Quiet luxury might be a new phrase, but the silhouettes, colors, and brands that encompass it are far from novel. In fact, I’ve been dressing in a way that would now be considered quiet luxury—think minimalism, with soft, neutral hues, high-quality fabrics, and elegant cuts—for much of my adult life. Now that it’s a huge fad though, my affinity for the aesthetic has begun to wane slightly. It feels too *everywhere* in a way that’s starting to turn me off. For the first time in close to a decade, I’m eyeing pieces of the louder (but still luxurious) variety.
To aid in my journey into the unknown (to me) world of maximalism, I put together a guide to the colors that I want to tackle first, ranging from only slightly louder shades to the ones I’m used to (i.e. cream, tan, navy blue, gray, and black) like margarine and mossy green to full-on screaming hues such as gold, mint, and tangerine. Scroll through and shop them all if you, like me, are growing a touch tired of quiet-luxury mania and finding comfort in clothes, shoes, and accessories that yell rather than whisper.
As bright of a color as tangerine is, the shade, when styled with the right things, can appear surprisingly low key and relaxed, without being too sleepy. I love here how it’s mellowed out with white linen trousers and a quieter shade of burgundy. At the same time, if you are a louder dresser, orange can just as easily be played up and styled with other bright colors like pink, blue, and green.
Miuccia Prada loves to experiment with shades of green, but my favorite by far was the mossy-green hue that she utilized for the fall ’22 collection. The color is stunningly rich, without having to be muted, and looks good with truly everything.
The craze around margerine-colored clothing items may have died down slightly since the early 2020s, but that doesn’t mean that the color is any less chic. It really only signifies that now, if you wear it, you’ll be unique instead of one of many. Of all the colors on this list, I’d say that this one is the one that screams, “Money!” the loudest.
Red is everywhere right now—period. From the runways to Instagram and beyond, the vibrant shade that’s long been thought of as more daring than wearable is finally becoming a staple part of peoples’ wardrobes. Style it with other loud colors like green and yellow or with rich shades of brown, cream, or gray. Hell, go full monochrome with an all-red outfit. The possibilities are endless.
Metallics have been commonplace on the runways for the last two seasons, with silver really dominating in the apparel, handbag, and shoe worlds. It’s certainly not a mellow color, though it is quite easy to pair with muted items to make them pop. Really, one or two chrome pieces in your wardrobe that you can wear again and again in dozens of different ways will make all the difference if your quiet-luxury closet contents are starting to make you snooze.
Shop the matching Mesh Metallic-Thread Skirt ($46).
This delicate shade of blue will always remind me of Princess Diana, one of the chicest, best-dressed women, well, ever. Even if everything else you wear is simple or neutral, throwing on a cornflower-blue piece will make it showstopping and eternally elegant.
As much as I love muted colors, they don’t exactly liven up an outfit when you need them most. A bright, golden shade of yellow, however, will make even the gloomiest of the nearing end-of-summer days feel like mid-July on a beach in the tropics.
