Welcome to Dressed for My Day! We’re continuing through the month of August to prepare for fall fashion. I’m sure it’s warm where you are, as it is here in Ohio. But autumn will be here before we know it, so today I’m introducing the Fall 2022 Fashion Colors, and specifically I’m calling out the colors I think will be most wearable for many of us women over 50.
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Each year the Pantone Color Institute predicts the colors we’ll be wearing in the upcoming seasons well in advance. They came out with the following fall and winter fashion colors in February of this year, even before the fashion weeks in the major cities.
Look over the color chart below and see which ones immediately strike you. Are there others that you think may grow on you with time? Are some of these rich hues already in your closet?
Sure enough, I’m seeing most of these colors in many iterations in the fall clothes that have already hit the stores. Of course, most retailers and brands have not introduced all of their autumn offerings yet, so I was limited on the examples I could pull for you. But I have culled some of our favorite brands for examples of a few of the Pantone fall/winter fashion colors that I think many of my readers will enjoy. I’ve created inspiration boards with them.
Also keep in mind that the items on my boards and in the follow shopping widgets are not from bargain stores. I’ll definitely share fashions from Walmart, Target, Kohl’s and other more economical options in the future. But I think it’s always a good idea to draw our fashion inspiration from the brands we really love and admire first and then look to the more budget friendly options for their solutions.
Caramel Café
Brown in general is really big this year. But while last year we saw a lot of deep root beer brown (think deep milk chocolate), this year the predicted favorite is caramel café, which is an earthy, rusty hue. All the same, we’ll continue to see a variety of shades of brown. So choose the one that works best for your skin tone and existing wardrobe.
This rich brown isn’t one of Pantone’s neutrals for fall and winter, by the way. It’s a deeply pigmented color. It will coordinate beautifully with the black, camel and navy you may already have in your wardrobe. And of course it jives nicely with denim of all shades, too.
Lava Falls
I know many of my readers enjoy wearing red, and I do, too. Lava falls seems to me to be an almost neutral toned red, taking on the warmth or coolness of whatever surrounds it. So the cue is to reach for the vibrant shade of red that works for you. And I think we’ll be seeing lot of vibrant, deeply pigmented reds in solids, but also woven into the cheerful prints you can expect to see in the coming months.
I definitely plan to add a vibrant red sweater in this lava falls hue to my wardrobe. And this Even if you don’t want to add this claret red floral jacquard blouse has certainly caught my eye. But even if you don’t want to add red to your wardrobe, you may enjoy adding a pretty new red lip color or nail polish.
Samoan Sun
I personally don’t wear a lot of yellow. But for the ladies who feel their best in warmer colors, I think this Samoan sun shade is rich and lovely. It will add such cheer and warmth to your fall and winter wardrobe. And if you want to participate in this trend without wearing Samoan sun near your face, you might want to add the color in a handbag, shoes or skirt.
Even adding a pair of these Sam Edelman pointed toe flats to your wardrobe would be a lovely way to wear Samoan sun. You wouldn’t even have to have any other yellow in your outfit! But you’d be so on trend and stylish.
Polar Night
Polar night is an inky dark navy. But I think any rich navy is going to serve as a beautiful backdrop for many of the other colors on Pantone’s list. Expect to see this deep hue in solids and moody, floral prints, too.
Polar night is definitely one of those shades that both warm and cool skin tones can wear nicely. And it’s a great option if you prefer to stay clear of black. Investments in this dark navy will stay in your closet for years to come.
Rose Violet
Now here’s a color that will probably be preferred by women with cool or neutral undertones. But isn’t it a beauty? Are you noticing that the colors predicted for this fall and winter are deeply pigmented, but also vibrant and cheerful. Even this fall and winter colors seem promise hope, life and joy.
It was hard to find garments and accessories that closely matched the rose violet swatch. So some of my selection are more pink than violet. But of course each brand is interpreting this color uniquely. So I think we can expect to see a wide variety of deep, purplish pinks in the stores and on the websites. Choose the shade that works best for you. This is one of those colors that you’ll need to be careful about choosing, especially if you’d like to have several garments and/or accessories that work together. For that purpose, consider sticking with one brand for those coordinating items.
Midnight
Now here’s a color I’m very excited about. Turquoise, as a rule, is one of the most wearable colors, looking beautiful on most all skin tones and colors. But, for some reason, I have had an aversion to it ever since I was a teenager, when I wore A LOT of it. But this deep midnight color is a rich, jewel tone with a beautiful blend of navy and turquoise. I think this is a color most every woman can wear with confidence.
If you think you might enjoy wearing a shade of midnight, I think I’d look for a feminine blouse, dress or sweater in this lovely jewel tone. But if you don’t want to interrupt the colors you already have in your curated wardrobe, you could enjoy this beautiful color in a lace & satin chemise and coordinating satin robe. Oooh! And this is definitely a stunning shade for a special occasion dress or gown, too.
