Setting
the Tone
This fall, embrace the many shades of grey on offer for a statement look that’s all about understated appeal
As temperatures cool, tonal dressing—ensembles composed of variations of the same hue—emerges as one of the most impactful (not to mention interesting) ways to master a look of elegant ease. Our personal favorite pairings, seen in Polo’s Fall 2021 lineup for women, are executed in subtle grey neutrals, for an effect that’s about a cohesive refinement, more striking than the sum of its parts.
As a color, grey’s sartorial history before the 20th century is one of austerity or erasure. Before the 20th century, it was worn mostly by the poor and down on their luck—working women whose employers preferred they fade into the background; Franciscan monks under vows of poverty. By the ’50s, the color took on the connotation of dreary office work—giving a uniform to the corporate monoculture personified in works like The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. Still, as the century churned on, it became a welcome palette for fashion—more interesting than black, and an ideal hue for displaying luxurious materials and textures.
Whether with grey or beyond, the key to mastering tonal dressing is to create visual interest by mixing elements: patterns, textures, finishes, and fabrics. Integrating different hues from the color family is the most immediate way to add depth, and it’s here that attention to detail goes a long way. “I have a good eye for fabric,” Ralph Lauren once told GQ. “There are grey flannels that have blue in them, and there are grey flannels that are a different tone. And if they’re blue-grey flannels, they look rich.”
Perhaps paradoxically, the allover embrace of a quiet color has the effect of garnering attention by creating a provocative understatement. To successfully wear a tonal look requires nuance. It takes the form of good tailoring; experimentation with layering, length, and silhouette; or mixed-material accessories that break up visual lines. The effect—like leaves turning, or a chill in the air—is a deepening, a sumptuous combination of separates that become more interesting the closer you look.
- © Ralph Lauren Corporation
