Here, for those of you who enjoy makeover video, are two Get Suitable with Amy Verner of Globe and Mail makeovers (I just found this post languishing in my drafts with nothing but the links, I think credit for the tip goes to Wendy):
- Suitable jen, and another little video interview of Jennifer with the image consultants who did her over. Or should I say in?
- The guy makeover, which I greatly prefer. I love how they allowed him to stay a “mountain man”.
What I like about the Jen makeover: her hair. What I dislike: the colors. Black and white don’t relate to her personal coloring AT ALL. When will image experts begin thinking outside the (black) box? (They need to read Imogen’s black-busting post, as well as her How to Choose Your Perfect White.)
What are your favorite substitutes for black and white? Presently on my radar: pewter and ivory.
I now use taupe, cool browns, grey, pewter, silver, white, ivory, rose beige. These would work for you too, being a cool person. Imogen taught me to hate black, and I have gotten rid of most of it and replaced it with softer neutrals.
Believe it or not, I am not cool. But warm and soft, so I can use those colors.
I am biffing my black too. Thankfully I never had much, since I haven’t preferred it for many years. But sometimes it’s just hard to find stuff that works that isn’t black. What I am keeping is black shoes and belts.
I don’t know whether she is warm or cool, but Jen definitely looks terrible in black. She is a spring or a summer, and the only ones that can pull of black are winters. The black makes Jen look rather washed-out by contrast.
I am a winter, but I am replacing my blacks too. Here in Germany black is almost like a mania… and it does nothing for the rather plain looks, often not very feminine air of the women. Add to that their serious expression, and the cold winter… it’s quite a gloomy picture.
I guess that Italians carry off black so well not only due to the contrast in their colouring, but also because they make up for the harshness of the colour by their vivacity and feminity.
Black & colours is my alternative to black & white — although black and white is right up my alley. Turquoise, red, & strong pinks are probably my colours of choice right now. (Of course, you should probably bear in mind that I live with a cat named Onyx!)
Thanks very much for the hat tip Rebecca!
Black, gray, my approximate eye color, golden beige, and maroon — that’s it for me. I’ve tried replacing black, but being a low-contrast Winter, I find that all substitutes look much worse and don’t suit my personality. The “low-contrast” part is why I can wear black with gray and look really good, but introducing color into my world doesn’t do much for me.
I never wear black-and-white if I can possibly avoid it: the contrast level is too high for me. So I use golden beige as my white substitute.
I’ve always known black was not a good color on me, but I do wear it sometimes in a print, or on the bottom. I’ve just started a mission to replace black with brown in my wardrobe, and white with cream. I’m clear & warm, so vibrant colors work best on me.
ev – I have heard that black is ubiquitous in Germany. Concerning the Italians I would only add that perhaps the light makes a difference. I know for me, when cloudy days hit, black looks even worse, and white is not good either. Perhaps you can cheer people up by adopting a bit of Holland style!
Wendy – You definitely show your dramatic side (and practical as well) in your color scheme! 🙂
Wende – What a great color scheme! And, from the perspective of ease, I think anyone who does black as well as you do ought to keep it.
Christine – Since you do vibrant colors well, I bet black in a print with bright, warmer colors works well for you. You could do the Holland style too. 😉
There are so many great neutrals apart from black – browns from a rich bitter chocolate, to a warm milky chocolate, from tans to camels, rose beige to mushroom and taupe. There are many shades of navy, from airforce blue, which is a deep teal blue to midnight blue and french navy. Then there are the deep olives and olive/brown colours that suit warm complexions so well.
For many charcoal grey is a great substitute for black. You can get it in a warm or cool variety.
We can all wear around 1 000 000 different colours – don’t limit your palette too much – it’s just finding the right shades of green, blue, red, pink, purple, yellow, orange etc. to flatter your colouring.
Jennifer from the video was warm – and would have looked better in browns, and olives with cream, and warm greens rather than the blacks and whites.
I thought the redhead in Imogen’s piece on black looked terrific in black, and too girly and unsophisticated in some of the coloured pieces. There are great neutrals aside from black, as Imogen commented. However, it’s much harder to find a pair of great pants in charcoal gray or bitter chocolate than black. In the mid priced and bridge lines, the grays are terrible, the browns sad,
If you think you ‘can’t wear black’ remember the stage-dresser’s trick of colour near the face.