Of course, I didn’t create inspiration boards for all of the Pantone fall fashion colors. But you could build your own on Pinterest. I simply when to some of our favorite websites (Nordstrom, J.Crew and Ann Taylor…where they have a good selection of fall items in already) and narrowed my search of their new arrivals by color. You may be amazed at how many examples you see of these vibrant, deep colors.
I’d love to hear your reaction to these fall fashion colors for 2022. Let me know your favorites and how you think you may wear them.
Really enjoyed seeing these colors! Something like Rose Violet is my favorite color 🙂 Also love the Polar Night, well really all these that you showcased are fabulous plus Amazon Green! And maybe it’ll be the year I will wear my dark brown corduroy blazer again. It’s been stored away for a few years.
Hi Kay. Thanks for this. It’s really helpful to know what the trending colors are before buying for the season. I like many of the colors. I already have a lot of navy, some red and some turquoise. I also have some olive green. I look forward to adding brown, as it will go nicely with my coloring and other colors I already have. Yellow is out for me!
An interesting post today, with lots of good ideas. Of course, not all of us can or like to wear particular colours (I look ghastly in yellow, orange, most browns, or anything with those undertones) , even as I admire the looks on others. Go to any paint store and we can see how there are literally thousands of shades of any colour. Your advice is spot on: choose a tone that works for you! BTW, the loveliest look of your examples was the Ann Taylor flared dress in that gorgeous dark “polar “ blue. So classy. I’m heading to their website right away!
I am new to your blog, but I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
I particularly enjoyed this article. I too hesitate wearing yellow, but I have mustard-colored pieces that pair well with chocolate and chestnut browns.
Hi Kay. These colors are lovely however I think I’ll be limiting myself to about half of them. I’m thinking a dark claret might be nice since I generally avoid reds, but the darker shades will work so well with my mostly neutral wardrobe. Carmel Cafe also interests me. I think it will look great with my tans, navy’s and ivories.
I’m a redhead. A great year of color–so many of these colors work for me! I have many already, so it’s nice to know I’ll be in style without having to buy much new!!!
I am most excited about the brown and shades of pink/lavender. I have a couple of yellow handbags that will stay in my closet when I change my clothes out. The deep turquoise/blue is beautiful, but I don’t plan on adding another color to my wardrobe.
Thank you for your efforts in putting this together. Many of the colors I will probably pass on, but red is one of my colors, and I don’t have much of it in my wardrobe anymore. I will probably focus on that.
Love the reds, blues, and browns of the new fall colors. I really like turquoise color too. All colors so rich. Time to get our turquoise jewelry out, if we haven’t been
wearing it. I just love my pieces of the turquoise jewelry.
I love color, any color but especially Autumnal colors, so I really enjoyed this post. However, usually I don’t like to wear too many bright colors. So I am gravitating toward the greens and blues in the Panetone selections. However, I am sewing myself a wine-on-blush-pink print blouse, and plan to knit a deep wine open cardigan to go over it. The wine color will be darker than the russet red of Lava Falls, but I still think it will be good for Fall and Winter. Thanks, Kay!
Would like to print out the Pantone color chart, but cannot figure out how to do this? Do you know how I can do this? Thanks
I’ll include a printable in tomorrow’s email and then I’ll load it in the Printables library.
I love lava falls and polar night. I have those colors in my wardrobe already. I also like midnight, and I might try one or two pieces, such as a scarf or a sweater.
Kay these Fashion Boards are wonderful! Thank you for providing all this information — I can easily see how to incorporate these colors this fall.
I love these seasonal color posts that you provide for us! I am probably the oddball, but I am excited to see yellow! I’m soft autumn coloring, so my yellow is muted/faded/softened, and I’m seeing some of that on the websites. I have found it much easier to determine if yellow (or any color, really) will work for me by trying it on at home and taking a selfie in natural lighting. I’m looking forward to finding some turquoise items too. I’m so excited for fall!
Hi Kay, Love your work! Thanks for all you share with us. This may or may not be of interest to you. I would love to see a post or a series on working with a stylist. If you had a friend who wanted to hire someone, how would you coach that friend?
It could be hiring someone you pay for the service, or it could be picking and working with a sales lady at Talbots, or J Crew or Nordstoms. I’m thinking about a mini wardrobe revamp, not just buying an outfit.
I’m guessing you would tell a friend, “You need to do some homework. Figure out your proportions, colors, and your ‘signature’ and create a Pinterest board of outfits you like.” My signature is sneakers. I just don’t feel like me unless I can comfortably walk 5 miles, but I don’t want to dress like I’m always coming or going to the gym.