Wearing black is perhaps the single most controversial topic in the fashion blogosphere. Wearing white is not quite as heated a topic, but still touchy in some ways. According to conventional color wisdom, with my softer personal coloring I should shun both black and white. But that is not the full story.
Recently I tried on a black and white and color print. Alone, each of the colors would have been too vivid for me. Overwhelming. But mixed, they worked. Why is that? Here’s my suggestion:
- if your personal coloring is intense, wear black or white alone or mixed in a large, bold print.
- if your personal coloring is very soft, wear black and white mixed so tightly as to almost appear gray. Tweed is an example of this.
- wherever your personal coloring falls on the continuum between soft and intense, adapt the size and proportion of black and white to match. In addition to tweeds, I can wear small prints like gingham or polka dots.
- accent with a flattering color: frosty pink for me, bright red for one with bold coloring, teal for one with blue eyes.
Do you have to adapt to wear black with your coloring?
Black and white is totally me (if I can keep the white clean!), so I don’t have to adapt it — but one thing it does allow me to do is bring in a colour I like that would normally not work for me as an accent. A certain bright yellow purse comes to mind …
The same principle – only in reverse! 🙂
dd2 wears bright yellow very well as an accent, but only as an accent. She has a bright yellow purse as well. I still think yellow is a hard color to wear in northern latitudes, but as a pop it’s so cheerful! No wonder it suits you both. 🙂
I used to avoid black like the plague, but for work and formal I’ve started using it as a base: black skirt or slacks, black top, and then a brightly-colored jacket, green or gold.
I live in black and white! It always greatly disturbed relatives that I was going goth, but for me, the color palette just works. In recent years, I’ve been trying to mix in other bold colors – red, green, purple, teal, orange, etc. Pink is the only color I seem to keep on the softer side. To give you an idea, I’m sitting here in my workout clothes – black shorts w/ white piping and a bright purple shirt.
Wearing black is like having kids: if people don’t want to do it, no one need do so.
*chuckle*
It’s so true! It may seem like you are merely stating the obvious, however, some of us need that!
I’m finding that I’m ‘lower contrast’ since I let my hair take its natural course (and I’m now a lovely grey tabby stripe!:)). Black and white still work, but grey is suddenly better than it’s ever been for me. The grey cardi I finished a few months ago has been the most useful piece I’ve ever knitted.
I read a book (Conservative Chic) that advised taking a look at the color you want to wear in its
various textures. So you might not be able to wear it in shiny but very well may in matte or textured or velvet. That play of light does make a difference. I can’t wear shiny black but I can wear all the others successfully. I “shouldn’t” be able to wear it at all but when I do I get compliments like “that’s your color. It brings out all your own color.” Go figure. Although adding black near my face improves just about any outfit for me I can’t wear it in a hat. The reflected color from the inside of the hat brim makes me look ghastly around the eyes.
Another point the book made is about print, particularly vivid print. You may not be able to wear an allover print outfit but if you reduce the amount of that print you will probably find a point where you can wear it. It’s like the handbag or shoe idea. But also maybe just a cami. Or a scarf.
Also, I always think it’s a mistake to figure out an outfit by staring at the print(s) close up at
reading distance. Most people will see you from about 4-6 feet away and so I back up from the
mirror and check it out at that distance and even from across the room. It makes a difference. Lots of times a top that doesn’t match and is off will look great when the print of the skirt blends and produces that foreign color.
Very good points, Vildy. Everytime I see my pastor – who has light and soft coloring – in his shiny black suit, I think about posting about the texture thing. He looks very normal in it, but a heavier black would undoubtedly over power him.