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In Zimbabwe putting on clothes with more than three colours was often called ububhare/chibharanzi, but it is now a thing of the past.
The colour blocking trend began about a year ago and it literally means an outfit made up of “blocks” of solid colour.
Colour blocking is when one combines different colours that support and complement each other.
Loud and proud colour combinations make for a dynamic, confident look.
Colour blocking has permeated men’s wear as well.
A mix of vibrant colours and pastels are showing up in everything from men’s trousers and shorts, to sports coats, socks, ties, belts, bags, boat shoes and loafers this summer.
However, easy as it might seem, it takes confidence for one to come up with all these colours and combine them together and walk about confidently without getting unnecessary glances from passersby.
This hot trend has been extremely popular among women, and easily so.
However, it takes a very confident man who is not afraid of colour to successfully pull it off.
Although summer is not yet in full swing, some of the major highlights of the season include the bright coloured jeans and tops.
The jeans are unisex, which means they can be worn by both males and females.
Popular colours are red, yellow, green, purple, pink and blue.
These jeans from various designers are worn with a shoe in a different colour and a different top to achieve the colour blocking effect.
For example, a pair of yellow jeans can be worn with a purple shirt or T-shirt and red shoes.
That is what colour blocking means.
Saturday Leisure caught up with Fingers Modelling Agency director Sarah Mpofu, who said colour blocking was the in thing this summer.
“Colour blocking is the in thing this summer although it came into the picture last year.
Our Miss Bulawayo 2011 pageant was held under the theme “Colour blocking”, said Mpofu.
She said colour blocking was taboo back in the days but is now a fashion statement to fashion enthusiasts.
“A few years ago it used to be associated with m’komas and it was unheard of but now the bright colours are a must have for those that love fashion.
We have moved from the 60s trend of mix-and-match now it’s colour blocking, because summer is bright and happy,” said the fashion-conscious modelling instructor.
She said the bright colours were for both the young, old and for both sexes.
“Colour blocking has no boundaries because it is for both the young and old. People have in fact gone wild with the bright colours and the brighter the better,” she said.
She added that accessories, scarfs and slopes were also an essential for colour blocking.
Nontabiso Dube, a fashion enthusiast, said the answer to a good colour effect was selection of colours.
“If you are scared of super bright colours you can try colour toning.
“Similar to blocking, it uses shades within the same family.
“The simplest colour blocking approach is selecting your colour mix from one of three colour ranges,” said Dube.
Although colour blocking might be fun, mixing the wrong trends would be style suicide.
When one wants to throw in a print or pattern such as stripes with the colour blocking extravagance, it is important to note that colour blocking is done with solids for the full colour effect.
The colour balancing aspect may very well be the trickiest of tasks. When colour blocking, all items must have an equivalent flavour.
As summer slowly gets into full swing, it is time to spruce up that wardrobe and get the summer colours to be in style.
Online Reporter