yellow color with black color

Black goes with all shades of yellow.

mustard yellow with black color

Yellow and light Grey and white 

yellow color with grey color

Yellow and grey is an elegant combination. The grey is used to balance the brightness of yellow. You just have to keep in mind the cool and warm theory and form your own color combinations for yellow shades and tones that suits you.

yellow color with grey

Yellow and Green

yellow color and green

Yellow and green lie adjacent to each other in the color wheel. So this makes it an analogous color scheme. Adjacent colors always have a charm together

Other analogous color combinations of Yellow are :

Analogous colors of yellow

Yellow and Royal Blue

yellow color and royal blue

Yellow and blue are complementary colors – they lie opposite to each other in the color wheel. You can choose to use the complementary color scheme as an accessory or a small part of the clothing like an embroidery or print, to avoid a startling effect

Other complementary color combinations of yellow are:

yellow-color-combination complementary colors blue

Yellow and Pink

yellow and fuschia

Yellow and Fuschia rose and Yellow and Salmon pink are popular cheery color combinations.

yellow color and salmon pink combination

Yellow and Lilac

yellow color

As pastel colors, lilac and pale yellow make a great combination.

Yellow and Wine

yellow color with wine

Yellow with other shades of yellow

This is called a monochromatic color scheme.

monochromatic shades of yellow color in fashion

You can choose lighter and darker versions of the same color in your dressing. You can mix and match different variations of yellow color in your clothing – a lighter version, a darker version and/or a greyish version – to get this monochromatic color scheme.

Related posts : What color goes with Mustard yellow; Different types of Mix and matching color for outfits according to color theory ; Color selection : How to decide on your color ; What color goes with White color for clothes; What colors go good with grey colour; What color goes best with Red color.; Types of Color names used in fashion

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Author: Sarina Tariq

Hi, I love sewing, fabric, fashion, embroidery, doing easy DIY projects and then writing about them. Hope you have fun learning from sewguide as much as I do. If you find any mistakes here, please point it out in the comments.

4 thoughts on “Shades of Yellow color in fashion: 7 colors that go well with it.”

  1. Natalie

    The complementary colour for yellow is purple and the complementary colour for blue is orange.

    Reply
    • Sarina

      Hi Natalie
      I understand what you assume – but it maynot be accurate. Please checkout this page https://www.quora.com/What-color-is-the-opposite-of-yellow-and-why – gives an explanation why blue is complementary to yellow. It is so according to the modern system of color wheel.
      And when I consider it too, blue is in stark contrast to yellow than violet.
      Thanks for your input. You may still disagree : )

  2. Agnes Mbewe

    Came I just on time. I have just finished making a yellow skirt. Was wondering what would go with it!!

    Reply
  3. Sally

    Thanks you immensely for the combination of colors that go with yellow.

    Reply
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