Originally posted 2009.
In a painting, I’ve been learning, the eye is drawn to the point of highest value contrast (value = light/dark). As with other artistic principles, the same is true in one’s personal appearance. You are a walking work of art.
This principle in action, but not in good taste:
- dark sweat pants with white letters across the bootie
- strip of white cami visible below dark top worn with dark bottom
- high contrast layering in a low-cut neckline, as discussed in this post at Is This Modest?
It’s a little bit of a challenge for me to figure out how to use this principle positively, since I advocate the face as the only appropriate focal point. However, as long as your face is the primary focal point, I suppose there are other subsidiary focal points through-out the outfit.
How do you incorporate high contrast into your look?
This is why shiny/metallic jewellery, or brightly coloured jewellery can work so well to create the face as a focal point! A bit of bling near your face will draw attention to it!
Pearls! Yes, they add light and reflect beautifully onto the face- even cloours or gray or black pearls. Is anyone surprised to hear that from me?
The frames of my glasses are deep mahogany brown with semi-translucent blue. (And jewellery.)
I like earrings that have a flat wide shape that drops, either in a burnished gold or light
pewter – they catch some light and they move, right next to my face.
I think the fashion focus in the last few years has been the high hip area and that’s
why there’s often a contrast strip right at that location.
I just don’t do high-contrast, other than metallic jewelry at the collarbone with my mostly black outfits. If I wear a color, it’s typically medium-contrast against black. My highest-contrast button-down shirts have grayish stripes on black, but the stripes are really narrow.
My dark brows create a contrast against my light skin. My brow lady told me recently that I “have too much brow for my face. It’s the first thing you notice and that’s not what you want.” Of course she was talking about my *un shaped* brows. She also said, “I love doing your brows. It’s such a nice before and after.” Yeah, I know. 🙂
Scarves and earrings, and an interesting neckline (not necessarily a low neckline) are my fave ways to bring attention up to the face. I have two pair of glasses, one is brown tortoise and one is black and green (or Green and Black–like the chocolate….).
I also agree that the principal focal point should be the face–I want people to notice my face, and pay attention to what I’m saying. I don’t much care to have everyone staring at my shoes, so although they are most often nice, they are NOT the focus of any outfit.
Keep after ’em, Beth. At least, mine eventually stopped growing!
I’m wondering if the color ever goes away –
I’ve got white hair and still have dark brown brows.
drwende – you have your face as focal point built naturally into your idiom, in a way that just strikes me as so comfortable to be around. 🙂
mom – I have quite a few eyebrow hairs that are growing in white, but most of them are the ones that get plucked.
I don’t really understand how shiny metallic is high contrast, but I agree that it’s good for drawing the eye to the face. Duchesse, your comment was encouraging too, as pearls have always been a good look for me.
I think a lot depends on how high contrast you are–I’m not that high (skin, hair, eyes, lips are relatively close in tone–hair a little darker). If you’re not high contrast, you may find that putting in a lot of contrast can overwhelm your face more than emphasise it.
Eyebrows: My left brow is considerably thinner than my right. In December, I got Bell’s Palsy, and although I’ve made a good recovery, there’s been some loss of brow and lash on the affected side. I don’t want to do a lot of makeup on the left (as it could irritate an eye that doesn’t blink fully or strongly), so I just pluck a little more off the right! 🙂
LOVE pearls. Going to wear some with my new silk dress today:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-MONSOON-GEISHA-SILK-DRESS-SIZE-16-WEDDING_W0QQitemZ200368047637QQcmdZViewItemQQptZWomen_s_Clothing?hash=item2ea6ddc615&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ebayphotohosting
(although not bought from ebay, and not that size–which is about a US 12).
For a reception at this church:
http://www.farmstreet.org.uk/home.htm
It’s meant to be a reasonably nice day in London, and so I hope I won’t get rained on!
I think I understand about the shiny metallic as contrast as that’s what I’m after with my
somewhat shiny and moving metallic:
I have fairly low contrast – strawberry blond hair that’s greyed into blond bronzey, medium
pale skin, light eyes. But I don’t have a low contrast personality and sometimes want to exhibit my dynamic side. Just bought a 3/4 length patterned cotton coat – very stylized graphic floral in dark navy with white. Supposed to be too much contrast for me but with makeup and some earrings to lead the eye up I feel it works fine for me and I don’t feel headless.
That’s the thing: many clothing combinations are more high contrast than the person wearing them. But when you understand the principles, you can often find a way to make it work. Your coat sounds great, Vildy.)
(Hope you have a wonderful time at the reception, Wendy.)
Day in London was gorgeous (unlike two weeks ago, when it poured). The reception was less than brilliant. It was the feast of St Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, so a mass first, followed by a reception for people who had graduated Jesuit schools, colleges, and universities (I did my doc at Marquette). The intention was that people would connect with folks from their own institutions primarily–but there was no way to do that. No place for each institution to meet, not even name badges.
At least I had a lovely walk in the park from Westminster Abbey to the Farm Street church with my guy.
I had a chat with the person at the church who was sort-of in charge of putting this together, and told him I’d like to be part of making it work better next time. Because unless you already knew the people from your institution who were there, you had no real way of connecting.
Vildy – personality trumps all the rules!
Imogen, I’d agree–although usually people use that ‘personality trumps all the rules’ to encourage people to dress more flamboyantly than might be within the ‘rules’ for them.
However, I’d like to give some space for those who would want to take it in the opposite direction–whose personality and preference might be more conservative, refined or (gasp!shockhorror!) even LADYLIKE than whatever the current trend is. That often tends to be me.