how to wear colors without looking crazy

I am a huge fan of colorful clothes, and the more colors the better! I am not a fan of wearing only two colors, I'm usually in 3-5 at one time. I know that can be intimidating to people who don't wear much, so here's some tips I've learned by wearing lots of color! (I KNOW this has been discussed to death in other forums, but I've heard I do color well so thought I'd throw this together rather than just the usual "here's what I wore" style. The outfits from yesterday and today are the big ones.)

This first look is something I like to call "The Anthropologie Effect." Having never set foot in an Anthro (gasp! I know - what a bad fashionista I am), thanks to the interwebs, I am pretty darn familiar with their aesthetic... So here I am wearing turqouise and orange, two colors that most def don't "go" but because the tones are subdued and the whole outfit is a bit whimsical thanks to the poof and fringe and t-straps (always whimsical!) it looks fine! Plus grey and white/off white are good to balance it out.

Glasses - Prada

Cardigan - Only Hearts

T-shirt - Target (fringe added by me)

Skirt - DKNY

Tights - Target

Shoes - MIA

More whimsical, Anthro-style outfits:

Here is the other way I like to inject color that doesn't seem too harsh... three bright colors but not a ton of them. Neutral black and brown with three seperate punches that somehow "go" due to their brightness. Pops of color kids, get into it!  It's been a while since I did a smiling picture and I actually had a few minutes this morning to take more than one picture (I'm usually half-blinking in most of them, and thus look stoned, so I tend to just look at the ground - it saves time!)

Vest - thrifted

Necklace - thrifted

Ribbon rose - Michael's? Jo-Ann Fabric?

T-shirt - Target

Skirt - vintage - www.stephaniegeisler.etsy.com

Tights - TJ Maxx

Shoes - Michael Kors

More color pops (when people do this, it's usually bright accessories or shoes, but keep in mind that t-shirts, vests, cardigans, tights etc can be little bright pops too!):

So there you have it, color, not scary at all.