Blue and Black Dresses by Style
Style, here, means formality register rather than length or pattern: how dressed up an event actually is, from a casual weekend outing to full black-tie formal. Saturation matters more than any other single factor, muted shades read as understated and everyday, saturated jewel tones read as dressed up.
Prom and wedding guest already have their own full hubs elsewhere on this site, linked below rather than duplicated here.
At a glance
- Muted shades (business casual, casual): read as understated rather than eye-catching
- High-saturation shades (club, party): hold their colour under low, mixed, or unpredictable lighting
- Deep jewel tones (evening, formal): chosen specifically to resist reading as black under dim lighting
Browse by style
Business Casual
Business casual sits in an odd middle ground: dressier than jeans, more relaxed than a formal blazer. The shad…
Casual
Casual is the one register where saturation matters less than how easy a shade is to wear day to day. The four…
Club
Club lighting is the hardest test on this site: low ambient light, coloured gels, and strobes all push a muted…
Cocktail
Cocktail sits between business casual and full evening formal, and the shade should reflect that: more saturat…
Evening
Evening formal lighting, dim, warm, and often candlelit, is exactly the condition that pushes a deep blue towa…
Formal
Formal is the most conservative register on this site: full-length silhouettes, deeper shades, and less experi…
Party
Party covers everything from a birthday celebration to a holiday get-together, less formal than cocktail but m…