Color consultation
Wardrobe update for those new “silver highlights”
In the past few months, lots of cool brunettes have been discovering – and often celebrating – the un-pigmented strands of hair they have long been coloring over. If you are one with this wonderfully mixed hair color, consider shifting your Key Neutral to taupe ( a grayed brown … or a brown-y gray, whichever…
Read MoreStyle Dilemma: I’ve heard that black doesn’t flatter everyone, but it seems so easy to mix and match with other colors – what’s the deal?
Style Solution: Although the popular fashion myth is that everything goes with black, in truth “everything that goes with black goes with black.” Clear, bright, cool colors like those shown below look great with black. (Many other colors – especially softer, warmer or more muted ones – not so much.) Those combinations are also easy…
Read MoreStyle Dilemma: My blond hair makes Camel my key neutral. What colors do I coordinate with it?
Style Solution: Blondes are usually overpowered by black and showcased by their particular shade of camel. All the women pictured below wear camel beautifully. Golden blondes like the woman on the far right should seek out equally golden camel or caramel tones; ash blondes want a less golden, more champagne or tan version of camel.
Read MoreStyle Dilemma: OK, so my key neutral is BROWN. Now what do I wear with it?
Style Solution: Brown – in it’s various versions – is flattering to far more women than black, and because it’s unexpected, it is more interesting too. Many, many less saturated colors look wonderfully sophisticated with brown. Women with color patterns like these look gorgeous in various shades of brown:
Read MoreStyle Dilemma: How can I make my key neutral – gray – look more exciting and sophisticated?
Style Solution: Mix gray separates with accent pieces and accessories in clear, cool, softly-bright colors. Pinks, blues, blue-based greens and purples play happily with both light and more mid-tone grays. Keep any metallic details – buttons, jewelry, handbag closures, decorative zippers – in silver or pewter rather than gold.
Read MoreDo My Colors Change if My Hair Grays?
I’ve had a number of questions lately about how the change in a woman’s hair color through the years affects the range of wardrobe colors that are her mountaintop best. Back in the old 4-Seasons days, we were taught that a woman’s color classification would never change through the course of her life. “Once a…
Read MoreAccessories Accelerate a Color Transition
When Gretchen traveled from California to St Louis for a conference, she stayed over an extra day to fit in a color consultation. She had already had her colors “done” multiple times, but felt they still weren’t quite right. As a coach for high-level executives, she needs to quickly establish both respect and rapport and…
Read MoreMother/Daughter Mini-Makeover
What a great birthday surprise: One cool Atlanta mom recently flew her adult daughter from New York City to St Louis for a girls’ getaway weekend and mystery birthday surprise – a color consult and mini-makeover. A couple of things that came up in that session might apply in your life too.
Read MoreWk #9 – Reader Example of Value Contrast
After last week’s post about value contrast levels, a reader named Valerie emailed me a photo of her outfit and asked for input. I though the ensuing discussion might interest the rest of our group, and Valerie agreed to share it. Valerie described herself as high-contrast, with a preference for black-and-white and bright colors. The…
Read MoreWk #8 – Invaluable Info on Value Contrast.
In any visual composition, attention goes first and foremost to the area of greatest light/dark or bright/dark contrast. Since the objective of an optimal outfit is putting the attention on your face, that means that you never want to wear a color combination with more light/dark contrast that you see in your personal color pattern.…
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