A calm colour palette for a child’s wardrobe
Neutrals, accents, the colour wheel and a simple ratio: how to choose colours that work together, suit the child and look lovely in photographs.
Interactive tool
The Atelier
Choose a piece, a fabric and a colour. The Atelier draws the look, names it and tells you how to care for it.
How the Atelier works
The Atelier is a small design table for children’s clothes. Pick one of four classic pieces, a dress with a smocked yoke, a double-breasted coat, a buttoned cardigan or a romper, then a fabric and a colour. The drawing updates as you go and the look gets a name, so you can compare ideas quickly before you buy, sew or knit.
The palette is deliberately quiet: ivory, oatmeal, camel, navy, powder blue, sage, bottle green, blush and burgundy among them. These are colours that mix with each other, which is the idea behind a calm colour palette and a capsule wardrobe.
Fabric and care
Every fabric comes with a short care note. Cashmere and merino want cool water and drying flat, linen softens with each wash, velvet prefers steam to the iron, and cotton poplin is the easiest of all. Our guide to caring for cashmere and wool explains the details.
Your saved looks
Saved looks stay in your browser and appear in your edit, next to the stories you have saved. Nothing is sent to us.
Questions
Are the colours exact?
Screens show colours differently, and real fabrics change with light and texture. Treat the Atelier as a sketchbook for combinations, then check real swatches in daylight before you buy or order fabric.
Can I save several looks?
Yes. Each look you save appears in your edit with its piece, fabric and colour. You can remove looks there at any time. They are stored only in this browser, so they do not follow you to another device.
Read more
Stories that go with this tool
Eight classics of childrenswear and the stories behind them
From a royal sailor suit to a comic-strip shoe: where eight enduring pieces of childrenswear come from, why they lasted and how to wear them today.
The children’s capsule wardrobe, fewer pieces and more outfits
Ten to fifteen well-chosen pieces per season, two or three base colours and a little arithmetic: how a small, coordinated wardrobe keeps pace with a growing child.