IMO, one of the fundamental failings of most style “systems” is the treatment of contrast. Is the term even defined? When discussed in conjunction with color, contrast can refer to the hues themselves, or to any of their qualities: temperature, chroma, or value. Arguably, value contrast is at the core of visual art.
In establishing the guidelines for your own personal style idiom, the basis for value contrast is best taken from your coloring and then tweaked for personality.
Recently I have been thrifting and working on my personal wardrobe (since graduating university and costuming a couple shows, that is). Sitting next to me in my studio is a Rubbermaid tote full of pieces which just need this or that to be perfect. One easy modification to support value contrast is to change the color of buttons. For example, I love a light-color blouse or blazer; changing the buttons to dark emphasizes my brown eyes. The inverse of this concept is seen in a dark jacket with bright, shiny buttons.
The simplest way to create harmony between your clothes and your face is to repeat your personal level of value contrast.
Well, glad to see you plunging back in. We need thinkers. Congratulations on the sticktoitiveness of completing the degree. I quite like the idea of a degree since it’s a material acquisition nobody can ever take away from you. 🙂 Son, at 25, has an AA I persuaded him to get and is slated to walk in the graduation ceremony this month for his BA (though shy of two summer school math courses).
I think about contrast level all the time. I often want more than I’m “allowed.” Lining my eyes all around helps me out a lot as it seems to darken the pupils and brings out the contrast rims. Imogen Lamport’s brilliant idea about using a bridging medium color works a treat. I love black and white houndstooth of whatever size and end up purging it. But when I accidentally got such a jacket with a third color in the pattern – a sort of khaki – I could see her idea in action. Doesn’t hurt that the khaki relates well to my hair, too.
There was a system called Color Wonderful or Onederful that dealt a lot with contrast. I remember that Light and Bright coloring – which didn’t seem to own much natural contrast – was supposed to be shown off to advantage by strong contrasts like red and white stripes.
Leah Feldon, I think it may have been, used something like this to say that your level of contrast determined the size of your accessories. More contrast, bigger handbags.
I think of myself as having medium contrast because my eyes are a color and my hair has a lot of tones and even some red remaining. I do feel most comfortable in medium contrast prints. I like circles contrast like your buttons, less well for me and I like some emphasis of line, as in limited piping or some banding as in pocket tops. An entirely tipped schoolboy blazer make me feel as though I am pingponging between matronly and cartoonish, though. I shouldn’t complain, though, as I am a person who owns three graphic stylized print black and white toppers and rules be danged. 😀
Oh my, I have really missed chatting with you about this stuff! So glad you are still around and I really hope I can achieve some sort of rhythm in my life to keep up with some blogging! 🙂