I think we've all been seduced by a color that looks bad on us before, and I know all too well that we all have something black in our closet, when it's unflattering on more people than not (and for people to do wear it, they often choose black when they'd be better served by choosing a color). Rather than pretend like we're only ever going to choose our best colors, I've come up with a few guidelines for wearing violation colors and neutrals to help it look less bad.

My first recommendation is that you choose a flattering version of whatever color you're lusting after. Wild about hot pink right now but look best in warm muted colors? Try rocking your peachy-pink and see if that takes care of the lusting. Wanting to wear black but your bests are lights? Go for your deepest grey or taupe. If that still fails you, try the following:

Hot Pink and Ivory by inaglassforest featuring skechers shoes

Unflattering Colors

Do your best to keep it away from your face.
Keep it small, preferably a really small block. How about a ring? How about lining for a jacket so that there are only small and occasional peeks of the color?
Integrate it in a print that also contains colors that flatter you, still preferably away from your face.
Pair it with your best neutral. If you can pair the violation color successfully with a color that is flattering to you, so much the better, but if your violation color is truly far off from your best, you will probably have to focus on your best neutral. (For the illustrative image, imagine the person who is looking to wear hot pink is an autumn base in their personal coloring)

Unflattering Neutrals

Black and Light Green / Mint by inaglassforest featuring French Connection

I find that unflattering neutrals are more forgiving than unflattering colors, but don't think that gives you more leeway- I'd generally rather see an unflattering color than head-to-toe solid neutrals on someone, because at least they're trying to be visually interesting (sorry if that felt like a diss... you know I hate *yawn* looks!).

Do your best to keep it away from your face
If you have to have it near your face, buffer it by having a super flattering color near your face, and in a large block if possible.

I tried to pick a harder example in choosing black near the face for a person whose best colors are light. I echoed a small amount of black in the show to help integrate it- it's a good idea to avoid a floating block of color/neutral when it's a violation color/neutral.