Ask A Stylist: Mocha Mousse
Cocoa is good for your mood & wardrobe too
(This is a repost from Saturday Style note for Paid Subs in Spring ‘24. As we’ll be seeing many more shades of brown next year I thought it would be great to share with everyone this week. Short & sweet in the Christmas madness. Pantone recently named their Color of the Year for 2025 as PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse, a warm, rich brown color that evokes feelings of comfort and indulgence)
There are very few styling editorials that stop me in my tracks these days yet I keep coming back to this Sunday Time’s STYLE UK editorial from last month. Featuring Cameron Russell and styled by Verity Parker, the editorial nails that tricky spring sartorial query……how to actually wear the trendiest of hues - cocoa?
I’ve been getting a lot of texts from clients trying to implement a shade of cocoa into their spring wardrobes and my answer is always treat it like navy. Navy, as opposed to black, is a truly wearable tone on most skin tones: softer in hue with a good balance of dark to light pigment, it’s a foundational wardrobe colour. Once you treat cocoa similarly, the styling options are aplenty.
Firstly, go for cocoa shades with rich texture, think supple leathers, high quality suedes, brushed cashmeres etc this is not a colour to spend inexpensively on as the quality will show through.
I love a rich cocoa leather with pale denim as above. With leather I would go very stylised, either long like a trench or super cropped as above as this is a statement piece. When pairing with denim, the shade needs to steer more blue-white than grey to keep that tonal palette looking especially chic.
Avoid black and brown. I think it’s really hard to pair these two shades together as they tend to cancel one another but as above, you can get away with a black leather handbag (or shoe!) as long as it’s differentiated enough think boxy shapes, studded trims and chunky hard wear. The Dior saddle bag is an unexpected pairing above, hence why it works so very well.
Khaki olive greens, creams and soft whites that stay on the cooler side work well with cocoa. Think stoney shades and move away from any yellow, unless you want to recreate that truly 70s look. Alternatively, I personally love an icy pale blue layered with various cocoa tones or a cool-toned hot pink with an especially rich shade highlighted with silver jewellery.
Just like very good quality chocolate, you only need a little to boost your mood and your wardrobe. As ever, less is very much more!
Until next week,
xC
Interesting! I keep hearing that it's a myth you can't wear black and brown together.
so many great tips - thanks :)