Wearing Colours

 Wearing Colours

I had touched a bit on colour in the previous post. All the same, let’s do this in a bit more depth.

Colours are very pleasing to the sight. It’s amazing the number of colours we have, produced as shades or from a mix of other colours. 

Copied from Google.

You can play around with these colours when you are trying to be creative with wearing colours. But have some basic principles at the back of your mind. That way you will play safe.

Hmmm. I have made huge mistakes trying to combine my colours. Just imagine wearing colours that are a shade of blue on another shade of blue (royal blue with navy blue), hahaha. Or a yellow on blue, all bright colours.  Absurd right?  

Well, what you don’t know, you don’t know.  Sometimes you wear some of these funny combinations, all expensive. You step out and all eyes are on you. You feel that you are slaying it. But hey! They are wandering why the heck are these colours mumbled up?

While making choices of colours to wear, you’ll do well to consider your skin colour.  What colours compliments your skin? Colour is tricky, what looks good on the rack may not look necessarily good against your skin colour.

The following guide is recommended. On the other hand, although you may not strictly follow it, they can be used as fundamental guide to creativity and flexibility in wearing colours.  

           Pale or Fair skin tone: 

      Cold colors such as; Blue, green, purple are best

Dusky/ Dark or Gray skin tone: 

       warm colours like brown, rust orange, and some shades of yellow

Everyone: black and white colours.

 

When Wearing Colours like Metallic Tones (clothes or accessories) - best expressed when worn directly against the skin:

•      Gold is great on Fair skin
•      Silver looks good on Wheatish skin (the skin colour one gets after a tan on the beach) and;
•      Copper goes well on dark skin.

Bright colours will always make you look and feel younger

Wearing colours like Grey, white beige and brown will give you a mature look

Flamboyant men and women can easily wear bright vivid colours (red, yellow and green). I like it when men take this bold step. But it must be done correctly.

Introverts and regular people tends to gravitate towards pastels (pale pink, sky-blue, mint green, lavender, peach, saffron) or neutral tones ( ivory, beige, black white all the shades of brown)

Day/ Night colours : Always wear lighter colors in the day, and darker ones at night

For entertainment, partying, dining, night outing:

Blacks, reds, darker shades of brown, grey, blue, green, purple, and all the jewel tones (ruby red, emerald green).

Funerals : mourning colours (White or black)

Weddings, parties, festivals: Vibrant colours.

Office:  Sober and light shades

Casual outings: Brighter colours

Relaxed and laid back settings: Neutral colours

Formal occasions: Deeper, darker or stronger colours.

In colour therapy, white reflects purity

Purple represents royalty,

Red , vibrant

Black and grey –dark, solemn and serious

Blue and green-eternally calming

Orange – fierce and energetic.

Colour match, mix and contrast:

You can find help with the palettes below.

When wearing colours like two primary colours together, be cautious. These colours are: red,     yellow, blue or green. It is highly suggested to go tone on tone.

 If you are matching or contrasting colours, remember that one strong or bright colour is better    than wearing two.

When wearing white with white or black with black ensure that the shades are an identical         match.

Solids and prints: If worn right and matched with complimentary tones, most solids can look simple and subtle. If you opt for prints, be careful. Small subtle prints are a safe option. Never mix and match two similar or different prints, be it stripes on strips, check with checks or stripes and checks.

Multicoloured prints work as long as you wear patterns that don’t mix cold and warm colours together. In other words, don’t mix orange with purple or green.

Upper and lower: when wearing a combination of shirt with pant, or blouses with skirts, jackets with trousers, its always best to wear a lighter colour on the top and a darker one below. If you decide to layer your look, start with the lighter shade on the inside, and darker one outside.

• There is no such thing as strictly masculine or a feminine colours: pink for girls and blue for boys etc. You can wear any colour and look good in it as long as you feel comfortable wearing it.

In conclusion, having written all the above, I still believe that rules are meant to be broken. But it is sane to understand the basics in fashion before thinking of breaking these rules. That way, your ideas can be appealing and emulated.

Cheers.