What’s the reason for our obsession with neutrals?

Capsule wardrobes are typically in neutral colours and trends like ‘quiet luxury’ are so ingrained in this minimal (boring?) palette.

So today, I’m breaking down a bit of the psychology behind this with one of my major style turning points.

In perfect honesty, I rarely gave ‘style’ too much thought in my 20s - it was just about clothes back then. But once my outfits stopped lining up with how I wanted to feel, I started obsessing about it.

So, what changed?

It was in my early 30s walking into work - I was probably running late, with a nagging feeling of looking disheveled and an even more nagging feeling of impostor syndrome. What happened was, I took a promotion I was not ready for where everyone on my team was much more experienced. I knew I worked my ass off to get the role but I was still doubting myself. I sort of kept myself playing small until that point - fly under the radar, do well but don’t attract too much attention, don’t look after any big clients, etc. I looked at my outfit that day - it was cute AF but it wasn’t giving “I belong here” energy. That year, I made a new years resolution to dress more elegant. That was it, nothing too tangible but I was done feeling scattered, running late, feeling like I was out of place. I knew I needed to look the part. I traded in my floral print chiffon tunics and pastel jackets for tailored wool pencil skirts and sweaters in a lot of grey and black.

It wasn’t ‘fake it til you make it’. It was catching up on the outside with how I wanted to feel on the inside. Slowly, I felt more mature, dependable and like I was ready to be taken seriously.

This isn’t a story of me selling out and ditching the personal style that made me happy. It was about a new iteration of my style that I wanted to keep up with the person I developed into. I still peppered in fun accessories and interesting shapes to stay true to who I was, but a newfound love for all things neutral was born. I loved how sophisticated they made me feel. How easy it was to get dressed in the mornings and how little I thought about my outfit throughout the day.

Today, working with personal brands, I’ve noticed a common theme: you come to me craving a certain feeling when you get dressed. You want to convey to yourself, and the world around you that you, in fact, are ready to be taken seriously as a business owner. That you are a master of your craft and that you are worth every cent you charge. That you belong in the room with other, successful business owners. That you have it the fuck together.

So it’s no accident that we, as a collective, lean into neutrals when we’re searching for a feeling of put-togetherness.

There’s a psychological reason colours black, white, and neutrals appeal to us when we seek a polished look:

Taupe = practicality, professionalism, elegance. Its earthy quality conveys a sense of stability, composure and calmness. It creates a calming contrast to bold colours and it lets them stand out. On the other hand, it evokes sophistication when paired with other neutrals.

Grey = formality, modern efficiency, sophistication. Light grey signals calmness and security while dark is associated with urban living.

Beige = warmth, understated elegance and reliability. It’s soft on the eyes, creating a sense of calmness, creating trustworthiness. It pairs with richer jewel tones without sacrificing that overall harmonious feel.

White = clean, fresh, tranquility. It’s typically associated with minimalism, again creating a calming effect. It adds brightness when placed next to a neutral.

Black = formality, mystery, power, elegance. It evokes strength and authority through its depth. It creates contrast and focus placed next to other colours and coveys a sense of reliability - especially for high end and luxury brands.

If you’d like to dive deeper into other specific colours, Figma breaks them all down.

You’ll also notice these are all static emotions, signalling a sense of stability and elegance overall. It’s by design that these are the building blocks for most wardrobes as we crave to embrace these emotions when we get dressed on a given day.

Yes, personal style plays in here and your wardrobe doesn’t have to be all neutrals is you want to look put together. In fact, I strongly advise you branch out from here. But this is your starting point.

Knowing how you want to feel when you get dressed is having an end goal.

While there is no right or wrong way to dress (no matter what the internet or I tell you), you can identify if you’ve met that goal or not when you put an outfit together, or even as you look through your closet.