Though only separated by a few degrees on the color wheel, tan and gold have two completely different reputations. Gold is flashy, shiny, and rich. Tan is drab, boring and common. But now, when flash and glamour are all the rage, switching to beige can be a much needed upgrade for anyone looking to up their fashion game.
Even for those of us who love tan, we usually use it as an accent to other bright colors in our outfit. Contrast is important in a well-planned outfit, and many use neutral colors like tan in hats or shoes to complement a look. People turn to traditionally “bland” colors to tone down the bright background, but tan is often cited as being “too colorful” in comparison to colors along the grayscale. Whereas white and black stand out in stark opposition to brightly colored outfits, tan, by virtue of its unobtrusiveness, provides a better counterpoint to those neon signs that practically beg you to look at them.
But I say it’s time to be a rebel, an understated warrior of fashion, and put tan in the foreground of your outfits. If you want to move against those outfits that stand out into a crowd, wear tan, not as an accent, but as a statement. Create an all tan outfit, from the head to the feet. Blend in to the point of disappearance. Dress like a forty-year-old polaroid picture sitting in a shoebox in your grandma’s bedroom. Don’t dress to have people saying “Wow,” dress to have people saying “Oh hey, I didn’t see you there.”
PHOTOS: Gwen Snyder
