shall I give up on brown?

[Standandwait]

A couple of years ago I got desperate and got my colours done. Probably because of my odd ethnic mix, turns there just aren’t many real-world colours that look good on me. Was firmly told to avoid black, grey, all beiges, all whites except a very light yellow, all navy blue except something called “French navy” that I have never found in an actual shop. Was basically told to go with chocolate brown and certain greens. In other words, sludge.

Fashionistas like to claim brown is a base colour, but it really isn’t. (I mean real chocolate brown, btw, not tan or beige or camel.) Tell me if you disagree:

• dark brown doesn’t work in summer or spring
• brown doesn’t work in evenings. So you still need black shoes and bags for those times; you can’t make brown an all-season basic.
• most people, including me, find brown a very boring, even ugly, colour
• British shops have not stocked ANY brown shoes or handbags since it was last in fashion in 2006 (I live in London and I have been looking fulltime at every price point, online and in person! And you weed through a lot of junk, because type in “brown” and every website shows tan or beige)
• brown doesn’t go well with any other useful colours: okay, turquoise, no one really looks terrible in it, but it’s wasted as I don’t have blue eyes; pink, fashionable right now but either too young or too old for me to wear all the time at 50; yellow or mint green, but who's going to wear those or even find them in shops; anything can go with cream and off-white but again these shades do nothing for me; orange is possible only in tiny doses and not near face
• brown doesn’t even go with brown for stylish tone-on-tone efforts: unlike, say, most blacks, blues, greens or even reds, different shades of brown simply war: one is more red-based, one more grey-based
• brown can go with black but only if you have at least one linking accessory in BOTH colours (which again I cannot buy) or something black higher up to show the mix is deliberate, which brings us right back to the no-no of putting black near my face
• if brown is my colour it should go near my face, but that more or less makes it impossible to follow the figure-flattering rule that you should wear the darker colour on your bottom half, because what colour is darker than chocolate brown? Only black (see above)

I give up, I really do. It seems to me only brown leather is feasible. Has anyone had any other experience?

This is what I hate about 'having your colours done' is that it's so oppressive. I thought the idea was to make shopping easier? But when your so called perfect colour is out of fashion it becomes a nightmare.

Anyway, there must be more than brown that suits you? I thought even HOC reckoned red suits everyone and that's very fashionable at the moment. Burgundy is everywhere at the moment and that's a colour that ticks the same boxes as brown. A burgundy jumper with navy trousers would be easy to find and look Ok surely? And burgundy leather accessories are lovely. Mustard is also everywhere this year so you'll be able to find a few pieces if you look.

But generally I agree with a PP, you need to throw away the colour swatches and go into the shops/look on blogs/read some magazines for ideas and then try on lots of clothes you like the look of whatever the colour.

I’m the same and I’ve largely given up on brown. You may well suit dark green (pine as well as olive), deep purple, teal, red. Why not put those with navy as a compromise?

Vivid browns and greens look amazing but why not try a personal shopper for an afternoon

I've been pondering this too.
I do suit brown, it's by far my best neutral, but it's very difficult to find clothes and shoes in it.
Trying to convince myself that actually I look ok in grey. Or black. Or navy. Because they're so much easier to find. But I don't believe it.

I've never been 'done' but I always thought the idea was that you could wear any colour, provided the shade was right?

That's certainly true for me. Some browns really suit me and some don't. Beiges are tricky but there are one or two shades that I think work and the same goes for grey, sludge, navy etc etc. I've even realised recently I can get away with black, provided it's a bit faded and washed out.

It works the other way too. I would say my best colours are purples and burgundies but, if I get the shade wrong, I look like crap.

I also thought it wasn't supposed to be about whether you liked a colour but whether it made your skin glow and your eyes shine? I've got a jumper in a kind of sludgey green. If I say so myself, I look bloody good in it but I wouldn't choose it for my curtains.

I wear some brown due to my colouring (live in London not had a problem buying brown shoes or bags). But I would laugh at anyone who told me to wear it exclusively and not to wear other colours.

Has it occurred to you your colours lady was crap? (Don't know why people bother with it, it's not hard to figure out what colours suit you).

I love chocolate brown. Recently bought these boots and this coat. Also have an old Superdry jacket in dark brown with orange fleece lining. All of my clothes are from the autumn colours and the brown footwear and coats work really well with them.

Agree French navy is impossible to find but I think most navy looks OK on me, as long as it's not at all slate/grey, so I go with that.

I was advised by my HoC woman to put three of my colours together if two wasn't looking right - the third somehow ties the others together. Might help?

And definitely can wear dark brown in summer, spring and evenings! Just got to find the right pieces...

My theory is that brown works if it’s a deep, rich, warm shade, and in a luxurious material. So a dull brown t-shirt is unlikely to look great, but a sumptuous dark brown fake fur jacket looks gorgeous, or a chocolate brown silk top. I think that’s the same reason brown leather looks good.

But yes, your interpretation of your colour consultation sounds very restrictive. I’m a HOC autumn, and there are all sorts of beautiful colours in that palette - including shades of pretty much any colour you can think of.