Color Theory in Fashion and Tattoo-Inspired Streetwear

Streetwear style aesthetics are always on the move. One day it’s oversized shirts and 90s jeans, the next it's sleek silhouettes and clean lines.

Trends in streetwear design rarely stick around for longer than a season. But one thing that’s never changed regardless of the trends is the use of color theory in fashion. Adding bright, bold, and fun colors to your wardrobe is one of the best ways to express yourself and your style.

At Sullen, we love color theory just as much as every other streetwear designer. That’s why we produce our own solid tee blanks and dye them from scratch with eye-catching new colors that fit the trends and our tattoo-inspired brand.

Our experience creating fun clothes in bright colors has made us self-proclaimed color theory experts. So, to help you create the coolest streetwear combos from our huge range of clothes and men’s colored tee shirts, we’ve put together this guide to get you up to speed on color theory and how it can help transform your streetwear style from average to awe-inspiring.

Behind the Scenes of Color Theory

If you’ve ever attended a high school art class, you’re probably familiar with the infamous color wheel. Most color wheels start off with the primary colors:

• Red
• Yellow
• Blue

On each side of each primary color you’ll then find the secondary colors:

• Orange
• Green
• Violet

And in between those, the tertiary colors can vary greatly depending on how much of each color you used to make them.

Complementary Colors

The basic principle of color theory is that colors on the opposite sides of the color wheel are complementary. Pairings like violet and yellow or green and red are complementary.

This color theory is applied not just when putting outfits together, but also when creating our tattoo-inspired designs. One stunning example of this is the Reaper Rafting Premium tee. It uses deep purple and yellow in its graphic design, making for a bold, eye-catching piece.

Matching clothes in complementary colors is a guaranteed way to look put together. Like wearing our bold Ever Red Premium solid tee with dark green cargo pants.

But that’s not the only way to style your look using color theory.

Monochromatic

Monochromatic looks have always been popular. They involve picking one color, like green, and then building an entire outfit off the different hues and tones of green in similar saturations.

Combining our Ever Mustard Premium solid tee for men with dark yellow bottoms and shoes in varying hues is a great way to create a standout monochromatic look.

Analogous

Analogous color schemes involve using three like colors that are next to each other on the color scheme to create your look. Violet, pink, and red are examples of analogous color schemes that would make for a great, colorful outfit.

Wear our Neptune green The Solids Premium tee with a blue-green hat and blue pants for a fresh spin on the green, blue-green, and blue analogous color combination.

Streetwear and Color

Whether you go fully monochromatic or play around with analogous color schemes, there’s no limit to the number of outfits you can create that will transcend short-lived trends and keep you in style no matter what.

Color Psychology

One of the best-kept secrets about streetwear colors is color psychology, the science behind people’s perception of colors and what specific colors can make them feel or think.

Some of our favorite examples are:

• Red - Excitement, love, and strength
• Yellow - Creativity, warmth, and happiness
• Blue - Peace and trust
• Purple - Royalty, luxury, and ambition
• Black - Dramatic, formal, and sophisticated
• Green - Freshness and nature

Using the psychology behind colors to plan your outfits can be a powerful life hack when it comes to making you and others feel good about the clothes you wear. It doesn’t matter if the trends, cuts, and materials used in clothes change—color theory stays the same.

That’s why so many brands, including Sullen, put a premium on using color theory to make our clothes stand out.

Our solid tees are the perfect starting point for anyone trying to create bold color combinations. We dye our t-shirt blanks ourselves so we can guarantee you won’t ever find the exact same hue of mustard, Neptune green, rosewood, or pewter anywhere else.

And if you prefer to color match your clothes to a premium shirt that’s already incorporating color theory, our premium tees all embody different forms of color theory and psychology for you to use as inspiration.

Shop our range now to discover how color theory can elevate your streetwear.