Three easy steps to master tonal dressing

Image: Elvina Farkas/Anue Management

Wool turtleneck sweater, wool pants and calf leather pumps (prices unavailable) from Max Mara.

One colour, different shades: Tone-on-tone (which is not the same as ombre - where one hue melds into another) isn’t just pleasing on the eye. The concept, applied to streamlined clothes, is also figure-pleasing: It makes everyone look longer and leaner. Here’s how to master the look in three easy steps.

Neutrals, like Italian label Max Mara’s palate-cleansing palette of nudes, camels, browns, taupes and soft golds this season are an easy way to get in on the tone-on-tone trend.

Black-on-black? Boring, everyone else is doing it too. White-on-white? Maybe save that for Labour Day.

When done right, head-to-toe neutrals - like the sandy hues we’ve put together in the look above - not only give an optical illusion of length, but also make you look infinitely more sophisticated without being too try-hard.

Image: Elvina Farkas/Anue Management

Lined velvet double breasted jacket, matching pleated skirt, and cashmere turtleneck sweater (prices unavailable) from Max Mara. Calf leather boots, $1,440, from Tod’s.

Once the colour is set, your next move is to add dimension to your look. Give it depth by pairing at least two different textures. Try: knit with woven, matte with shiny, or a day fabric with a night one. Without the issue of colour matching (does this orange really go with that pink?), you can afford to have more fun with textiles and textures.

Image: Elvina Farkas/Anue Management

Cashmere sweater, wool and cashmere neck wrap, and viscose blend skirt (prices unavailable) from Max Mara.

Now that you’ve got tonal dressing down pat, go bolder. An all-neutral look doesn’t always have to stay subtle or low-key. Throwing metallics, or even some chunky gold jewellery, into the mix helps to pull the outfit out of casual territory and into glam - if that’s what you want. The best part is, you’ll never look too garish or loud. Try: a khaki sweater and a soft gold skirt.

Photography: Elvina Farkas/Anue Management

Styling: Bryan Goh

Hair: Dennis Seah/Toni & Guy Salon @ The Star Vista

Makeup: Grego Oh, using YSL Beauty

Model: Jessica L/Mannequin

This story was first published in the October 2017 issue of Her World magazine.