How old is too old to wear pastel-coloured items?

How old is too old to wear pastel-coloured items? It seems like a youthful trend.

Although pastels may conjure up images of springtime and child-friendly Easter eggs, the trend is not restricted to the young. It is more your own skin colouring you should be concerned with when wearing pastels.

Hues like lilac or sky blue look great on dark skin tones, because of the strong contast in colour. Think of the starkly beautiful look of Kenyan actress Lupita N'yongo in a pastel blue Prada dress at the Academy Awards this year.

Conversely, very pale skintones can pull off pastels too. The overall lightness of the look gives off a translucent, almost ethereal feel.

For the rest of us in the middle of the range skintone-wise, pastels are a bit trickier. The light colours can make you look washed out, or worse, give your skin a sallow tinge with colours like pale yellow.

The easiest way is to wear pastels on your bottom half. Whether it is a skirt or a pair of pants, it is far away enough from the face to offset any skin tone issues.

For example, this dress with overlay from Whole9Yards (photo 1, $349, from 01-05 Wisma Atria) keeps the pastel blue on the bottom, making it easier to wear.

Shorts like this pastel pink pair from Uniqlo (photo 2, $24.90, from B2-38 Ion Orchard) or skirts like this pastel yellow number from Bread N Butter (photo 3, $69, from www.zalora.sg) make for easy looks that can be paired with tops in colours such as white, grey, navy or black.

Those still worried about taking on this trend can opt for accessories in pastel colours instead, such as this lilac River Island box clutch (photo 4, $74, from www.asos.com) or this pair of Charles & Keith heels with pastel blue accents (photo 5, $59.90, from www.charleskeith.com).

This article was first published on August 1, 2014.
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